One
There are too many shows to watch. We subscribe to an obscene number of streaming services, all featuring shows I love watching or want to watch. The problem is that every time I log on to scroll and see what’s available; I end up paralyzed by the sheer volume of choice, and so end up spending 45 minutes just looking. It reminds me of going to Blockbuster Video as a kid and having to pick just one movie for the entire weekend. Here I sit, all these years later, and I have all the movies and TV I could want at my fingertips and I’m still that little boy walking up and down the aisles, reading the backs of movie boxes.
Two
Love is a funny thing… You have these physical and mental reactions to someone’s smell and touch. Their mere presence brings a release of dopamine and the accompanying joy. It’s deeper than emotions, it’s beyond just chemical, it’s not simply a physical drive to reproduce, it’s more than our biological imperative. Deep love can be platonic, it can be highly physical, it’s always emotional, and most of all, it’s between people who can not resist the attraction to just be together. Love is more than the sum of its parts. In its manifestations of jealousy and violence, love can become corrupted and abusive, destructive and all-consuming. Love may be the greatest force in our world, for good or ill. (Here is a very cool article about love and your brain.)
Three
Our society, that is American society, has chosen violence. We made this choice yesterday. We will make it today, and again tomorrow. The real question is, is it too late to make an alternative choice so that our children will not have to live with the fear our parents have left for us?
Four
We have a mental health crisis in the United States, but it is not the root cause of the violence in our society. Simply put, the issue is hate. We hate the “other” and we listen to those who say it’s ok to kill them, and so it happens repeatedly.
Five
Every Friday for months and months has been “Pizza Day” at my house. Today will be no exception. I even have an iPhone shortcut set up to order pizza and set a alarm for our pickup time. In my world, pizza is in a category of its own. It’s more than just “my favorite food”. I’m not picky about toppings. I’ll take anything on my pizza as long as it’s meat. Thick crust, thin crust, cracker crust, New York style, Chicago style and everything in between will work for me. I’ll even eat airport pizza. When I went to Naples, the only thing I cared about was getting pizza, and I did. It was heaven. I even took a picture of the place and the pizza.
