Food, Brew, Test Scores & Mass Marketers

After spending nearly entire day building a website for my future practice, I am up pondering why the ambition is so incredibly fired up lately. Is it because I am super psyched for life? Maybe. But why? I know, its because I quit drinking the good brew for a week! And I feel awesome!

My test scores have peaked to their highest levels in years and my overall attitude about things is pretty darn positive. I find this incredibly powerful because I eliminated one small dietary aspect from my daily consumptions. Nothing changed besides decreasing my beer intake. My diet has remained consistently good for many years now but I noticed I wasn't able to focus as well on exams and retrieving information has been more taxing then I'd like to admit. Eliminating beer stopped the cognitive issues I have been experiencing. With that said, I have to say my beer intake consisted of 1-3 a day on average - of good Portland quality beer, not cheap watered down shit. To continue reaping the rewards of a clear mind I intend on cutting beer out and only consuming it on special occasions. This way I can keep mentally fresh and decrease the overall stress on my body.

On another note, turning 30 is a bitch. I have been looking back, filtering through my 20's and teens trying to play "connect the dot" as to how I got here. In doing so, I have been able to see a lot of things that tie it all together. As if I am supposed to be here based on my overall path in life. Ending a chapter is hard because you have to let go of things that held you back in the previous chapter. It is like doing a mental inventory of your strengths and weaknesses - a critical appraisal of the mental literature but not a peer review. :)

I find as I get older and older and older, I notice things I used to overlook. For instance, we watched the Thomas Crown Affair tonight and I noticed subtle clues and advertising in the movie. Pepsi and United Airlines were very obvious. After the movie, I started thinking about the products I buy and whether movies like the Thomas Crown Affair have had an effect on my spending habits in my life. If movies have an effect on people's spending habits, does this mean Hollywood defines how we think and behave? We get pleasure from watching movies that are exhilarating which fills a hole in our empty, unhappy lives. We then act out, in our own ways, the happiness the people in the movie portrayed. The mind is quite powerful and very pliable, as we have learned in neurophysiology. Noticing habits, consumer spending trends and even mannerisms may help us and others look to different methods of entertainment.

Getting old isn't too bad after all. Now, if I can keep my IPA intake down to a minimum, I will be able to keep this well-aged mind open and free from the inundation of subtle marketing tactics of blood thirsty mass marketers!