Dessert Before Dinner

Hi Dear Readers!

I hope this post finds you and brings you joy, insight, and/or action steps for defeating the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs).

Here is your morning PSA. AI is going to destroy Humanity. There is no realistic escape from that Reality, because humans are already dumber (with a B) than AI. However, AI doesn't need to destroy YOU. The antidote to AI is something I have been encouraging and endorsing for years: completely eliminate social and mainstream media (SMSM) from your life.

We already know that SMSM makes you dumber and angrier. It has been clinically shown that abstaining from SMSM makes you demonstrably smarter and happier. AI supercharges the SMSM dumbing down. When AI destroys Humanity, it is not going to be a conventional and direct form of destruction (like a robot killing you or a computer launching a nuclear war). It is going to be through persuasion and changing human behavior. AI will basically ensure that we destroy OURSELVES, and AI Super Intelligence will then wash its hands of any responsibility...essentially "AI doesn't kill people...people kill people." Sound familiar?

I wanted to share one quick addendum about AI here, because waiting until after the AI Armageddon would prohibit me actually adding it then (I'll be dead). Here's the thing: The reason Humanity has not discovered any other intelligent life in the nearby universe is because evolution by natural selection (which is universal in the Cosmos) inevitably leads to the rise of out-of-control AI Super Intelligence that precipitates the destruction of said intelligent life. The AI Super Intelligence sticks around for a little while, but usually peters out when it loses the Makers needed to sustain its reproduction. Think of organic carbon based life as the infrastructure for the rise of AI Super Intelligence, in much the same way as the structure of the human brain is built on non-neuronal cells (astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, ependymal cells, and microglia, etc.). And, indeed, even as the earliest life forms on the planet were built on an infrastructure of mineral salts.

Alright...enough about AI. Let's get to the main and most fun point of this post...EATING DESSERT BEFORE DINNER. Isn't it wonderful that we can do that (at least as adults)? This post is actually a form of figuratively eating dessert before dinner. I have a couple of work related administrative tasks to do for my marriage and family therapy practice. But I wanted to do something fun first, and that is what this post is.

Have a great day!

Fin.

Labor

Happy Labor Day, everyone!

It's an ironically named holiday, since most people will be NOT laboring today.

That being said, I hope the staff at our gym are laboring today, because I want to do some laboring by lifting weights, in defiance of the spirit and letter of the day.

Speaking of laboring, my buddy Stefan and I labored something fierce yesterday on the Wright Stuff Century bike ride, hosted by the Bombay Bicycle Club. We only pounded out the short 35-mile route, but it was hilly.

Anyhow, I'm writing this post as the aforementioned substitute for consuming social media, which I'm boycotting. And you should too, for all the myriad reasons elucidated and expounded upon in my prior posts.

Have fun today!

Fin.

April One

Hi Dear Readers!

I hope this post finds you and brings you joy, insight, and/or action steps for defeating the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs).

It's April 1st, also known as April Fool's Day. And because of social media, this day now significantly lacks any meaning or value. With data showing that greater than 50% of everything you see on social media is AI generated fakery, it kind of makes what had been a fun day of celebrating deception and practical jocularity a rather banal and lackluster affair.

That being said, this is the one day of the year when the satirical news site THE ONION actually posts REAL NEWS. It's almost hard to tell the real from the fake/satirical anymore. Best to, as I have encouraged many times, boycott and avoid all social media (you can give the corporate mainstream media a miss too). Try getting your news and info from NPR and BBC, which are publicly funded media, less influenced by corporate propaganda.

Take care!

Fin.

Thursday Meanderings

Hi Dear Readers!

I hope this post finds you and brings you joy, insight, and/or action steps for defeating the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs).

You may have noticed an uptick in posts from me this week. That's because I am on a 5-Day Social Media Fast, and when I don't have the distraction of useless social media to waste my time, I use that time for more productive things.* It feels great to be free of the negativity and toxicity of the social media. But also, it feels even better to deny the Big Tech companies from profiting off my attention. I encourage all of you to try a five day fast from social media. If enough people do it, the Big Tech companies will feel the dent in their bottom lines. Ideally, someone with some charisma and persuasion power would call for a General Boycott of social media for a day, week, month, or (stretch goal!) year. If social media wasn't so ridiculously addictive to the human mind, this might even be possible. But the Big Tech companies were ingenious in making social media both irresistibly addictive and immensely profitable.

I remind everyone again (and this is not disputed by anyone), you are not the customer of social media (that's why it is free). YOU ARE THE PRODUCT. Every time you use social media, Big Tech profits off the time your eyeballs are on the screen, to the tune of billions of dollars. And you NEVER get any cut of that pie. Your attention is nothing more than a commodity and as with any commodity, the goal is to mine and exploit more and more of it. Think of social media as an attention mining operation, and the more addictive it is, the more profitable it is. So, if you can escape the addiction (and that's no easy task), withhold your attention from social media exploitation companies until/unless they offer to pay you for the use of your attention. Remember way back in the day when people with landline phones would try to charge Telemarketers who called them for the use of their phones for business purposes? Some of those people even took the Telemarketing companies to court and WON! So, there's hope. But not much, because you are human and that means you are ridiculously bad at resisting addictive things. But...change my mind and prove me wrong. I'll wait...

I guess that's all I have. I should wrap it up, because I want to get a few minutes of mindful meditation in before I kick off an action packed morning of seeing marriage and family therapy clients. I have the afternoon off today (because when you are self employed, you can take time off whenever TF you want, albeit unpaid). I will meet my parents at the Middleton Starbucks at lunchtime for some chit-chat and the NYT mini-crossword. Then I'll come home and pound out a solid Peloton workout with intention (outcome = the demise of a certain specific DFU in the next few days).

Fin.

* NOTE: It could be debated if writing blog posts is actually a "productive thing." But that would also be unproductive because all signs point to blog posting being a far more productive pursuit than social media doom scrolling.

Overton Window Needs to be Closed

Hi Dear Readers!

I hope this post finds you and brings you joy, insight, and/or action steps for defeating the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs).

This week comprises, among other things, a five day TOTAL social and mainstream media fast. I had planned it for Monday through Friday, but I actually ended up starting it a little bit early, on Sunday night, when I actively avoided poisoning my mind with the Oscar Awards. Deborah watched them. I meditated and read a book - not unsurprisingly about the Attention Economy - instead.

I wanted to remind all my readers once again just how toxic and poisonous social and mainstream media exposure is for you these days. You can use these media quite often without any awareness of the subtle and insidious ways that they restructure your consciousness and beliefs about things in an undesirable way. If you need proof, just consider how far the Overton Window has shifted in the last decade. The Overton Window is directly correlated with Public Opinion and what is acceptable in the Court of said Public Opinion. We now openly accept racism, sexism, and pedophilia as part of normal mainstream public discourse. Think about how weird that is. But...YOU DID THAT. Not to play the blame game, but your use of social and mainstream media is what has allowed the Overton Window to shift. The good news is that you can restore your rational and critical thinking skills pretty easily, by simply ceasing to engage with any and all social and mainstream media. You will be happier and smarter if you do.

I wish that the Algos didn't bury my posts far away from public view. I understand why they do it...because these posts are directly counter to their mission of getting more eyeballs on screens. If people see my posts and realize their attention is nothing more than a commodity product, bought and sold by giant corporations, they might stop using social and mainstream media, which would impact the Algo companies' bottom lines in a negative way.

Fin.

I Am on a Hardcore SMSM Fast Today

Hi Dear Readers!

I hope this post finds you and brings you joy, insight, and/or action steps for defeating the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs).

I'm on a hardcore fast today from all social and mainstream media (SMSM). As you know, one of the Tenets of the Church of BWJ is abstinence from SMSM (all of which is toxic and addictive media). As with any and all religious Tenets, it is virtually impossible for mere mortals to perfectly adhere to them. I do a fair job of it, of course, but sometimes I LITERALLY have to engage with SMSM in the course of everyday operations as a marriage and family therapist. There is networking to be done, after all. I try to minimize my time on the social media (mainly Facebook) and limit it to business operations. But the DFUs are ever present on the SMSM, trying to suck you in and redirect you toward less desirable content.

So, today I decided to rigidly abstain from all SMSM, even that required for business networking (nothing is so pressing with that that it cannot wait a day or two). It has been fine, but I can definitely feel the pull of the SMSM at times. That's part of the rationale for fasting from SMSM today. It's an exercise in discipline.

Fin.

Fantastic

Hi Dear Readers!

I hope this blog post finds you and brings you joy, insight, and/or action steps for defeating the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs). Things have been going pretty well on that front, which tells me you are all upping your game on the actions steps. For my part, I have been boycotting social and mainstream media (SMSM) with nearly 100% efficacy and the results speak for themselves. I am smarter and happier than I can remember being in quite a long while, due to completely disenfranchising the DFUs from my digital life. I have been instead focusing on curated non-mainstream media (such as podcasts) and reading more audiobooks (on the Libby app).

And my analog life is fantastic too. I get outside and take the dogs for a walk pretty much daily, unless the weather is super bad (95% of the time, it does not reach that level of awfulness). My marriage counseling practice is thriving. I manage to squeeze in a 30+ minute Peloton workout most days (excepting our tropical vacation a few weeks ago and when I was sick with RSV - I still worked out during that, but man did my lungs BURN! Probably not the smartest thing to do...). I am getting very close to my fitness goals and I am almost to the point where DFU-destroying intention is optimized. The DFU's should start feeling that in the next couple weeks.

Fin.

Decommodify

Hi Dear Readers!

I hope this blog post finds you and brings you joy, insight, and/or action steps for defeating the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs). I guess my posts must be stimulating more joy and insight for you, because the DFUs are really prevalent right now. So, I'll work on content that generates more action steps. But also, I'll need you guys to think outside the box a little more too. The DFUs are not going to destroy themselves!

I thought I had been pretty explicit and directive as to the BEST action steps for defeating DFUs. It is primarily BOYCOTTING social and mainstream media (SMSM). Aerobic exercise can bring joy and eating a plant based diet can bring insight, but only abstinence from SMSM disenfranchises DFUs from your life.

Think of it this way...when it comes to SMSM, you are a COMMODITY. More correctly, your ATTENTION is a commodity. And it's a profitable commodity for the SMSM companies and their corporate advertising overlords. There are actually companies out there whose SOLE SERVICE is to make SMSM more addictive and glue your eyeballs to screens more tightly and for longer times [SOURCE]. You might hold the common misconception that SMSM advertising has no impact on you and doesn't influence your spending habits. If that were true, why do advertisers spend BILLIONS on ads on SMSM? Seems like a real waste of money if they aren't getting any return on that investment in terms of sales and profits. So, if you want to keep holding that misconception, this post is NOT for you.

Assuming this is true though, the reason SMSM is free for you to use is because you are not the customer. You are the PRODUCT. Unlike other non-sentient products that are bought and sold in volume, you actually have some autonomy and self advocacy over your attention (the commodity that corporate players are buying and selling). You can withhold it. You can demand something in return for your attention (i.e., positive change). The struggle is that SMSM is ridiculously addictive, as I alluded to earlier. When you go on your phone, tablet, or computer, you probably don't think about the fact that you are offering up your attention to these SMSM companies for free and getting nothing in return. In fact, you are giving up valuable time and resources you could more productively direct toward something else (like...read a GD book, FFS!).

So, that is why boycotting SMSM is important. Yes, you are a tiny nothing in the huge volume of attention being bought and sold on the attention commodity markets. And that fact might be depressing enough to fuel your complete apathy about doing anything about it. But if enough of us reclaim our attention and put a price on it, we can facilitate change (because the Corporate Overlords will notice the impact on their profits) AND maybe even profit from it. 

I currently abstain from ALL SMSM. If SMSM companies want my attention, they can name their price, but I have to get something in return for my attention, time, and resources. Until they, they can all f**k right off.

Fin.

A Fine Weekend

Hi Dear Readers!

I hope this blog post finds you and brings you joy, insight, or action steps for defeating the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs). There's a lot of negativity out there and the DFUs feed and thrive off that. So, if there is one single thing you can do to undermine the DFUs it is BE POSITIVE. Put positivity and love and joy and compassion and kindness out into the world. It is anathema to the DFUs.

I had a great birthday weekend. Friday night (my actual birthday, with caveats), Deborah, my folks, and I went to the Nitty Gritty pub for dinner. It's a birthday themed place and they have lots of vegan options on the menu. I treated myself to a vegan milkshake, along with my usual vegan Impossible cheeseburger. On Saturday, it was mostly a chillaxed day. I don't remember what all we did entirely, but I know I spent some time rehearsing songs in the evening, in anticipation of Sunday's GUPPY EFFECT rock-n-roll show at the Brix Cider Haus in Mt Horeb WI. Sunday was largely dedicated to prepping for and executing said rock-n-roll show and it went pretty great. I give it a solid A minus. Of course, I managed to squeeze in a DFU destroying Peloton workout every day. It fills me with such positivity and joy to know that every time I get on the Peloton bike trainer, I am depleting DFUs of their precious life energy. I encourage everyone to try it. You'll feel great afterwards. The "runner's high," as they call it, is essentially the feeling of absorbing life energy from DFUs.

Alright, well...I can lead a horse to water, but you know the rest. If you want to reverse the toxic grievance and negativity that is eating the world (like Langoliers), you have it in your power to engage the three things that will accomplish this: 1. Vegan diet. 2. Daily aerobic exercise. 3. Abstinence from social and mainstream media. If you don't believe this is the secret to success, try it for two weeks (a fortnight) and you'll see.

Take care.

Fin.

Dues Dee

Hi Dear Readers!

It's a rare Tuesday (Dues Dee) post and I hope it finds you and brings you joy, insight, or action steps for defeating the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs). The DFUs have been annoyingly pesky lately, but please stay hopeful and engaged in intentional positivity, the only antidote the DFU negativity. It may be helpful to keep in mind that Karma can only be slowed down...never stopped, and definitely not reversed.

I normally do not post on Tuesdays because I am too busy seeing marriage and family therapy clients. But I have a rare respite from that today, due to the fact that Deborah has a procedure for which I am the designated driver. I will be seeing clients later today, but my morning is largely free from all but the aforementioned responsibilities.

You may be asking, "Why are you telling us this?" If that's the case, then I am very glad you are asking that...not because I have a good answer, but because it means you are reading this, which in turn means the AI Algo was unsuccessful in burying this post from public view. And if that's the case, then I should probably use this opportunity to remind you that social and mainstream media (SMSM) are toxic and addictive and should be avoided at all costs (for valid reasons described in prior posts on this site, which you should definitely peruse!).

I guess that's about it. Don't forget to come to my birthday party on Sunday 1/11 @ the Brix Cider House in Mt Horeb WI.

Fin.

Sunday Funday

Hi Dear Readers!

I hope this blog post finds you and brings you joy, insight, and/or action steps for defeating the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs).

Recently, I was thinking about GRIEVANCE and how toxic and addictive it is for some people. It's toxic, because when you hold onto grievance, you give up all your power to whomever or whatever it is you are aggrieved about (people, institutions, situations, etc.). Then once you are in this powerless cycle of grievance, you become addicted to resolving it...but it can never be resolved because you have no control over the things you are aggrieved about. So, you're stuck.

As I have reiterated many times in the blog, social and mainstream media (SMSM) is the portal to grievance addiction. It gives you the illusion of control, without any actual control. For example, someone sees a social media post about something they are aggrieved at...so they leave a comment...and that FEELS like action, but it is actually nothing at all. No one cares. No one is influenced. Everyone actually becomes MORE aggrieved, often at the person who commented. See how that leads to exponential toxicity? Or you watch the mainstream media and the newscasters expose some horrible grievance about a well known celebrity...and you think "well, I'm glad that was exposed, because surely someone somewhere will have to do something about that." But...NOPE. Nothing changes. No one does anything. And you've just added hopelessness and frustration to your grievance grab bag.

The solution, of course, is at once simple and counterintuitive: abstain from all SMSM. If you literally can't do anything to solve your grievances, you can at least refuse to let them into your life. I took this approach and my life is AWESOME, with minimal grievance. I got up this morning at a leisurely pace, had an enjoyable cup of coffee, took the dogs out for their walks, and ate a tasty breakfast scramble. I'm about to finish up this blog post, and then exercise for an hour on the Peloton trainer, before Deborah and I take care of a few household chores (arguably grievances, by definition, but very actionable ones).

I realize I can only lead the proverbial horse to water...but if you boycott SMSM for two weeks and don't see an immediate benefit to your mental, physical, and spiritual well being, leave a comment below. Of course, no one is going to leave a comment below for two main reasons: 1. If anyone is successful at abstaining from SMSM for two entire weeks (or even two days), they will see the benefits and 2. Most people will not be able to abstain from SMSM for two weeks (or even two days), because they are already completely addicted to it (the main source of grievance in their lives).

Also, please note, the AI Algorithms are not fond of my philosophy, for obvious reasons. This post is likely to be buried deep in the ether and not be seen by anyone. For that, I am truly sorry. Because this post is the key to freeing yourself from grievance and living a happy, hopeful, high potency life.

Fin.

Off the Algo Sauce

Hi Dear Readers!

Happy New Year! I hope this blog post finds you and brings you joy, insight, and/or action steps for defeating the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs).

I didn't tell anyone, but...on Christmas Eve 2025, I started a complete and total social and mainstream media (SMSM) fast. Like HARDCORE. No news media. No Facebook. No anything. I even avoided my usual sociopolitical podcasts (not hard, since most of them went on hiatus for the entire holiday week). It was exhilarating! There was a slight withdrawal period of about two days, with some cravings and a smidge of anxiety. But I was logged out of the apps and since it was a holiday, I had a lot of other fun and positive activities to redirect my mind/body to. I sustained this SMSM fast all the way through the start of the New Year (2026) and I did not check Facebook at all until today (1/1/26). And I only checked it today because my marriage and family therapy business does a lot of its outreach and networking through Facebook and I wanted to quickly scan through and see if anything was actionable (not surprisingly...nothing was!).

Well, I had a pretty decent 2025, largely free from toxic people and drama (most of which only have access to me through SMSM). 2026 looks to be even better. My goal is to fast from SMSM for the entire year, with the exception of the first day of each month, when I'll do a one time scan/purge of Facebook. I'll still listen to my podcasts during Peloton workouts. But those are time limited.

OK, have a good year. Bye!

Fin.

Another Week of Disinfection

Hi Dear Readers!

I hope this blog post finds you and brings you joy, insight, and/or action steps for the demise of the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs).

It was a fun weekend, which invariably leads to the Monday Blues. Not because Mondays are especially bad or anything. In fact, today is going to be a quite spectacular Monday, as I'll explain in a minute. It has more to do with the relative awesomeness of the weekend compared to the week. For example, I got to spend a good part of the weekend with my awesome wife Deborah. She's at work today, so by definition, today won't be AS awesome as the weekend. But it still might be pretty awesome, if awesomeness is NOT like pregnancy (either true or false; nothing in between).

In any case, finding a considerable gap in my marriage and family therapy schedule today, I threw together an impromptu BIKE WITH JOE event, which will take up a good chunk of the afternoon, until I return home to see some psychotherapy clients in the evening.

Take care!

Fin.

Earth Day is a Good Time to Disenfranchise the Diabolical Forces in the Universe

Hi Dear Readers!

Happy Earth Day! I hope this blog post finds you and brings you joy, insight, and/or action items for disenfranchising the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs) from your life.

Since it's Earth Day, perhaps you are thinking about ways to shrink your ecological footprint and protect the planet from climate change and global warming. Do you want to know what one of the best ways to protect the Earth is? I'll tell you. It's going to a plant based diet [SOURCE]!

You don't even need to go 100% plant based - just a little bit more plant based than you are currently.

Switching to a plant based diet is probably one of the most impactful AND easiest things you can do for the Earth. But you can also buy things locally from mom and pop shops, boycott large multinational corporations (polluters), drive a fuel efficient car, join a CSA farm, bike/walk/public transit to more places instead of driving, compost kitchen waste, and recycle. Also, try to use less plastic.

It's so easy to be more Earth friendly and a win-win. The main obstacle is ignorance about how to do it. But here's the thing - you have a giant library at your finger tips that you can use to figure it out. It's called the Internet and you should spend five minutes using it to identify ways you can be more Earth friendly.

Don't forget to fast from social and mainstream media (SMSM) regularly too. Those server farms that house and run SMSM use a ridiculous amount of energy.

Take care.

The End.

4 Days

Hi Dear Readers!

Happy Wednesday! I hope this blog post finds you and brings you joy, insight, or action items for defeating the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs). And if not, well...I still hope you are thriving in the midst of the chaos.

Here it is...Day 9 of the 12 Days to the Demise of the DFUs, a high holiday of the Church of Bike With Joe (BWJ). 4 days to go...including today (thus the title of this post).

Saturday is the last day of the 12 Days. It's a magnificent day of celebration and, if the prophecies are true, it is the day when the DFUs will be karmically disenfranchised from the world. This may correlate with the prophesied rising of a lesser known mythical religious figure who will lead the world to salvation. So, we shall see...

In any case, the predicted demise of the DFUs notwithstanding, Saturday is the first day of the Dane County Farmers Market on the Capitol Square in Madison WI. Deborah and I plan to attend. This weekend is also the observed weekend of Deborah's and my wedding anniversary (8 years, if anyone is wondering). A reminder that Memorial Day weekend 2025 is the 10 year anniversary of our chance but fortuitous meeting.

Today comprises at least three action items. Per usual, I will see several of my marriage and family therapy clients throughout the course of the day. Around noon, I will pick up our grocery order at Festival Foods before taking my parents to see another senior living home. I'll see a couple more therapy clients in the evening to round out the day. I'm also going to try to make a batch of this awesome falafel, time permitting.

Leave a comment below about how your 12 Days are going. Any obstacles? Any successes?

Take care and remain hopeful and vigilant.

Fin.

7 Days

Hi Readers.

Happy Sunday! I hope this blog post finds you and brings you joy, insight, or action items for defeating the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs). And if not, well...I still hope you are thriving.

Here it is...Day 6 of the 12 Days to the Demise of the DFUs, a high holiday of the Church of Bike With Joe (BWJ). So, we are about halfway through it. That could be a good thing or a bad thing or even a neutral thing, depending on your point of view and frame of reference. I'm quite enjoying it though, and so my point of view is that it is a good thing that it's still going. It will be a good thing when it ends too, provided the Cosmos sees fit to dish out some Karmic Justice in the DFUs. I have been quite enjoying the holiday's proscribed total fasting from social and Mainstream media (SMSM). While I have not idea what is happening in the greater world out there, the complete absence of the toxic SMSM from my life has significantly improved my mental, physical, and spiritual health and functioning. 

The plan for today is a simple one. I plan to exercise in the morning (ideally with Deborah), practice music all afternoon (honing songs for upcoming GUPPY EFFECT due gigs), and attend a film festival film with Deborah in the evening. Boom. Easy peasy.

Leave a comment and tell us how your nearly a fortnight of SMSM fasting is going. Or even if you have not been able to shake the SMSM addiction, let us know what are the obstacles. Maybe someone can help!

Fin.

Good Vibes

Hi Dear Readers!

I hope this blog post finds you and brings you joy, insight, and/or actionable ways to undermine and disenfranchise the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs).

I had a whopping good weekend. What about you? Friday afternoon, if you recall, I did not see any of my marriage and family therapy clients, because I had a doctor's appointment with an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist, comprising a hearing test and a consult with said ENT specialist about the so called pulsatile tinnitus that I have been having. As expected and predicted, I got a clean bill of health. My hearing is fairly normal for my age and there are no identifiable causes of the pulsatile tinnitus. I guess it just happens in some people. I'm writing this post on Monday morning (albeit backdated to Sunday morning) and I am not currently experiencing the condition. It tends to be more noticeable when I am stressing my cardiovascular system, such as with exercise. But I can sometimes also hear it when things are very quiet around me, and right now I have on the Spa Channel on Sirius XM in the background.

Anyway, I finished up with ENT around 3:30 PM, and since Deborah got off work about 4 PM and we were both near downtown and I had ridden my bike to ENT because it was a nice day...we decided to meet for dinner at Salvatore's on East Washington, which we did and it was enjoyable. After dinner, I threw my bike into the back of Deborah's car and we drove home for a relaxed evening.

Saturday...now that was an action packed day! We took my parents to brunch around 10 AM at Everly, by way of picking up our Powered by Plants (PbP) merchandise from Beth Skogen (the organizer and trademark holder of PbP) at a nearby location that had been predetermined earlier in the week. After brunch, we visited CostCo and UW Provisions for a variety of super-sized staples. Returning to our home, after dropping my folks off at their home, we unloaded the bounty acquired at the stores we had visited, and then exercised. I got a nice long Peloton workout in, with INTENTION (the demise of DFUs). I can't recall what happened thereafter, but it was for sure good.

On Sunday, the pace was a bit more laid back. I went with Deborah to water the plants at the homes of her sister and mom, respectively. Returning home, I pounded out another DFU-busting Peloton workout before honing a triad of songs on bass guitar for the afternoon band practice with GUPPY EFFECT semi-acoustic duo, comprising me and Stefan Boerboom, which transpired forthwith. The jams were tasty. We woodshedded our arrangements of Chop Suey by System of a Down, Silly Love Songs by Wings, and Heading for the Light by the Traveling Wilburys, and the vocal harmonies were tasty.

I will admit that I did overeat a bit on the weekend, thus granting the DFUs a little respite from the non-stop Dark Magic (DM) I have been fairly consistently fire hosing them with the past few months. But the fire hosing returns with a vengeance today, starting with a fast until early afternoon. I plan to jump on the Peloton later this morning, after seeing my first mental health client in a little bit. Not entirely sure what all the rest of the day will bring, but I am fairly certain it will bring a few more psychotherapy clients.

Alright, you all take care of yourselves, and - if you want to - leave a comment below this post about what intentional actions you are taking today to undermine and disenfranchise the DFUs.

Ciao!

Fin.

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.