Yael Writes

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Yael’s Variety Hour: Sex With Cavemen, Competition, Microbiology & College Sports

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I bet that headline caught your attention! Without further ado, here’s some of what I’ve been reading and writing this week.

Health and Nutrition

  • Framework Matters. “Here is a funny thing: as a non-religious, non-spiritual guy, I feel a MORAL IMPERATIVE to help as many people as I can because I’m pretty sure I have information rattling between my ears that can save lives. I by no means have all the answers, but a firefighter does not need to know the ins and outs of thermodynamics to save a family in a burning house. I (and most all of you) know enough about this paleo shtick to literally transform the world as we know it,” Robb Wolf writes Preach on, brother!

Freelancing

Requisite BJJ Section

Miscellaneous

Shameless Self-Promotion

My posts for the week are divided into two categories: MMA interviews and health industry posts.

  • Interview: Pat Barry. What a character. Barry talks Streetfighter, ninjas and more. He faces Stefan Struve on October 1st.

How Do Some Discussions on Media Ethics Sound?

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So I was thinking of doing some blogging on Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Code of Ethics in the world of changing media; maybe get some discussion going on some of the challenges writers face, brainstorm solutions, look at non-examples, and so on.

I’d be interested in hearing from non-writers as well. How do you see media coverage and what examples of unethical behavior do you see? What are some of the reasons for it? What is due to legitimate time constraints or other reasons, and what is due to laziness or perhaps ignorance?

Before I get started with this task, I wanted to make sure there’s people on this blog (and on facebook) who are interested in participating in discussion. I’m not going to make you commit to responding to every post (as there will be many), but just want to make sure that I’m not standing on a soapbox in the shower, listening to my own echoes.

Let me know.

Friday Musings: Evolutionary Consciousness, Apologies and More

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  • I found out on Saturday that Shawn Tompkins passed away. Writing a short little ditty about it in “Friday Musings” seems pretty lame, but leaving it out seems more lame. I only met Shawn once, as a fan asking for a photo, and we’d had a few Facebook conversations since then. He was always so incredibly kind and generous with his time, even though he had no real motive or incentive. Just a genuinely awesome person, who was always working tirelessly and selflessly on behalf of his athletes. He will be missed.
  • On a brighter note, my boyfriend ran his last half-marathon with the official time of 1:39:34, 7:37 pace per mile (!!), coming in at 85th place and 25/100 in his division. That’s because he is awesome.
  • I’ve been thinking a lot about what I call cult-like behavior, as accepted as it sometimes is, and the opposite of it. In my mind, evolutionary consciousness is about freedom, sovereignty and personal responsibility. It is not about following directives or having a childlike dependence on others. We can pick teachers we resonate with, but we’re differentiated, with our own individuality and spirit. We cannot even truly respect our teachers without freedom of thought as individuals, which is entirely absent when we are so immersed in what they say that we can’t even think for ourselves.
  • And speaking of thinking for ourselves, I had this brilliant idea. How about NOT repeating really awful rumors about guys you barely know told to you by people who may have a vested interest in damaging their reputation? Or how about, say it to their face or not at all? Some stigmas are really hard to shake, and I can’t think of many reasons for trying to perpetuate said stigmas on the basis of hearsay.
  • This week, someone apologized to me for being rude, and was then even more rude. Um. Following up an apology by being more of a dick, as my buddy Sean pointed out, cancels out the apology. Sigh.
  • I just wanted to share this great quote I found, by Jeanette Winterson in her book Written on the Body. It, in my opinion, applies to more than just relationships. “Cheating is easy. There’s no swank to infidelity. To borrow against the trust someone has placed in you costs nothing at first. You get away with it, you take a little more and a little more until there is no more to draw on. Oddly, your hands should be full with all that taking but when you open them there’s nothing there.”

Friday Musings: Hot Water, Proverbial Rollercoasters and Taking A Day Off

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I typically compile my Friday musings from various thoughts I’ve posted on Facebook, and it appears I haven’t done a lot of thinking this week. But here’s the few things I’ve been pondering.

So we have been having all these hot water problems, until the very day that my landlord comes out to look at the thing. Then suddenly we have TONS of hot water. So hot that you couldn’t even keep your hands in it. This after weeks of tepid and lukewarm madness, which made it impossible to take a bath. I’m not crazy! Well, maybe a little, but not for the reasons my landlord was thinking. Like, I would not make up cold water. Anyway, at first I thought it was the crazy lady downstairs, who was flipping out because apparently her water bill is now $5 more each month (we share a water heater and the cost is split) since we, you know, do laundry so that our clothes will be clean, and take showers after working out. Maybe she lowered the temperature on the water heater and then turned it back up when the landlord said he was coming. Though I’m not sure she is smart enough to come up with that nefarious plot.

So then I thought it was just the universe’s way of fucking with me. Like when my hair looks really sweet right before I’m about to get it chopped off. Or the times in my past when I was so ready to dump the guy already, but then he would do something really nice–making me second-guess myself. Or when you’re about to quit a gym and suddenly everybody’s polite and respectful and it’s actually a pleasant environment, for a change. This leads you to believe that things aren’t so bad and stop you from making your well-thought-out decision unless you power through it! Um, that doesn’t tie into water at all, but it just is something I’ve been thinking about.

The rest of my week has also been a rollercoaster. I was pleased to learn that my ACL is, in fact, intact and I do not need knee surgery. But I wasn’t so happy to learn that my knee is or was partially dislocated. And the rehab exercises I’ve been doing aren’t any fun at all. I feel weak and helpless, even though I know it is helping build strength in my knee, which is what I want. It doesn’t hurt, but feels weak, so building it up again is the best thing I can do…even if it sucks at the time because these seemingly easy things are so difficult.

I also got turned down from a dream job this week, which sucked, but my silver lining is that I now don’t have to try to start months from now or cancel projects I’ve already committed to (most of which start in October.) Anyway, although I’m more than a little disappointed, I’ve been consoling myself with the thought of better things in store and reminding myself how much I love the flexibility of freelancing.

And I took a day off to try to recharge. It was excellent. I got my hair straightened, bought some zines from an independent bookstore and ate lunch at the co-op.I listened to Fabeku‘s awesome sound shifting audio (the free Sound Shifts Things audio, available on his site, as well as the music from the Don’t Lose Your Shit Kit.) I also did an online audio retreat a la Jen Louden, and tried to think about the sense of longing I have being the calling itself, and ways to really enjoy the journey rather than focusing or obsessing over my lack of things I don’t already have. This is not easy work.

Taking a day off was really hard! I am used to working pretty much 24/7. But I really needed the recharge time, and feel like I can tackle the world with renewed vigor.

My weekend is going to be awesome. My boyfriend and I are going to Milwaukee for UFC (and Joe Rogan!) after he runs a half-marathon. Beer, food and frozen custard are also on the itinerary. Then back to strict Paleo for 8 weeks to prepare for another tournament.

Hope you have a great weekend, too.

Friday Musings: Attitude, Waiting, Complicated Situations & Consumer Fatigue

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  • I suck at waiting. I have about five big projects I have been talking to people about, some for seemingly forever. Twiddling my thumbs and waiting for them to get started has not proven to be one of my strong suits. But I don’t want to obsessively watch them gestate. When they are ready, they’ll start. (This is easier to say than to believe.) Oh, and it’d be really nice to know what’s up with my knee, too, but I’m trying not to think about that. (Soundtrack: Fugazi, Waiting Room.)
  • I wonder how much time I waste writing and rewriting elaborately prioritized to-do lists. Anybody else do this? Maybe this has to do with sucking at waiting–I want everything to be done right away. Someone smart told me that the point is not the outcome, but who you become in the process. And I have a really hard time even pondering that.
  • After some very controversial judging at an event, Greg Everett wrote in his newsletter about how true champions are humble, composed and gracious whether they win or lose, handling poor judgement like adults rather than throwing temper tantrums. I really believe that in theory, but in reality (and as a spectator), I am the one who is yelling loudest when I feel something is unfair. I wonder what the balance. I guess I feel like it’s different when you’re not the one competing, but is it?
  • I recently decided not to work with someone who was writing obnoxious and condescending comments to people I really respect. On Facebook. (Do you need that context? Probably.) I think he thought it would impress me, and make him seem like a knowledgeable expert. Instead it just made him look like an asshat. I wish everyone was aware of this. Ideally, I’d only work with nice experts. But asshat = dealbreaker, no matter the expertise.
  • I am having temperature problems lately. It’s too hot. The hot water is cold. Etc. Blah. I think I handled these things better when I was 19 and visiting El Salvador. Now I’m spoiled, or slightly set in my ways, or something.
  • I had a huge crazy pile of e-mail lately which I am just getting through. It made me realize how exhausted I am with people trying to sell me things. And then that made me wonder how to try to get work in a climate of consumer fatigue. Which maybe has something to do with how long I have to wait for projects to actually start (see the first item).
  • I really don’t like the new facebook chat. It makes it seem like there’s way less people to talk to. I thought facebook was supposed to help geeks develop social networks, or something. Awkwardly trying to talk to the same people over and over again doesn’t help.
  • Things are really complicated sometimes. I hate it when I describe a situation poorly and people jump in with mad judgements, thinking that any clarification on my part is me making excuses for my own poor choices rather than trying to provide more context and detail to explain my choices. This thought needs more percolating, but that’s what’s on my mind lately.  (Soundtrack: Indigo Girls, Least Complicated.)