Category: Morning Babble

morning babble / Saturday 08-07-21

This is the scribble that helps with the babble . . . might not be the best “writing” but it helps me talk “real good.”

Outside run today because there isn’t a treadmill at the shore. There are no-see-ums and green heads though – they are my enemies. #219 of 5K runs.

Brought the kids this time to the shore – got the place to ourselves. Heading to the actual beach today. Touch water and sand. Back some beverage for sanity. Got keep looking for shells with the 5 year old little girl. Meanwhile, the boy wants me to get pummeled along with him in the waves. Can’t wait.

Countdown to 15,000 – I did write some last night. But – it was mainly editing. So, I actually think I’m in the negative now of progress.

AMA Saturday:

Question #1 – Did you really buy pants for a Dunkin’ Donuts employee? Yes.

I briefly mentioned it the other day when talking about Dunkin. So, just to recap. I visit the Dunkin on Lancaster Pike a lot but not as much as I have in the past. But – they know me. The older gentleman in the afternoon always looked relieved to see my visit – probably because of all the other fun visitors he has at that time. Gotta know the area. Anyway, one particular day, I got my java, was out of the store, and already climbing back into the company vehicle when he came hustling out. Initially, I thought I had done something wrong or my credit card didn’t go through and I just walked out?

Nope – he stopped me before closing my door and pointed to my pants . . . well, shorts. In particular – cargo shorts and told me that he really liked them. He then asked me if I could get him a pair. I quickly explained that he could get them himself at Old Navy. He shook his head that he didn’t drive and that his son dropped him off to work and picked him up – that was it. I then added about going online to purchase. I saw the blank look on his face and that answered that question. Finally, I simply asked him what size. Later that night, I placed the order online.

About a week later, they arrived. I went in that day and ordered my afternoon drink and paid. I then surprised him with the shorts. He wanted to pay and I waved it off because I just felt really good about helping him. In a follow up visit, he pleaded to give me a coffee for free as well as the snackin’ bacon, so I did accept for those, but then I stressed to him that he didn’t need to keep doing that because I didn’t get him the shorts for free Dunkin’. We’re back to normal now with my visits, but I do wonder if he needs another pair.

Also, the other day, I did get Dunkin’ for some morning breakfast. Waiting for my order, I then saw smoked vanilla flavored drinks. I was so intrigued that I had an afternoon Dunkin’ run too. I got an Iced Smoked Vanilla Latte. Now, the pumpkin spice flavor is a swirl, which is sweetened. The swirls are good. The smoked vanilla is a syrup with no sweetener. Those taste a little too fake for me at times.

One last thing – have you tried those Strawberry munchkins? Taste like strawberry Quik – they got me.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Planning and preparation are useful until they become a form of procrastination. Is this task enhancing my actions or substituting for them?” – by James Clear

morning babble / Friday 08-06-21

I have to correct something I said yesterday. I mentioned a Dunkin Donuts in Wilmington on Lancaster Avenue, but there is no such thing. It’s Lancaster Pike. BUT – at least I pronounce “Lancaster” correctly, right?

I ran – it was #218 of the 5K runs.

Countdown to 15,000 words – It was a busy week. Only went from 1566 to 1928. Yeah, only 362 new words. I’ve got some work ahead.

New Music Friday:

• Another listening party last night in Atlanta, GA with Mr. Kanye West. Another version of the song “Donda” was played. As for the whole album dropping yet – nope . . . not yet. Rumor has it that Kanye is living in the basement of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium working on the album. I know – genius – weird, too though.

• As promised, Nas delivered King’s Disease II, a “sequel” album to his Grammy-winning LP King’s Disease. The single that is being pushed is called “Rare”. In it, he sings about having his Mets cap on backwards. You know the Mets are in Philly this weekend. Phillies are a 1/2 game behind the Mets. Game on!

• Weezer is next up for playing a Metallica song for the upcoming Metallica Blacklist album due out on September 10th. Weezer covered “Enter Sandman” and did a kickass job. Rivers sings it well, but I liked the teases of Weezer guitars throughout the song, too.

• What happens when you get Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, and Bruce Springsteen’s The Boss playing together? You get a cover song of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell”. They actually performed the song together several times in 2014 during Springsteen’s Australian tour. The single comes from Morello’s upcoming Atlas Underground album called The Atlas Underground Fire.

• The Weeknd released his new single and has a video for it as well – called “Take My Breath”. Disco sound to it. It’s the Weeknd. How did Daniel Craig do it?

• Couple random ones – Black Eyed Peas’ “Hit It” – hitting it once, twice, 4x – all until you’re satisfied. Nelly sings “High Horse” – there’s something about that one. Gets into your ears. It’s not like the “Hot in Herre” song, but there’s something there.

• Lastly, Ariana Grande will be doing the Fortnite Rift Tour show – actually several all weekend. 5 to be exact. I learned this from my 12 year old son who has stated that he needed to bring his X-Box with him in order to see the show tonight – we’re going somewhere. 6pm tonight – EST. Click here for further info and times. Arianna will be looking to break the record set by Travis Scott, whose event last year attracted an audience of 12.3m concurrent players, breaking the game’s record at the time (Marshmello).

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“It’s not the time in your life, it’s the life in your time.” – by Bruce Springsteen

morning babble / Thursday 08-05-21

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes it gets tidied up, but sometimes . . . not so much.

Power Outage! My friend, Joe, was here from Vermont along with his kids last night – we s’mored by the fire pit. Yes – we got Reese’s for the chocolate part but Butterfinger Cups couldn’t be found and Amazon couldn’t deliver in time. Anyway – back to Joe – he asked “Do you write all that in the morning or the night before?” A good amount – yes, but when there’s a power outage . . . you tangent.

I ran – #217 of 5K runs.

Dunkin’ issues

1. Ordering
2. Too much pumpkin coffee
3. Cargo shorts

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Success is when the problems in my life are the problems I am happy to have.” – via the Instagram of Mark Manson

morning babble / Wednesday 08-04-21

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes it gets tidied up, but sometimes . . . not so much.

Morning routines – so important on mornings like these. What do I mean? Just going through the motions. Brushed my teeth – when did that happen? Oooo – look – who made coffee? Whoops – where’s my pants? Just kidding – I was successful there too.

Saw my BFF (Joey B) and his two kids last night. Hoping to have some s’mores later tonight, but we’ll see if we can drag them over tonight. Big marshmallows. We use Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups for the chocolate part. I want some Butterfinger Cups though!

My company – Clean-A-Tank – is hiring, so a book that I always turn to during these times is Work Rules by Laszlo Bock. He knows what he’s doing because . . . well, Google him.

3 Day Fast begins on Monday – join me!

I ran – #216 of 5K runs.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Whatever you do today do it with the confidence of a 4 year old in a Batman t-shirt” – by Val Kilmer (sort of – via his Instagram picture of someone’s billboard)

morning babble / Tuesday 08-03-21

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes it gets tidied up, but sometimes . . . not so much.

Whew – long day at the Delaware beach yesterday and yes, I’m feeling it. Got a little burn – didn’t mean too – at all. But, water washes that stuff away. I don’t think it’s too bad. Nothing like the burn that hurts when you sneeze or blow your nose – where you skin feels as if its going to explode off your body.

I ran. #215 of 5K runs.

Oh and look what arrived yesterday – the HiccAway : A Natural Remedy Proven to Stop Hiccups Instantly. On Friday it was in San Antonio, Texas but the arrival date was still listed as August 17th. As I mentioned earlier in the week that’s not good because I need it for August 15th when I try 10 Hot Sauces with my brother-in-law, Nick. Again, this if from the show Hot Ones with host Sean Evans. I can sorta handle the heat, but it’s the hiccups that mess me up.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Never regret anything that made you smile” – by Mark Twain

morning babble / Monday 08-02-21

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes it gets tidied up, but sometimes . . . not so much.

Back home but I’ll be back at the Jersey Shore very, very soon. Today though – quick day trip with my family to the Delaware Beaches Anyway. I ran. #214 of 5K runs.

Last night, I also took a regular shower! It was a hot one and I took my good sweet time!

And yes . . . there’s a new calendar up . . . which means a new goal. I need to credit Jon Acuff for helping me with this goal. I was listening to one of his recent podcasts and basically came up with the writing goal for the month of 15,000 words for my book. I’ll track it with Monday & Friday tally updates. I currently resides at 1,566. I have a ways to go!

This also helped with the goal idea. I actually tried this several years ago: “National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel during the thirty days of November. Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a brand-new novel.”

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

morning babble / Sunday 08-01-21

Where am I? Manahawkin, New Jersey. There was a little birthday surprise for someone special to Lauren and I – Caff. She turned 40. 🙂 Why is the year 1961 posted all over the party though? Anyway, it was a surprise birthday for her and it worked. Nice work, G-Dog. And yes, lots of beverage, had a cigar, wonderful live music from Chris Lebresco – you got an event, a bar, a restaurant – hire that dude.

I ran. #213 of 5K runs

I also cold-showered last night – late last night. So, it’s done. The 31 Days of July Cold Showers happened – mission accomplished! Earlier in the day on Saturday, I actually recorded a video to post when I did it.

Books (and Comics) on a Sunday!

• Eat A Peach – A Memoir by David Chang

• Batman Reptilian by Garth Ennis / Liam Sharp

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Life’s too short to just breeze on by” – by David Chang

morning babble / Saturday 07-31-21

I ran #212. Did it on the treadmill, too. We have family coming over, so we need to pretend that we don’t have two little people living here and clean it up. Will there be glitter still? Oh yes – that’s a given now here. 10 pack glitter package – still hidden. By the way – that’s 7 months done of 5K runs. Over 700 miles I have run this year.

I cold-showered. 30 days – that means I tied Matt D’Avella. Today, I shall pass him for 31 Days of July Cold Showers. But – it also means that I need to produce a video. In the works.

Elliott – no surgery needed – will review again in a year. So, that’s a relief. It’s still there – the Chiari malformation – which basically means the brain is too big for the skull, but we’ll just need to monitor. The doctors were also looking at a hole in his brain too. Not an aneurysm or a tumor. I said that it’s his reading hole and he should fill it up over the next year. We did hit Captain Blue Hen Comics in Newark. Got both kids some books to read. Did Daddy get some comics? Maybe. And maybe we’ll talk about them tomorrow – on Books on a Sunday.

AMA Saturday: (watch the video for better answers)

• Question #1 – Is there a reason you begin your 3 day fasts on Tuesday rather than Monday? Yes.

• Question #2 – Even though I’m vaccinated, are you wearing masks again? Yes

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“It’s not what the vision is; it’s what the vision does.” – by Robert Fritz, composer / educator

morning babble / Friday 07-30-21

So, my recent purchase from Amazon – the HiccAway : A Natural Remedy Proven to Stop Hiccups Instantly is currently in San Antonio, Texas. But the arrival date is still August 17th. As I mentioned earlier in the week that’s not good because I need it for August 15th when I try 10 Hot Sauces with my brother-in-law, Nick. Again, this if from the show Hot Ones with host Sean Evans (not related, but I should check 23andMe because you never know) interviews celebrities while tasting 10 hot sauces. Lorde is on one of the new episodes. They chat about lyric interpretation, cheese, cicadas, whale watching, and, of course, her new LP Solar Power. Anyway – the HiccAway. San Antonio is 26 hours away via car. I could go get it. They actually have a window from 8/17 to 8/26.

I ran – #211 of 5K runs / I cold-showered, too. 2 days to go!!

We did lose two rockers this week. Joey Jordison, Slipknot Co-Founder and Drummer, Dies at 46. And, the bass player of ZZ Top, Dusty Hill – he was 72.

Enjoy the now. Meeting with my son’s doctor takes place today. We’ll know about surgery later today. I’ll talk about it.

New Music Friday:

• Nas announced King’s Disease II, a “sequel” album to his Grammy-winning LP King’s Disease. That’s all I got, if you google it, you can get a picture of the new album cover, but that’s it. No new track listings. No new songs to play. Just the announcement: King’s Disease II out next Friday. Also out next Friday – Kanye West’s Donda – apparently. That’s all I’m saying after last week’s fiasco.

• Bleachers—the recording project of singer, songwriter, and producer Jack Antonoff—recently shared another new song from his new album Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night (out today). The new track is called “Secret Life,” and it features Lana Del Rey. This dude does everything – he’s produced for Taylor Swift, Lorde, Lana Del Rey. He’s one of the guys from fun. – remember that band? AND – listed in his Wikipedia bio it states: Antonoff was once in a relationship with actress Scarlett Johansson, his classmate at the Professional Children’s School (grades 6-12).

• Billie Eilish released her second studio album, Happier Than Ever. We’ve already heard “My Future,” “Therefore I Am,” “Your Power,” “Lost Cause,” and “NDA,” all of which charted in the top 40 of the US Billboard Hot 100. 16 tracks / Critics are gushing over it. She’s 19.

• Sleigh Bells are returning this year with a new album. This is a band that I completely forgot about since their 2010 Treats album. They have had several albums since – my loss, too. Their new full-length is called Texis and it’s out September 10th. They announced the record with a video for the new single “Locust Laced” where the duo is portrayed as a ’50s country group.

• Some “Brent” Music: Angels & Airwaves released another single from their upcoming album – Lifeforms – due out September 24th. The song is “Losing My Mind”. Also, The Glorious Sons released another single “Hold Steady.” I don’t think they have a new full album coming yet. They released one in late 2019 and was going to tour in 2020 – ahhh. So, they are starting it up again in December – called The Unfinished Business Tour.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Some days there won’t be a song in your heart. Sing anyway.” – by Emory Austin

morning babble / Thursday 07-29-21

This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes it gets tidied up, but sometimes . . . not so much.

I ran #210

Running 5K every day will result in a high number of calories burned per week. If a 160-pound person burns about 394 calories every 5K run and runs seven days per week, they’ll burn a total of 2,758 calories every week. This means they’ll reach 3,500 calories and thus lose a pound of fat every nine days.

I cold-showered. 3 more days!

Dead fish fell out of a tree! What?

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Work is what horses die of. Everybody should know that.” – by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Sowl zhuh neet sn) (Russian Writer)