The Ballad of Big Nothing.

Well, it's not exactly nothing, but perhaps as close as one can get to nothing while still having something tangible to hold and...eat.

This post is dedicated to someone who complained about being tired of looking at socks. You know who you are. As such, it's not stellar. Sort of as close to nothing as I could get while still actually posting something. Smiley face.

My kids grabbed this bag at Whole Foods based solely on it's cuteness. And it is, I must say, damn cute.

It contains dried seaweed. The packaging claims that this seaweed is a "snack". Or it can be sprinkled on soup or salad. OK. It's akin to those salty fried noodles that are placed on the table at some Chinese restaurants...not good, not bad, just a sort of salty waiting room of a snack, something to occupy one until the Main Event. These seaweed flakes aren't hurting anybody. Why would they want to? They have no grudge with the world or it's inhabitants (excepting the anemones who are constantly stealing the limelight).

For once in my life, I have actually exhausted a topic.

Which isn't difficult to do when you start with nothing.

The End.

I Stand Corrected.

For years I bought cheap running socks. Don't ask me why I lived in a sweaty, scrunchy hell for so long. Never again, I say.

Last year I upgraded to these Feetures Elite Ultra-Light socks and my running life improved instantly. Sock-Lock support system keeps them from disappearing into my shoes every half-mile. Power Arch construction keeps my feet cramp-free. High thred-count iWick nylon gives them a super-soft hand and keeps my feet from getting soggy.



If you aren't a runner, I'm sure you stopped reading this seven sentences ago. But if you do run-even a little bit- and haven't tried these, I can't recommend them highly enough. Totally worth the extra coin.

I buy them at either Bob Roncker's or online from Amazon.

Thinly Veiled Vanity. (or blatant vanity)

It's hot as hell outside...maybe you heard.

I dislike wearing makeup much of the time, but during summer I despise it. It's a damn mess with the sunblock and the sweat combining into industrial-strength deep-fryer grease.

So here's the vanity problem: My lashes and brows are naturally really light-almost invisible. If you don't believe me, compare the above photos: last week on the left without tinting, today on the right. See? This is why I tint my lashes and brows every month or so in the summer...it takes 15 minutes, costs around $35 and enables me to never once think about wearing makeup. Nevermind how much better the lighting is in the Bahamas...

I go to Leah at Salon LA for all this type of thing...brazilian, underarm wax, lash and brow tint-she's the only game in town , IMO. 513.784.1700, if ya' nasty.

O.G. Kush. (not really)

I've written before about my love of hemp protein. It's clean, it's complete, it rocks my world.

Now I'd like you to meet my old friend hemp milk. Like her protein cousin, she contains all 10 essential amino acids plus Omega-3 and Omega-6 great-for-you fats. These EFA's are required for life, we all need to be packing them into our diets wherever we can.

Hemp seeds have no known allergens, and provide protein, magnesium, phosphorous, vitamin E, iron and zinc.

The only tiny drawback is that it sometimes settles into a slight sludge in the bottom of my coffee cup...but I still use it. Just re-stir that shit. Great for baking, smoothies, etc.

And no THC. For that you really will need to get some O.G. Kush.

Making Flippy-Floppy.

Well, then. It's been a hot minute. Hope you're all very well.

Let's get right back to my second-favorite topic: yes, skin and hair products. Straight dudes, you can walk away now without offending anyone-later.

So, this past weekend I attended one of the loveliest, most joyful, badass and fun weddings ever....on Harbour Island in the Bahamas. Thanks to the TSA  3.3 oz. liquid mandate, I was forced into substituting Burt's Bees Belly Balm for my usual body lotion (like I had time to pump that shit into a small bottle at 3 am. And yes, I still wait to pack until 20 minutes before it's time to leave for the airport. What.)

As luck would have it, this was the best decision of my hair's life. Friends and family know how I beat my hair into submission daily. Guess what?  Harbour Island laughs at such efforts. Hard. Sure, go ahead, blow out that mess with a round brush, apply smoothing serum, flat iron it, put half a jar of pomade up in it....shit's gonna be buck wild within 15 minutes. So I decided to just lean into it and twist it up with this here Belly Balm. Pumpkin Seed Oil, Olive Oil, beeswax and not much else. Burt's Bees, as I've mentioned once or 200 times, is super-clean on the ingredient tip, they have impeccable manufacturing processes, and this 3 oz. tin will last me roughly 2 years.

With Cincinnati fast approaching 4,000% humidity, this is my basic for the rest of the summer.

Rebirth.

Fall has always been my favorite season.

I love the weather, the smells, the air, the cooler temps, the way the light changes.

Although it's a time when so many things are coming to the end of their life cycle, or preparing for dormancy, for me it's always felt like a time of rebirth. Maybe it's because my birthday is in September...note to self: change age to 42 in Bio...but this Fall, in particular, feels like a time of tremendous change, growth, evolution, and rebirth. I'm hopeful about so many things, working hard in multiple areas of my life. The personal areas are as exciting to me as the public, and will certainly have long-lasting benefits for myself and everyone in my life. The public venture that I'm working on is pretty interesting, too. For the time being, I'm going to stay mum about the details, but I can tell you that I'm feverishly working on a teeny-tiny business that I sincerely hope can help everyone attain their own optimum state of well-being. Really, truly, being as well as possible in every conceivable way. It's an extension of this blog, but will happen in real-time, living, breathing, flesh-and-bone form!

Stay tuned. When it's up and running, you'll be the very first to know! Honest.

Turmeric Update.

Turns out I've probably been absorbing little to no turmeric all these years. Huh.

As I wrote last year, I take turmeric with every meal for several reasons. My main reason for taking it is because it reduces inflammation and relieves my ever-present runner's knee pain. Also, it aids digestion and it's also been shown to reduce tumor growth and shrink existing tumors. Good in so many ways. If you want to read more, click on the previous turmeric post.

Although the one I've always taken contains bromelain, "to enhance absorption", it's likely that turmeric is only absorbed when it's cooked with, or processed with, fat.

The one pictured above is the one she recommends, but any turmeric supplement with "curcumin phytosome" included should do the trick.