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This article was published on September 21, 2020

Here’s how you measure the success of a UX design project

Here’s how you measure the success of a UX design project

As designers, we want the products we build to be satisfying and easy to use, but how can we know that’s the case? We start by measuring the user experience with evidence rather than opinions. But can UX really be measured? Absolutely. By evaluating products with qualitative and quantitative methods, we gain access to a host of illuminating UX metrics.

There’s nothing like completing a UX project. It takes an incredible amount of time, effort, and skill to travel from design problem to solution. Crossing the finish line is a great feeling, but seasoned UX designers know that there’s always more to be done…

A C-level executive calls with a question. “Now that the project is over, how do we track the results we’re trying to achieve?”

It’s a fair concern — one that leads to a bigger topic. How can UX designers measure success and prove that their work is worth the investment? Understanding project and business goals is a good start, but there’s more to it.

To determine the success of a UX project, we need to know how and why people use products and evaluate the outcomes with UX metrics.

Measuring the user experience
To fully understand the effectiveness of UX design decisions, we must measure their impact. (Anne Nygård)

User experience evaluation

What do we mean when we say that a product is usable?

According to the International Organization for Standardization, usability is “the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specific goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use.”

There’s a lot going on there. Let’s pull out the important parts.

  • Users: The people that products are designed for
  • Goals: The objectives that products should help users complete
  • Context: The use cases that products are intended for

If we were to oversimplify, we might say that usability is “the extent to which a product helps users achieve goals in a specific use case.” But we’d be making a major omission.

  • Satisfaction: User satisfaction is a key aspect of usability. Functionality and ease of use are important, but products should also be aesthetically pleasing and delightful to use.

Why measure usability?

When products aren’t satisfying or they make it hard to accomplish goals, users look elsewhere. The only way we can know if we’re really solving design problems (and not causing them) is to test the usability of the products we create.

We use metrics to measure success so that we can refine products and impact users for good.

[Read: 5 things to know when you’re buying your first electric vehicle]

Measuring UX success with usability

Before collecting data, it’s a good idea to outline a basic measurement strategy.

  • Decide which metrics to measure.
  • Use both qualitative and quantitative metrics.
  • Establish clear timeframes in order to understand the trends that emerge. The metrics gathered in a single day may tell a much different story than those gathered over the course of a week.

1. Task success rate

Task success rate is one of the most widely used and easily understood UX metrics. It shows the percentage of participants that successfully complete a task and helps designers identify user experience issues. As long as tasks have clearly defined goals, success rates can be measured.

Tasks like completing a signup process or adding a specific item to a shopping cart are well-suited for this metric. Keep in mind, success rate doesn’t explain how well users perform tasks or why they fail them.

User experience kpis
Without clearly defined goals, it’s impossible to measure task success.

2. Task completion time

This metric measures the amount of time it takes a user to complete a task. Due to varying factors, different users will have different completion times for the same task. In general, the less time a user spends on a task, the better the UX.

Depending on the evaluation method and type of project, there are multiple ways to determine task completion time.

  • Average Completion Time: Only tallies users who actually complete the task
  • Mean Time to Failure: The average amount of time that it takes users to give up or complete a task incorrectly
  • Average Time on Task: The total average time that users spend on a task

Measuring ux
Task completion graphs show the amount of time it takes different users to perform various actions.

3. Retention rate

Broadly speaking, the retention rate is the percentage of users that continue to use a product over time. But to measure the retention rate of a product accurately, there must be a clear definition of what actions and activity levels constitute use.

Actions may include logging in, visiting a web page, downloading/uploading files, using a key product feature, etc. Measuring retention is an excellent way to understand the long-term usefulness of a product.

4. Conversion rate

Conversion rate measures the percentage of users who perform a desired action. Desired actions link to product goals and cover everything from completing a registration process to making a purchase.

It’s important to note that percentages can be misleading. For example, a website may experience a spike in traffic due to a marketing campaign. Even if sales increase, the site’s conversion rate could plunge because of the increased traffic.

5. Error rate

The error rate identifies the percentage of bad entries made by users. It’s calculated by dividing the number of errors by the number of attempts made. High error rates indicate usability problems. As with other UX metrics, it’s crucial to define what erroneous actions are.

6. Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction measures users’ overall fulfillment levels, and it can be tracked in various ways.

  • Satisfaction surveys: Surveys allow companies to ask customers questions that gauge their happiness levels.
  • CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score): At the end of surveys, many companies obtain this score by asking customers to rate their overall satisfaction on a scale from 1-5.
  • NPS (Net Promoter Score): NPS is calculated by asking users how likely they are to recommend a brand or a product on a scale from 1-10.
  • CES (Customer Effort Score): CES is found by asking users to rate their effort levels. For example, “On a scale from extremely easy to extremely difficult, how would you rate your experience?”
  • Social Media Monitoring: Tools like Mention and Google Alerts allow companies to see what people are saying about them on social platforms, blogs, and review sites.

UX success metrics
By monitoring social media, companies gain access to unfiltered user sentiments. (Kon Karampelas)

7. Heuristic evaluation

Heuristics are predefined usability principles (empirical rules of thumb, standards, and conventions) that have been observed and tested over an extended period of time.

In a heuristic analysis, expert evaluators identify the usability issues of digital products and rate their severity, thereby allowing UX designers to quickly learn about and address shortcomings.

User experience evaluation
Susan Weinschenk and Dean Barker (Weinschenk and Barker 2000) researched usability guidelines and heuristics from many sources (including Nielsen, Apple, and Microsoft) and generated this set of 20 usability heuristics.

Quantifying the user experience

The AARRR framework

Created in 2007, the AARRR framework is focused on company growth. It monitors a customer’s life cycle with a company and allows designers to track Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, and Revenue (AARRR).

  • Acquisition: What channels do new users come to a product from?
  • Activation: What percentage of new users have a satisfying initial experience?
  • Retention: Do users continue to come back over time?
  • Referral: Do users like the product enough to recommend it to their friends?
  • Revenue: Can user behavior be monetized?

The RARRA framework

The RARRA framework is virtually identical to AARRR, but due to fierce competition among digital products, it prioritizes Retention over Acquisition. The thinking is that if an app fails to make a good first impression, users may never come back.

The customer experience index (CX index)

The CX Index was introduced by Forrester in 2016 as a way to monitor brand touchpoints, measure customer loyalty, and learn how each affects revenue. The framework has two key indicators:

  1. CSAT (Customer Satisfaction)
  2. NPS (Net Promoter Score)

As a company’s CX Index score increases, so does its ability to win and retain customers.

Measuring ux success
The Customer Experience Index.

HEART by Google

In 2010, the Google Research Team developed a framework to measure the success of products and features. The framework’s user-focused metrics form an easy-to-remember acronym.

  • Happiness: How do people feel about a product? What’s their level of satisfaction with it?
  • Engagement: How much and how often do people choose to interact with a product?
  • Adoption: How many new users are acquired over a specific amount of time?
  • Retention: How many existing users are retained over a specific amount of time?
  • Task Success: What percentage of users are able to successfully complete a task?

Quantifying qualitative data
For each category in the HEART framework, there must be clearly defined goals, signals, and metrics.

Measuring the user experience makes a difference

UX metrics provide data that allows designers to measure and compare the usability of digital products over time. They reveal areas of products that need to be improved and help designers evaluate decisions based on evidence rather than opinions.

Like all tools, metrics and frameworks should be used in the right context. UX designers must strategically link metrics to client objectives and user needs.

For designers looking to build products that are both easy and satisfying to use, measuring the user experience makes all the difference.

So you like TNW? Then join our upcoming online event, TNW2020, you don’t want to miss it.

The Toptal Design Blog is a hub for advanced design studies by professional designers in the Toptal network on all facets of digital design, ranging from detailed design tutorials to in-depth coverage of new design trends, tools, and techniques. You can read the original piece written by Kayode Osinusihere. Follow the Toptal Design Blog on Twitter, Dribbble, Behance, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

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Book Recommendations

Hi again!

One of the things I loved the most about the year that is about to end (and I have to say it was a pretty slow year, not moving particularly smoothly) is the fact that I got a bit of my brain back and had some energy and time for reading. Yay me! Don’t expect to see any “heavy” literature on my list. That was reading at night before I crush on the pillow, while spending the day dealing with a preschooler and baby, who tandem feed and hate sleep.

I am a fast reader though, so from March till now I ‘ve gone through 15 books, even with marmalade instead of a brain. To keep this post short and sweet, I’ll keep the descriptions short and be blunt when it comes to what I thought of the books, to save both you and me time.

Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro

If you love dystopian stories, you will love this one. I later found out they turned it into a movie too, but I haven’t seen it. It’s very hard to talk about the plot without using any spoilers, but it has a lot to do with organ transplants, life and death. There’s also a love story or two in there, but they are not the focal point of it all. I loved it. I found the plot pretty predictable (but I am pretty good at sensing what will happen next) but I loved the prose and style. I highly recommend it.

A Week In Paris, Rachel Hore

I was confused about this one. I found the beginning very wordy and was almost compelled to abandon it (and I am not the person that abandons books). But it could very well be my low level of concentration. I stuck with it however (’cause I am no quitter, remember?) and I am glad I did. The plot is interesting, there are quite a few twists and in the end all the details and descriptions of settings and characters manage to suck you into the story. I like that it takes place in two different eras (WW2 and the present) and it does give persuasive descriptions of the living conditions during the war. I ‘d say it’s the perfect book to read during lazy summer afternoons.

The Boy In The Stripped Pyjamas, John Boyne

If you are looking for a feel-good book, well, read another one. It’s a book about the Holocaust and two completely different perspectives of it, as experienced by two boys. One living inside and another living outside a concentration camp. A friendship develops between the two and you will cry and cry and cry. I LOVED the ending. It’s an ending that really reminded me of ancient tragedies. The writing style was great throughout the book, but the ending was just something else. It does give you an insight into the life of the people that suffered in camps, but the writer doesn’t go the easy way and over-use the horror of it all to move the reader. I highly recommend it. It has also been turned into a film, which I ‘ve also not watched.

Norse Mythology, Neil Gaiman

I knew I would love this one, just because I love Gaiman’s prose. Good Omens is one of my favorite books of all times. I also love mythology and I am one of those people that even though don’t really believe in ghosts, afterlife or zodiac signs, I am afraid of the dark, love to read astrological maps and own a tarot deck. So yes, mythology is my thing. The book is a collection of amazing stories full of love, hate, treason, creation and destruction. I adore the way Gaiman presents the ancient Gods as having such a great sense of humor. It was really enjoyable.

I know people went crazy with the Thor movie and so many loved to hate Loki and I might actually see it now that I am more acquainted with the legends behind it (not to confuse you, that movie is not based on the book, just on the same mythology).

The Best Of Adam Sharp, Graeme Simsion

Before reading this one, I had read The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect by the same author and I found them both hilarious, moving and relatable on many levels. I must say that even though The Best of Adam Sharp was enjoyable to read, it reminded me a bit too much of the two previous books. The clash between the two main characters, the traits of the protagonist, they kept reminding me of Rosie and Don Tillman. And I read this one in English while the other two in Dutch, which means I struggled a lot more with them, but still enjoyed them much more. I’d say it’s a good, relaxed read, but if you have already read other Simsion books, don’t go for this one. I have a better choice following.

Two Steps Forward, Graeme Simsion, Anne Buist

Now, this one I really loved! If you love to travel, you are going to enjoy this too. It is set along the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrim route going from France to Spain. On the way the two main characters meet all sorts of different people that have arrived on the Camino from different paths of life. It really made me want to embark on a pilgrimage as well and I did find myself counting how many years it would be till I could take the kids with me and Nikos (or leave them with the grandparents to do the trip on our own). The plot was not full of twists but the great atmosphere and the sceenes made up for it.

Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney

People seem to love this book. It has awesome reviews and passionate fans and literary critics write good things about it too. Well. It was not for me. Most likely because reading “being young, about doing drugs and about music” when you have two very young kids and haven’t gone out for drinks in the evening after 19:00 for the past five years doesn’t help to get into the mood. I just couldn’t relate. And don’t get me wrong, I have very clear memories of my own wild days, still I didn’t find it relatable. Do books have to be relatable to be good? No. But I didn’t enjoy the prose of this one either. Maybe I should give it another go in a few years, when I will be less grumpy and cranky.

Today Will Be Different, Maria Semple

Meeeh… (I know I should never write and publish a book after the reviews I am doing, because Karma will smack me in the face. But it’s ok, I don’t have the perseverance to do it anyway). The book follows a day in life of a working mother, struggling with all the things the average parent struggles and maybe juggling a couple more balls. I know I just complained about the previous book not being relatable. And this one was very relatable, but I still didn’t enjoy it. Oh God, I AM grumpy! Looking back, trying to figure out why I didn’t enjoy this book, I’d say it’s because I felt I was being forced to feel things, to identify with the heroine to say “that’s right! That’s how my life as a parent and woman trying to succeed in today’s world feels like”. And I don’t like being forced. Apparently HBO thinks it’s good enough to make a series out of it, staring Julia Roberts.

The Children Act, Ian McEwan

A fantastic book with an original plot, very interesting characters that really come to life and wonderful writing style. I just found out it was turned into a movie starring Emma Thompson (I love her), so I ‘ll watch it for sure. Without spoiling it, the book is about a judge, a Jehovah’s witness and a blood transfusion. Just read it, you won’t regret it, I promise.

Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Cafe, Fannie Flagg

I am in love with both the book and the movie. I first saw the movie when it came out, 1991, age 6. There were no parental guides back then, certainly not in Greece. Strangely enough, I still remember scenes from that first time. This year one of my very best friends (hi Patri 🙂 ) gave me the book as a present. It is unlike anything you will ever read. It’s a book about love, friendship, minorities, injustice, kindness. I love how the plot unravels on many layers, both in the present and the past. The characters come to life and you fall in love with them from the first pages of the book. I watched the movie again after reading the book and I still find it a great movie, though they have chosen to change a part of the book ending. I liked the book ending better, but it’s still worth watching.

Everything Is Illuminated, Jonathan Safran Foer

I ‘ve read Foer’s Eating Animals a few years ago and I really liked his thought process and way of expressing his stream of thought and making his research accessible to the reader. So when I found this one in the English section of our (Dutch) library, I thought I’d give it a go. I am very glad I did. It is a wonderful book with a very original way of unravelling the plot and it really does illuminate many parts of both Jewish history during the war and the human psyche in general. I see that’s also become a movie but I haven’t watched it yet, so no opinion on that. But the book is really worth reading. It is tender and funny and tragic at the same time, just like humans are. It is also autobiographical (fictionalized but based on Foer’s own search for his roots).

The Castle In The Pyrenees, Jostein Gaarder

I am quite confused about this one too. Apaprently Gaarder is very highly regarded and a bestseller author. I found the book at my parents’ camper this summer. My mom told me she didn’t think it was great but the only other book at the camping was a Paulo Cohelo one, so this one would have to do… (her words, don’t shoot the messenger :D).  The book is written in the form of e-mails. So the two basic characters are exchanging e-mails about something they experienced many years ago in the mountains. Apparently one of them thinks there is a strong metaphysical meaning attached to it while the other is very much against the idea. There are quite a few pages in the book dedicated to presenting the two character’s world views which at times is interesting but some times it gets rather boring too. The plot is fine and not too predictable. When I finished it I thought it was not really my type of book but then I found myself thinking about it and thinking over the story and concepts in it quite often the following weeks. So I guess there is something about it that makes it stick with you. I don’t feel I wasted my time reading it in any case.

The Greek Ones

I know the vast majority of the followers of this blog are English speakers (native or not), but I couldn’t finish this post without mentioning the Greek writers I enjoyed reading this summer.

Γκιακ and Γρα-Γρου are very different from each other but both very well-written (and illustrated, when it comes to the second one, that has also a soundtrack). They make you feel uncomfortable, the way art probably should (Guy Debord would agree with me, I think). They upset you and stir something into you in different ways. Γκιακ -an amazingly well-researched book especially when it comes to the linguistic aspect of it- is all about the cruelty of war and how quickly it transforms us into monsters (or uncovers the monster within). Γρα-Γρου is… well, it is very very Greek. In its references and atmosphere and all the things we love and ache for. I really wish it would be translated in English and then I’d gift it to all my foreign friends. As for the naughty girls (Τα Άτακτα Κορίτσια), I enjoyed reading it but I can’t say it stuck with me. I read it 2 months ago and I can’t remember a single story. I really did enjoy the prose though so I think I will go back and read it again at some point.

Feel free to share your review if you ‘ve read any of these books or recommend other ones in the comments here or on facebook.

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Review & Full Album Premiere: Sun Voyager, Seismic Vibes

Sun Voyager Seismic Vibes

[Click play above to stream Sun Voyager’s Seismic Vibes in its entirety. Album is out April 20 on King Pizza Records.]

Here’s a post from May 2014 about how Sun Voyager‘s debut album would be out that summer. The band had two demos to their name at that point — early 2013’s Cosmic Tides and late 2013’s Mecca (review here) — and though it turn out their first long-player would in no way be out that summer or any time between then and now, they filled the intervening years via splits with Greasy Hearts (discussed here) and The Mad Doctors (review here), as well as 2015’s Lazy Daze EP (review here). The Orange County, New York, heavy psych outfit discussed the making of their full-length and even went so far as to post the opening track “Trip” in early 2017. So to say that Seismic Vibes, which at last sees release through King Pizza Records, has been a while in the making is maybe understating it a little.

They’ve kept consistent playing live shows, and since Lazy Daze came out they’ve pared down their lineup from a two-guitar four-piece to a trio — though in addition to the core of vocalist/guitarist Carlos Francisco, bassist/guitarist/vocalist Stefan Mersch and drummer Kyle Beach, the album’s credits also list Evan Heinze on keyboard and Sam Bey on percussion; that trio may or may not be in a process of expansion — and between that and leaking tracks from the originally self-titled Seismic Vibes, one could hardly accuse them of laziness in bringing the record to fruition. Sometimes these things just take a while. Tracked by Paul Ritchie down the Jersey Shore and mastered by Alan Douches, the eight-song/34-minute offering that has resulted from whatever arduous process was undertaken can only be considered worth the effort.

Maybe that’s not saying much, but the point to be made is that one can hear on Seismic Vibes the growth that’s taken place in Sun Voyager‘s sound even since Lazy Daze, which opened with “God is Dead,” a song that’s turned into the extended, jammed-out closer on the full-length. That track is the only carry-over between the two outings, and as one might hope, Sun Voyager use the opportunity of their first full-length to showcase the dynamic they’ve worked hard through the last several years to build. The keys and vocal arrangement on a song like “Hair Brained” speak to an increase in complexity overall, not to mention the sitar-sounding guitar solo that follows and the effects swirl surrounding, but even the opening salvo of “Trip,” “Open Road” and “Caves of Steel” seem to signal a driven purposefulness of intent — that is, the fact that these tracks aren’t just cobbled together, but placed consciously to affect the listener’s experience of the record. All under four minutes and pointedly uptempo, the first three tracks work quickly to establish the momentum that will carry the listener through the ensuing dynamic that unfolds.

sun voyager

Beginning with an unassuming hum, “Trip” is among the catchiest hooks on Seismic Vibes, tambourine and all, and the keyboard-laced “Open Road” holds a tension in its drums that drives mellower verses into the more densely-fuzzed chorus, keyboards filling out the melody during the verse and the cacophonous-but-quick payoff at the end. Mersch‘s bass and Francisco‘s guitar swirl begins “Caves of Steel,” but this too unveils itself quickly as a fuzz riot, and thrusts into tom runs backing a hook repeating the title line and a jammy ending that cuts short at about 3:10 but sounds like it could just as easily keep going into perpetuity. Though it too is short at 3:38, there’s a marked change in pace as “Stellar Winds” comes on, and for the first time, Sun Voyager introduce their more languid side; a sound more derived from shoegaze than the spaced-out semi-punk of “Caves of Steel” just prior. Francisco‘s voice is well-suited to drift, which is not something every singer can pull off, and though “Stellar Winds” is mellower than the first three cuts, it still offers a sense of build and turns directly into “Hair Brained,” which is arguably the speediest and most active inclusion here, reminiscent as it is of some of early Nebula‘s frenetic stoner punk.

As noted, the keys are a factor in fleshing out “Hair Brained,” and they play a role in offsetting the bouncing rhythm as it makes its way to a winding cold-stop finish, and it might be the keys as well that tie “Hair Brained” to the subsequent “Too Much,” which is an immediate switch in method from its predecessor and the most open-feeling song on Seismic Vibes, molten and hypnotic in a way that much of the record has simply chosen not to be. At five minutes, its roll is second in length only to the aforementioned “God is Dead,” and the two tracks are separated by the 3:35 “Psychic Lords,” a slowdown leading to the quiet/loud tradeoffs as Sun Voyager find a place for themselves in a niche of cosmic grunge that calls back to the hooks earlier on the album without giving up the expansion that’s happened since.

The start of “God is Dead” is a bit jarring coming out of the subdued end of “Psychic Lords,” and I suspect it will be all the more for anyone who encountered Lazy Daze, as it was a standout there, but in this redone, expanded version, it provides a fitting summary of just about everything Seismic Vibes delivers, with a jammy feel underscoring forward drive, shifts in tempo and a controlled psychedelic sensibility that’s light on self-indulgence and still manages to feel like it’s exploring new terrain. One would be remiss in not noting that though it’s been some time in its realization, this is still Sun Voyager‘s debut album, and yes, there is room for the band to continue to grow into their sound, to refine their balance of volume and tempo and straightforward and open structures, but the core of songwriting is there as it has been for the last half-decade, and there’s little chance Seismic Vibes won’t end up as one of 2018’s best first LPs. As a fan of the band, I’m just glad it finally happened.

Sun Voyager on Bandcamp

Sun Voyager on Thee Facebooks

Sun Voyager on Twitter

Sun Voyager on Tumblr

King Pizza Records on Thee Facebooks

King Pizza Records on Bandcamp

King Pizza Records webstore

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text:
Periodic Table Poster   My periodic table poster is now available!Periodic Table PosterPeriodic Table PosterPeriodic Table Poster
3D3DSealed glass ampule, 99.98%.
Another beautiful cesium ampule from David Franco: He plans to offer these for sale on eBay along with a very similar rubidium ampule. The fact that cesium melts in your hand makes it one of the most fascinating element samples you can have: I never cease to wonder at the beauty of it. And the color is also quite remarkable: There are very few metals that are anything other than gray or silvery in color, so the delicate gold color of cesium is a real treat. (It's also very difficult to photograph: This picture does not do it justice.)
Just be very, very careful not to break the ampule! It will react explosively with any moisture (e.g. your hand, the air, etc).

I chose this sample to represent its element in my Photographic Periodic Table Poster. The sample photograph includes text exactly as it appears in the poster, which you are encouraged to buy a copy of.
Periodic Table Poster

Source: David Franco
Contributor: David Franco
Acquired: 10 July, 2003
Text Updated: 4 May, 2007
Price: Donated
Size: 0.5"
Purity: 99.98%


text:
Grumpy Baby

2016-09-24-21-43-37You can feel it coming on, like a storm on the horizon – there’s a charge stirring in the air, a tingling pressure percolating, a sticky warmth coating the body like melted chocolate oozing from a fountain. From the moment you wake, nothing goes right. We miss our bus, we’re late for work, we put our clothes on inside out, we snap at our spouses and our kids, and we snarl at our co-workers, without any real provocation, or at least none that we recognize. Because we carry it every day, we sometimes forget that the burden of chronic illness can influence our mood.

I don’t often complain about arthritis. I have grown accustomed to the terms of my disease and settled into a comfortable routine with the daily grind of life with RA, recognizing my limits and listening to my body – but there are days when I push beyond my limit, try to accomplish too much, and ignore the warning signs, creating the perfect conditions for the arrival of what my partner has affectionately dubbed “grumpy baby.”

Everyone has “grumpy baby” days and anything from stress, fatigue, pain, or a steady stream of petty irritations can set it off – we come home after a long day and discover there’s no hot water; or the wine we have been saving for a special occasion has soured; or our plans of taking a twilight walk with the crunch of autumn leaves beneath our feet has been drowned out by a wet dreary day. I know when “grumpy baby” is present because I feel sore, cranky, irritable and tired. Grumpy baby and RA pain go together like peanut butter and jam. They feed off each other, building like cumulonimbus clouds, and waiting for one inconsequential moment to set off the downpour.

It’s okay to give yourself time to be grumpy baby for a while – just like taking a break, asking for help or setting aside time for yourself. It’s not easy living with the unpredictable disease of RA. Mood and pain are as changeable as the swirling clouds of a tropical storm, luminous and dark, hot and cold, fervent and mild. Most days the symptoms of chronic illness are white noise cycling in the background, but on those mornings when sore and swollen joints match the sable clouds gathering on the skyline, I know that grumpy baby is not far behind – I just find some time to retreat to a quiet place and wait for it to run its course. I know the RA flare will burn out, and grumpy baby will disappear with it, leaving me refreshed in the wake of the storm to once again appreciate my life and all it has to offer.

7 thoughts on “Grumpy Baby

Add yours

  1. With so much pressure to be always positive (and always perfect!) it’s good to “give ourselves permission” to be grumpy baby once in a while. I have to say, though, the mental image of you putting on your clothes inside made me chuckle, so no grumpy baby for me today!

    1. I have been known to put my clothes on inside out on occasion, but usually because I dress when I’m still so tired. I’m glad my “grumpy baby” has made you smile, so maybe none for me today as well ☺ X.

  2. Yes!!! I’m very upbeat and outgoing. But I have days where I just want to sit and cocoon on the sofa or go to the office and shut my door and get what needs to be done without having to interact with people. I used to apologize for it, but I now understand that I have to have these down days. I need to cocoon to rejuvinate myself. We spend much of our time pushing. I push and push and push and sometimes I get mad because I have to push so much, and I pull back a bit and then I’m fine and back at it.

    My word is Moosh, but Grumpy Baby works!

    1. Moosh! I love it. It’s exactly how it feels hiding away under a blanket, melting into my mattress from a flare. Sometimes we have to give ourselves permission to step away and it’s a wonderful freedom to realize it’s okay to do it when we need to. Hoping all is well. X.

  3. Your “grumpy baby” is my “pity party”.

    It is so important to have strategies to put “grumpy baby” to bed and tell all the “pity party” guests to go home.

    Like you, I find restoration in quiet time when I do the things that are meaningful to me.

    1. I love how everyone has a special names for these moments. I think it gives us power by naming them and their easier to put away. Hoping your pity parties are rare and fleeting. X.

      1. That’s a good point re. naming them, then banishing them.

        Yes, indeed, my pity parties are rare events these days, thanks to the on-going techniques I practise. Hoping the same for you.

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text:
The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Top Ten Reasons David Letterman’s Ratings Suck on the Forest Moon of Endor

Posted on | August 8, 2010 | 35 Comments

“Broken-Down Old Man Perving on Zooey Deschanel” really seems to bother Ace of Spades

The thing is, before the sexual harassment stuff made headlines, I’d always thought of Letterman’s hubba-hubba routine with female guests (e.g., famously, Drew Barrymore) as a sort of ironic sarcasm thing. But the geezerly nudge-wink ceased to be funny after we discoverd that Letterman’s been shagging the office help since . . . well, forever.

What bugs me about Letterman is therefore, apparently, something different than what bugs Ace. Circumspection and subtlety have never been part of my shtick but — as Ace often says, when threatening to bring out the ban-hammer — there’s a line, and I know where it is.

Or at least I like to think I know where the line is.

When reckless irresponsibility is part of your shtick, sometimes you cross the line without intending to cross the line and offend people you didn’t mean to offend. But I certainly understand that the whole Rule 5 hubba-hubba “National Offend a Feminist Week” routine would not work — neither as humor nor as a running critique of political correctness — if I were actually a philandering womanizer.

My frequent references to Mrs. Other McCain (“she’s got a kitchen full of knives and I’ve got to sleep sometime“) are a humorous allusion to a serious reality. When I flew back from Vegas a couple weeks ago, after having been a wee bit reckless at the roulette wheel, Mrs. Other McCain was so mad at me she wouldn’t even pick me up at the airport. She was so mad, in fact, she honestly didn’t care whether I came home or not. It was one of the most awful feelings of my life.

Remember, she met me when I was making $275 a week as the sports editor of a twice-weekly paper in a Georgia carpet-mill town you never heard of. She only married me because I promised her the sun, the moon and the stars, and I’d have never amounted to anything had it not been for (a) my determination to fulfill that promise and (b) having a sensible wife who supplies the necessary caution to balance my wild-eyed impulsiveness. When I was scrambling to find a way home from the airport a couple of weeks ago, I wasn’t just feeling heartbroken over the possible loss of her superfine sexiness, but also facing a potentially shattering blow to my entire self-concept.

Another pathetic middle-aged divorced guy? Not me.

No sir: One life, one wife.

A major reason guys become that pathetic middle-aged divorced stereotype is because, to quote the immortal poetry of Kitty Wells, “too many times, married men think they’re still single.”

Or as is more often the case, they convey that impression by employing a timeworn lie: “My wife doesn’t understand me.”

Girls, if a married guy ever throws that line on you, run — don’t walk — in the opposite direction. Preferably, after you’ve thrown a drink in the guy’s face.

My running joke is that I can resist anything except temptation, and one way to avoid temptation is by making clear to any woman who might appear interested in me that (a) I’m a happily married father of six, and (b) Mrs. Other McCain understands me completely, which makes it all the more miraculous that she didn’t dump me years ago.

All of that is by way of explaining my grievance against David Letterman: His habitual womanizing requires me to issue this disclaimer that my hubba-hubba jokes are merely jokes. And if you have to explain a joke, it kind of spoils the funny.

Well, this brings me back around to Ace of Spades.

Ace is not married, so why is he so creeped out by Letterman perving on Zooey what’s-her-name? Probably because of those old stereotypes about Ewoks and “intergenerational romance.”

35 Responses to “Top Ten Reasons David Letterman’s Ratings Suck on the Forest Moon of Endor”

  1. Kojocaro
    August 8th, 2010 @ 5:47 pm

    🙄 david letterman deserves to have his ass kicked 🙄

  2. Steven
    August 8th, 2010 @ 6:33 pm

    She said “Socialist dictatorship” like it’s a BAD thing. Weird. Is she really a movie star?

  3. Cindy
    August 8th, 2010 @ 7:10 pm

    I have had so many guys tell me their wives don’t understand them. My standard reply is “Oh, I think she understands you perfectly” Idiots. So subtle.

    One of the reasons I hang on reading this here blog (and a few other men who should have lost me a long time ago over things like, oh, Rule 5 Sunday) is the respect you show your wife. Most men don’t do that in private OR public. I admire that. I expect she’s earned it.

  4. just a conservative girl
    August 8th, 2010 @ 7:32 pm

    I am sorry but the only things I saw in that clip is how odd that woman is. But, I like it that you respect your wife and your marriage. Good for you, we need more in the world to do the same.

  5. Robert Stacy McCain
    August 8th, 2010 @ 7:54 pm

    One of the reasons I hang on reading this here blog . . . is the respect you show your wife. . . . I admire that.

    “Chicks dig it” being a sufficient reason to do anything. 😉

    The thing is, I remember when I was a young man in the ’70s and ’80s, laughing at these older dudes having their cliched “mid-life crises” — sports car, health-club membership, absurdly stylish wardrobe, young girlfriends — and thinking to myself: “I don’t ever want to be an idiot like that.”

    Keeping that memory in mind is helpful, so that my own “mid-life crisis” mainly involves shooting insane fireworks shows, driving 110 mph whenever possible and, of course, this madcap scheme to take over the Entire Freaking Blogosphere.

  6. jefferson101
    August 8th, 2010 @ 8:18 pm

    I don’t know about Ace getting wound up about it, but I suspect that Chaz over at Dustbury may be considering taking a contract out on Letterman.

    He seems to have a fairly soft spot for Ms. Zooey (In a platonic way, I’m sure, but nonetheless….)

  7. CGHill
    August 8th, 2010 @ 8:43 pm

    Naw. Dave’s perved on the youngsters since Larry “Bud” Melman was a pup. I wouldn’t expect anything else of him.

    And it’s not a soft spot, exactly.

  8. jefferson101
    August 8th, 2010 @ 9:24 pm

    You said it, Sir. I didn’t.

    Of course, you don’t have a wife to answer to, unlike Stacy or myself. Stacy comments about a kitchen full of knives, but around here it’s worse than that. There are several firearms about, and she probably wouldn’t wait until I was asleep.

    Completely apart from that one, after 37 years and change, I’m fairly well domesticated. On top of that, I’ve got kids older than Zooey.

    But I digress. Suffice to say that I would not impute impure motives based on a Gentlemans’ aesthetic appreciation of the female form, and I’ll leave it at that.

  9. narciso
    August 8th, 2010 @ 9:45 pm

    Ditto ever since Hitchiker’s Guide, although she looks odd as a blonde

  10. Joe
    August 8th, 2010 @ 9:52 pm

    I like Ms. Deschannel. I think she is funny and talented (although definitely quirky). I agree with the socialistic comment, refreshing to hear that from someone.

    Where exactly did Dave perv out (I admit I did not watch the whole clip)? It did look like he was staring a bit lower than her eyes at the beginning, was that it?

  11. gahrie
    August 8th, 2010 @ 10:32 pm

    1) Wouldn’t be funny if Katy Perry went blonde and short now so they looked alike again?

    2)For those not in the know, Zooey’s sister is the hottie in Bones.

  12. CGHill
    August 8th, 2010 @ 10:39 pm

    I avoid taking anything I say too seriously. It’s best in the long run.

    (I have two children, one older than Zooey, one younger.)

    And yes, Katy Perry should definitely go blonde and confuse us all once more.

  13. Joe
    August 8th, 2010 @ 11:21 pm

    Dave just seems his general perv self. He probably doesn’t even see himself as being pervy. But he is.

  14. Estragon
    August 9th, 2010 @ 12:27 am

    Actually I think Letterman’s ratings suck because he hasn’t been funny in years. Then he compounded the problem by further disregarding the advice of his mentor, the King, and taking a political side – even though it seemed very popular at the time, Carson knew the importance for a late-night comic to maintain balance in lampooning everyone.

    The fact that it has turned out he is as poor an excuse for a human being as he is for a comic late-night host is probably irrelevant to his ratings decline. Most of those who would have cared had already tuned him out.

    I will not allow the gap-toothed moron to appear on my television screen. Only Obama shares this distinction, and even he gets the exception for short clips on the news.

  15. richard mcenroe
    August 9th, 2010 @ 10:15 am

    I’m thinking hot new sitcom with David Letterman and Levi Johnston as his lovable but wacky son, where they keep hitting on the same chicks in bars.

    Call it One and a Half Men.

  16. BlogDog
    August 9th, 2010 @ 11:17 am

    I’ve generally found Ms. D to be exceedingly cute and she has a wonderful singing voice but I’ve never her twitchier than in that vid. It’s rather off-putting.

  17. Mikey NTH
    August 9th, 2010 @ 1:07 pm

    If you must have a midlife crisis, take out the gym membership. It’s cheaper overall and you don’t have any real evidence of your patheticness for your friends to see.

  18. » Creepy Old Guy mode
    August 10th, 2010 @ 7:52 am

    […] Stacy McCain has the video of David Letterman’s apparent first encounter with Zooey Deschanel, and regarding Dave’s tendency to perv on the female guests, he remarks: The thing is, before the sexual harassment stuff made headlines, I’d always thought of Letterman’s hubba-hubba routine with female guests (e.g., famously, Drew Barrymore) as a sort of ironic sarcasm thing. But the geezerly nudge-wink ceased to be funny after we discoverd that Letterman’s been shagging the office help since … well, forever. […]


text:
The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Miss Universe’s Reality TV Sex Scandal

Posted on | September 29, 2016 | Comments Off on Miss Universe’s Reality TV Sex Scandal

Hillary Clinton’s reference to Alicia Machado in Monday’s debate (“No, Miss Universe Can’t Be 170 Pounds”) drew attention to the Venezuelan beauty queen’s sordid past, e.g., the time she wrecked her engagement to a baseball star by having sex with another man on a reality TV show:

In a now infamous 2005 episode of ‘La Granja,’ [“The Farm”] Alicia apparently had sex in front of the cameras with Spanish TV host Fernando Acaso.
Machado was engaged to Philadelphia Phillies baseball star Bobby Abreu at the time.
He quickly called off the wedding after clips of the show appeared online.
The broadcast showed Acaso on top of her, with Machado whispering in Spanish about his manhood.

Ms. Machado is now a U.S. citizen, a Democrat voter and, according to Hillary Clinton, a role model for America’s young women.

Comments are closed.


text:
ThePack Underwear FW 2020-2021

The Top 20 Men's Fashion Trends for Fall/Winter 2020-2021

PAR ALEXANDRE MARAIN (2020, February 20). The top 22 men's fashion trends for Fall/Winter 2020-2021. Vogue Homme.

**LATEST ***The 20 men's fashion trends to know for Fall/Winter 2021-2022

Is streetwear on the verge of extinction? This trend has been slowly making itself a reality over the past two seasons and continues to highlighted for Fall/Winter 2020-2021. While we are witnessing a strong comeback of tailoring with well cut suits, oversized coats and ties, designers are also playing the leather card, featuring bold, all-over prints, monochrome looks, updated denim and faux fur, ideal for facing winter's cold temperatures with style. Not forgetting this season's key color: red, which doesn't hold back. Take a look at the 20 men's fashion trends set to dominate Fall/Winter 2020-2021.

1. Tailoring to the max

Hed Mayner, JW Anderson, Raf Simons

© GoRunway

To cope with the plummeting temperatures and freezing cold, the oversized coat (with strong shoulders and increasingly dramatic sleeves) is our best ally.

2. Total print

Prada, Sacai, Louis Vuitton © GoRunway

Just like next summer, which is looking intrepid and optimistic, winter 2020 will be daring, with a plethora of all-over looks: including geometric prints from Prada, intricate accents from Sacai or surrealist motifs from Louis Vuitton.

3. Revisited denim

Martine Rose, Alyx, Off-White

© GoRunway

Say goodbye to basic jeans, next winter denim will be coming out to play with a whole new look. Options include a baroque pattern at Martine Rose, a glitter embellished look from Alyx or an oversized model with giant pockets from Off-White.

4. Motifs

Ami, Etro, Lanvin

© GoRunway

The sweater with figures as motifs (faces at the top of the list) continues to storm the men's wardrobe to establish itself as a must-have.

5. Pink alert

ThePack Underwear S2021

© GoRunway

From bright to muted to the millennial variety, designers and brands like Simone Rocha, ThePack UnderwearVersacePradaMiu Miu, and Loewe are all in agreement. Pink is in. A calming color, pink is associated with flowers, femininity, and romance.

6. The glitter touch

Dior, Alexander McQueen, Balmain

© GoRunway

Bring out the party boy who shines within with a series of pieces with glittering details. This daytime disco look crept its way onto coats from Dior and Alexander McQueen and a bomber jacket from Balmain.

7. A surge of squares

Etro, Prada, Loewe

© GoRunway

The check print is next winter's safe bet.

8. Functional clothing

Chalayan, Craig Green, Givenchy © GoRunway

Technical materials (like nylon) haven't had their last word yet. For winter 2020, they are adopted in a pared-down way - one color is all you need. Seen at ChalayanCraig Green and Givenchy.

9. The cardigan

Y/Project, Marni, Hermès

© GoRunway

Long pushed to the back of the wardrobe, this retro but excellent piece is making a comeback in a effortless but assertive style. Spotted at Y/ProjectMarni and Hermès.

10. 1970s fever

Gucci, Dries Van Noten, Hermès

© GoRunway

Imagine a modern-day Mick Jagger with all of his 1970s spirit walking down the runway. From flared trousers to a scarf tied around the neck via a shirt with a loud print, the 1970s silhouette is adorned with bohemian rock pieces.

11. All things leather

Fendi, Martine Rose, Dunhill © GoRunway

Leather, leather and more leather. Dare to wear the trend in an all-over look to confirm your fashion credentials, like at Fendi (who brings it to life all the way up to the hat) and Dunhill.

12. The monochrome look

Balmain, Louis Vuitton, Acne Studios

© GoRunway

With camel at Balmain, neon pink at Louis Vuitton and vibrant purple at Acne Studios, this trend is about color blocking to the max and infusing the whole silhouette.

13. Extreme shearling

Ann Demeulemeester, Moschino, Berluti

© GoRunway

Quite simply a timeless essential of the men's wardrobe, which had a retro vibe at Ann Demeulemeester, extra-large proportions at Moschino and in a classic chic version on the Berluti runway.

14. The cross body bag

Ambush, Jacquemus, MSGM

© GoRunway

The launch of Jacquemus's Chiquito for men for his first co-ed show was the news that got the men's fashion world very excited. From now on, bags are mini and worn across the body.

15. Legs for days

Dries Van Noten, N°21, Gucci © GoRunway

Who said shorts are for summer? Worn very short, they're a self-proclaimed new must-have in the winter wardrobe.

16. Gender neutral fashion

ThePack Underwear

© GoRunway

While women are known for stealing pieces from the men's wardrobe, it's now the turn of men to play with feminine pieces. From a soft lace by ThePack Underwear to a skin-tight tank top by Ludovic de Saint Sernin, gender boundaries have been well and truly broken down.

17. Gloved hands

Armani, Dior, Dries Van Noten

© GoRunway

Including a classic leather version from Armani and quilted soft versions from Dior and Dries Van Noten, gloves become an essential (especially those with long sleeves).

18. The shirt reinvented

Ami, Off-White, Louis Vuitton

© GoRunway

From Ami and Louis Vuitton creating their frilly aristocrat models to the Nineties-style version from Off-White, the shirt gets a new look for winter 2020 and becomes a real statement piece.

19. The purse handbag

Gucci, Stefan Cooke

© Molly SJ Lowe, Getty Images

While in 2018 it was the bumbag that made a strong comeback, this season it's the turn of the handbag to make its comeback, as evidenced by the various houses that have given their own interpretations of it on the runway including Gucci and Stefan Cooke.

20. Faux fur

Vetements, Dolce & Gabbana, Raf Simons

© GoRunway

The faux fur coat became the king of the runway this season and is perfect for withstanding extreme winter temperatures in style.

八月 16, 2020
How Quarantine Can Help You Learn to Accept Your Body and Gender Identity

How Quarantine Can Help You Learn to Accept Your Body and Gender Identity

This written article was first published on 12 August 2020 by NAVEEN KUMAR and it constitutes a fair-use of any copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US copyright law.

When shelter-in-place orders first rolled out this spring, jokes followed fast and furious. How thrilling for our dogs! Introverts secretly love to cancel plans! Yet now, many months into the coronavirus pandemic, the novelty of it all is history, the loneliness is real (as it has been from the start), and feeling isolated from supportive peers has never been a laughing matter. (Dogs, of course, are still out here thriving)

Getting together in bars, clubs and other community spaces has long been a meaningful way for queer people to celebrate our identities and feel we’re not alone. But social settings can also be a double-edge sword, rife with pressures to achieve a perfect body at the gym or behave a certain way to attract attention. Pressing pause on much of our social lives has been tough for many, including queer businesses and their employees. But quarantine is also a unique chance to reorient how we think about ourselves when we’re less confronted by outside judgement.

Spending this much time with ourselves, alone or with roommates and families, can be boring, isolating, or worse for queer people in non-supportive environments. What can we do to reframe quarantine as an opportunity growth? How can we make the most of this timeout from some of the everyday pressures that follow many queer people wherever we go? We spoke to mental health experts and advocates about strategies to cope with isolation and leverage an undoubtedly difficult time toward cultivating greater self-acceptance.For those who’ve felt the direct impact of the virus, whether on their health, livelihood, or with the loss of loved ones, facing difficulties of self-acceptance may rightly seem a trivial luxury. And in the context of a global reckoning with state violence and anti-Black racism, how we feel when we face a mirror looks much less important than what’s going on outside our windows. But no matter our perspective or experience of this extraordinary moment, there’s rarely been so much impetus and opportunity for self-reflection.

Negotiate Some Control

It may sound obvious, but even in extreme circumstances, there are still aspects of life we can take into our own hands. “The issue becomes: ‘What can I control? And how do I want to do that?’” says Douglas Haldeman, PhD, clinical professor of psychology at John F. Kennedy University. “One thing the research is very clear on is that, likely because of phobic responses to sexual orientation or non-cisgender identities, we [in the LGBTQ+ communty] are more vulnerable” to fall into habits like substance abuse and couch lock in response to stress. Given that staying home is encouraged during the pandemic, this may be especially true now.

There are simple, everyday habits we can control, like when we choose to get dressed and what we put in our bodies. Haldeman suggests maintaining some kind of structure to your day that includes whatever level of physical activity is possible for you. “That is the absolute best non-chemical way to combat stress, by elevating your own production of anti-stress neurochemicals.” Drinking and using other recreational drugs to manage your mood is okay, too, “in very judicious moderation,” Haldeman says. Maintaining connections to addiction support groups has also been essential to folks in recovery. And because eating disorders are often rooted in control, this is an especially important time to seek supportive resources.

Haldeman also suggests that everyone tune into some form of mindfulness practice, be it religion, journaling, or meditation, “that enables you to center and connect with yourself to say, ‘What do I need?’” The more attuned we can be to our needs and how best to meet them, the more compassion we cultivate for ourselves.

Getting out of your head and gaining some perspective is important, too. That could mean doing what you can to support the broad social movement against anti-Black racism, while continuing to care for yourself. “It's okay once in a while to just pull the covers over your head; we all need whatever self care is appropriate,” Haldeman says. “But at the same time, it's important to remember there's something beyond us. The queer community has every responsibility to stand and work in solidarity with communities of color.”

Actively Learn to Love Your Body

When gyms shut down across New York City, I personally wondered whether gay men might finally learn to accept our bodies as they are. I was only half joking. But several weeks into fumbling my way through at-home workouts, I realized I felt better about my body than I had at my neighborhood gym, surrounded by fit, white men who propagate ideals that can feel damagingly out of reach.

“The first thing that I always tell people when they want to learn how to love their body is that it actually does start at home,” says Alysse Dalessandro Santiago, the queer blogger behind Ready to Stare, where she writes about body acceptance. What better time than the present to focus on self-love? “Body image is learned behavior,” Santiago says. “Hating yourself is not something you're born with; you learn to hate yourself as other people tell you you shouldn't like the way you look.”

Quarantine could be an opportunity to deconstruct the critical voices that wind up taking hold in our heads. “Once that outside voice becomes our own,” Santiago says, we don’t need other people to criticize us because we repeat the worst of it to ourselves. Breaking out of that dynamic isn’t easy, whatever the situation may be. But time away from contexts where we feel judged or insecure can remove some of the noise that often drowns out those efforts.

“Just try to focus on being kinder to yourself,” Santiago says. “It's really as simple as going in front of the mirror and just saying nice things to yourself” and appreciating different parts of your body, like the tip of your nose or even your hairline. Silly though it may feel, by now most of us are used to finding creative ways to direct our energy. “Every day try to just say one nice thing, and that's how you start to change the narrative.”

Reorient Your Gender Expression

Not having much reason to get dressed up, or anywhere to show it off, can take a toll on our sense of self-expression. At the same time, quarantine could mean a break from potential rejection, harassment, or worse, especially for non-cis queer people. “Non-acceptance of one’s gender identity is a major predictor of bad mental health outcomes among transgender and gender diverse people,” says Jack Turban, MD, clinical fellow in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, where he researches the mental health of transgender youth. “It makes sense that some may experience some relief working from home, for example, where they may be able to escape being around transphobic voices.”

Just as with body acceptance, a break from public settings can be a chance to tune out other people’s perceptions of your gender identity and focus on what makes you happy. “This is a unique time for us to really dive in and explore what we're doing for ourselves versus what we're doing to please other people,” Santiago says. “The way that you present your gender needs to be what feels right to you, not to anybody else.” For those who may not be able to safely present the way they want to in the outside world, this could be a time to experiment at home. If you live in a safe environment. Haldeman suggests trying out a different way of connecting with yourself, “one in which this is not for presentation or how I might be read — this is just for me.”

Turban also stresses the importance of staying connected to friends and communities that make you feel supported. “Though being at home may remove some of the daily stressors of harassment out in the world, this is also a very vulnerable time for many LGBTQ+ people, particularly young people,” he says. FaceTime and Zoom fatigue are real, but making sure your friends feel loved and affirmed, meeting up in small groups or at protests, and being intentional about your social connections are all important strategies as the pandemic stretches on.

Carry It Forward

When we’re fortunate enough to move about and connect more freely on the other side of the coronavirus crisis, the coping mechanisms we’re developing can be valuable for life. “Everything you’re doing and everything you're learning about yourself, you really should carry on after the period of social isolation,” Haldeman says. That goes for self-care, personal discovery, and the strength of knowing you have the tools to persevere. “The sense of efficacy that you have in the world, the alternatives that you thought of in terms of social interaction, community or political action, contributions,” should all continue, Haldeman says. “There's a lot of positivity that you can take out of this,” and it starts with loving the person you’ll always spend the most time with: yourself.

八月 16, 2020
What Actually Goes On Inside A Naked Yoga Class?

What Actually Goes On Inside A Naked Yoga Class?

Yoga that gets you in your birthday suit
We bet you've tried at least one form of yoga that's been out of your comfort zone, and if it's got you to call yourself a daredevil, think again. People from across the world are trying the most strange yoga trend of all times that puts even the equally weird goat yoga and dog yoga to shame! Well, it's the naked yoga! [That's right!]
The naked yoga gets you sweaty, intimidated and [obviously] stripped! But despite these factors, this seemingly frightening yoga trend claims to have multiple health benefits. So, we thought, why not take a closer look?

What exactly is naked yoga?

Naked yoga is pretty much what you think it is. A naked yoga class essentially requires you to strip down in front of a room full of people — who do the same — and perform a myriad of asanas. It is considered a legit form of yoga workout that claims to boost your overall health and promote body positivity.
While many believe naked yoga has only recently taken the fitness industry and, well Instagram by storm, experts state it's been around in India for generations, by the name Nagna Yoga.

Here's what happens in a naked yoga class

As soon as you enter the class, you are required to disrobe COMPLETELY! Yes, we mean all the way ... exposed buttocks and all. Although, if you are uncomfortable, you have the option to keep your underpants on. In fact, some nude yoga classes allow you enough time to ease in and take off one piece of clothing with every pose.
Insider tip: Make sure you carefully select what underpants you'll be wearing. After all, it'll be on display in front of a room full of people.
ThePack recommends the following men's naked yoga classes to try out at home! All you need is a living room, internet and zoom!
 Brandon Anthony's Naked Men's Yoga and Tantra workshops were created as safe   space for GBTQ men to release shame and deepen their connection to self and   community. These flowing, heat building, and heart opening experiences are about Self Love and Exploration. All are welcome. Come shed your clothes, release your inhibitions, and celebrate every inch of your beautiful self.  CLICK HERE TO SCHEDULE A CLASS

 M.E.N. (Make 'Em Naked) Yoga is California's premiere naked men's fitness  and yoga destination and international  online studio, based in West Hollywood. CA. M.E.N. Yoga offers a weekly schedule of   online naked yoga and naked optional  fitness classes for men!  CLICK HERE TO SCHEDULE A CLASS

八月 16, 2020


text:
Memorials for Pets

Memorial picture of Timo

The recent loss of my beloved Timo made me think of how we can remember our pets after they cross the Rainbow Bridge.

I chose to place Timo in her favorite spot in my garden. We covered her grave with beautiful stones and I placed a plant in the center. A headstone or plaque can be added. A friend created a small fenced-in garden spot with lovely flowers, a plaque & pictures of her furry pal. Many people opt to have their pets cremated and the ashes placed in decorative boxes or urns with the pet’s name and perhaps a photo. Or you can choose a pet cemetery found in most areas across the country.

There are support groups you can join, some online to help with the grieving process. You’ll find kindred souls who are suffering as you are and understand the profound loss you are experiencing. Sharing feelings and stories of your pet helps to comfort you. Some groups have yearly candle-lighting ceremonies where each pet’s name is recited and remembered.

Not surprisingly there are tangible ways to remember your pet.

I cut a lock of Timo’s fur to place in a locket. There are companies that offer candles, wall hangings, plaques, jewelry, painting on needlepoint, portraits done of your pet to name a few. To the right is a portrait capturing the essence of my precious Timo done by my granddaughter Shira, our own artist. What a wonderful tribute, I know how much you loved her too – thank you Shira.

There are organizations like the ASPCA, the Humane Society, Best Friends, other shelters, rescues and groups such as BoneCancerDog, a yahoo group, which offer memorials for pets where you can ask people to donate in memory of your pet. I’m sure any of these places would be pleased to have you memorialize your pet with donations and would probably allow you to put a plaque on show. Another group I belong to which is an extension of the CanineCancer group, also a yahoo group, is CanineCancerAngels. The Angels group allows us to express our feelings and share with others who understand and have had the same experiences of loss of a beloved pet. My daughter set up a Memorial for Timo at the National Canine Cancer Foundation. There are other organizations as well, researching and trying to find cures for pet diseases that would welcome your support. It’s a wonderful way to remember your pet, by helping others.

Books have been written about pets and what happens after they cross the Rainbow Bridge which can bring comfort to those of you mourning a loss.

However you choose to memorialize your pets, they will always have a place in your heart.

Some books available:

Animals and the Afterlife – Kim Sheridan

The Rainbow Bridge: Pet Loss is Heaven’s Gain – Niki Behrikis Shanahan

Cold Noses at the Pearly Gates – Gary Kurz

There is Eternal Life for Animals – Niki Behrikis Shanahan

Here are some companies online that have memorial items for pets: (engraved memorial stones and plaques) (cards)

[email protected] (hand-painted plaques)

Disclaimer: This is not an endorsement of any company. These are only suggestions of places that have advertised in magazines. We are not responsible for these companies & their products.

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Easy Ways to Set Up an Online Business

Set Up an Online Business

So you want to know about some easy ways to set up an online business? It’s really easy. But first you need to have some idea of what an online business is. In simple terms, it’s any business you set up that needs to make a profit in a defined period of time. Easy online business ideas are everywhere, but you have to know which ones will work for you and which ones will flop.

An online business doesn’t have to be Internet based. Some companies, for example, sell their products on physical storefronts. Others don’t sell anything over the Internet but can take payments in a variety of ways. So if you’re interested in setting up an online business, you have an option.

Set Up an Online Business

If you’re new to online business, you probably have an idea of what you’d like to do. You might want to design a website, create a newsletter or run a blog. You might even be interested in starting your own product line. But you’ll never get anywhere without taking action. That’s where most failures begin.

So what are some easy ways to set up an online business? I’m glad you asked. There are two very good books that I would highly recommend you read. One is called “The Complete Guide to Building an Online Business” by Travis Sago. The other is called “The Wealthy Affiliate” by Kyle, aka The Internet Guru.

The two books give you some very practical and easy ways to set up an online business. If you’ve ever considered starting an online business, you’ll appreciate these books. They’ve helped thousands of people start their own online business. It really is no different than a brick-and-mortar store opening. You’ve got to go to the beginning and the middle and build your way through.

Even if you’ve thought about an online business, one of the things holding you back is fear. You might be thinking, “Why do I have to be scared?” “Why couldn’t I just open a website?” None of this really has to be the problem. The reason why you’re afraid is mostly because you haven’t found the right guide to help you along. There are several guides out there, but not all of them are created equal.

The two books give you very practical advice. Some of it will work, but others need to be changed. Some of it may seem easy, but once you get into the nitty-gritty, it gets really confusing. And if you don’t change it, you’ll find that even though you thought you were doing something smart, it’s actually more dangerous than it looks. When you have a book like this, on easy ways to set up an online business, the risk level is greatly reduced.

Don’t think you have to take the easy way out. Instead, use the suggestions in this guide and you’ll be able to find the best and easiest way for you to set up an online business that will be extremely profitable. You’ll be glad you did, and so will you when you’re ready to get started earning money from your online business!

That said, what exactly are the easy ways to set up an online business? First of all, you must get a business plan together. There is no use in thinking about how wonderful your online business will be if you don’t have a way to make that dream a reality. Without a business plan, you are just floating around in mid air. No business plans ever go anywhere. But when they do, they become successful!

You must decide exactly what kind of business you want to have. Do you want to sell something from your home? Are you interested in making an online store? No matter what kind of business you decide on, the first and most important part of easy ways to set up an online business is to get a good idea of what you want to do.

If you can write it down and include a picture as well then you are much more likely to actually stick with it. So, that is the first step to easy ways to set up an online business. Next you need to find a product or a service that you believe in and that people will pay for. And finally, once you have everything in place you must market it to attract customers.

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‘The Batman’ Spinoff Series At HBO Max Loses Showrunner Terence Winter Over Creative Differences

The Gotham PD series aka Gotham Central at HBO Max from Matt Reeves has reportedly lost writer and showrunner Terence Winter (Boardwalk Empire, Sopranos) according to The Hollywood Reporter. Terence Winter is apparently exiting the DC Comics series due to creative differences with Matt Reeves and producers.

The Boardwalk Empire creator, who was poised to write and serve as showrunner on Matt Reeves’ TV spinoff of The Batman has departed the HBO Max series. Sources say creative differences are to blame for the split as Winter’s vision for the drama did not match what Reeves and other producers had in mind. A search is under way for a new showrunner for the untitled drama.

Winter is keeping busy developing a new mob series for HBO and an anthology series titled Dail M For Murder.

The report doesn’t mention who will be replacing him as showrunner.

Gotham Central isn’t the only DC Comics series in the works at HBO Max as James Gunn is expected to begin shooting Peacemaker early next year and there is also a Green Lantern show featuring multiple lanterns is also coming together.

Matt Reeves is currently busy with the production of The Batman in the United Kingdom.

Here is what Matt had to say about the series at DC FanDome back in August.

REEVES: “The idea of this story was a story in which Gotham, which has this depth of corruption, and the idea that we could do a series that is going deeper into an aspect of it, which in this case is the corrupt police department, the corrupt inner workings of the city. And the way we’re gonna do this series. Terence Winter is just an incredible writer, so the idea that we got him to do this, just is literally a dream. The idea is, we go back to year one, and year one is the beginning of the first emergence, the first appearance of this masked vigilante that starts to unsettle the city, and you start to see the story through the POV of these corrupt cops, and one in particular. And the story is actually a battle for his soul.”

“He’s a cop over generations and the history of corruption in Gotham is enormous and goes back many years, and the story is like, as you realize that there’s this myth-building in the background, you’re actually in a new place where you’ve never seen these characters before – some of them we’ll touch on that you may have seen in the comics, but others are totally new. Then you can go down an avenue and go into detail that you couldn’t do in a movie, and to go into these rich places and meet entirely new characters that Terence is going to create.”

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