Tag Archive for: review

Kraft paper gift box containing a roll of black gaff tape, coiled bright green 550 paracord, and bamboo Bongo Ties with elastic loops on a wooden surface

I was on MacVoices this week as part of their annual Holiday Gift Guide series. Chuck Joiner and I talked through some of my favorite gift recommendations for the Mac users/Explorers in your life.

The episodes also feature recommendations from Bart Busschots and Kirschen Seah, so check out the full conversation for their gift ideas. You can watch the full conversation here:

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Feeding pigeons in Venice's St. Mark's Square during the 2007 Italy trip, with the Basilica and Campanile visible in the background

In the summer of 2007, my girlfriend (now wife) and I went on a Globus bus tour through Italy. You know the type: the bus drops you off at a museum, you wear an earpiece while the tour guide talks into their microphone and holds a little stick in the air so you can follow them around, then back on the bus to a restaurant; back on the bus to a hotel; back on the bus and back on the road.

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This is a digital graphic featuring an app icon set against a wavy brown and white abstract background. The app icon is bright orange with the image of a bar chart that transitions into a fork on the right side, symbolizing a focus on food, nutrition, or dining metrics.

Growing up, I was a jock who was secretly a nerd. I played sports year-round and even conned my way into having an independent study gym class my senior year.

That level of physical activity plus a teenage metabolism meant that there would be no consequences for having a three-course cheesecake meal at The Cheesecake Factory with my friends.

Unfortunately, after my athletic career ended and my metabolism changed, my eating habits didn’t, and I gained approximately 50 pounds over the next 15-ish years.

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This image shows a digital icon which is a stylized representation of a sound wave pattern within a circle, centered on a purple square with rounded corners. The icon is set against a background featuring abstract purple and black shapes with dynamic, flowing lines. The color scheme is predominantly purple with black accents, conveying a sense of modernity and digital technology.

Putting on some headphones is a pretty universal sign to others that you’re working, or at least that you don’t want to be disturbed. But what do you play in said headphones when you’re trying to focus?

If I am doing chores around the house or running errands, I am probably listening to a podcast. If I am working out, probably some combination of 80’s power ballads and shitty pop music. But if I am working, recently I have been listening to noise, not music.

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A man in sportswear is crouched down, tying his shoe on a foggy street. Unaware, he is near a zombie and several shadowy figures in the misty background, suggesting a scene from a zombie apocalypse. The setting is eerie with a backdrop of dimly lit trees and a hazy skyline.

You hear stories about people performing heroic feats in life-and-death scenarios: lifting a car off of a child, swimming for miles to get back to shore from a shipwreck, etc. Like most middle-aged guys, some part of my brain assumes that I would be able to do the same. A lifetime of living vicariously through action movies and video games leads me to believe that my body is just waiting to be unleashed for its superhero moment, like a Manchurian Candidate of fitness.

But, historically, I have not had many of those experiences in my life, so there is no need for an alter ego, yet. Even if I did, building a heart-healthy lifestyle around life-or-death adventures does not seem sustainable. Unless you fake it.

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