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.
I've been doing weights twice weekly in my genius trainer's garage since mid-March, and was running twice/week until it got too damn hot for me, and Mrs. BD and I switched to walks. Walks with a spouse are worth doing, but are not exercise.
Since my big gym has re-opened, apparently the calisthenics classes have been small, say 7 people instead of 30. Fine with me, but harder to hide. Trying to get back to 2 days of heavy wts, 2 days of calis, and 2 days of HIIT cardio. That's the Maggie's program for general fitness and conditioning.
Also, I need the stair machine. It's easy to tell, because when I do barbell squats I have stiff legs for 3 days. One day of soreness is fine, but not 3.
14:13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.
14:14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.
14:15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves."
14:16 Jesus said to them, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat."
14:17 They replied, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish."
14:18 And he said, "Bring them here to me."
14:19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.
14:20 And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.
14:21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
I guess it's more of a cauliflower than a broccoli, but whatever. Probably more interesting to look at than to eat - unless dressed with lots of garlic and oil.
My view is that even dog kibbles are good with enough oil and garlic.
I am a small business owner, a New Yorker, an entrepreneur, a daughter, a sister, and an advocate of others who wish to pursue their dreams. I am passionate about freedom, education and innovation; I am open minded and eager to hear about other people's experiences. My personal views on political issues are deeply rooted in my own personal experiences.
I have launched two businesses over the past seven years; however for the first five years I struggled. I am an educated and intelligent woman but found myself living hand to mouth -- even briefly taking food stamps to buy basic groceries. After year three, I was able to access capital at a reasonable cost and this allowed me to grow; after year six, I am finally seeing some success and I am able to support myself; after year seven I am thriving.
My companies have created jobs for more than 250 US workers and have generated more than $10 million of economic activity. I enjoy my work and find fulfillment in creating a positive impact. I work hard day in and day out to pursue my dreams and encourage others to do the same. I help other entrepreneurs without asking for anything in return because this is the right thing to do. I am not perfect, I have made mistakes, and I am among the ranks of millions of small business owners doing the same thing.
Here are some facts about small businesses. (Before we begin, note that the SBA generally defines small businesses as firms with less than 500 employees; however you can read more details about small business criteria here.)
Small businesses account for 44% of the US economy(1). Specifically, small businesses created $5.9 trillion, or 43.5%, of the $13.6 trillion private non-farm US economy in 2014.
The entire US GDP is approximately $20.2 trillion. The entire world GDP is $80 trillion.
Please let this sink in for a minute. Here are a few other facts.
Small businesses in the US employees 58.9 million people, which makes up 47.5% of the country's total workforce.
Small businesses create 1.5 million jobs annually and account for 64% of new jobs created in the United States(3).
Before COVID, it was challenging enough. Most small businesses fail; here are some stats. The primary reasons small businesses fail are cash flow and management / business planning challenges, the latter of which I believe is due to a lack of education. The SBA has amazing resources for small business owners, but small business owners often are not aware of these resources.
Back to politics. On a personal level, I find many individuals in politics distasteful -- on both sides. I also find many role models in our leadership on both sides. But, personalities are their business and not my business. If I could not find a way to work with people I did not like, I would be out of business.
All I ask is that everyone do a personal inventory of your motives for hate speech or rallying in an unsafe way - whichever side you are on. If you are doing this to fit in, for approval, to make yourself feel better or simply because you are bored, check yourself. Don't be afraid to speak about your experiences -- or to pursue your dreams.
Please, be safe, be grateful, and support a local business today.
You want to know how I spend my time? I walk the front lawn, pretending to be weeding. You ought to know I'm never weeding, on my knees, pulling clumps of clover from the flower beds: in fact I'mlooking for courage, for some evidence my life will change, though it takes forever, checking each clump for the symbolic leaf, and soon the summer is ending, already the leaves turning, always the sick trees going first, the dying turning brilliant yellow, while a few dark birds perform their curfew of music. You want to see my hands? As empty now as at the first note. Or was the point always to continue without a sign?
Studies about romantic relationships, which marriages supposedly are, never seem able to capture the complexities of chemistry, compatability, and partnering.
Sexual issues, financial issues, disagreements, emotional issues and frailties, etc etc all beset the basically unnatural notion of lifetime monogamous bonding. In Western cultures, committment is important cement, but how often is it, really?
Good friendships can easily last a lifetime, thank God. That's partly because you do not live with them and have to deal with their flaws every day. Friendships are essential in life, I believe. No one partner can meet all of our relational wants, supports, comraderie, and enjoyments.
The New York Times is having an identity crisis. Is it a newspaper and the paper of record still, which has its own point of view but prints both some hard news and some other opinions? Or is it an “opinion journal,” a magazine like National Review or the Nation, which has one view and sticks with it while patrolling all parts of its turf?
Summing up personality types, or at least dominant personality traits, in a simple phrase has probably gone on as long as language has existed. "That guy's a jerk - stay away."
Theophrastus (370-285 BC), a student of Aristotle and a botanist among other things, made a list of the types which have been used in drama ever since. They are of course one-dimensional character types (we could term them stereotypes) but I think we all use phrases similar to those to describe people: The Flatterer and the Chatterer
The Maggie's Fitness for Life program includes both. Still, we tend to agree that calisthenics classes offer more bang for the buck (or for the time.)
The logic is that 50 minutes of intense calis (with maybe only 6-10-second breaks between routines) is a good heart stressor while also working on athleticism, balance, flexibility, light-weight endurance muscle work, and body-weight exercises. In addition, most calisthenics classes include specific HIIT routines like rowing sprints. Obviously, each person works at his or her own level.
If you take three tough calisthenics classes weekly, do you need to do your own HIIT cardio? Maybe not, because calisthenics classes that keep your heart rate up are stressful cardio.It depends on how intensely you want to condition, and on how ambitious you are. What sorts of circuits do typical calisthenics classes include? Rowing sprints, kettlebell swings, pushups, jumping jacks, jump rope, heavy ropes, body weight squats, heavy ball throws, sandbag slams, floor and core work like planks and crunches, hand weights, stretches, etc etc. Fun stuff, never boring because the routines are only 30-60 seconds each.
We do like the idea of one "long, slow" cardio hour, like swimming, jogging, high-incline walking, stair machine, etc as a recovery day from a week's exertions with heavy weights and calisthenics. There is evidence that "active recovery" like that makes for more effective physical recovery than doing nothing. A 4-5-hour hill hike is a perfect recovery activity from demanding workouts.
With calisthenics, the less spare fat you carry, the better you will do and the more quickly you will move. To shed spare fat, cut the food volume and get rid of those carbs. (Our readers know what carbs are: fruit, juices, grains and grain products, beer, root vegetables, anything with sugar, etc.)
It's an English (via French "chef" and Latin, same root as "captain" and "chieftain." "Jefe" in Spanish.
Do any readers associate the word "chief" as disparaging to Native Americans? If the CEO is question doesn't want to be a boss, ok, but a CEO has to be a boss whether you like it or not.
In the Algonquin family of languages, a "sachem" was the boss.
I've taken fitness classes which only use bands for resistance. In a way, band workouts are calisthenics with extra resistance.
For general fitness, bands are all the equipment you really need to buy unless you are in a serious muscle-building program. Believe me, the guy in the video did not grow that muscle bulk with bands alone.
"Portland is leading. They’re showing what it looks like to stay in the streets despite police oppression, despite the federal forces being sent in. This kind of energy is actually what’s needed."
Boccaccio's Decameron (1352) was written partly as porn for women of the time, situated away from Florence in an idyllic, sybaritic setting away from the urban Black Death.
When women were commonly married off at 15 to older gents, naturally they sought romantic adventure and especially so when you might die any day from the plague.
This was a time when the clergy were not too holy, and not overly-respected except on Sundays.
Boccaccio worshipped Dante's works and was a pal of Petrarch. A canonical writer with whom it would have been fun to have some wine.
It's a model for (dysfunctional) family dynamics. One aspect of the model is that the Victim is not necessarily a literal victim, but one who assumes the victim role.
A reader is growing this interesting broccoli in the garden this year: 
Why Is Bob Ross Still So Popular?