The Hip, Tragically
I did not have a great day today. On the way into work I learned that my favourite band of all time, The Tragically Hip, lost their amazing lead singer Gord Downie.
This band essentially defined my university experience. They got big (Fully Completely, Day For Night) just when I started school. We played their music All. The. Time. At every party, in every room, at every event, The Hip were there. They quickly became "my" band; I followed all their news and knew all the songs. When a new album dropped we'd rush out to buy it (usually from A&B Music...remember them?).
Today when chatting with my old roommate, he reminded me of all times we were up late studying and listening to the The Q and phoning/faxing/emailing in requests for The Hip at midnight.
And it's the band I've seen the most, probably 6 or 7 times. They put on an outstanding live show, with Gord flailing and wailing. I've seen them in Victoria, Vancouver, at Another Roadside Attraction. Heck I might have even seen them in Ottawa...who can remember them all?
The one show I absolutely remember was their last one in Vancouver in the summer of 2016. Gord had just announced his diagnosis and also the tour. There was no way I was missing this show. With the help of my friend Doug, we got tickets. Behind the stage, but tickets nonetheless. Although I had not seen them in years, they were as good, or better than I remember. Gord sang his heart out and wailed and flailed.
The Hip were there at some of the best times of my life, at university w/ my roomates, at parties, at concerts, on road trips, and at my wedding.
Thanks Gord
Intermittent Fasting
Ever since I got the Precision Nutrition book, I've been interested in trying Intermittent Fasting. It seems like a faily well researched way to increase energy, improve sleep and lean out.
Then I listened to the wonderful Rhonda Patrick on Tim Ferriss' podcast1, and she mentioned that it would be one of the top few health/food tactics she would recommend.
Initially I thought it wouldn't work for me, but then I recently spoke with a fellow Crossfitter who does it and he said he's lost 7 pounds (in 2 months), never slept better and has more energy than ever!
He eats all his calories between 6pm and 10pm, with a bit of Bullet Proof Coffee in the morning to get him going and give his brain some good fats. He says it tooks him about a month to get fully in to it, first eating at noon, then 1, then 2, etc...
I don't like coffee so I'm not sure how I will duplicate that fat content, but I'll ask my nurtitionist how she would approach it, or even if she recommends it.
Consuming all my cals in the evening would work really well for me as I get home about 6pm and go to bed 9-9:30, so I'll just have a big meal just before going to bed.
I'm a bit scared but also super curious how it works.
Embrace the Chaos ⇒
I’ve been telling my kids to clean their rooms for years. Perhaps I’ll stop now.
I'm a Hypocrite
Today I realized I’m a huge hypocrite, and it’s not helping my youngest child.
Coming home today, I learned about a smart phone challenge they did on one of my favourite podcasts, Note to Self. The two goal of this challenge were, to get people to realize how much they used their phone, and to help them reduce that dependency.
They brought up research that explored the consequences of phone addiction. For example, if you take pictures all the time, of everything in your life, you actually don’t remember it as well. You also never let yourself get bored, which is required for deeper thoughts and coming up with new ideas.
I’ve said this a few times before, but it’s never really stuck for me; it’s hard for me to self regulate when it’s a FOMO thing.
Today I realized that I was trying to get my kids to spend less time on their devices while doing the exact opposite of that in my life!
Such. A. Hypocrite.
Only and idiot does the same thing expecting a difference result, so this time in addition to deleting Tweetbot off my phone, I’ve asked Christine to hold me accountable.
Hoping it sticks this time and that extra time I’ve gained can be productive.