Trump Has Great Hair

Maybe you are Mr. or Ms. Internet Surfer, perusing the interwebs, doing your best to dodge typing in a URL incorrectly and stumbling across a website that would make your mother blush.  Maybe you know Joe, and are doing him a solid by reading his musings.  Maybe you heard Joe asked this really cool, moderately good-looking friend of his to guest blog, and wanted to check out what he had to say.  Maybe you thought this website sells coffee. 

Regardless, here you are.  Reading 1,000-plus words about life and living and being a better you and rejection and failure and what’s new in our lives.  You could be laughing or groaning or learning or rolling your eyes or trying to click the “X” button as quickly as you can.  But you’re here and we’ve got your ear and this is the internet, so you read it.

And here Joe and I are.  Writing words into an abyss that over 3 billion people are using at any given time, hoping that 0.0000001% of you will read this think it’s interesting enough to come back to and share with your friends, thus increasing our readership to 0.00000011%.  Success.

So why on earth are you here, supposedly hanging on our every word, trying to find meaning out of the words Joe or I punch into our computers?

I do my best to try and learn something on a weekly, if not daily, basis.  I read the paper on my lunch break, I ask a lot of questions; I’m curious.  The people I come across that frustrate me the most are those that are closed minded and don’t allow themselves to look at something other than the way they’ve crafted it in their head.  That’s the part of the internet that is both a blessing and a curse.  If I think something is one way, a quick google search can affirm my thoughts and provide 100% concrete evidence that my convictions are correct.  A few quick key strokes can propagate any line of thinking, regardless of how intelligent or ignorant.  It can boil each side of the isle down to “you’re with me,” and “hater.”

But what if you’re wrong?  Believe it or not, that is a distinct possibility!  Just because you found a website that says there are 10 inches in a foot, doesn’t mean it’s right!  Just because the article was titled “The Case for Trump’s Great Hair,” it does not make for concrete evidence compared to what the eye can see. 

The partisan approach I mention in the previous paragraphs is really dangerous.  It boils the world down to ones or zeros; black and white; being correct and being a hater.  Despite what you want to believe, there is nuance and grey in nearly all situations…recognizing that, much less seeking it out, allows for more interpretation of whatever it is you’re pondering.

So what is my point here?  It’s that it’s really easy to get tunnel vision, especially on the internet.  Joe and I aren’t necessarily a wealth of knowledge, but reading this may be a source for a different perspective.  Or if nothing else, is a kick in the backside to go seek out a unique perspective.  The people I’ve learned the most from in my short time on planet earth are those that challenged the way I looked at things.  It’s easy to get entrenched with the way you see something, and all of us likely have something we have dug our heels in on.  Seeking out the counterpoints to your counterpoints, though, is a good way to open yourself up to new ideas (as well keeping you from being the jerk troll on Twitter, someone who nobody likes).

New in Travis’ life: Snow just may not be for me; chewing gum in Singapore is illegal; 30 is just a number.

Crazy Asses Were Once Baby Donkies

Watching a sunrise with a cup of coffee might be my favorite pastime. It's nature's reminder that you get a fresh slate. Plus the kick in the pants from the caffeine, drinking the bean juice while the dark turns to light is the most natural way to get your ambition fix.

What that sunrise dosage of Joe provides is tranquility for your brain to start up it's engine. It's a healthy practice that I do as often as I can. The common denominator that I love the most about the experience is the silence. Before the birds, before the wind, before the news, before emails and phone calls is the peacefulness of the still.

Silence is a subjective thing. A lot of it has to do with the chapter of life you are currently in and how busy you may or may not be. To a mom of three toddlers, silence is an offspring detox. To a widowed elderly woman, silence is terrifying. It's a matter of how you look at it. There are too many cup half full/empty references out there, so in lieu of the last year's blockbuster and my sunrise reference, let's look at this as the light and dark side. Silence if you're more the Luke Skywalker type, is a breath of fresh air, but silence to Mr. Darth Vader is a lonely resolve.

I don't intend to retire. Not because of my financial state, but more so my mental state. You see it happen frequently; people retire and then get bored. I don't brake for boredom. Just like physical exercise and keeping your muscles in shape, the brain, when left unchallenged, becomes lazy and less functional. So my game plan is to keep busy until the Good Lord physically doesn't let me. I choose this for my sanity and for the sake of keeping silence on the good side of the force.

This is just opinionated information, but the homework here is to think about how you feel when you're flying solo in a quiet setting. Do you feel at ease or a sense of saddened anxiety? Use your powers for good not evil. Yep.

New in my life: Social media PDA prevention should be addressed at a young age.  My roommate celebrates black history month via puppies. The water in Mexico tastes a lot like tequila.

Comments always welcome.

Keep smilin'

#goAtlife