Notes on eating the whole gummy, the resulting anxiety, and my surprising antidote
“Check my pulse,” I turned to my partner, Alex, who was lying in bed beside me. We had eaten weed gummy bears hours earlier. He was doing fine and I… well, I was asking him to check my pulse.
“It’s really fast, isn’t it?” I asked, wrist held out in front of me. He nodded.
“Can people die if their pulse is too high for too long?” I pressed. Alex seemed to pause and consider this before shaking his head ‘no.’ He also began growing jagged teeth and his skin was turning green. Neither were good signs.
Our German shepherd…
This is why my political perspective has shifted dramatically in the past several years.
On her website, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sells a $58 sweatshirt that says “Tax the Rich.” A friend of mine recently reposted a video of billionaire Kevin O’Leary wearing this sweatshirt and joking, “inside of every socialist there is a capitalist screaming to get out!”
I sent her a question about it, and my friend replied that it was just ironic that someone who wants to tax the rich is selling an expensive sweatshirt. To be clear, this friend is not a fan of AOC and also called her “irrelevant.” …
3 ideas for when it’s too cold to be outside
I live in Boulder, Colorado and am currently a dog walker. In other words, I spend a lot of time outside.
This past week, we’ve seen temperatures hovering around zero degrees. The dog walking business has not been good. Few available walks have appeared on my Wag app since the polar vortex hit. With the exception of a Husky or a German Shepherd, it’s probably too cold for most breeds to be outside, and in reality, it’s too cold for me, too.
So I spent the last week inside. …
3 easy and filling foods that only require oil, a spatula, and salt.
When it comes to healthy eating, for me, it’s not just about time, but also about energy. When I’m low on inspiration, my mind can only process one-track things. Therefore, I need a rotation of one-track meals or snacks in order to avoid junk food.
I need cut-it-up-and-throw-it-on-the-pan food.
Some evenings, I don’t have the energy to orchestrate a symphony of different pans, spices, and cutting board stations. Some days, the only thing I can successfully accomplish is not frying something into oblivion.
Some meals or snacks call for being as basic as possible with some added heat.
The following…
And why my book collection is the hardest thing to pare down
Three years ago, I decluttered one item a day for two years straight in an effort to achieve a minimalist lifestyle. But one thing I hardly touched is my bookshelf. I had a collection of nearly 150 books, ranging from old paperback fiction to a book outlining the lives of ants.
Because I’m moving soon, I started decluttering one item a day again. Finally, I admitted that I needed to address my book collection, before it became, once again, five brick-heavy boxes to move.
Why My #1 Hobby is the Hardest to Minimize
Books, unlike clothes, are harder to declutter because I’m better at inventing reasons to keep them…
Yesterday, I woke up with two black eyes — all because I tried to take a bath.
On Sunday, once again, I woke up with a migraine. Okay, I thought, another junk day. I’ll take some Tylenol, have a bit of CBD, and do what I can to stay comfortable.
And while I’m at it, why not take a hot bath?
I was gifted Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop bath salts for Christmas; one is called “Under the Weather Bath Soak.” Besides salt, its next main ingredient is mustard powder, which turns the water yellow. And not a fluorescent yellow, but more like a dingy, feeling-a-little-dehydrated yellow.
Otherwise, it’s a wonderful, luxurious product, and I was looking forward to…
On battling the question, “how forgiving should I be?”
Yoga — it’s a product I love. When it comes to yoga studios, it’s also a product of experience. When I subscribe to a studio membership, I’m paying for something I can’t quite buy online. More than instruction, a local yoga studio provides something intangible — community, atmosphere, and temple.
I’ve consistently spent $108 a month on a yoga studio membership for nearly four years. I practice two or three times a week, participate in workshops and retreats, and value every dollar spent.
Until now.
I moved to Colorado from Chicago last summer and found a studio that offered outdoor…
When your identity rests on accolades, there might be nothing you value for the sake of it.
Passion is not passion if it relies on achievement. I learned this lesson early.
Nearing the end of my first semester in college, I was playing basketball in a recreational league when I took an awkward turn and immediately understood what happened.
I thought “blowing out my knee” — as it’s often described — would hurt much worse. Compared to when I broke my foot, it just felt like a small pop. Still, tearing my ACL, MCL, and meniscus involved an emergency room visit, an MRI appointment, and a visit with an orthopedic surgeon — all in the same week.
…
Here’s to shifting my brain into neutral and watching The Bachelor
I turn off my alarm, my throat is scratchy, and there’s a dull pain at the base of my skull. My big plans for the day are being rewritten as I can hardly get out of bed. My spirit and energy are depleted before the sunrise. Was it that croissant I had yesterday? Did I sleep poorly?
Maybe I need to go gluten-free. Maybe I didn’t hydrate enough. I’m constantly scheming and striving for better habits to improve my energy. After all, who wants to waste even a day feeling like the gutter?
Periodic dips in energy may just be…
Whether it be for books or other creative works, I now ask myself a new question.
Ratings are subjective. And that’s why, on my Goodreads account, I found it hard to “rate” someone’s creative work. So until recently, I left all the ratings blank.
I’m not a professional critic. Most often, I don’t want to think too hard about why I thought something was objectively “good” or “bad.” What if it just wasn’t for me?
But still, I want a record of what I’ve engaged with and how I felt about it. So I changed my mindset around ratings. …
