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I’m not annoyed by people who Instagram their food, but this video was still incredibly funny and well done.

The Alexxcast is a podcast by my Twitter friend, Alexx. I love the description of it he has on his blog, so I’ll repost part of it here for my readers:

I, and my rotating cast of guests, discuss forteana, books, mysticism, booze, metaphysics, spirituality, movies, writing and other random nonsense. 

Listening to the Alexxcast for me is like eavesdropping on someone else’s fascinating conversation without having to pretend that I can’t hear what they’re saying for the sake of politeness.

(Yes, I am an unrepentant eavesdropper, but I never repeat what I hear or mention it to the people who had that conversation again. Your secrets are safe with me. Ha!)

For those of you who aren’t yet intrigued, here are seven other reasons why you should give this podcast a try:

1. He is extremely active on social media. I don’t know about you, but I have a strong preference for online personalities who are closely connected to their audiences. If a podcaster, blogger, or Youtuber responds when I ask a question, I get excited. It’s cool to have that kind of friendly relationship with a web celebrity.
2. He is open to suggestions and audience questions. There have been times when he’s asked his followers what the topic should be for his next show. When people reply with ideas, he takes them seriously even if they’re not stuff he’d typically talk about. I really like that openness to new ideas and perspectives. It keeps a podcast fresh.
3. He is intelligent and well-read. While I definitely don’t agree with all of his ideas, it’s always thought-provoking to see how he’s come to his conclusions and why he thinks the way he does. Alexx makes me think about why I believe the things I do and stretches my mind.
4. He is skeptical.  If you told him the sky was blue and cloudless today, he’d go confirm it for himself before assuming it was true. I deeply respect people like that.
5. He is totally honest. If something is shitty, he won’t beat around the bush. He’ll tell you exactly why he thinks it horrible, when it devolved in something that deserved to be described as feces, and what should be done to fix it.
6. He knows how to follow a rabbit trail. Not everyone is capable of continuing to be funny and interesting when they wander away far from what they were supposed to be talking about, but Alexx is one of those people.
7. He can talk about anything. Someday I’m going to fully test this theory, but I have a strange feeling that he could make a podcast out of even the most loosely connected concepts. If I asked him to find the link between sharks and people who use Ouija boards to speak to the dead, he’d somehow be able to come up with a great story about how those two things are connected.

Here is this week’s list of tidbits from my favourite corners of the web.

WunderGuy vs. the Brain Tumor via MuseInks‬. I found this post while scrolling through the #MondayBlogs hashtag on Twitter earlier this week. I don’t actually know the author or her family, but I’m still relieved that they were able to share an update with their followers.

Scratching Beneath the Surface of Motherhood Regret. This was something I noticed as a child, and it bothered me quite a bit. While it wasn’t my main reason for deciding never to have kids, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t sway me heavily in that direction. Hopefully you and I both live to see the day when society realizes that this is a problem and takes real steps to change it.

The Mystery of Carl Miller. I absolutely love these kinds of family mysteries.

The Chapel in the Middle of Nowhere via bethjusino‬. There are so many story possibilities in the photos in this post. I loved letting my mind wander a while after I finished reading it.

Stop Worrying. This made me chuckle.

From Presumption of Guilt & the Question of Noncompliance via ShykiaBell:

Noncompliance isn’t always a result of disrespect or an attitude problem. I know this first-hand based on an experience my husband Max (my then-boyfriend/legal alien) and I had with police way back when he and I were dating.

What have you been reading?

This is a guest post from Steve Johnson.

While many treatments exist to help combat depression, some people struggle to gain control over their symptoms. This may be due to non-compliance, lack of access to appropriate healthcare, or complicated illnesses. People who are battling complicated mental illness or co-occurring conditions are at a much higher risk of attempting suicide. Similarly, suicide is more prevalent among adults who have alcohol or other substance abuse problems. Fortunately, there are several key concepts that are essential for long-term recovery and suicide prevention.

Education and Self-Advocacy 

“Knowledge is power,” is an often-used quote. First attributed to Francis Bacon in Meditationes Sacrae all the way back in 1597, this phrase has been quoted throughout history by the likes of Thomas Jefferson and many other highly influential people, and for good reason. In the world of depression, it couldn’t be truer: Understanding how your mental illness operates, and the mechanisms it uses to take over your thoughts and emotions, is step one in effectively battling your disease.

The University of Michigan’s Depression Center explains, “The first step is to educate yourself about your diagnosis, so that you understand your illness and how the symptoms you experience impact your daily life. Education also means understanding your treatment options.” When you’re armed with knowledge and a treatment program, you can then effectively self-advocate with your healthcare providers and others in your life.

Cultivate Supportive Relationships 

Even people who don’t suffer from depression need a support system to get through tough times, so it’s definitely critical to the well-being of those who are battling depression. Surrounding yourself with people who love and support you provides a lifeline when your symptoms start to take over or become too much.

Even if you’ve taken a leap of faith and moved to another state – or even another country – to give yourself a fresh start, technology makes it possible to stay close to your loved ones. From online chat groups to a simple phone call, it’s easier than ever to stay in touch with friends and loved ones no matter how geographically dispersed you are.

This support system can also serve as part of your crisis plan: Provide members of your support system with the names and numbers of your other supporters and their roles. Make sure these people are aware of warning signs that may indicate you’re entering a state of crisis, that way they can work together to intervene and facilitate treatment if needed. If necessary, you might want to appoint a trusted friend or relative with healthcare power of attorney so that they may make healthcare decisions on your behalf in a crisis.

Develop a Wellness Lifestyle 

Effective long-term depression management often entails developing a holistic wellness plan that tends to your body and mind. Finding the system, routines, and habits that keep you healthy is a highly individualized process.  You can rely on strategies that work for others as a stepping stone to developing your personal wellness lifestyle plan.

For instance, staying physically active can be effective for reducing the symptoms of depression. Likewise, some people find that pet therapy or pet ownership provides wellness benefits. You’ll also want to plan to spend adequate time outdoors when the sun is shining to soak up the Vitamin D, get plenty of rest, and commit to following a healthy diet rich in vitamins and minerals that keep your body functioning at its best. When you feel well physically, it can affect you mentally and emotionally in positive ways.

Maintain Treatment Compliance and Hope for the Future

Treatment compliance is essential for successful long-term management of depression and, in severe cases, for reducing the risk of self-harm or suicide. An effective treatment regimen will leave you feeling like yourself again, and it’s for this reason that some patients feel as though they no longer need their medications or therapy. Discontinuing your treatments without the supervision of your healthcare provider can be detrimental to both short-term and long-term depression management.

Stick to your treatment program as directed by your doctor or psychiatrist. If you feel like you’ve fully recovered, never veer off of your recommended treatments unless first discussing it with your healthcare providers.

With depression, long-term management is the key to lasting success and overall wellness.

Steve Johnson has always been dedicated to promoting health and wellness in all aspects of life. Studying in the medical field has shown him how important it is for reputable health-related facts, figures, tips, and other guidance to be readily available to the public. He created PublicHealthLibrary.org with a fellow student to act as a resource for people’s overall health inquiries and as an accurate and extensive source of health information. When he isn’t hard at work in his studies, Steve enjoys playing tennis and listening to his vintage record collection.

Image via Pixabay by Jill111.

Don’t worry, this is a spoiler-free post. If you haven’t seen Star Trek: Beyond yet, I’d definitely recommend checking out.

I’ve been a fan of Tommy’s videos for a while now, and I have shared a few of them on this blog in the past.

I had a more positive impression of Star Trek: Beyond than he did. The writing struck a nice balance between introducing new fans to the franchise and making inside jokes that would appeal to casual (or serious) fans. The storytelling was handled nicely, and I thought the casting choices were great as well.

If you’ve seen this movie, what did you think of it?

I’m running low on blogging ideas at the moment. This sometimes happens during the summer, but for some reason it still catches me by surprise.

What would you like to see me talk about in the near future? I’m open to just about anything!

Here is this week’s list of jokes, photo essays, advice, arguments, and other tidbits from my favourite corners of the web.

Six Simple Sunday Habits To Set You Up For A Productive Week. I’ll be trying these this week. Will you?

How To Make The Most Of Your Neighbor’s Backyard While She’s On Vacation via MeghanSaraK‬. Too funny.

The Tearooms That Changed the World via julietgreenwood‬. Were you aware of this part of history? I sure wasn’t.

The Local Search for Ultimate Bliss via Megan__Cutler‬. The koi fish were my favourite part of this post. I could spend all day watching them swim around. They’re such interesting animals.

The Class Politics of Decluttering. While I still not entirely sure if I completely I agree with this, the author does make some excellent points about how money affects what we’re able to buy.

Why Turtles Evolved Shells: It Wasn’t for Protection. This would be an interesting prompt for a short story.

From Keep Norwegian Weird:

This is a story about a small language being slowly overwhelmed by English, written in English by someone whose mother tongue is so stiff from lack of use it’s hardly serviceable. The irony isn’t lost on me.

What have you been reading?

A friend of mine mentioned this game yesterday, and I was immediately intrigued. It combines gratitude and mindfulness in such a social and interesting way.

The 100 Happy Days Challenge is simple. Every day you tweet about something that makes you happy. Be sure to include the hashtag #100happydays in your tweet.

According to the official rules, you’re supposed to include a photo of the thing that made you happy as well. Many of the things that make me happy aren’t physical objects, so I’m not yet sure if I’ll be sharing a picture every day.

I will be participating in this challenge, though.

Coronation grapes were what made me happy today because they remind me of my childhood. My grandparents make delicious, homemade juice from these grapes every year. Sometimes I’d sneak over to their arbor and eat a few grapes from the vine when no one was looking.

I hope to see some of my readers join the 100 Happy Days Challenge as well. It would be wonderful to hear about what’s going well in your lives.

I thought of someone being examined by an optometrist or emergency room doctor. They’ve gotten something stuck in their eye, and the doctor is trying to figure out the best way to fish it out without scratching the cornea.

What is your first impression of this picture?

It’s humid out there.

Are you sure you want to stand in the sun for two hours?

These were some of the thoughts bouncing around in my mind yesterday as I wondered if I should attend a free tour of Yorkville, one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Toronto.

The Royal Ontario Museum has a series of these tours to teach people about the history and architecture of various parts of our city. I’d been curious about them for a long time but hadn’t actually tried one yet.

You might really like it.

This was the thought that convinced me to go.

Our guide was incredible. She pulled us back two hundred years in the past as she described how the town of York was first built. There are high-rise buildings and roads full of traffic where there was once a little cemetery at the outskirts of a community that was so small they had to scribble down names from the graveyard in order to look like they had enough citizens to become incorporated.

Turn the clock back a few decades before that, and it was a toll road that farmers tried to avoid to save some money. The people living back then had to periodically change the location where they collected tolls to catch the sneaky farmers.

I felt like I’d travelled back through time during the tour. I could all but hear the sounds of bleating animals being lead to market and see fireman from long ago sticking their heads out of the tower on top of their hall to see if any of the houses in the surrounding community were on fire. It’s hard to imagine this part of Toronto ever being that small and rural, but it sure was!

The building with the blue doors at the beginning of this post was another highlight of the walk. It was once a Congregationalist church, but is now the home base for a society for creative women.

While I was definitely nice to go home and cool off after it ended, I’m so glad I took the tour.

It can be very easy to talk yourself out of trying something you’ve never tried before.

There’s always other stuff to fill your day with instead: chores, volunteer commitments, kids, pets, social media, work, and other obligations.

Sometimes, though, you’ve got to make space in your life for new experiences.

Don’t listen to that little voice in your mind that lists all of the things you should be doing instead or all of the reasons why you shouldn’t try it.

You can stop if you really don’t like it.

But at least give it a chance first!

After all, you might love it as much as I loved this tour.