Friday of Firsts: Breathing, Amazon Music, and My Feet

Breathe by James Nestor: I can’t help it. I like self-help, how-to, and life-hacking books. But this one …whoa! I heard James Nestor on a Podcast talking about the science of breathing and breathing properly and so I picked up Breathe this week and can’t put it down. I’m learning I’m a mouth-breather (thank goodness I never made fun of people by calling them “mouth breathers” … because I am one). I’m quickly realizing I need some work – when I force myself to only breathe thru my nose, I kinda feel like I’m suffocating. I feel dehydrated all the time and wake up feeling dehydrated. Yep. Mouth breathing. I think I sleep wrong. This book is fascinating.

Amazon Music: I’m a Spotfiy guy. And I like music Apps like iHeartRadio, Audacy, and have all sorts of streaming station originals bookmarked. Spotify is my “CD collection”. The Apps are me letting other music-people pick my playlist. This week, speaking of “music people”, this guy I work with said, “hey, you might like this Playlist I made … it’s a playlist made up of only the single best song from every artist on the list. There’s 1,005 songs on the list.” I like the concept. I wonder how many arists I could actually have a strong enough opinion to pick their best song? What I learned is, Amazon Music is a little bit Spotify, and a little bit curated stations and because I’m a Prime member, I have it … and I didn’t even know it. I like the Amazon Music App and interface. Basically, just another tech toy but I like it. And I think the music quality is better, even though I know that’s not possible.

HBO Max Documentary: Yacht Rock: I don’t know that I’m a “music person”, but I guess I am. I’m also a “documentary person”. Yacht Rock is a great concept invented by a comedy troupe who made a 10-part comedy series years ago and “yacht rock” just stuck. Because I was born in 1973 and have often wondered what was that music that came after the rockin’ ’70s and before the MTV-Michael Jackon ’80s …it was Yacht Rock. This documentary goes really, really deep into this phenomenon and this Genre and everyone who told me, “you’ve got to watch that, Don!!!” … they were right. I loved it. I loved learning exactly what “yacht rock” is and isn’t and I respect anyone who has the passion for something cheezy and awesome and hilarious all at the same time.

Attention to my feet: Kinda random, but Ronnie Chang on The Daily Show made a random, throw away joke that went something like, “…just like I learned recently that white people don’t actually wash their feet. I guess they just let the water run off their body and they stand in the water and I guess it’s good enough.” It got a laugh but I thought, “hey … wait. I don’t wash my feet. So, this is a little odd, but I’m making a concerted effort to wash my feet. Got myself a bar of white Dial soap (anti bacterial) and at the end of my shower I’m taking an extra 30-seconds to wash my feet with soap and water, getting the nails and in between the toes. Maybe everyone reading this Blog is thinking I’m disgusting because you all have always taken the time to really wash your feet and toes. Well, I haven’t. I’m into day-3 and my feet feel very different.

There you go. Another week of “firsts” and “finds” and “fresh new stuff.”