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Monthly Archives: October 2015

 

Mind full or Mindful?

October 28th, 2015

On Mondays I attend my favorite yoga class. Every week, as class disperses and the yogis and yoginis depart, most of them head straight to their phone to see what they’ve missed. The hour they spend unifying their breath and body, finding peace, and practicing mindfulness, is shattered almost immediately after they leave the studio. Why is it so hard to practice mindfulness in our modern society? Here is my take on why practicing mindfulness every day is so hard. In the era of the 24-hour news cycle, portable devices that go everywhere with us, and social media – my apology to the medium that... Read More

Red In Their Ledgers

October 25th, 2015

In order for a film to be considered successful, the rule of thumb is that it must make back at least twice its production budget.* Crimson Peak, the newest film from visionary director Guillermo del Toro, had an estimated production budget of around $55 million. So far, it’s only made back about $16 million. It’s tanking hard, a sizable failure. So why is Crimson Peak going down like the Titanic? It’s certainly not because of del Toro. A Mexican filmmaker, he’s not just an artist. He’s a fierce individualist, a director determined to grasp the beautiful and... Read More

Stress is a Four Letter Word

October 21st, 2015

It’s a downhill slide into the holiday season once we get past Halloween. Stress is a hallmark of American life, particularly during the holidays.  Did you know that most Americans don’t use their vacation time?  And when we do take vacation, many of us take our devices with us to stay connected at work.  The 24-hour news cycle creates additional stress that we may not even notice. Stress impacts every area of our life – how we eat, sleep and work. Prolonged stress causes our body to be constantly bombarded with stress hormones, which inhibits the body’s ability to utilize fat. When... Read More

Spy Vs. Guy

October 18th, 2015

History has a delightful habit of repeating itself. It seems like humanity falls into the same traps and creates the same problems. Luckily for us, there are usually people of goodwill and upright character to keep us from collectively toppling into the abyss. For example, our country is currently involved in a cold war, or something that looks an awful lot like a cold war, with Russia. Yes, again. For those of you who aren’t ancient like me, it’s time for a brief history lesson. After the end of World War II in 1945, the majority of our planet was controlled by either the United... Read More

Fidget Much?

October 14th, 2015

You may have already heard that sitting is the new smoking. Perhaps you’ve wondered what that means?  It simply means that the risk of dying younger and being less healthy that has long been attributed to smoking is now being applied to sitting on your 6 all day. Even if you are a world class exerciser, yet spend the majority of your waking hours sitting on your derriere, you are still at risk for chronic health issues associated with sitting. Recently, several studies published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine suggested that fidgeting may offset the effects of sitting all day.... Read More

Rocket Man

October 11th, 2015

The Martian is the movie we need right now. We live in an era of astonishing selfishness and decreasing selflessness. These days, fewer people study science and engineering during their college years. In fact, business is the most popular college major. Lots of us are taught that the proper trajectory in life is to get a well-paying job, get rich, and accumulate as much stuff as possible. Many of us are baffled by the idea of doing something for the common good, coming together for a singular goal. That’s the bad news. The good news is, people are fluid. We can change for the better.* We... Read More

To Eat or Not To Eat

October 7th, 2015

Food is one of my favorite subjects. I love to eat it, smell it, think about it, and talk about it. I’ve noticed that much of the conversation around food revolves around what one should or should not eat to be healthy. Often, I think information about the whys of good eating is far more important than the what. First let me say that the word diet has become a negative word in our lexicon. We use the big-D diet to inform how we restrict our intake, e.g., Atkins, South Beach, Paleo. The little-d diet is a derivation of the Greek word meaning “manner of living”. So, when I talk about diet (notice... Read More

Art Crime

October 4th, 2015

During the construction of the Twin Towers in New York City, many people were less than thrilled with the design. Critic Lewis Mumford wasn’t impressed, writing that the World Trade Center, “…is a characteristic example of the purposeless giantism and technological exhibitionism that are now eviscerating the living tissue of every great city.” Don’t hold back, Lewis, seriously. The Twin Towers were opened April 4, 1973, to much fanfare. New Yorkers sighed and tried to get used to the gigantic monoliths now in their midst. But on August 7, 1974, sometime after 7 AM,... Read More