What I've learned since moving to D.C. (some of which should be obvious): 0131

6501.  Designate two blocks of the day to respond to e-mails.  Odds are, your inbox is getting blasted all day.  Answering e-mails in a one-off fashion is inefficient and will disrupt your focus on other tasks.  So set aside two blocks during the day to answer e-mails, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.  It can be a game-changer;

6502.  When we don’t want to face what’s holding us back, our minds can even trick us into thinking that the avoidance impulse(, which is really based in fear) is actually a spiritual message from above.  Mistakenly thinking that all of our impulses are higher intuitive guidance.  So how do we know which impulses to follow?  Often we don’t.  Some humility is called for.  It’s useful to stop expecting our higher self to be able to communicate with us with absolute clarity, like a bell, every time;

6503.  Unless you’re already an enlightened being then not all of your impulses are going to come from your higher self, intuitive guidance system.  Some of your feeling based impulses are going to be coming from your lower level blockages: your fears, limiting beliefs, old wounds, emotional baggage triggers and karmic patterns;

6504.  When we really face our blockages with honesty and humility, thank them for the service they’ve performed for us (because our blockages were initially designed to protect even if they’re no longer appropriate and they’ve definitely taught us something) then the blockage has permission to dissolve;

6505.  If we choose not to face ourselves in that moment, that’s okay.  The universe will patiently keep knocking on that door over and over again with new situations that give us the same opportunity to face our shadow(, the unacknowledged and disowned parts of ourselves,) until we’re ready to finally answer the door and really look ourselves in the eyes;

6506.  Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate;

6507.  Elizabeth likes sour beer;

6508.  The “lotus spinach chaat” at Urban Tandoor (UTandoorVA.com) (in Ballston) is (pretty) tasty;

6509.  Elizabeth likes (chicken) wings;

6510.  Apparently, I’m easy to talk to;

6511.  Nipple clamps . . . check . . . anal beads . . . (double) check;

6512.  How to cook pork chops: 1.  Place oil in a large skillet and heat until medium hot; 2.  Place chops in the skillet, placing them so they don’t touch; 3.  Cook each side for 4 minutes; and 4.  Cover the skillet, turn off the heat and let the chops sit for 8-10 minutes (depending on the thickness of the chops);

6513.  (Not surprisingly, )the chicken and double-smoked bacon sandwich (i.e., herbed chicken on toasted, apple brioche with double-smoked bacon & maple mustard) at Starbucks is (pretty) tasty . . . (after all, )it does have bacon on it;

6514.  Apparently, churches will hire professional singers to join their (church) choirs for major religious celebrations (i.e., Christmas & Easter) to try to get more/larger donations;

6515.  Sofa . . . check;

6516.  The greater danger is not that your hopes are too high and you fail to reach them; it’s that they’re too low and you do;

6517.  A mind that’s open to everything means being peaceful, radiating love, practicing forgiveness, being generous, respecting all life and, most important, visualizing yourself as capable of doing anything that you can conceive of in your mind and heart;

6518.  What you think about expands.  If your thoughts are filled with doubt and you have a closed mind, you will out of necessity act upon those closed-minded doubts and you’ll see evidence of your thinking virtually everywhere you are.  On the other hand, should you decide (make no mistake about this, it is a choice) to have a mind that’s open to everything, then you’ll act upon that inner energy and you’ll be the creator as well as the recipient of miracles wherever you are;

6519.  Overt instruction works to lead people, yet influence makes the strongest impact.  The best leaders lead not only by instruction, they lead by example;

6520.  Leaders become great not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others.  If you’re a leader or a parent, know that some skills and attitudes are impossible for those under you to learn by instruction alone;

6521.  In one study, children tasked with writing an essay delivered longer, higher-quality essays when writing by hand.  In another study, children were asked to write, trace or type various letters.  They were then shown the letters while researchers performed fMRI scans.  When shown letters they had written, parts of the brain associated with reading lit up with activity.  This response was dampened when traced letters were shown.  Letters that had been typed elicited the smallest response;

6522.  When a group of preschool students was divided into two groups, one training in handwriting and the other on a keyboard for sixteen sessions, the handwriting group outperformed their peers not only in writing, but also in reading assessments.  The typing group did not excel beyond their peers in any field tested;

6523.  In a 2014 study, researchers confirmed that students learn better when they take notes on paper.  They reason that the slower speed of handwriting forces students to consolidate and reword lectures, helping them to process and retain new information.  When students who used laptops were asked to consolidate information in their notetaking, they still used more words and did not reap the benefits of the handwriting group;

6524.  A positive emotion (i.e. compassion) wears off relatively quickly, researchers find that when they give someone a negative feeling (i.e. anger) to concentrate in, the physiological effects last over 5 hours;

6525.  We tend to think group performance depends on measurable abilities like intelligence, skill and experience and not on a subtle pattern of small behaviors of making the group feel safer;

6526.  Little moments of social interaction that can help make a team: 1.  Close proximity, often in circles; 2.  Profuse amounts of eye contact; 3.  Humor and laughter; 4.  Physical touch (i.e., handshakes, fist bumps & hugs); 5.  Intensive, active listening; 6.  Lots of short, energetic exchanges (i.e., no long speeches); and 7.  High levels of mixing, where everyone talks to everyone;

6527.  Rosé(, hard) cider can be (very) dry;

6528.  When you introduce a new idea/product to the world: SW² + WC = MO (i.e., Some Will love it, Some Won’t + Who Cares = Move On);

6529.  When acid is added to milk, the drop in pH causes the milk’s casein proteins to bond together in tight clusters.  Why?  In the presence of acid, the proteins lose their negative charge, which normally keeps them apart.  Once those charges are gone, the proteins clump, forming curds;

6530.  When the cell walls of certain fruits and vegetables like avocados, apples, artichokes and potatoes are cut or crushed, enzymes in their flesh are exposed to air.  Those enzymes react with compounds called polyphenols, producing black- or brown-colored pigments.  Acids (and citric and ascorbic acids in particular) slow the rate of this oxidation, which is why we often use lemon or lime juice to inhibit browning in recipes like classic guacamole and roasted artichokes;

6531.  Acidic ingredients, such as citrus juice, buttermilk, yogurt and even chocolate, molasses, brown sugar and non-Dutched cocoa, react with alkaline baking soda to produce carbon dioxide gas.  Baking powder, on the other hand, is a complete leavening system.  It’s a combination of baking soda and crystallized acid.  When baking powder is added to liquid ingredients, it dissolves almost immediately and carbon dioxide begins to form;

6532.  In the popular South American dish called ceviche, seafood is “cooked” via a soak in an acidic marinade.  The acid causes proteins to denature and coagulate eventually giving it the opaque appearance and firm texture of “cooked” fish or shellfish;

6533.  (I can say) I’ve eaten beef from halfway around the world (i.e., Australian, grass-fed beef from Whole Foods Market);

6534.  Whippets . . . nothing, nada, zilch;

6535.  Sex on a balcony/sex outside . . . check;

6536.  Elizabeth’s skin tastes salty;

6537.  (I can say) I’ve eaten brownies for breakfast;

6538.  Three things you can’t recover in life; the words after they’re said, the moment after it’s missed and the time after it’s gone;

6539.  Kevin (Dwyer) and I have the same birthday;

6540.  Everything I need comes to me in the perfect time and space sequence;

6541.  I forgive everyone in my past for all perceived wrongs;

6542.  I bless and prosper everyone in my world and everyone in my world blesses and prospers me;

6543.  (I can say) I’ve licked champagne off a porn star’s leg (specifically Adria Rae);

6544.  (I can also say) I’ve had a porn star lick my face;

6545.  Worrying is praying for what you don’t want;

6546.  Getting a blowjob on your birthday . . . check . . . blowing your load in her mouth . . . (double) check;

6547.  (According to Elizabeth,) I taste “healthy” . . . and (slightly) salty;

6548.  Joanna Krupa (i.e., model) and I have the same birthday too;

6549.  You can’t use up creativity, the more you use, the more you have;

6550.  Just because you can’t keep up doesn’t mean you can’t show up;

What I've learned since moving to D.C. (some of which should be obvious): 0130

6451.  One might expect single people to be less risk-averse than their married counterparts, but the opposite is true.  Married people, for example, are more willing to make risky financial investments than single people.  The outcomes of success can also be seen in marriage studies with married men earning about twenty percent more than unmarried men;

6452.  4 rules for strategic givers: 1.  Don’t break the bank: The amount of money you spend doesn’t matter.  It’s what you spend it on.  Here are two words to guide your gifting: practical luxuries.  Most of your gift recipients are (more than likely) extremely high-powered.  They don’t need an $80.00 watch because they could afford to purchase an $8000.00 watch.  So if you have $80.00 to spend, gift something useful that the recipient might never buy for themselves.  Make it both practical and top-of-the-line.  Spend the $80.00 on a custom coffee mug.  Or on a pair of zebra wood headphones.  Or on an engraved cheese knife (i.e., American-made, guaranteed forever and sold by college students).  If your recipient says, “I would never buy this for myself, but I absolutely love it!” then you’re on the right track; 2.  Use the crucial ITY’s: A good gift shouldn’t live in isolation.  It can’t live in isolation.  Worthy recipients today are likely to be worthy recipients tomorrow, so set yourself up for success.  Not by putting your logo on everything, but by adhering your gifting to the three crucial ITY’s: A) Visibil-ITY gifts are things that’ll be seen by others.  Conversation starters.  Make your recipient look good and they will love you forever; B) Continu-ITY gifts are those you can buy in a series.  Today you send the leather belt, next month the leather travel bag and so on; and C) Qual-ITY gifts are things that last forever.  Nothing says, “You don’t really matter to me” like mediocre quality; 3.  Don’t be an ABC gifter:  ABC gifters limit their strategic giving to Anniversaries, Birthdays and Christmas.  Your goal is “surprise and delight,” you should know that ABC gifting thoroughly eliminates the “surprise” part of the equation.  Better to change your giving calendar to reflect those months, dates and days when your recipient least expects it.  “I was having the worst Tuesday and then I got your package in the mail!  Thank you!  Where did you find this thing?”  Shock and awe just isn’t the same without the shock; 4.  Follow up without attachment: You should follow-up and ask “How’d you like the gift?”  It doesn’t make you tactless.  The only way to become tactless is to make the follow-up about you.  “How’d you like the gift?  Great!  Hey, I was wondering if you could do me a favor;”

6453.  In 2011, as part of the Science of Generosity Initiative at the University of Notre Dame, W. Bradford Wilcox headed up a survey of 1,630 married couples designed to home in on a single factor in after-the-nuptials happiness: marital generosity.  In a 2013 article for the Journal of Marriage and Family, Wilcox and coauthor Jeffrey Dew define this generosity as “giving good things to [one’s spouse] freely and abundantly,” including “regularly engaging in small acts of kindness, expressing affection, expressing respect and forgiving one’s spouse;”

6454.  One of the worst feelings you can get is that feeling of stagnation.  When your life stagnates, it starts to affect other areas of your life.  You might feel uninspired, unmotivated, like you’re in a rut that you can’t get out of.  You feel bored . . . bored of everything;

6455.  (I can say) I witnessed Alexander Ovechkin’s 602^nd (regular-season) NHL goal making him the 19^th all-time NHL goal scorer (by surpassing Jari Kurri on the all-time list);

6456.  Morning sex . . . check . . . snow day . . . (double) check;

6457.  (Instant) oatmeal (specifically maple & brown sugar) made with (black) coffee is actually (pretty) good;

6458.  Dining room table . . . check . . . raw dog buggery . . . (double) check;

6459.  Making out in the car . . . check;

6460.  (Getting) a body trimmer is a worthwhile purchase;

6461.  New opportunities, new experiences are always found outside (of) your comfort zone;

6462.  The key to feeling good is to decide to stop feeling bad;

6463.  This day, I vow to myself to love myself, to treat myself as someone I love truly and deeply, in my thoughts, my actions, the choices I make, the experiences I have, each moment I am conscious, I make the decision I love myself;

6464.  Darkness is the absence of light.  Any negative thought is darkness.  How do you remove it?  Do you fight fear or worry?  Do you push or drown away sadness and pain?  Doesn’t work.  Instead, imagine you’re in a dark room and it’s bright outside.  Your job is to go to the window, pull out a rag and start cleaning.  Soon enough, light enters naturally taking the darkness away;

6465.  If you had a thought once, it has no power over you.  Repeat it again and again, especially with emotional intensity, feeling it, and over time, you’re creating the grooves, the mental river.  Then it controls you;

6466.  The chicken tender sub at Publix (Publix.com) is (pretty) tasty;

6467.  Calming meditation: 1.  Put on music . . . something soothing and gentle, preferably instrumental . . . a piece you have positive associations with; 2.  Sit with your back against a wall or window.  Cross your legs or stretch them out, whatever feels natural; 3.  Close your eyes.  Smile slowly.  Imagine a beam of light pouring into your head from above; 4.  Breathe in and say to yourself in your mind, “I love myself.”  Be gentle with yourself; 5.  Breathe out and along with it anything that arises . . . anything thoughts, emotions, feelings, memories, fears, hopes, desires or nothing.  Breathe it out.  There is no judgment or attachment to anything.  Be kind to yourself; 6.  Repeat steps 4 and 5 until the music ends.  When your attention wanders, notice it and smile.  Smile at it as if it’s a child doing what a child does.  With that smile, return to your breath.  Repeat steps 4 and 5; and 7.  When the music ends, open your eyes slowly.  Smile.  Do it from the inside out.  This is your time.  This is purely yours;

6468.  “I love myself” mediation: 1.  Set a timer for 5 minutes; 2.  Stand in front of a mirror with your nose a few inches away.  Relax.  Breathe; 3.  Look into your eyes.  It helps if you focus on one . . . your left eye.  Relax.  Breathe slowly and naturally until you develop a rhythm; 4.  Looking into your left eye say, “I love myself.”  Whether you believe it that moment or not isn’t important.  What’s important is saying it to yourself and looking into your eyes where there is no escape from the truth.  Ultimately, the truth is loving yourself; and 5.  Repeat, “I love myself,” gently, pausing occasionally to watch your eyes;

6469.  If a painful memory arises, don’t fight it or try to push it away.  Struggle reinforces pain.  Instead, go to love.  Love for yourself.  Feel it.  If you have to fake it, fine.  Feel the love for yourself as the memory ebbs and flows.  That will take the power away;

6470.  Fighting fear doesn’t work.  It just drags us in closer.  One has to focus on what is real . . . on the truth.  When in darkness, don’t fight it.  You can’t win.  Just find the nearest switch and turn on the light;

6471.  James Altucher talks about how he stops negative thoughts in their tracks with a simple mind trick.  “Not useful,” he tells himself.  It’s a switch, a breaker of sorts, it shifts the pattern of the fear;

6472.  When fear arises, remember that it is a hallucinated snake, that it’s not useful or that it’s not real.  There are many more.  As long as it works, it’s valid;

6473.  The key is, when in darkness, have a light switch you’ve chosen standing by;

6474.  It’s easy to wish for health when you’re sick.  When you’re doing well, you need just as much vigilance;

6475.  If I loved myself truly and deeply, what would I do?  The answer is: I’d fly . . . fly as high as I possibly can.  Then, I’d fly higher;

6476.  Often the price for not being present is pain;

6477.  Whenever you notice fear in your mind, instead of pushing it aside or using it as fuel, say to yourself, “It’s okay,” a gentle “yes” to yourself, to the moment and to what the mind is feeling;

6478.  Real growth comes through intense, difficult and challenging situations;

6479.  Fear strengthens the ego.  Love softens it;

6480.  The women you’ll see in the lobby of LIV (Nightclub) (LIVNightclub.com) in Miami is ridiculous;

6481.  What’s a great place to meet women in Miami?  The answer is: The lobby of LIV (Nightclub);

6482.  Apparently, you should put your Molly under your “junk;”

6483.  Putting your Molly in the waistband of your boxers works too;

6484.  Don’t take the 3^rd pill . . . just don’t;

6485.  (The feeling of) too much Molly reminds me of lucid dreaming;

6486.  100/150 mg and then 100/50 mg 3-4 hours later is (probably) about right (for most people);

6487.  (I can say) I saw Swedish House Mafia play (at Ultra Music Festival) in Miami;

6488.  Apparently, Floyd Mayweather likes to go to LIV (Nightclub) in Miami;

6489.  Ice cream made with (liquid) nitrogen is very creamy;

6490.  The 10 minute rule: It’s really easy to put off tasks that seem daunting, but there’s something that works.  Promise yourself you’ll put just 10 minutes into the task.  Once you get in the flow, you’ll pick your head up two hours later with a large chunk done.  Getting started is the hardest part so don’t give yourself a choice;

6491.  How do you get 2,000 free (frequent flyer/airline) miles from American Airlines?  The answer is: Have a kid throw up on you on the plane. . . . It’ll also get you a free (alcoholic) drink and your dry cleaning paid for;

6492.  Babe Ruth was born in Baltimore;

6493.  Hospitals are cheap(er) places to park in the Inner Harbor (in Baltimore);

6494.  (I can say) I’ve been to Opening Day at (Oriole Park at) Camden Yards;

6495.  Apparently, I smell “salty;”

6496.  It seems (that) the kid’s dog (i.e., $1.50) is a better value than a regular hot dog (i.e., $5.00) at (Oriole Park at) Camden Yards. . . . You can buy three kid’s dogs for less than the price of one regular hot dog;

6497.  Going to a strip club with a girl you’re seeing . . . check . . . bonus, (in that) it was her idea;

6498.  Something you don’t see every day . . . (a woman with) a dog (i.e., Chihuahua) at a strip club;

6499.  Apparently, Elizabeth is “falling” for me;

6500.  If you don’t want to be mistaken for a(n) Lyft/Uber (driver) in D.C., don’t drive a gray (Toyota) Corolla;