Deep Dive: Doris Kearns Goodwin book on Leadership/ Elf on the Shelf visited me/ Donald Duck ornament

morning babble / Sunday 12-05-21

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes it gets tidied up, but sometimes . . . not so much. When all else fails – go watch the video!

We have an Elf. His name is Durtle and he visited my area last night. There he is and he put up some blue lights. Thanks Durtle. He’s not creepy at all to me.

Speaking of creepy – Donald Duck ornament. Remember that SNL short from Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg? About the gift in the box? Click here for that memory.

Yesterday, I ran #338 on the mill and showed that quick story on Instagram. I don’t think I’ve really posted too many of them. Who wants to see my more Brent leg – silence from the crowd. Run #339 will be coming up on the mill, too.

Oh yeah – my last 3 Day Fast of the year begins tomorrow night after dinner. Anyone want to join in or give it a try – even 24 hours – I’m here.

Books on a Sunday! Or for today – just Book.

  • Leadership in Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin // About 4 great presidents and how they overcame adversity and provided amazing leadership. Abraham Lincoln / Theodore Roosevelt / Franklin D. Roosevelt / and Lyndon B Johnson

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Regardless of one’s impressive title, power without purpose and without vision was not the same thing as leadership.” – by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Leadership, p. 200)

Ideas are flowing! / NFTs & Mike Shinoda / Yes – still 2 dogs / Mark Manson quote

morning babble / Saturday 12-04-21

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes it gets tidied up, but sometimes . . . not so much. When all else fails – go watch the video!

I have so many ideas flowing through me right now. Listening to so many different podcasts. Being the weekend, I’m doing the laundry, folding the clothes, this morning I cleaned up the mess in the kitchen – all while listening to podcasts.

Mike Shinoda and NFTs – go here!

AMA Saturday:

ALL ANSWERS ARE ON THE VIDEO!!!!!

  • Question #1 – What’s that R2D2 thing with the Santa Hat?
  • Question #2 – Do you only have one dog now?
  • Questions #3 – Are you ever going to write again?

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“The trick is, you bite off more than you can chew . . . then you chew it.”– by Mark Manson

New Music Friday! / How old was Brenda Lee? / A Ragin’ Lyric of the Day

morning babble / Friday 12-03-21

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes it gets tidied up, but sometimes . . . not so much. When all else fails – go watch the video!

I need me some Josh Groban to chill out.

Okay – let’s talk Brenda Lee – yeah, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” Brenda Lee. I like her voice. Raspy, sexy voice. Sing me that Dinyls song, Brenda! Wait – Did you know that Brenda Lee was 13 years old when she recorded “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”? AND – The song was written by Johnny Marks who, “despite being Jewish” (that was directly taken from an old article), wrote several hit Christmas songs besides that one (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Run Rudolph Run, A Holly Jolly Christmas, and more). Anyway, I still can’t believe that she was 13. Can’t ask her to sing that song from The Divinyls . . . nope. FYI – lead singer, Chrissy Amphlett – we lost her to breast cancer back in 2013. Meanwhile, Brenda Lee is still here with us – she’s 76.

I ran #337 – Countdown to Three sixty-six (366)

New Music Friday:

  • Last night, Sia released a cover of ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ as part of a collaboration with Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker. There’s a video! I’ve got the link here. Sia is another voice I love. I think I mentioned that I need her to say that she listens to Morning Babble.
  • Brent Favorite – Couple months ago, Band of Horses announced that they’re returning with a new album in 2022. On January 21st, we get Things Are Great. We got to hear “Crutch” on that announcement day. Today we get another single from them called “In Need of Repair.”
  • Another Favorite – Tom Morello from Rage. Today, we get “The Maze” which features Andrew McMahon. This is the fourth promoted single to from his album, The Atlas Underground Flood – which is also out today. 12 songs in all. Thank you, Tom.
  • Mike Shinoda, one of the vocalists from Linkin Park (miss you Chester) dropped a new song by the name of “Ziggurats” today. The song is part of a hybrid music + art NFT release. There will be 5000 unique NFTs, with different art and different music (but same vocals).
  • There’s this “First Listen” 2-minute compilation on Spotify that showed up on my feed today. I think it’s new music from Michael Buble. I do know that a couple weeks ago, he reissued a deluxe version of Christmas — and it includes seven new tracks including “The Christmas Sweater,” a “Winter Wonderland” duet with Rod Stewart and a new version of “Let It Snow!” with the BBC’s Big Band Orchestra. Anyway – this other new music, maybe we’ll find out more during the Michael Bublé’s Christmas in the City will air on Dec. 6 from 10-11 p.m. on NBC.
  • HOLIDAY MUSIC – The Talbott Brothers released their version of “O Holy Night” – very well done. I talked about these guys earlier in the year with their cover of the Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark.” However, they got their own stuff – check out their newest release “Open Sky.”

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QUOTE “LYRIC” OF THE DAY:
“It has to start somewhere, it has to start sometime, what better place than here? What better time than now?” – by Zack de la Rocha

Coffee Jitters! Gotta bring back the Mud! / Happy B-day Jacob! / Tom Bilyeu quote

morning babble / Thursday 12-02-21

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes it gets tidied up, but sometimes . . . not so much. When all else fails – go watch the video!

So, I had coffee yesterday. I decided to do what I typically do with the amount of java. BUT – that tally was from over a month ago. AND – I got the jitters after two travel mugs. Only 1 today. The other is my MUD. I also got afternoon coffee from Dunkin, but got a large instead of my October coffee runs of XL. Oh – I put up an Instagram story yesterday morning of me doing a pour-over and there was an R2D2 bearing a Santa Hat in the background. Actually, I think it was in the background of the picture I posted with the coffee bags. R2D2 – show you on Saturday.

Sad news – No Reindeer Run for us this year. We procrastinated and sign-ups are closed. Whoops. Instead we’ll be digging into our red & green Rubbermaids and finally putting up that monster of a deco layout “Christmas in the City.”

Advent Calendars quickly looked at.

Happy Birthday to my nephew, Jacob. I think he’s 16 and can drive now – that’s how long it feels like it has been between seeing the little guy. Happy 7th!

I ran #336. Countdown to 366!

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“I know on a long enough time scale I can beat anyone at anything because I won’t stop. Most people are broke emotionally. They can’t handle it. They can’t embarrass themselves. They can’t change their dogma.”” – by Tom Bilyeu (bill you)

When he starts talking – I get hyped but I also look around to make sure my kids can’t hear.

Advent calendars are opening up everywhere! / December = Coffee time! / Ryan Blair quote

morning babble / Wednesday 12-01-21

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes it gets tidied up, but sometimes . . . not so much. When all else fails – go watch the video!

December 1st / Advent calendars are being opened and started everywhere today. Advent calendars that I never had as a kid. Lego advent calendars / Chocolate advents calendars / I think Elliott has a magic trick every day while Violet has a craft project ever day. I had this tree with the same old felt ornaments and my sister & I would battle it out over who got to but the angel on for the last day. Being older, I understood odds and evens, so allowing her to go first always made her happy. Mom & Dad – I did enjoy our advent calendar, but have you seen the ones of today!

Muddy November is over! No Coffee was the goal and I accomplished that. I was gifted some coffee because I seriously didn’t have any in the house except for the Keurig. Thank you, Mom for dropping off Cinnamon Holiday.

Want to get your own MUD\WTR? Click here!

#335 of my 5K runs – countdown to 366!

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“When you have nothing to lose, you have everything to gain.” – by Ryan Blair / BUT – I like how heard about it – via the Tim Ferriss podcast who was interviewing David Blaine who learned it from Mike Tyson.

Final day of Muddy November / Not a double warm-up day / Ryan Holiday quote

morning babble / Tuesday 11-30-21

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes it gets tidied up, but sometimes . . . not so much. When all else fails – go watch the video!

Anyone else still feel “puffy” from the weekend? We actually cooked a turkey on Sunday – it was awesome! BUT – we then had that Thanksgiving Day feel at the end of the day. I need that 3 Day Fast soon.

Muddy November – LAST DAY!

Want to get your own MUD\WTR? Click here!

I ran! 334!!

The double warm up / Normally – First the Jeep / Then the truck for the day

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Time is our most irreplaceable asset; we cannot buy more of it. We can only strive to waste as little as possible.” – by Ryan Holiday

Back at it on a Monday! / Web3 is upon us – get your NFT on / Simon Sinek quote

morning babble / Monday 11-29-21

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes it gets tidied up, but sometimes . . . not so much. When all else fails – go watch the video!

One week ago – short week – yeah! Today – back at it again for the full 5. I like when holidays change up routines. You actually enjoy going back into the old routines. My only issue is that I had a lot of goals this past weekend. A lot. I really didn’t hit too many of them. I didn’t even clear out my google mail – oh man, it’s well over 400 again.

Muddy November continues – today and tomorrow – that’s it.

Want to get your own MUD\WTR? Click here!

I ran #333 of the 5K runs – also, 1,111 miles for the year!

On the mill, I was listening to the “Random Show” – it’s a Tim Ferriss podcast, but he does this specific one several times a year with his friend Kevin Rose. Not too much talk on NFTs, but they were controlling themselves. To hear the excitement bubbling over in these guys that I have followed for years now towards NFTs . . . you’ve got to understand that Web3 is underway and something new is coming.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“The primary ingredient for progress is optimism. The unwavering belief that something can be better is what drives the human race forward.” – by Simon Sinek

Happy 50th Meghan! (right?) / Did I have coffee? / Comics on a Sunday! /

morning babble / Sunday 11-28-21

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes it gets tidied up, but sometimes . . . not so much. When all else fails – go watch the video!

First things first – Happy first day of Hannukah to all of those celebrating and / Happy Birthday to my younger sister, Meghan.

Next – Mouth tape. Well, I started the night with it. Reviewing the results of my watch – it appears that I wasn’t sleeping too well in the beginning, but then around 3:30am, I had a quick deep sleep action. But then, I did wake up around 4:15am and realized that the mouth tape was off – not sure how that happened, but assuming that it happened shortly before 3:30am. I then turned off my alarm and crashed until about 6:30am with much better sleep. So – I’ll have to keep trying.

Also – Muddy November continues, BUT – I do have to admit to something. My wife and I had Ben & Jerry’s last night. We always split a pint. She puts my half in a bowl, because I like additional hot fudge, because if we’re going down the ice cream route – I’m all in. She doesn’t typically do the fudge, but eats her half out of the pint. We started up a show of Ugly Delicious on Netflix to enjoy our late night together. I was several bites in when it hit me and I grabbed her arm to slowly read the pint of ice cream in her hand – Coffee Toffee Bar Crunch – a favorite of ours, but I still explained “What are doing to me woman?” Okay – maybe not exactly like that, but I was caught off guard. I still haven’t had coffee, espressos, or lattes with shots of espresso, but as for the Coffee Ice Cream – well, I finished my bowl, because at that point – I was all in again. I still believe that I’m okay with saying Muddy November continues on – No coffee is the goal and the liquid joy has not crossed these lips all month. Wednesday – game over.

I haven’t run yet. #331 happened on the mill as Michigan beat Ohio State. #332 will happen on the mill as well.

Books on a Sunday!

  • Like I said holiday decorating of the house slowed my reading time down to finish this book off – Leadership in Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Next week – it will be recapped. As for today . . .

COMICS on a Sunday! Visited my home for comics – Captain Blue Hen Comics in Newark, DE – always support your local comic book store. AND – if you don’t have one, you could always visit mine online! Click here for that.

  • #7 of 8 of Marjorie Finnegan was picked up and already gobbled up. 1 issue to go and that series ends . . . or does it? Garth Ennis is the mastermind behind this one.
  • Speaking of Garth, I got issue #6 of 6 for his Batman Reptilian series. I’m actually a couple behind, but chose to go back to #1 and read straight through. I’ll have that done by the end of today.
  • AND – a new series I got was Joy Operations from the mind of Brian Michael Bendis. Looking forward to that one.
  • Lastly, I did pick up some comics for both the kids. Hoping for them to have further enjoyment with reading. It doesn’t have to be all learning.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Nothing is impossible. The word itself says, I’m possible.” – by Audrey Hepburn – got that one from the Iceman though – Wim Hof

Decorating is my workout / Mouth tape tonight / January 2nd – what happens? / Quote via John Cage

morning babble / Saturday 11-27-21

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes it gets tidied up, but sometimes . . . not so much. When all else fails – go watch the video!

I totally forgot how heavy all the Christmas decorations were. I also forgot how much time just zips by when putting up all that stuff. Our library room is completely revamped and done. We’ve got the tree, 2 Christmas Villages and Deco throughout. I think another library tour will be coming. Pretty much everything got knocked out, but the big village that we have of “Christmas in the City” – that appears to be unfolding today at some point.

I didn’t run yet – #331 coming up on the mill with a football game on OR maybe on the trails.

Muddy November has 4 more days, but like I said, I’m enjoying my MUD. Coffee though will open up the option of afternoon 3 o’clock treats – both good & bad.

AMA Saturday:

  • Question #1 – Are you going to do the mouth tape tonight? I think. I hope. I do get claustrophobic, so I am concerned on how long it will last.
  • Question #2 – What are you doing after 366 of your 5K runs? I will post on January 2nd.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Be open to whatever comes next” – by John Cage

New Music Friday / Cannoli pie? / Brent on the shelf?

morning babble / Friday 11-26-21

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes it gets tidied up, but sometimes . . . not so much. When all else fails – go watch the video!

Too much, but I’m still going! Got my pumpkin pie for breakfast.

Muddy November continues – no java – all mudwater!

Go get some MUD/WTR – http://fbuy.me/v/bevans11

I made it to the mill and did run #330 of the 5Ks for the year. I did have some whiskey last night – good stuff, too.

Mark Manson books:

  1. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
  2. Will

New Music Friday:

  • Jack Kays got to work with Travis Barker and he released his song “Outrun Myself.” Well sung where you can really feel his emotions throughout it. He had another album of 8 songs released earlier this year called Mixed Emotions
  • Claire Rosinkranz, known for her viral hit “Backyard Boyfriend”, released a new single today called “Don’t Miss Me”. She did have an EP released earlier this year called 6 of a Billion. I was familiar with her song “Frankenstein” off that one.
  • One year ago, Christina Perri shared the devastating news that her daughter was stillborn. Now, she is honoring the baby her & her husband lost, whom they’ve named Rosie, by releasing an album of lullabies. It’s called Songs for Rosie, the album was actually released this past Wednesday on the 24th — the anniversary of the day Rosie died
  • Ben Rector released a single “The Best Is Yet To Come (A Song For The New Year)” – I really enjoyed the sound and hope in this song. Via his Instagram, I wrote this song on New Years Eve a year ago. Out everywhere Nov. 26. Orchestra/Kids Choir version Dec. 10.
  • HOLIDAY MUSIC – Another one that I missed about a month ago – Jamie Cullum released The Pianoman at Christmas (The Complete Edition) – 30 songs / 1 hour and 45 minutes of holiday tunage – jazzy sound to your holidays.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Don’t stop when you are tired. Stop when you are done.” – by unknown via Mark Manson