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Whew – Spring just got here and I’m already feeling the allergy season. Now, I know that I say I do the monthly 3 day fasts to help control my allergies and it does. It’s not perfect, but I’m not popping Claritin D pills like M&Ms, which is a good thing. I’m yet to have one this year. Although Walgreens reminds me to still get the stuff with their drug pushing coupons – $4 off available until 4/7. FYI – Buying just birthday cards – I got that coupon.

Birthday Month!

One week ago – it was my brother-in-law Nick’s birthday

Yesterday – it was my sister-in-law Julie’s birthday

And today – it’s my father-in-law Randy’s birthday. The man also known as G-Dog to my kids – Coolest granddaddy name that I know of. FYI – I know there are other family birthdays this month, too. So – Happy Birthday to all of you, too. I mean, everyone’s is this month – My wife was earlier is in the month and mine is this Saturday (best for last).

I finished a book . . . finally! Matthew Walker’s Why We Sleep is done!

I ran! #81 in the books. Streak continues along with the daily vlogging – thank you for tolerating me. I really do appreciate it.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Comparison is the thief of joy.” – by someone

Morning mud (aka MUD\WTR) It’s good stuff. Logo is tiny on the container though. However, if nutrition facts is your game – Boom! – they are huge. (Watch video below).

FYI – I haven’t run yet. #80 will be done outside today on the trails! Can’t wait. Yeah – and welcome to our first FULL day of Spring. It officially began yesterday at 5:37am, but today we get the first full 24 hours of Spring.

Books!

• This week I should be wrapping up one, two, or even three (it’s an omnibus of comics). In turn, I’m hoping to be announcing new books that I’ll be cracking open next Sunday. Putting the pressure on. Too many times this week, I just found myself sitting in our house library at night and I had not gotten the opportunity to even touch a book.

• Couple of my favorites that I always have on my desk to help kickstart me along at times. I believe I’ve mentioned them before, but here they are:

1. Steven Pressfield – The War of Art
2. Jocko Willink – Discipline Equals Freedom Field Manual

• The book that I mentioned this past Thursday morning before getting sidetracked with NFTs is Twyla Tharp’s The Creative Habit. I really love the layout of this book which makes it easier to read. Fonts vary, certain sections already highlighted – I thoroughly enjoyed it. Today, I read about Thomas Edison and a hiring tactic of his . . . again, go watch that video.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” – by Harry Truman

Morning Babble Wake-up Playlist . . . coming soon!

We (my little family of 4) have got our new Friday Night show to watch every week again! It’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Last night, we saw the first episode – only 5 more episodes as it will run through April 23. I was hoping for more. This probably hands off to The Black Widow movie, which is slotted for May 7th. Marvel smart. They always got something coming.

I ran. I vlog. 79 in a row.

AMA Saturday:

• Question #1 – are you really skipping out on alcohol for the month of April? Yes. Beginning 4/1 and it won’t be an April Fool’s joke. I’m all in!

• Question #2 – have your parents gotten their 2nd shot yet? No. That’s next Friday. But today, my wife gets her 2nd. Me – I patiently await for eligibility. I’m ready for it!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“You are whatever you pretend to be” – Kurt Vonnegut

Happy Friday / Streak continues – I’m at 78. I ran. I’m vlogging. Facebook still doesn’t want me. You know the toughest part about that is explaining to your mom that I really didn’t do anything wrong. Honest, Mom.

New Music Friday:

• The Biebs is up first. Justin Bieber’s new album Justice is out. Getting all kinds of attention over that Cease and Desist letter from the French duo Justice. Basically, their logo is on the cover of his new album. Anyway – let’s talk about the music part of it. Heard “Peaches” first today – made me laugh . . . not in a good way though. Then, there’s that song that radio is overplaying right now “Lonely” – that one gets into your head and hurts. Can’t wait for the next one. This isn’t all negative, I know the guy is talented. I did listen to “As I Am”. Khalid sings on this song, too. Now, that’s a good pop song.

• New album from Jon Batiste – he’s the bandleader on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Nice jazz, funk album – We Are . “Whatchutalkinbout” is fun 2 minute song. I believe the entire album is going to be something that I’ll be listening to.

• Speaking of 2 minute songs – I did listen to some new Hip Hop, Lil Tjay’s “Head Shot” and Lil Mosey’s “Try Me”. However, both – I think should have been just a bit longer. I just felt that they ended abruptly and wanted more. Now, TikTok star, Addison Rae‘s song – “Obsession”. That’s another short one, but I enjoyed it.

• Harry Connick Jr. and Lana Del Ray – whole album drops from them today

• BREAKING AND ENTERING – The Talbott Brothers reached out and liked my vlog from last Friday. So, I listened to their stuff. Folk, rock sound – brotherly duo. I’d compare them to the bands: Beta Radio and NEEDTOBREATHE. Listened to their originals, but what’s always good to hear is a cover song that’s well done. They did the Boss’ song “Dancing in the Dark” – on their most recent album Acoustic Selections From Ghost Talker.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Be yourself is all that you can do.” – by Chris Cornell

Happy Friday Eve! This is the scribble . . . cleaning it up later. Links are in there.

Enjoyed some original Muppet Shows last night with the family. I think it was funnier watching the kids react to what was being shown. Muppets looked dirty though and I forgot how much of a Playboy Kermit was – asking all the female guests to kiss him. The kids did appear to enjoy it though. At one point, my daughter was like how old is this show. My wife stated daddy watched this when he was younger than you. “Whoa – that’s old.” Thanks Violet. Disney Plus got all the shows.

I ran. 77

So, NFTs – Non Fungible Tokens. I was listening to a new Kevin Rose podcast. I’ll provide the link. Future of art – CryptoPunks – which were given away for free back in June 2017 Ethereum blockchain. Look like they belong in Donkey Kong arcade game. Go for $40k. Some several $100k.

This is the book that I kept flashing: Twyla Tharp’s “The Creative Habit”

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“The more I practice, the luckier I get.” – by Gary Player

Scribble will be tidied up at some point. Gotta watch that video!

So, the house has a leprechaun. My daughter left out some “bait” but without a trap. Anyway, so that was a picture of the mess it left behind.

This is the only time of year that you can have this packed for your lunch and someone else will be like – “Mmm-mmm. That looks good!” Any other time – “ew – it’s green.”

Rice Krispy Treats with Lucky Charms cereal.

Lucky Charms cereal was created back in 1964. It runs 57 this Saturday.

Running Socks

The Black & Blue Sock company

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Ego is an evil thing. Confidence is important, but ego is something false. Humility is the way to build confidence, and ego is hugely dangerous in this sport, because if you’re running on ego, you aren’t running on good clean emotions, or cause and effect. You bypass it to support a false idea. It’s all garbage, the ego is garbage.” — by Frank Shamrock (former MMA fighter)

I’ll clean up the scribble later

Give it another day and maybe we won’t be talking about this Daylight Savings Time anymore. Almost normalcy. However, I did mess up in not setting my alarm 15 minutes earlier today. I do that to help give me a little more time before a day out on the road. This is when not just the morning routine is important, but also the evening routine. The night before is when I get everything laid out correctly. Pack the night before both running clothes and work clothes. Prep the java brewing. Lunch is ready. Allows you not to think. An important part of the evening routine is checking that alarm though.

Garmin watch / Nike app

Charcuterie Board / Maiale – go get their Mexicano sausage sandwich – delicious

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Failure isn’t a necessary evil. In fact, it isn’t evil at all. It is a necessary consequence of doing something new.” – by Ed Catmull (Pixar)

The run tally is now at 74. Yesterday, I did get to go outside on the trails. This morning though – back on the treadmill. It works. 74 vlogs as well. Spread the word please. Also, subscribe on YouTube if you could. I just want to make sure that I don’t lose anyone again after the recent Facebook exile. Into day number 7 of that “fun.” Quick summary – my emails are now being kicked back. So, I’m blocked. All phone numbers lead to an end message of: “We are not taking phone calls right now but what you are looking for can be answered online. Thank you.” Click. They just hang up. Zuckerberg . . . come on, man.

Grammys were last night – Quick recap:
* Record of the Year – Everything I Wanted, Billie Eilish
* Album of the Year – Folklore, Taylor Swift – This was the 3rd time she won “Album of the Year” – the only other people to do that were Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon, and Stevie Wonder.
* Best Rock Album – The New Abnormal, The Strokes
* Best Alternative Album – Fetch the Bolt Cutters, Fiona Apple
* Beyonce won a record setting 28th Grammy. Grammys are going to be called the “Beyonces” pretty soon.

Last night, dinner was a little later, so my daughter suggested a charcuterie board. My son and her then put together a plate of fruits, cheeses, meats, and crackers to enjoy. I was impressed. Speaking of impressive . . . here’s a picture of the one my wife did last weekend:

Website has been updated slightly! Click here for my new short – under Droplet of Life. Let me know what you think . . . or maybe not. Whatever. Just read it! Please?

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Tell your friends & family you’re happy. Choose this and then work at it!” – by someone

A couple “I’m sorrys” before starting:

1. I just didn’t feel like talking about my battle with Facebook today. When doing the video, I felt myself becoming too angry and this is not meant for that. I want it to be fun. However, as an FYI, I am still out at Facebook – 6th day of exile
2. Also, I sooooo should have warned you yesterday about Daylight Savings Time again.  Anymore though, everything just adjusts on its own to DST except for that one kitchen clock that takes a battery. As a kid, this was the one Sunday of the year that we had the best shot at missing church. Between the two Daylight Savings Time occurrences, this “spring” forward one is the most troublesome. Every year on the Monday after the switch, hospitals report a 24% spike in heart-attack visits around the US. You just can’t be messing with people’s sleep schedules. Our bodies may not fully recover from the time shift for weeks, but the tragic heart attack trend only lasts about a day. Here’s the article.

Like that mug in the video? Then, click here to purchase one.

Also, I haven’t run yet today – so, I’m stuck on 72. However, I’m hoping to go outside later and get my 5k on (FYI – I did). Tomorrow (Monday). . . I’ll be doing this vlog after the treadmill run and you’ll see the tally skip up to 74.

Books!

• Last night, I posted a picture on Instagram. I was listening to my new Trick of the Tail album that I purchased last week. In addition, I was enjoying some Elijah Craig bourbon whiskey. And finally, I was reading Brzrkr – the new comic that Keanu Reeves is a part of. Issue #1. Bigger than bitcoin and NFTs, right?

• Also, I was flipping through my Walter Isaacson book on Benjamin Franklin since I heard him on Tim Ferriss’ podcast. Isaacson has a new book out. Oh man . . . my reading wish list keeps growing. Anyway though – I truly enjoyed this one on old Ben.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“He that lives on hope . . . dies farting*” – by Ben Franklin. * changed to “fasting” later. The first edition might have been a misprint. Courtesy of Walter Isaacson’s biography of Benjamin Franklin (page 99)

Into the 5th day of exile from Facebook – more on that tomorrow. Let’s get to the other fun stuff. I ran – 72 days in a row. A little extra stretching needed this morning, but otherwise feeling good. Maybe those extra beverages last night had something to do with it.

Last night, we enjoyed Coming 2 America – Yes, the 2nd one. I thought it was great and really well done. I mean, the actors seemed to be having fun throughout it all. And at the end – it just felt like a big party and celebration. AND – I don’t think this is a spoiler, but my favorite joke from the first one was actually replayed within the 2nd one AND played out a 3rd time with everyone grown up. I’m talking about is within the first movie when the little elephant runs by and Eddie Murphy says, “Hello Babar.” In the new one, you get to see grown-up Babar. Hopefully that wasn’t too much. At least I didn’t give out the exact Prince song that was played out. Loved that! I added that to my “morning babble – wake-up” playlist. Posting that soon – maybe next Friday. Here’s the running playlist released yesterday – click here for that.

AMA Saturday:

• What radio station do you listen to?  Terrestrial? Alt 104.5 out of Philly. Mainly have my Sirius XM with Lithium, Alt Nation, Octane, Turbo, and the Verge (Canadian’s Alt Rock).

• Do you still do the 4 days of the 18:6 Fast? Yes. I felt like I was repeating myself too much, so I guess I got away from saying that. During the week, 4 days of the 18:6 fast – keeps the weight in check. Then, monthly – a 3 day fast which helps with allergies. This month was key being ahead of the spring time pollen release – fun!

Again, Facebook update tomorrow. Also, tomorrow on my website, I’ll be posting a new short that I wrote. Hoping that it entertains. Got some giggles from my little posse. Read the one that’s been up here.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Plant your tree before you need the shade.” – by Seth Godin