Friday Donuts

Friends, Efficient. That's one way to characterize my breakfast routine. Soft boiled eggs are the long pole in the tent, so I set them on the burner before heating yesterday’s leftover coffee in the microwave. I press the 30 second button followed by “start” then add another 30 seconds. This gets the power going two button clicks faster than “1-0-0-start”. I rinse the coffee pot and leave it under the running water while I set the filter with fresh coffee. By that time, the pot is full of water. The fresh coffee starts brewing right as the microwave delivers my first cup of the day. Eggs start to boil. I take a sip, set the three minute timer and proceed to grab some almonds and a banana. By the time the eggs are done I’ve skimmed the morning news and consumed the rest of my breakfast — which on a Friday might include a donut instead of a banana. The nagging question: is efficiency desirable when it comes to breakfast? You tell me. Happy Friday!

 Friends, Do you ever wonder about social algorithms? You know, the ones deciding what adjacent content to show you based on your interests and behavior. I don’t know about you but mine act like a volunteer committee. I imagine the decision making process goes like this: Say, JP follows NASA and engages with  space.com  so how about we frequently show him content from flat earth groups. Yeah, but only troll posts. Is there any other type? You know, while we’re at it, we should show him UFO content. How do you figure? You know, space… plus he’s also interested in architecture… hello? Pyramids and s#!t… Bet! Say, isn’t he into history? Let’s throw in some illuminati and Knights Templar fiction.  And click bait. Can’t forget the click bait. But he hates it. Your point? Riiiiight! Donuts? On his feed? Nah! All this rapid fire creativity made me hungry, let’s go grab a dozen. You mean a baker’s dozen…. And so the algorithms head out to socialize at Dunkin’ after a productive session. Or som

Friends, I didn’t know what to expect when I arrived at the Lumonics immersive jazz-art experience. Billed as a Sun Ra tribute, the vibe was equal parts cult, acid trip and sideshow. The music was to jazz as jellyfish are to squid… they’re both part of the animal kingdom, but any other similarity is accidental. To say words can’t begin to describe the show feels like a cop out, so here’s what I heard. Space whales singing as the surf crashes over an airless breeze. Fractal brain waves occasionally interrupted by electric mosquitoes in your ear. Phantasmagoric church pipes playing while an alien orchestra tuned their instruments. Cybernetic lava drips as you come out of a trance induced by an endorphin release. It’s what I imagine an LSD trip might be like. And that’s just the music. Don’t get me started on the trippy light art. Suffice it to say there may have been a representation or two of a transcendental donut. Then again, the sensory overload may have given me the munchies. Happy

 Friends, New Year’s resolutions are silly. Why wait for an arbitrary date to start improving your life? Why not start eating better, exercising or reading, the day the realization crosses your mind? Then again, I suppose we all engage in silly behaviors. Take my New Year’s Eve traditions. A week building an effigy representing the year that passed. Hosting a party with music, food, drinking and dancing. Writing and reading the year’s “last will and testament.” Burning the effigy at midnight and jumping over the embers for good luck. Staying up until the wee hours of the new year. Such silliness. Who am I to judge? Go ahead, dive into your silly resolutions with gusto! For my part, I will focus on the good things I already have. A loving wife. Four awesome children. An indescribably cute granddaughter. Parents, sisters, cousins, nephews, nieces, uncles and aunts. Friends. A job I enjoy. Health. Shelter. Food. A positive attitude. I am grateful beyond words and I don’t express it enough