We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
Want to be fit and trim, attractive, high-energy, light on your feet, and signaling that you have your act together?
You know the popular approaches:
- Low-carb Atkins-like plan. This means fats, protein, and non-root vegetables and greens, with nuts and berries to complete the nutrition. This makes physiologic sense because it trains your body to burn your fat for energy instead of the carbs you shovel into it normally.
- Small but ordinary meals. Eg, a hard-boiled egg and coffee for breakfast, half a sandwich for lunch, a couple of slices of cheese for a snack, and a half-portion of supper. This is a sustainable approach for most people, but it still might not work for you. It works great as a maintenance program for me, but I do not need to lose any fat and I do not have a voracious appetite. By the way, eating "until full" is disgusting and has nothing to do with nutrition. It's just a measure of how much you have stretched your stomach or ignore satiety signals. Normal people eat until satisfied, not until full. "Stuffed" is for the Thanksgiving turkey, or on Thanksgiving.
- Keep a nutrition calendar. Write down everything you put in your mouth. It's even more effective if you include Why you ate that donut. Bored? Tempted by flavor? Anxious? etc. Best idea: When those things happen, do something else as a diversion. If you are overweight, your subjective appetite is a liar because your body is lazy and doesn't want the hassle of burning your fat.
- Exercise is basically useless for fat-burning in any ordinary time frame unless combined with a nutrition program of caloric or carb restriction. However, this is not an argument for a sedentary life. Furthermore, intense exercisers should have a small dose of carbs/sugar before a session to be most effective at pushing the effort.
I have written about the "False Hunger" of the overweight in the past. Paradoxically, the people who least need food experience hunger more than fit people, and consume food more avidly. I think it's usually an effect of being overweight, not a cause, but everybody is different.
Often forgotten: Fruit and fruit juices do not really belong on any fat-burning program. A glass of OJ or apple juice is the same as a Coke. The Big Fruit industry somehow convinced people that there was something "healthy" about fruit. There is not. Fruit is dessert, a treat. Neither do cereals or grains, except minimally, belong on a fat-burning plan.
Lifting things off the ground is as basic and functional as any exercise gets. I disagree with Dr. Rusin's concern about ordinary barbell deadlifts, but he makes a good case for doing trap bar deads here.
One can certainly move heavier weight with the Trap and, for lower body strength, that's the most important thing. He also says that the Trap deadlift combines aspects of squat too. It does, but is not a substitute for squats.
For what it's worth, I switch from Trap to bar every once in a while, if only to keep it varied and interesting. (Unlike Mrs. BD, I hate deads - which means I need to do them.)
The only wisdom I can impart about the essential Deadlift is to use correct technique, and keep the weight high enough that your max reps are 6-10. With those large muscles, it's not a high-rep game.
That is a deep psychological truth. The deep psyche has no sense of time. Memories, for example, can affect us as if they were happening today. ("effect" and "affect" always challenge my grammatical memory.)
My topic however, is the internet. This thing has become a gigantic repository of everything, and it is all basically accessible to anybody. Even the FBI can't really "lose" old emails. There is no need to get paranoid about it because nobody gives a damn about most of us, but it is a strange development that much of our lives have become searchable.
It's like living in a small town, where everybody knows everything that goes on and especially the secrets. How easy was it to find out about Trump's goumada?
A friend and I were discussing this over drinks the other night, and we agreed that we were glad that the shameful things and misdemeanors we had done in reckless youth were pre-internet. We both grew into straight-arrow adults after our careless phases, so that worked.
If anybody can find it, there was a Calvin and Hobbes toon in which Calvin as a 6 year-old (?) was documenting a false childhood for himself in case he ever decided to run for president or something. Genius. Hobbes took a photo of Calvin pretending to read a book.
A fake past is a cool idea, but how does anybody turn over a new leaf when the past is always dragged behind them? It makes it difficult to do or say stupid things, which means it makes it difficult to be normal.
Russia-gate has become so central to the Washington establishment’s storyline that there appears to be no room for second-thoughts or turning back. The momentum is such that some Democrats and the media never-Trumpers can’t stop stoking the smoke of Russia-gate and holding out hope against hope that it will somehow justify Trump’s impeachment.
Yet, the sordid process of using legal/investigative means to settle political scores further compromises the principle of the “rule of law” and integrity of journalism in the eyes of many Americans. After a year of Russia-gate, the “rule of law” and “pursuit of truth” appear to have been reduced to high-falutin’ phrases for political score-setttling, a process besmirched by Republicans in earlier pursuits of Democrats and now appearing to be a bipartisan method for punishing political rivals regardless of the lack of evidence.
Not really a fight. The thing got Peterson even more attention. As a bravely rational guy, he deserves it. We linked the nutty, now-viral interview here. I think Ms. Newman is now hiding under her futon.
They look at the interview but then go deeper into the Peterson view of life in general, because this is a genuinely curious interviewer.
13 Benefits of Weightlifting That No One Tells You About. That mini- article omits many benefits that resistance exercise provides as a component of a fitness program. One is simply resisting the muscular deterioration of ageing, and another is posture.
A reminder: With weights, go heavy or you're wasting your time. You get your high-rep exercise with your calisthenics, some of which use hand weights and kettlebells.
On Sunday we went to the Michelangelo show at the Met. It's been a must-see, especially for art scholars (which is not me - confirmed dilettante), because a show like this will not be assembled again in our lifetimes. It's a giant collection of "Il Divino's" drawings, sketches, and cartoons for his works in painting, architecture (Rome's St. Peter's), and military fortifications (for Florence - below). Few sculptures, because it's about drawings. However, his drawings are sculptural.
Mrs. BD and I reflected that Michelangelo indeed was enchanted by male bodies, but that muscular male bodies also offer more sculptural opportunities than female curves.
We have rambled over the remains of the fortifications he designed for Florence. You have to find them there, on your own. I can tell you where to look.
She doesn't want to learn. She wants a gotcha for her own career, but he gets the gotchas. Unfortunately, she acts foolish to try to be provocative. Not a good approach for a woman because it makes a woman seem foolish.
As the father of two entrepreneurial-minded daughters, they would be entirely on Peterson's side. Life is highly competitive and tests your grit, moxie, brains, adaptability, and determination. And yes, they want strong powerful partners. Who would not? Men want and need strong, energetic partners too. Thus selective breeding.
Fun stuff. (Yes, reposted for educational purposes for women).A Jordan Peterson debate on the gender pay gap, campus protests and postmodernism.
Bob Dylan In a log cabin in the middle of nowhere a long long time ago. He sings his Dream as his second tune.
A lot to said for presenting oneself with confidence and authority. Cool detail: rhyming table with table 3 times. Towards the end, the masterpiece Restless Farewell.
Never before in American history has a major political party put the interests of lawbreaking foreign nationals ahead of the interests of law abiding Americans. Yet that is exactly what the Democrats have done in holding the government hostage to extract special favors for illegal immigrants.
This is a remarkable achievement — and it’s the only achievement the Democrats can claim since blowing their “sure thing” election in 2016.
Besides being filled with hatred for Trump's personality, Mrs. BD could not figure out what they actually want. All I could tell was that they dislike fascism (who doesn't?) and love abortions ("love" abortions?). Many of them brought their kids with them... Also, lots of "Impeach Trump." Why I do not know. In any event, their silly pussy hat march almost made us late for the Sat. matinee of Farinelli at the Belasco so we were pissed off as were all other theater-goers. Police were re-routing everybody around the closed streets for their "parade."
Also highly annoying: they were routed from 6th Ave down 44th St towards Times Square so you could hear their drums and bullhorns from inside the theater. That was a shame because the singing of the counter-tenor in the play was delicious. Also, the first time I have heard live counter-tenor singing.
These pics from the end of the parade, after the play, as we began our urban hike from 44th St. down to Bleeker for a little cozy supper. Walking in the city is always highly entertaining.
A tune of comfort for the Trump-discomforted. Really, things will be ok. In fact, things are pretty good now. Jobs for everybody, no big wars, lower taxes. "Don't bring everybody down."
The pink of the Flamingo comes from the pink crustaceans it eats, but the red of the male Eastern Cardinal just comes from its regular foods - bugs and seeds.
Want to be fit and trim, attractive, high-energy, light on your feet, and signaling that you have your act together? 
Lifting things off the ground is as basic and functional as any exercise gets. 
Modern humans
Woman Identified As Inspiration
The pink of the Flamingo comes from the pink crustaceans it eats, but the red of the male Eastern Cardinal just comes from its regular foods - bugs and seeds.