Quicky Post

Hi Readers!

I hope this blog post finds you and brings you joy, insight, and/or action items.

The evidence keeps pouring in that social media (SM) is highly addictive and mentally, physically, and spiritually toxic. I cannot stress enough how mission critical it is to your life and well being that you boycott, disenfranchise, and abstain from SM. I am well aware that SM's addictiveness makes it virtually impossible for most people to quit it (if you doubt this, it's easy to test that thesis: try quitting it for a week. No? There you go...QED). However, I am not interested in most people. I am interested in YOU, if you are someone who recognizes the destructiveness of SM to all that is good in the world.

My mission to help people quit SM and reclaim their lives and well beings is a bit of a David vs Goliath effort, since the SM algorithms screen for and suppress blog posts like this one. That's why I start most of my posts with "I hope this blog post finds you..." Because, it probably won't. If, however, this post did reach you, leave a COMMENT below.

Have a wonderful day!

Fin.

Boycotting

Hi Readers!

I hope this blog post finds you and brings you joy, insight, and/or action items.

Last Friday - I believe it was Friday February 28th - a number of you "boycotted" large multinational corporate retailers and some other s**t, in a largely failed attempt to disenfranchise the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs...of which large multinational corporate retailers comprise a big part). But what you mostly didn't boycott was the one thing that would have had an actual impact on the DFUs - SOCIAL MEDIA. And do you want to know why you didn't boycott social media? I'm not going to dance around this issue...it is because YOU ARE ADDICTED TO IT. No shame/no blame...it's addictive f**kin' s**t: SOURCE.

Now, that last paragraph likely disenfranchised a number of readers of this post from reading any further. And that's OK. But if you are still reading, I am going to share the failsafe formula for sticking it to THE MAN, if you are the type of person for whom sticking it to THE MAN is a noble goal. Before I lay it out, a bit of preamble: The DFUs don't care about you. They care about profits. They are not immoral (willfully undermining morality)...they are amoral (lack the capacity for morality). The way most DFUs encourage you to funnel money toward them is through advertising and addiction. Both of these mechanisms are integral to SOCIAL MEDIA and in our modern age, 80%+ of DFU advertising is via social media, which is why there are actual companies in Silicon Valley that are paid by social media companies to make social media as addictive as possible. Social media is free for most of you to use because the advertisers are paying for your eyeballs: SOURCE.

Enough said. Here's the formula: Vote with your dollars by boycotting large multinational corporate retailers whenever you can. Perfection is not the goal, just significant change. Buy from local "mom and pop" shoppes whenever you can afford to. Travel less (and use public transit, bike, or walk when possible), to avoid paying as much for gas. Buy groceries from local grocers and ideally join a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm and shop at farmer's markets. I can almost guarantee that no matter where you live in the world, there is a CSA nearby.

That's mostly all you have to do to stick it to THE MAN.

Fin.

Welcome to the Weekend Again

Hi Dear Readers!

I hope this blog post finds you and brings you joy, insight, and/or immunity from the measles and bird flu.

The Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs) are gaining strength rapidly. That's probably because not enough people have joined the Church of Bike with Joe (CoBWJ) or at least adopted its Three Tenets. Science has concluded that this is the only way to disenfranchise DFUs from your life and counteract their destructive forces. I am but a mere messenger of the CoBWJ. The rest depends on YOU!

Alright, my PSA is complete. What else? I don't know. It's the weekend again, which seems to be the principle window of opportunity for me to share my experiential interaction with the Cosmos. This particular weekend is proving to be less intensive and action packed than I had anticipated. I was supposed to have a New Orleans Jazz gig this coming Tuesday (aka, Fat Tuesday = Mardi Gras). However, that fell through due to plague (the essential guitarist of the planned quartet was laid low by some kind of horrible infectious disease). Because the gig was slated to be performed at a senior living complex, we collectively deemed it best not to introduce the plague to the immunologically vulnerable inhabitants of said complex, despite said guitarist being "on the Mend," so to speak, as of this writing. So, no gig means no practice for said gig. The group was supposed to rehearse last night, so my Friday evening unexpectedly opened up, allowing Deborah and I to watch an overrated episode of "Severance" and the newest movie in Marvel's "Venom" franchise. Having only about an 85% proficiency in the jazz repertoire slated for the gig, I had also planned to spend a few hours today and tomorrow honing material. I will probably carve out an hour or two to do that anyway, because it's just good fun and skill building. But, the urgency of it has been lifted, and that actually feels pretty good. Despite the absence of a looming jazz gig, GUPPY EFFECT acoustic duo (with Stefan Boerboom on guitar and backing vocals) is still slated to rehearse tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon. That group - comprising Stefan and me - has its next gig on Saturday May 24th, at the Vegan Sausage Fest.

What else? Deborah and I are currently leaning TOWARD emigration to Australia, or at least toward obtaining her partner visa and permanent residency (I'm already an Aussie citizen), should sociopolitical circumstances require us to move to Melbourne. We do not make this decision lightly. But when a country becomes an abuser and malignant sociopathic narcissist toward its people, there are only two options for the abused: 1. stay and suffer further abuse and likely death OR 2. escape and disenfranchise the abuser. There is a third option, which comprises the abuser being arrested and jailed, but that one is currently not feasible. Anyway, today we dug out all our necessary documents and paperwork to begin the lengthy and costly administrative process of getting Deborah her partner visa and permanent residency in Australia.

What else? Not much. I am about to complete one of the daily Tenets of the CoBWJ, a 60 minute Peloton workout. After that, I may practice some New Orleans Jazz tunes just because I can.

Alright. I am glad we got to spend this asynchronous time together. Have a great weekend!

Fin.