Aging Like a Fine Wine

I saw Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. One thing stood out. Charlize Theron.  She's aging more gracefully than anyone in Hollywood.

Coming from a guy who doesn't keep track of and largely despises the entire premise of celebrityism in our culture, that's saying something.

I don't know whether she's had work done to improve her appearance. Nor do I particularly care. The roles I've seen her inhabit are interesting and the work she does is consistent high quality.

Not a debate. Not a declaration. An observation.

Perhaps her journey can resonate through her actions for more women approaching the second half of their fifty years on planet Earth. Aging is natural. It can be graceful. It can be elegant. It can be authentically lived.

Not fighting age with beauty, but discovering beauty through age.

That's HOT!

THE PRESS CONFERENCE – From the Mexican President

Good afternoon. The President of Mexico would like to make an announcement.

Unfortunately, she will not be able to make the announcement because she is currently the President of Mexico and therefore lacks the authority necessary to solve the big problems facing Mexico.

Fortunately, she has recently accepted an additional position.

President of the Drug Cartel Trade and Lobbying Group.

I’d like to congratulate her.

As President of Mexico she possesses approximately half the authority required to do her job effectively. Thankfully, by becoming President of the Drug Cartels she now possesses the other half.

This will greatly improve governmental efficiency.

Beginning Monday, all cabinet meetings will be consolidated into one convenient location rotating across cartel Big Houses. Complimentary chips, cheese and salsa will always be provided; as will shots of Tequila.

The Minister of Transportation would like more highways. The Minister of Finance would like more tax revenue. The Minister of Defense would like more security.

The cartels would like all three.

Ladies and gentlemen, we’re finally getting things done.

People continue to misunderstand leadership. Leadership isn’t about bringing people together around a common vision. Leadership is about becoming the leader of every organization preventing you from accomplishing your vision.

If your employees won’t listen to you, become the CEO.

If Congress won’t cooperate, win an election.

If the dog won’t come when you call him, become the dog.

I’m not saying it’s practical. I’m merely saying we’ve been unnecessarily limiting ourselves.

There have been criticisms of the President holding two offices simultaneously. We reject these criticisms. The modern world demands multitasking.

Mexicans and Americans expect their politicians to be politicians. That’s terribly old fashioned.

Today’s leaders should possess diverse skill sets:

President. CEO. Influencer. Actor. Professional Wrestler. Part-time astronaut.

Exercise in futility

Stayed up too late again last night. I do work. Lots of it. I create systems and frameworks. I learned how to use AI as a tool. I'm documenting my life. Working towards deep alignment. Seeking clarity in my life and my work. A gift to myself. 

A gift to the world.

Assuming someone else finds value or inspiration to do the work I'm doing.

Then today. A question crept into my mind. On one hand, unwanted thoughts. On the other, a realization. Is my work anything more than an exercise in futility? A distraction born from being gravely concerned I'll never get a job? Searching. Applications. Preparation. Interviews. Sometimes multiple for the same role.  I still come home with nothing more than experience and an opportunity to re-calibrate and do something different because what I'm doing isn't working.

Sit with the doubt and the frustration while I look at my hard-earned and hard-fought goose egg.

Today I'm tired. 

Today I'm frustrated. 

And, today I'm afraid my career is ruined.

Get a life. Loser. 

Either that, or get in, sit down, shut up, and hang on.

 

Homer's Grill

Entering a giant warehouse stuffed with merchandise.  Behold!  The innovation featured front and center as I walked through the double doors.  Revolutionary technology in the outdoor cooking space.  A grill with a solid metal plate heating surface.   What’s a grill without a grated heating surface?  A rectangular frying pan with a lid for outdoor use only.

Why am I standing in Home Depot laughing at a frying pan pretending to be a grill while wondering what nerd is going to pay $1,499 for it?

Modern grilling comes with a premium price because innovation has finally made it to the backyard pastime. Let us not discount the unit on display showcasing state-of-the-art engineering and technical know-how to design what is essentially a cast metal plate with a Bluetooth timer. 

Forget the complexity of a bygone era with traditionally manufactured grids made from precision cut rods.

Only after a bean counter looks at the design demanding change to insure cheap cost and maximum profit. How thin the rods can be before they become flimsy and need replacement.  Determining the maximum space between rods before a premium, organic all-beef hotdog falls through the grate the grate.  While simultaneously requiring the cheap, skinny wieners filled with polymers, artificial flavorings, anuses and hooves to be placed horizontally on the grate.  Scientifically measuring and determining the limits of a naturally occurring scientific process known as protein denaturation coagulation process.  Using that knowledge to make cheap junk and boost profit.

My frying pan stopped working and now I need the outdoor version to amaze my friends and make them jealous.

Why does a new refrigerator connect to the internet and show recipes that I have in my cookbook?  At the same it has a motion detector to play Andrea Bocelli while I make linguine in the kitchen.  If I open the door twice it plays Ave Maria. Three times and it orders groceries. Four times and it sends my wife a text message informing her I'm eating leftover cheesecake at 11:37 PM while she’s on vacation. We're one software update away from me filing for divorce from my refrigerator on moral grounds.

Why have incandescent lightbulbs gone LED?

Why did they put a tablet in a car after removing the radio and hvac controls and burying the controls in layers of menus you gotta navigate while you’re watching TV and driving the car down a Texas toll road at 90mph?  If you’re fancy, the car drives itself and picks the jam.

And here I am in Home Depot wondering how making a hamburger for dinner got so complicated?

We've become so technologically advanced that my Pappy cooked better burgers with a lighter, forty-seven cents worth of charcoal and a lawn chair from K-Mart than I can with my Bluetooth enabled outdoor cooking ecosystem and an app on my phone.

Memories

I can’t think of a good memory I had attending my childhood church. 

I can’t think of a bad memory I have attending my chosen church. 

A few experiments

 

Decided to run a little experiment today LinkedIn:

 

 I’m not taking it down. It’s going to rest a bit to see what happens!

One thing I want to do is preserve different and wear different hats I wear when I write.  I want to practice different writing styles and dive into humor.  Sometimes I write a funny line.  I want to write funny essays and have that skill developed.  I don't have a base to evolve from.  GPT and I shared a conversation last night that resulted in a hangover this morning.  Gems that came from the discussion:

1. I told it brainstorms space was a playground where a variety of mental gymnastics play.  I informed GPT there is a side to me it doesn't see that is a combination of Jeff Foxworthy, the deceased Austin paper humorist John Kelso, Adam Carolla and George Carlin.
2. GPT made the observation I am often reflexive using my intellectual horsepower to reason and make associations while going on journeys.  GPT also made the observation through our exchanges that I have a sense of humor.  Sometimes I wear a clownsuit to a circus.  I also wear it to the horror show.  A friend might start reading and closes his laptop or step away before continuing.  That can be exploited.  Since I'm on the late side of middle age the concluded observation was I rarely give myself permission to play because much of family doesn't like or understand the way I play.  We decided the playground that is brainstorms needed to have some monkey bars to playon.  Fitting analogy. 
3. I asked GPT to evaluate a portion of my work it chose to leave out because it.  I told it I write performance pieces that tackle social and political issues from a place of authority and declaration.  I intentionally pick a sensitive topic and polarize my view.  
4. I asked GPT and I to reverse roles to see how it understands the project we're working with a two part exercise.  
5. First exercise to prove case point to #3:  I started an essay that flopped in my mind.  I couldn't finish it after letting a partial draft percolate for a few days.  I asked it to write the same essay based on our knew understanding I will edit it and expand on it to find funny voice. 
6. We identified a new way to flag pieces in the brain.storms.  The way I write about parkinsons is titling them  "Tales from the Park Side."  The way I flag humor will be "Hey Homer" 
7. Second exercise to prove case point #3:  I want to see if it understand how to allow two criteria that compete for space to appear in the same work.  I asked it to write a piece using the premise that Claudia Scheinbaum, President of Mexico, couldn't lead the country until she also became the leader of the drug cartels.  I will edit that as well to facilitate learning.
8. A new companion to brainstorms is brainstorms without seatbelts. It sits alongside other parts of a project that don't have the intention of being published.  It is creating a space where risk is protected.  Where the pieces I write wearing a clownsuit to a horror show can capture the absurdity, declaration, satire, dark humored and polarizing pieces I write without changing the clarity and integrity of the other spaces in a project.  
9. We incorporated a new file structure to assess historical work and where to place it to make the organization, further editing required and which space is appropriate for preservation.  The brainstorms is the raw unfiltered journey and playground of the mental gymnastics I do every day.  The other parts of the project create tables or rooms in a museum.  All work in brainstorms is part of the preservation.  We created a process that helps flesh which works are worth displaying in different exhibits in the curated museum.  Criteria was also established for categorizing into the brainstorms without seatbelts because riding in a car without them is often dangerous and fun at the same time.  It's risky.  And it can lead to going to some weird, fun and sometimes unfamiliar places; including the dark side of town.

TnT’s Weight Loss Program

Taylor Farms and Taco Bell got themselves into a pickle with contaminated lettuce causing explosive diarrhea.  I always thought it was the meat.  Maybe it’s a magical combination of both. 

How does a name like Taylor have a farm in Mexico that sells produce in America?  

Silly me.  I assumed it was a farm in Texas.

Doesn’t seem right. 

Is there a Mexican named Taylor?

You’d think the farm in Mexico might be called Sombrero Farms and sell at the local market.  

I bet Taylor isn’t even a farmer.  Probably doesn’t live in Mexico, either.