brent evans

morning babble / Wednesday 08-04-21

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes it gets tidied up, but sometimes . . . not so much.

Morning routines – so important on mornings like these. What do I mean? Just going through the motions. Brushed my teeth – when did that happen? Oooo – look – who made coffee? Whoops – where’s my pants? Just kidding – I was successful there too.

Saw my BFF (Joey B) and his two kids last night. Hoping to have some s’mores later tonight, but we’ll see if we can drag them over tonight. Big marshmallows. We use Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups for the chocolate part. I want some Butterfinger Cups though!

My company – Clean-A-Tank – is hiring, so a book that I always turn to during these times is Work Rules by Laszlo Bock. He knows what he’s doing because . . . well, Google him.

3 Day Fast begins on Monday – join me!

I ran – #216 of 5K runs.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Whatever you do today do it with the confidence of a 4 year old in a Batman t-shirt” – by Val Kilmer (sort of – via his Instagram picture of someone’s billboard)

morning babble / Tuesday 08-03-21

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes it gets tidied up, but sometimes . . . not so much.

Whew – long day at the Delaware beach yesterday and yes, I’m feeling it. Got a little burn – didn’t mean too – at all. But, water washes that stuff away. I don’t think it’s too bad. Nothing like the burn that hurts when you sneeze or blow your nose – where you skin feels as if its going to explode off your body.

I ran. #215 of 5K runs.

Oh and look what arrived yesterday – the HiccAway : A Natural Remedy Proven to Stop Hiccups Instantly. On Friday it was in San Antonio, Texas but the arrival date was still listed as August 17th. As I mentioned earlier in the week that’s not good because I need it for August 15th when I try 10 Hot Sauces with my brother-in-law, Nick. Again, this if from the show Hot Ones with host Sean Evans. I can sorta handle the heat, but it’s the hiccups that mess me up.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Never regret anything that made you smile” – by Mark Twain

morning babble / Monday 08-02-21

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes it gets tidied up, but sometimes . . . not so much.

Back home but I’ll be back at the Jersey Shore very, very soon. Today though – quick day trip with my family to the Delaware Beaches Anyway. I ran. #214 of 5K runs.

Last night, I also took a regular shower! It was a hot one and I took my good sweet time!

And yes . . . there’s a new calendar up . . . which means a new goal. I need to credit Jon Acuff for helping me with this goal. I was listening to one of his recent podcasts and basically came up with the writing goal for the month of 15,000 words for my book. I’ll track it with Monday & Friday tally updates. I currently resides at 1,566. I have a ways to go!

This also helped with the goal idea. I actually tried this several years ago: “National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel during the thirty days of November. Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a brand-new novel.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Time is our most irreplaceable asset, we cannot buy more of it. We can only strive to waste as little as possible.” – by Ryan Holiday

morning babble / Sunday 08-01-21

Where am I? Manahawkin, New Jersey. There was a little birthday surprise for someone special to Lauren and I – Caff. She turned 40. 🙂 Why is the year 1961 posted all over the party though? Anyway, it was a surprise birthday for her and it worked. Nice work, G-Dog. And yes, lots of beverage, had a cigar, wonderful live music from Chris Lebresco – you got an event, a bar, a restaurant – hire that dude.

I ran. #213 of 5K runs

I also cold-showered last night – late last night. So, it’s done. The 31 Days of July Cold Showers happened – mission accomplished! Earlier in the day on Saturday, I actually recorded a video to post when I did it.

Books (and Comics) on a Sunday!

• Eat A Peach – A Memoir by David Chang

• Batman Reptilian by Garth Ennis / Liam Sharp

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Life’s too short to just breeze on by” – by David Chang

morning babble / Saturday 07-31-21

I ran #212. Did it on the treadmill, too. We have family coming over, so we need to pretend that we don’t have two little people living here and clean it up. Will there be glitter still? Oh yes – that’s a given now here. 10 pack glitter package – still hidden. By the way – that’s 7 months done of 5K runs. Over 700 miles I have run this year.

I cold-showered. 30 days – that means I tied Matt D’Avella. Today, I shall pass him for 31 Days of July Cold Showers. But – it also means that I need to produce a video. In the works.

Elliott – no surgery needed – will review again in a year. So, that’s a relief. It’s still there – the Chiari malformation – which basically means the brain is too big for the skull, but we’ll just need to monitor. The doctors were also looking at a hole in his brain too. Not an aneurysm or a tumor. I said that it’s his reading hole and he should fill it up over the next year. We did hit Captain Blue Hen Comics in Newark. Got both kids some books to read. Did Daddy get some comics? Maybe. And maybe we’ll talk about them tomorrow – on Books on a Sunday.

AMA Saturday: (watch the video for better answers)

• Question #1 – Is there a reason you begin your 3 day fasts on Tuesday rather than Monday? Yes.

• Question #2 – Even though I’m vaccinated, are you wearing masks again? Yes

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“It’s not what the vision is; it’s what the vision does.” – by Robert Fritz, composer / educator

morning babble / Friday 07-30-21

So, my recent purchase from Amazon – the HiccAway : A Natural Remedy Proven to Stop Hiccups Instantly is currently in San Antonio, Texas. But the arrival date is still August 17th. As I mentioned earlier in the week that’s not good because I need it for August 15th when I try 10 Hot Sauces with my brother-in-law, Nick. Again, this if from the show Hot Ones with host Sean Evans (not related, but I should check 23andMe because you never know) interviews celebrities while tasting 10 hot sauces. Lorde is on one of the new episodes. They chat about lyric interpretation, cheese, cicadas, whale watching, and, of course, her new LP Solar Power. Anyway – the HiccAway. San Antonio is 26 hours away via car. I could go get it. They actually have a window from 8/17 to 8/26.

I ran – #211 of 5K runs / I cold-showered, too. 2 days to go!!

We did lose two rockers this week. Joey Jordison, Slipknot Co-Founder and Drummer, Dies at 46. And, the bass player of ZZ Top, Dusty Hill – he was 72.

Enjoy the now. Meeting with my son’s doctor takes place today. We’ll know about surgery later today. I’ll talk about it.

New Music Friday:

• Nas announced King’s Disease II, a “sequel” album to his Grammy-winning LP King’s Disease. That’s all I got, if you google it, you can get a picture of the new album cover, but that’s it. No new track listings. No new songs to play. Just the announcement: King’s Disease II out next Friday. Also out next Friday – Kanye West’s Donda – apparently. That’s all I’m saying after last week’s fiasco.

• Bleachers—the recording project of singer, songwriter, and producer Jack Antonoff—recently shared another new song from his new album Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night (out today). The new track is called “Secret Life,” and it features Lana Del Rey. This dude does everything – he’s produced for Taylor Swift, Lorde, Lana Del Rey. He’s one of the guys from fun. – remember that band? AND – listed in his Wikipedia bio it states: Antonoff was once in a relationship with actress Scarlett Johansson, his classmate at the Professional Children’s School (grades 6-12).

• Billie Eilish released her second studio album, Happier Than Ever. We’ve already heard “My Future,” “Therefore I Am,” “Your Power,” “Lost Cause,” and “NDA,” all of which charted in the top 40 of the US Billboard Hot 100. 16 tracks / Critics are gushing over it. She’s 19.

• Sleigh Bells are returning this year with a new album. This is a band that I completely forgot about since their 2010 Treats album. They have had several albums since – my loss, too. Their new full-length is called Texis and it’s out September 10th. They announced the record with a video for the new single “Locust Laced” where the duo is portrayed as a ’50s country group.

• Some “Brent” Music: Angels & Airwaves released another single from their upcoming album – Lifeforms – due out September 24th. The song is “Losing My Mind”. Also, The Glorious Sons released another single “Hold Steady.” I don’t think they have a new full album coming yet. They released one in late 2019 and was going to tour in 2020 – ahhh. So, they are starting it up again in December – called The Unfinished Business Tour.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Some days there won’t be a song in your heart. Sing anyway.” – by Emory Austin

morning babble / Thursday 07-29-21

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes it gets tidied up, but sometimes . . . not so much.

I ran #210

Running 5K every day will result in a high number of calories burned per week. If a 160-pound person burns about 394 calories every 5K run and runs seven days per week, they’ll burn a total of 2,758 calories every week. This means they’ll reach 3,500 calories and thus lose a pound of fat every nine days.

I cold-showered. 3 more days!

Dead fish fell out of a tree! What?

Spread the word / subscribe on YouTube

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Work is what horses die of. Everybody should know that.” – by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Sowl zhuh neet sn) (Russian Writer)

morning babble / Wednesday 07-28-21

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes it gets tidied up, but sometimes . . . not so much.

#209 – 5K Every Day – got my new blue card. The other item that I ordered isn’t coming until August 16th. Which isn’t good. I needed it on August 15th when I try 10 Hot Sauces with my brother-in-law, Nick. It’s called the HiccAway : A Natural Remedy Proven to Stop Hiccups Instantly.

Hot Ones – host Sean Evans (not related) interviews celebrities while tasting 10 hot sauces – Will Ferrell / Paul Rudd / Bill Burr / Shaq

I cold-showered, too. 4 more days until the heat returns to the bathing routine.

Ashley & Anthony – CONGRATS as we all welcome baby Isabelle Florence!

My Elliott has his MRI tonight. Nothing will really be known until Friday though with the doctor visit. Chiari malformation – which basically means the brain is too big for the skull. 

Left my laptop at the workshop . . . turned out to make the best part of my day.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“The scholar who thinks but does not create is like the cloud which does not give rain.” – by Eastern Wisdom (Page 121 of A Calendar of Wisdom – Tolstoy)

morning babble / Tuesday 07-27-21

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes it gets tidied up, but sometimes . . . not so much.

Happy Tuesday – tank move was completed yesterday. I don’t talk about my work too much but that aquarium yesterday was a beast. 265 gallons. It took 7 of us to move that thing. But – it’s done AND I got all my fingers, which is no small matter. My business is called Clean-A-Tank, not Move-A-Tank.

Since I am talking about cleaning aquariums, I get a lot of odd emails. I think before I talked about some pig email that I was on. Well, I also get cattle emails. (Watch the video below!)

I did NOT do my 50/50/50s today, nor the pull-ups. Tomorrow.

I ran – 208 5k runs / the new blue cards arrive today – I’ll have that 5k run every day.

I also cold-showered. 5 more days to go!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“A person becomes happy to the same extent which he or she gives happiness to other people” – by Jeremy Bentham, an English philosopher

morning babble / Monday 07-26-21

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes it gets tidied up, but sometimes . . . not so much.

Happy Monday! Today’s the day that I have the big tank move in Reading, PA. If you hear any screams – well, it could be pain / it could be joy.

I ran. #207. FYI – I run a 5k every day! It’s not just a minute and then I call it quits for the day. Again, just an FYI. 🙂

I cold-showered, but my daughter didn’t doodle in the calendar box. She was already snuggled down in her bed with her warmed up corn bag when she said that she was sorry for not doing it. Made me smile . . . I then grounded her for a week. Just kidding.

Tried using my Moka pot yesterday afternoon – actually, that part worked. It’s the Cafe Cubano that I’m still struggling with. The sugar whipping is not going so well. The whipped sugar rises to the top to form a thick, foamy layer that resembles crema. This layer, called “espuma”, is made of whipped sugar. That is so not happening right now.

But then – something happened to me that hasn’t happened in ages. I really reacted to all the caffeine and sugar. My heart went racing and I had to sit down in our house library just to get it together and calmly breathe through it all.

A Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Not to accept your mistakes is to increase them.” – by Leo Tolstoy