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

Cowboy Cadillac Cool

Three days until Christmas. I'll start celebrating soon. There are a few of you who are experiencing chilly weather. You're not prone to the global warming or The Nino. Minus trying Egg Nog in my coffee, I haven't begun celebrating Jesus' birth yet. Some would say I'm late to the party. Others may say I'm the Grinch or cold hearted. I would say though my personality is right around the 73 degree mark.

"This too shall pass" is a good quote and borderline cliche but it holds value. The other day someone criticized me. This is the part where you're shocked. My first inclination by nature was to feel annoyed, confront my evaluator and resent their point of view. But instead I paused and went back to my prepubescent rituals and took a nap. Naps solve problems. What this mental digestion did is it allowed me to realize how unimportant my worries were. I still didn't agree with my peer's criticism, but instead of dwelling, I came to see it was just a passing moment of emotion.

Comedians, although sometimes vulgar, often have the best perspective on life. They're great at stepping back and calling us out on our ridiculous habits that we have culturally deemed as important. The selfie is a great example here. They're also great at pointing out when us land dwellers over react to things.

You ever get furious at someone driving and then literally 2 minutes later be in the best of moods? It's embarrassing looking back on how I've reacted while at ten and two. I blame Mario Kart. I don't think living with a comedian's mindset is the answer, but what I think a lot of us miss is that everything is a moment.

It's simple to see each day as a culmination of moments but the harder thing to think about is the entirety of your life happening unfolding the same way. A marriage, while hopefully is a longer one, is just a juncture in the span of life. Your o so important job is just an extended jaunt in your story.

It boils down to developing and keeping perspective in your demeanor. It will help you control your reaction whether it's dealing with another driver lacking self awareness or realizing things will get better with time after a loss in the family.

Everything is a moment. Live in the present, but don't put so much value into it that causes dramatic reactions. Keep it smooth, keep it mild. It'll help you get along easier. Yep.

New in my life: Pizza and beers make me grin. Hand models are the bread and butter of Fazoli's advertisements. Working on that beach bod.

Keep Smilin'

#goAtlife

Peanut Butter Needs the Jelly

I was signing up for a new insurance plan and the first question was "How old are you?" The succeeding question was "Are you single?" Internally I responded "Like a Pringle." That response doesn't make sense, it simply rhymes. I caught myself though with a slight feeling of embarrassment confirming I was in fact a rogue male.

Dissecting this transfer of information I wondered why on earth I would be embarrassed at the fact I am single. Was it the subliminal pressure from the hoards of baby pictures on social media? Or maybe it clicked that there's more meaning to weddings than free booze and the chicken dance? (Although those aren't bad priorities)

I don't care what religion you are. I've never been one to get all up in your business in that way. But I do feel that a belief in some form of higher power is crucial for those trivial times in life. I'm sure there are people that believe we are just organisms walking around reacting to things everyday for circa 81 years, but where's the fun in that? Personally, having hope that there is greater plan for each of us keeps me breathing easy and ambitious to make moves.

Our chemical make up is for companionship and biologically, the goal is to create offspring while we're here. So when I say congrats to someone who just had a baby, not only am I excited about the sleepless chapter they're about to begin, but also they're on great pace to finish the "Things to do While I'm a Human" checklist. And that's cool. Babies are fun.

What it really comes down to is comparison and what you believe success looks like. If you think that success equals a house full of babies and a white picket fence as soon as you can, then yeah, rolling solo with Netflix and wine will get depressing eventually. But if you're confident that everyone has their own plan, you won't be watching the hour glass as closely. Plus, once you hit 35 it's kosher to buy a chocolate lab and name him Hans Solo in replacement of a spouse. 

The interweb is littered with cliches on this subject, this is just my version of it. Whether you're single, married, divorced, etc. don't ever let comparison make you feel bad for the path you took in the pursuit of awesomeness. We've all got the same end of the road, just different routes to get there. Yep.

New in my life: I still dig Sponge Bob and black bean brownies. Mizzou football? Never heard of her.  I brake for cabins.

Keep smilin'

#goAtlife

Take Off the Running Shoes Brah

My phone was dirty so I put it in with my laundry for a couple 20 minutes. A couple of tricks to dry out electronics: set it on top of your refrigerator (fridges pull liquid) and the classic put it in a bowl of rice (Asians come to fix the damp electronics when you go to sleep). Neither of those worked for me, but then again my dunking was a bit extreme.

Ducks aren't the most athletic of animals, but they are quick. And when on the water they seem relaxed, their finned feet are moving swiftly under the surface. It's quacktastic.

A couple lessons to be learned about water and my phone getting intimate: 1. Verizon doesn't make it that simple to get a new mobile device. 2. There are more things at play than meet the eye.

I've been phone-less Joe for about 4 days now. It's been a great unintentional cleanse. What has happened with the evolution of the smartphone, is we've created a toy to keep our attention and provide constant instantaneous communication with each other. And since a large number of us have our phone near us 24/7, we've subconsciously created a mental dependency to our hand held devices.

Pull up to a red stoplight, yeah I'll check what time the game is tonight. Waiting for my Chipotle order to be done, Instagram it is! We've conditioned our brain to avoid pausing at all costs. I'm not saying it's the most negative thing, but from my experience, after time, from the constant mental hustle and bustle, your brain gets tired.

People have different reactions to this brain fatigue. Mine was simply developing what I call "thought ADD".  Instead of fully thinking out an idea, I'd hop over to checking my email Inbox, or I'd text a buddy.  This could be a permanent societal thing now, but what my technology sabbatical reminded me of is how refreshing it is to have fuller thoughts. We deprive our brain about fully reflecting on things through technology and we avoid what I term "Thought Obesity."

Phones and technology will be what they will be, but what I'm encouraging you to do is take some time from your normal pace. Even if it's just a weekend where you don't look at some kind of screen as soon as you wake up, try it. Winter is coming, plump up your thoughts.

Just like there's more going on than meets the eye in a duck's world, I think there is a reason I laundered my phone. Someone wanted me to slow down, and I'm cool with that.

New in my life: I need to explore the store across the street more thoroughly, it seems neat. Coffee and a sunrise is good for the soul. Charlie Bob's or bust.

Keep Smilin'

#goAtlife