Videos I'm Loving This Week

The best short film I've seen in a LONG time

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FitBit

I've been in love with Fitbit since last year, and this article by Bustle sums up my feelings pretty well,

"Something I learned very quickly about Fitbits: You do not own your Fitbit—your Fitbit owns you. My Fitbit journey began back in early 2014, when a fractured foot (that was as tiny as it was ridiculously annoying) forced me to stop running. In an effort to stay in shape, and because I am among the most hyper human beings on the planet, I walked everywhere, and optimistically thought that getting a Fitbit would help put my new fitness goals into perspective. 

Oh, it did that, alright—and sooooo, so much more. 

I know a lot of people are convinced that Fitbits and other tracking devices are just a fad, but for some of us, they quickly became a religion: I started setting my alarm before the crack of dawn, rolling into DC for an internship two hours before I was supposed to get in, and spent my mornings manically jog-walking around monuments while trying not to make eye contact with other Fitbit slaves—er, I mean, users—for three straight months. I learned a lot about myself during those months, a lot of things that I should maybe not reveal for the sake of keeping up whatever illusion is left that I am not a full-fledged crazy person. But because I feel it is my public duty to warn all potential step-counters in this universe, I will tell you the struggles exactly as they truly are. This is what happens when you let a Fitbit into your life: 

You live for the sole purpose of getting it to vibrate

You would think that there would a sexier reason for a woman to be so dependent on a vibrating machine, but waiting for that little buzz when you get to 10,000 steps and then goofily self-high-five-ing is perhaps the least glamorous moment of your day. 

You get angry if you don’t have it on when you walk

If you walk without wearing your Fitbit, does it even count as walking? I know there is no logic to this. I do know that. But on days when you happen to forget your Fitbit, you wonder why you even bothered getting out of bed in the first place. If Fitbit isn’t counting them, are these steps even real? Is anything?

Exercise that doesn’t involve stepping feels futile

SURPRISE, Fitbit doesn’t track all the fun exercise, like watching Netflix on the elliptical or swimming or doing what more ambitious humans call “pilates”. Yes, it may be good exercise for you, but is it good for Fitbit? Your priorities have never been wonkier. 

This happy smile haunts your dreams

Little friend. We meet again. 

Fitbit’s validation becomes more important than the opinions of human beings

IT LIKES ME. IT REALLY LIKES ME. Oh, whoa, did I get fired? It’s cool, I got 11,000 steps today so I’m pretty much crushing it. 

You check it more often than you check your email

And to be clear, I check my email a lot. If my thumbs could talk, it would mostly be incoherent streams of tears. 

Charging it is nearly impossible

Basically all you have to do is blow on it, stick it in the charger, squeeze it with your fingers, spin in a circle, pop-it, lock-it, polka dot-it, countrify, then hip hop it, and sacrifice your first born, annnnd you should be all set. 

It is not as waterproof as it claims to be

I wholeheartedly believed in its ability to withstand water pressure to certain depths until the first time I took it in the shower. RIP Fitbit (at least until they quickly sent a replacement). 

It is unfashionable as all hell 

Yeah, yeah, you can get the Tory Burch version—if you sell your liver for it first. The bracelet itself costs TWICE as much as the actual tracker. 

You’re constantly jumping up and down for seemingly no reason

Anyone who has ever stood next to me in a crosswalk or a grocery store line was probably one shifty side eye away from calling to get me committed. 

You have jumping marathons before you go to bed

Nothing is more unbearable than the idea of resting your head on a pillow when you’re at 9,000 steps. Time to wake up all the neighbors!!! 

Everyone always thinks you’re crazy and neurotic

Owning a Fitbit is like waving a crazy flag. 

And they’re RIGHT

WE ARE CRAZY AND NEUROTIC. There. I said it. Some Fitbit users will try to lie to you and say they use it “casually” but there is no such thing. It owns our souls. 

For some reason, you encourage your friends to join you 

I often feel like a Sith Lord luring friends into the darkness. What’s worse is that I’m really, really good at it. 

You’re in a not-so-secret battle with friends and co-workers

I once worked a few weeks in an office where everyone had a Fitbit, and that first weekend I went on a bender to get to 30,000 steps and crush the leading guys’ high record. Because that’s how you make new friends, right? 

Non Fitbit users 100% don’t care about anything you have to say

GONNA COMPLAIN AT YOU ANYWAY THOUGH. 

Your worst enemy is yourself

The problem with getting 30,000 steps in one day? The satisfaction is as fleeting as the satisfaction you get from sneezing. The instant you achieve something, you know that the only way you’ll ever feel good about yourself again is by topping it, and there are only 24 hours in a day. Can we use all of them for stepping?? No. Will we try anyway?? CATCH ME IF YOU CAN. 

If you stop using it, your Fitbit using friends will shun you

At first it’s subtle. “Wait, where’s your Fitbit?” they’ll ask, because only a fellow addict would notice the faint tan line on your wrist where it used to be. And then, just like that, the bond that held you together is severed. You are no longer One Of Them.  

Even when you’re done with it, you’re never really done

It’s always there. Glistening in the darkness. Calling to you in the light of day. It is waiting for the day you fall off the wagon of the trendy new exercise thing you were trying out, the day you fracture your running foot, the day you finally submit to its all-encompassing power and put it on once more. There is nowhere to run (but you might as well try, because you’ll probably get a ton of steps doing it). "

Happy Galentine's Day

 Every February 13th, Leslie Knope (from Parks and Rec) and her lady friends leave their husbands and their boyfriends at home and just kick it breakfast style. Ladies celebrating ladies

What’s Galentine’s Day?

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The Things That Get in the Way of Doing

1. Online distractions. This is a big one for me. I can go to my favorite online sites (just a quick check) and get lost for an hour or two. Or more if I hit on something that really fascinates me. What has worked for me: To overcome this, I try to remember to pause … and often get up and walk around, and realize that I’ve gotten lost again. Then I’ll clear my screen and just have one thing in front of me, and try to stick with that until I’m done. I don’t always succeed, but when I remember to do this it works very well.
2. Being overwhelmed. If you have a crapton of things to do … it can make you feel helpless. How can you possibly get it all done? So you don’t even start. You can’t get it all done … at least, not right now. What has worked for me: Right now, you can do one thing. So when I’m overwhelmed, again, I’ll clear everything, and make a list of 1-3 things I need to do most right now. Yes, sometimes the list is just one thing, because that helps me focus and not feel overwhelmed.
3. Email is piled up. When my email inbox has a lot of messages piled up, it can feel overwhelming. What has worked for me: I use Google Inbox or Mailbox, and just snooze a bunch of things I don’t need to worry about right now. Then I’ll deal with as many of the others as possible, and leave some to deal with later. Instead, I close email and get to work on a more important task.
4. Feeling indecisive. What if you have so many things you can’t figure out what to do? Often, that leads to doing nothing. I remind myself that not deciding leads to stagnation, and while I don’t believe you need to move at a million miles an hour, I don’t like myself held stagnant by fear. What I’ve learned is that this is a fear of not knowing the perfect decision, because we don’t know what the future will hold. Is it better to take that new job or keep this one? Is it better to work on this project or that one? It’s impossible to know, because the future is uncertain. What has worked for me: I try to just pick one based on whatever information I have (usually a gut decision) and take some action. It’s better to work on something than to stop moving because of fear of uncertainty.
5. No energy. This is a huge one, bigger than most people realize. When you have a lack of sleep, you are low on energy and you just don’t feel like working on anything hard. You can’t focus and you have a hard time pushing through. What has worked for me: Either I give myself a break but really focus on getting to bed earlier and getting some good sleep … or I push through and do the hard stuff. Just because we don’t feel like doing something hard doesn’t mean we should skip it.
6. Lack of discipline. This is usually the result of low energy, or being infast mode and not wanting to stop to focus on something. You tell yourself you’re going to do something, but then you don’t. What has worked for me: I forgive myself for messing up, and instead I try to be mindful about what’s going on. Am I tired? In fast mode? Not inspired by this project? Instead of the general “I lack discipline” diagnosis, I try to find a more specific problem, and then address it. And then get to work.
7. Task switching. Again, being in fast mode means that you’re doing lots of little tasks, constantly switching between apps and tabs in your browser. You can’t stick to one because you’re constantly switching. What has worked for me: Again, I will take a break and then clear everything, and refocus myself. I try to stick to the one window mode (close everything else) and just focus on one thing for as long as I can. I’m not always successful.
8. Getting little things done. We feel productive when we’re taking care of lots of little tasks (emails, calls, errands, small admin tasks, paperwork), but while those do need to get done, they aren’t the important things. We’re avoiding the important things but we feel productive because we’re busy. What has worked for me: I fall into this trap a lot, so when I catch myself doing it, I stop and ask myself what my big task is for the day. Sometimes I can’t choose between 2-3 big tasks, but it doesn’t matter … I just need to pick 1-3. Then I ask myself: “Am I working on it?” If the answer is no, I’m not really being productive — I just feel like it.
9. Task seems too big. We all fall into this one, and we all know the answer. It’s too big, so we put it off. The answer, of course, is to break it into smaller tasks, but we rarely follow this advice. What has worked for me: I focus all of my energy into starting. All I have to do is write the first few words. Once I do that, I focus on the next few paragraph. One bite at a time.
10. We’re afraid we’ll fail. We also all have this problem — we don’t feel competent at this task, it’s confusing, it feels like we’ll embarrass ourselves. And this is understandable when we’re doing something that’s not in our wheelhouse. What has worked for me: I remind myself that letting myself be controlled by fear is not the way I want to live. I remind myself that failure is actually not the worst outcome — not even trying is a much worse outcome. Why? Because if you try something and fail, you learned something, you got some practice, and next time you’ll be better. You’re further along than before. But if you don’t even try, out of fear, you don’t learn anything, and you’ll probably keep doing this because you’re creating a pattern of running from fear. Instead, push through and do it anyway, because the value of doing is so much greater than the value of being safe and doing nothing.

What Happened This Week

ISIS. Earlier this week ISIS released a video showing a Jordanian pilot being burned alive. This is only the latest of many cruel attacks by the terrorist organization capturing and killing hostages from various countries. However, this particular attack has encouraged the country of Jordan to get involved in the eradication of the group. Jordan has since sent dozens of fighter jets and launched airstrikes against ISIS.

Patriots, Australian Open. The New England Patriots (lead by the stud Tom Brady) won the Super Bowl this past Sunday by defeating the Seattle Seahawks 28-24. The Patriots intercepted the ball on the goal line is what is being referred to as the worst play call in history by the Seahawks. Meanwhile, across the world, at the Australian Open, Novak Djokovic beat Andy Murray to win the men’s title while Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova to claim the women’s title.

 Train Crash. On Tuesday, just 20 miles outside of New York City, a mother of three stopped her SUV in a railroad crossing just before being hit by the train, which derailed killing five other passengers an the driver of the SUV. The crash was the deadliest accident in the history of the commuter railroad. NTSB is currently investigating why the mother stopped her vehicle on the tracks and believes according to eye-witnesses that the vehicle may have been trapped.

Houston family tragedy, again. Whitney Houston’s only daughter, Bobbi Kristina, was found unresponsive in her Georgia home lying face down in a bathtub. The 21-year-old was rushed to the hospital where it is claimed she is on life support. The tragedy marks an eerie similarity to the same tragedy that took her famous mother’s life almost three years to the date.

Ukraine safe for 9 hours. Ukraine has announced that a nine-hour humanitarian truce will allow civilians to evacuate the country this week. In the past week, dozens of civilians have been reported dead as a result of violent fighting amongst pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainians. The German Chancellor and the President of French are said to be meeting with Russian President Putin to urge him to agree on a peace treaty with Ukraine.

HAPPY FRIDAY

My favorite videos/ social posts of the week:

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Deleted Scenes From The Parenthood Finale+ 'Fifty Shades of Grey: Lego Edition

Kingsman: The Secret Service

I was given the opportunity to pre-screen the upcoming movie, Kingsman: The Secret Service, free before it comes out in theaters February 13. Not a movie I would usually pick to see in theaters, but it was free!

Cast: Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Caine, Taron Egerton

My Opinion: Very cheesy, stupid comedy that kept me entertained for the whole time.

The movie revolves around an intelligence organization known the Kingsmen, who's operatives are modeled after King Arthur and his Knights Of The Round Table (if you don't pick up on that, agents with names like Galahad and Lancelot should clue you in) who, while British in origin, exist outside any governmental structure.The movie plays with, and sometimes parodies, spy films though it most often seems to mimic the Bond films with their fetishistic love of weaponry and secret rooms.Though unlike a Bond film, Kingsmen revels in violence, seemingly for violence's safe. In fact, you could probably add up all the dead from virtually every Bond film made, and it wouldn't come close to the body count in Kingsmen.Samuel Jackson IS REMARKABLE! He's one of the best things in the movie, and his character, Valentine, a billionaire intent on saving the world by killing massive amounts of people–unlike most Bond villains–actually makes a lot of sense.