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I slept in. Felt good. So, this is 101 of Morning Babbles. The 101st 5k run of the year is coming up on the treadmill. I did get my Covid shot yesterday, too. Feeling good there, too. It was the JNJ one, so I’m done. Immediately, I reached out to my parents and told them that I can hug them in 3 weeks. I can’t wait.

Books – Let’s talk about journaling

• My first journal ever was The Five Minute Journal – I’ve filled up 3 of them over the years.

• Another popular journal is by Julia Cameron: The Artist’s Way Morning Pages Journal. I know that Tim Ferriss, Chase Jarvis, and many others use it continuously. This is when you start the day with a blank page and simply write whatever comes to mind. I’ve heard it referred to as a brain dump – whether it’s one page or many more – just write it all out. I have to admit that I have not tried this one yet. Mainly because I feel that I enjoy a journal with a prompt, but it is extremely popular, so I really do need to give a whirl sometime soon.

• The Daily Stoic Journal is by far my most favorite one. I tried this one for the first time in 2018 and went back to it again for this year. It can be used along side The Daily Stoic, but it’s certainly not a necessity. I find myself writing in a different way with this journal. The depths that are reached within me are truly felt with what I spill out onto the pages. There’s a prompt that you write to in the morning & evening, and I look forward to it each and every time I sit down in our house library.

• Finally, another favorite of mine is the simple One Line A Day journal. This is where I write down such things as “I got my Covid shot. Elliott’s opening day baseball game was played. And – we had a campfire last night with S’mores!” I enjoy looking back at the happy moment as well as the sad ones that I experienced on that very same day one year ago, two years ago, etc. I’m on year number 4 and have loved the experience more & more with each year I write in it.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“If you want to learn, if you want to improve your life, seeking out teachers, philsophers, and great books is a good start. But this approach will only be effective if you’re humble and ready to let go of opinions you already have.” – by Ryan Holiday via The Daily Stoic, p113

Couple things from yesterday’s vlog:

1. Yes. I have used the coffee cake joke before about breakfast. AND – I will probably use it again. BUT – today, I have a cookie and officially deem it coffee cookie.
2. The number 99 was mentioned yesterday. I then said that the one song you think of when you hear 99 is . . . and I played “99 Balloons” by Goldfinger. Initially, I heard that I should have played the original one from the 80s. But then, my wife pointed out that she didn’t think of this balloon song at all, but instead, Jay-Z’s song 99 problems. I was then called old . . . and I am.

Some sad news in the music world yesterday, we lost DMX – just a young man out of Baltimore. Things didn’t look good all week, but he was only 50 and still had so much more to give. You just . . . hoped something could happen.

This sadly makes me think back 6 months ago on this date when we lost my brother-in-law, Barry. I’m thinking about you big sis and my niece, Melissa. Keep playing Genesis with “It’s Gonna Get Better” because it will.

AMA Saturday:

• Question #1 – Are you back on Facebook yet? No

• Question #2 – Is this email (morningbabble@brentevans.net) for real? Yes

• Questions #3 – When’s your next fast? Next month – looking at 5/4 to 5/6

Today is my 100th run and vlog. I was going to do something big, but then thought about it. I’m not even a 1/3 of the way to my goal. It’s close, but not yet. So, keeping it low key, because I’m in it for the long haul and hoping to motivate and make you all smile a little more along the way.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Put your faith in what you most believe in.” – by Phil Collins

My 3 Day Fast ended yesterday officially at 6:48pm! I could have started at actually eating 5:15pm, but at 10am – the fog cleared out and I was all good the rest of the way. Dinner was pasta, sauce, and hot sausage. And – water, of course, since the April Alcohol Drought continues on. For dessert, I was supposed to have ice cream with my wife, but she crashed. So, I had a cookie and a whole lot of jelly beans. The black licorice jelly beans have been eliminated from this household, so that temptation is now gone.

I ran, I vlogged – final double digit day! 99!

New Music Friday:

• Record Store Day (June 12th & July 17th) has announced the first of its 2021 RSD Drops: Lady Gaga’s Chromatica on exclusive yellow vinyl; Rage Against the Machine with The Battle of Mexico City, which is a live album that was released last year for download; and AWOLNATION with Angel Miners & the Lighting Riders LIVE on vinyl.

• Fearless (Taylor’s Version) is out by Miss Taylor Swift – the rerecording of her 2008 album.

• On July 30th, we get new Prince – a whole unreleased album that was recorded back in 2010. 12 tracks and it’s called Welcome 2 America

• The song “Madelyn” is out from Anderson East. First taste of his upcoming album, due out August 20th -it’s called Maybe We Never Die.

• Other new stuff: “Spinning Circles” from Ayron Jones – love that guitar / Rostam dropping a 4 song EP – he was one of the founding members of Vampire Weekend / Finally, Twenty One Pilots have released a new song, “Shy Away,” from their upcoming sixth studio album, Scaled and Icy, out May 21st

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Music is the universal language of mankind.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This is the scribble that I write for my babble . . . clean up is still needed.

Today was a tough one. I didn’t think that I was going to make it through the run.

Yesterday, the music pulled me through, but today I enjoyed Dax Shepard interviewing Walter Isaacson, who wrote one of my favorite books – Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

3rd day of the 3 day fast.

98th 5k run / 98th vlog

Too much coffee? Watch that video to see how much I used to bring with me to work!

By the way, my April Alcohol Drought is obviously still going on. 7 days of no fun beverage.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: Every day I walk myself into a state of well-being, and walk away from every illness; I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.” – by Søren Kierkegaard

This is the scribble for my babble before I clean it up – coming soon!

I had to bail on the podcast listening today. It wasn’t a favorite one, so I switched it up to my running playlist. Joe Rogan considers that cheating. I always ran with shoes and socks on.

Oh, by the way, one of my tips yesterday, I mentioned about going to brush your teeth or “take some mouthwash” I am not encouraging drinking Scope.

2nd day of the 3 Day Fast – Sunflower Seeds, can you?

Jocko Willick apparently eats sunflower seeds during his fast.

I looked it up – googled “Can you eat sunflower seeds during a fast”

Some responses: What part of fast don’t you understand? // Don’t Eat // If you’re eating, you aren’t fasting.

So, no – don’t eat sunflower seeds during a fast. Now, if Jocko walked in and said, what are you questioning? I’d probably pop a couple into my mouth and not say a word.

I ran, I vlogged – 97

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Real change will come when it is brought about, not by your ego, but by reality.” – by Anthony de Mello via the Twitter account of Ryan Holiday

FYI – send emails to morningbabble@brentevans.net

I ran, I vlogged – 96 days! April’s Alcohol Drought continues, too.

Last night, it began after a wonderful Chicken Parmesan dinner with the family AND it was an early dinner courtesy of my son needing to get to baseball practice. So, it’s underway – the 3 Day Fast! Day one is always the easiest though. I track it all while using the Zero App.

Looking up my past history with the Zero App, it looks like my first ever recorded 3 day fast was on November 18, 2021. BUT – I only did 71 hours and 14 minutes.  I make sure that I hit the full 72 hours now. No shortcuts. With a recent fast this year, we had a meal prepared for us and it was like 10 minutes away from my fast ending. I encouraged to “just eat.” I waited 71 hours and 50 minutes . . . I can wait another 10 minutes. Also, I suggest not doing these 3 day fasts over a weekend. Why torture the family.

3 Fasting Tips

1. Lemon & salt in the water every morning – settles the stomach
2. Struggling during the day? Brush your teeth or use some mouthwash
3. At night, take some Magnesium – MagMind.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Starve the ego, Feed the soul” by DJ AM via Steve Aoki

This was one of those tough mornings. Didn’t feel like getting things going today. For the music, as always, I turned to the Morning Babble wake-up playlist – recently, I have added a couple other songs. Always changing.

I also picked up my copy of The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. It’s always on my desk for these types of mornings and to help me push through it . . . the resistance. I read from page 13: “Resistance is Universal: We’re wrong if we think we’re the only ones struggling with Resistance. Everyone who has a body experiences Resistance.”

There is so much candy in this house now. Anymore, I believe more candy is brought in from the Easter holiday than Halloween. And tonight – I begin the 3 day fast – 72 hours. There will be so much temptation that I’ll be walking by. I think I’ll just go on a long drive until Thursday.

April Alcohol Drought is still underway – turned down numerous beverages yesterday.

95 days of running / 95 vlogs

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“There is no shortcut. There is no hack. There’s only one way. So, get after it.” – by Jocko Willink (I took it from the back of his book, Discipline Equals Freedom)

Happy Sunday to some of you and Happy Bunny Day to others – whatever your choice.

The rabbit did visit this house, so plastic eggs are everywhere. He did leave original jelly beans . . . the kind that I stole from the candy dish on the way to the bathroom at my Nana & Pop’s house growing up. What flavor is Purple?

Oh and today’s breakfast – Peeps Cereal!

Egg Boxing as explained by Dr. Peter Attia. Not the hard boiled battles though – Click here!

94th vlog of Morning Babble! 94th run – will be outside after I post this.

Typically, I talk about books today, but I’ll save my Deep Dive into this book – Being Mortal – for next week.

Heard this on a podcast – I believe it was The Tim Ferriss Podcast: Hugh Jackman reads right after he wakes up (early) in the morning. He explained:  “I read a book with my wife. So we get up and we read to each other for half an hour. It’s the best. I recommend it to anyone…It’s the greatest way to start the day. Right now I’m reading Stillness Is the Key, by Ryan Holiday… I’m really into philosophy. So we read, and we talk, because stuff’s on your mind. You don’t realize how much has been on your mind overnight, and it comes out in the morning. That way, no matter what happens through our day, we know that we’ve had quality time together. You always think, tonight; after work; after this; when we put the kids to bed, but that doesn’t always happen.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“”Dive in when you hear the cry for help. Reach out when you see the need. Do Kindness where you can.” – Ryan Holiday via Stillness is the Key (page 252)

3 Day Fast is coming Monday AFTER dinner – just a reminder, if anyone would like to join me on the fasting “fun.”

April Alcohol Drought still underway – only into day #3 / 2 days completed. I won’t lie. I’ve already peeked ahead and see that May 1st is a Saturday . . . and I’m pleased by that.

Tombstone – one of my favorite movies of all time. From 1993, with Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp and Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday. I tell story in video – go watchy-watch.

AMA Saturday:

• Question #1 – Are you running in any races or marathons this year? Nothing planned . . . yet. I know that there are some virtual ones, but . . . do you think by the Fall – something real? Dave Magee – I’m calling on you for some help. – let’s get something set for the Fall.

• Question #2 – Question from Beth – she passed along her own blue card – “Just how many hours are in your day?” Well . . . not enough really. But, my family still likes me, so that’s a good thing. I am anxious to see how my sleep changes this month with the April Alcohol Drought. See if my REM goes up as well as sleeping through the night.

If you have a question, send it in wherever you can find me OR simple email works: morningbabble@brentevans.net

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“The hero and the coward both feel the same thing, but the hero uses his fear, projects it onto his opponent, while the coward runs. It’s the same thing, fear, but it’s what you do with it that matters.” – by “Cus” D’Amato was an American boxing manager and trainer who handled the careers of Mike Tyson

I ran, I vlogged – 92 in a row! / April Alcohol Drought is underway – already experienced a benefit. Typically, on my Thursday drive home, I grab a 4 pack of beverage to try out for the weekend. I didn’t do that. Saved some money.

Watching The Falcon and the Winter Soldier tonight with Pizza, Wings, and . . . water.

Last week, I told you no Coachello this year. But – The Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival has posted its lineup, scheduled to run September 2-5th. Foo Fighters and Megan Thee Stallion on Friday, Lizzo and Tame Impala on Saturday, and Tyler, The Creator and Lana Del Rey on Sunday.

New Music Friday:

• Rewind to last Friday – that new AJR album that came out – OK Orchestra – still loving it. By the way, for all you newbies to AJR – it’s three brothers, Adam, Jack, and Ryan.

• Also, another album that came out last week that I got to dig into some more was from singer and rapper Noga Erez. KIDS is the album. I let this one flip over a couple times, too.

• 2Cellos came out with another song. First – who are 2Cellos? They are 2 guys from Croatia who each play the cello AND they redo famous rock and pop songs. The current one – Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer.” Past ones? White Stripe’s “Seven Army Nation”, AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck”, and way more.

• 1st song on the Spotify playlist – New Music Friday – is “deja vu” by Olivia Rodrigo. I really liked that one. It’s definitely not something that I would have gone for, but truly enjoyed.

• Mat Kearney came out with a 5 song album – the one song that I heard was “Anywhere With You.” He has a sound like the bare foot dude (Jack Johnson), or Ben Rector, or maybe even Chris Martin. I enjoy him as a chill sound in the house library, too.

• Violent Femmes have announced a new vinyl reissue of their greatest hits compilation Add It Up (1981-1993), marking the first time it’s been available in the format since its initial pressing in 1993. The vinyl reissue is out May 21. FYI – they are celebrating 40 years as a band this year!

• Something new for me – The Fratellis – their whole album dropped today. Now, I think I’ve already heard like half of the songs on this album, but I was happy to get the other half. The album is called Half Drunk Under a Full Moon

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” ― Bob Marley