What's goin' on? Around our clan, The Boy finished his second year and is doing what all good East Coast college kids do right after school...head to the beach in the Carolinas. No details available other than he and some buddies road tripped down to Myrtle Beach to spend a week. We used to do similarly in my day and I pray that he isn't doing half the crap we used to pull. Good for him though cause after that he is gonna be working a 40hr week at Costco as a shopping cart wrangler. Should be good for his bank account and to experience a summer doing manual work so he gets that perspective.
Babydoll is gearing up for exams next week and had final dance performances today and Prom tomorrow. Will share snaps if she lets me.
As for me, we had our last Coffee Morning of the semester and an artist came into talk about his work and how he got there. I wasn't expecting much, but the dude's journey and accidental entry into the art world was fascinating. He pencil draws cityscapes from the perspective of a plane or drone and they are arresting. You can see what I mean by looking at his website OverThe City.Asia. Stuff is great but think he is wasting his talents by focusing on Taiwan. He could make loads doing these on more populous places.
I also went to see John Wick 3 yesterday and loved every second of it. Totally get that it isn't your thing, but it ranks up there with Mad Max Fury Road as the greatest action movie I've ever seen.
Other than that, it is baseball every day for me till we break. I know I have said how much I love walking around campus or the neighborhood, even the airport, and kids and their folks will come up and say 'Hi Coach Imbro'. Got me thinking about other nicknames I have and how blessed I am to have so many. Many are takes on our name, like Johnny I, Coolio and Chinese Dinner (while I don't remember why some elementary kid thought our name sounded like a Chinese dinner, I suspect it is that we didn't have a lot of Chinese kids or food choices in very vanilla mid-70's Arcadia, California). This space is called Gomez Diaries and nearly most of the people I know from school, including Betty, call me that only. I won't retell the origin of that name as it is for 21 and over and know it's been detailed before. The rest of the college friends call me Yogi due to my penchant for breaking into their dorm rooms and stealing their pic-a-nic baskets. A couple have resurfaced recently due to this hair growing experiment. A new one that someone called me the other day was Q-tip as the mane is bushy and white. Back in elementary school, the kids would call me Brillo Pad and Tumbleweed. Like I said, blessed.
Looking forward to getting out of the heat and back to the States to see my mom. She is 92 and while she is in way better physical shape than she should be, have noticed some distressing changes in her mind when talking to her on Skype. Every time we talk, sometimes several times during the conversation, she'll ask me where my Dad is. "Where is your father John...he was in the garden earlier." and things like that. As my dad passed away many years ago, hearing her say these things this and seeing her deteriorate is heart wrenching. The only thing that makes me feel better is seeing the smile on her face when I remind her he's been dead for 10 years.
One thing I am not looking forward to this summer is the battle between me and Lemon Water. Couldn't help myself and clicked on this article, obviously written my the Lemon Advisory Council, about 7 things that happen when you drink Lemon Water for 7 days. Have cut and paste the set-up for you.
"Lemon water is a huge fad right now, but you may be wondering if it can live up to the hype. It has been touted for everything from weight loss to cancer prevention, and while we can honestly say that no single beverage can cure every physical ill, this drink is pretty darn good for you.
One of the best things about drinking lemon water is that the recipe is up to you. You may use as much or as little lemon as you prefer, and even include additional ingredients like mint, honey, or other fruit. Lemon water may also be consumed warm or cold according to preference.
However, according to nutritional experts, the ideal way to drink lemon water in order to reap the most benefits is warm with at least ½ a sliced lemon included, peel and all. You don’t need to eat the lemon slices, but the peel contains valuable polyphenols, which are antioxidant compounds that can aid in weight loss. Adding lemon slices to warm water helps to extract more polyphenols than cold water can.
So what are the potential benefits of drinking lemon water every day? There are many, and some of them, like #3 and #7, make the habit worthwhile all on their own. Along the way we will bust a couple of myths about lemon water, too."
At least they acknowledge it is a huge fad. I will acknowledge that #3 (more vitamin C) and #7 (helps prevent urinary tract infections) are very beneficial but will counter that I can and do get citric acid and vitamin C from other sources naturally and more importantly, not thrust upon me by the concierge at Marriott. The rest of them are either benefits related to 3 & 7, like reducing kidney stones or tighter skin. #1 is that it gives you fresher breath, but will guarantee that you will find a much fresher breath if you have a regular flossing regimen. I will say the jury is still out as to whether it helps with weight loss based on their studies in mice. The one that bumped me was that it can help stabilize your mood. To quote:
"The same invigorating scent that neutralizes odors can also reduce your stress and keep you feeling calm. That’s why lemon oil is a common ingredient in aromatherapy oils. When you drink lemon, you get the same stress relief plus the benefit of potassium in the fruit. Potassium is critical in the regulation of blood pressure, and high blood pressure is a key factor in your experience of stress.
If you drink your lemon water warm, you’ll experience additional soothing effects. But however you consume it, try reaching for some lemon water before you resort to wine after a particularly difficult day."
Finally for today, a couple of hot topics in the news have been on my mind and have been trying to think them through. The first is all this Iran sabre rattling. This feels really familiar doesn't it. Making up a threat even to the point of manufacturing an incident like the oil tankers or mysterious pictures of missiles and having the news buy into it so we all assume this backwards ass nation is capable of threatening humanity just to start a fight with them cause they don't like them for whatever reason. This crowd even has the same players that ginned up the Iraq thing and yet they get quoted like that never happened. I know it's bullshit cause they tried to change the government in Venezuela with the exact same game plan. All of the "incidents" and reported mutineers that made a revolution seem imminent were all found to be total fabrications. I am not a fan of Maduro or the Iranian regime, but am mighty worried about picking these fights for reasons that are opaque at best.
The other one is the battle that has been telegraphed for years but now has the weight of evangelicals in positions of power over abortion. This has always been the trickiest of policy debates that the left supports as it is taking away potential life, and how do you defend it. I know I have a hard time doing so. I will always to defer to women and their feelings about their health, and that it is a bunch of white dudes who claim to be "Christians" (while simultaneously voting for the death penalty) are leading the charge makes me sick to my stomach, something crossed my mind that I have not heard as a compromise.. Other than in the cases where the mother's health is in jeopardy or where the pregnancy was forced (all very tricky but think we can agree on those in scope), would trading abortion rights for the Second Amendment be something worth considering. Am sure that it would be a non-starter for most cause of the passion involved, but they feel like they are two sides of the same coin in a way and think I'd do it just to watch the gun aficionados lose their minds. I dunno, have never said this out loud and hesitate cause it is toxic, but have declared this is a safe space so there you go.
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