Dumping All Angels
The problem with doing the dumps these days is that I rarely have anything interesting to say off the top, and like, what’s the point, if I am not sharing funny anecdotes about my life with you? The focus then must be the stories that you def. did not have time to read. For this installment, I’m going to take a slightly different approach to the texts and give you a bit of a longer synopsis of them than usual, as I’ve been told time and time again that no one ever clicks the links.
I was reading about Twitter recently and apparently, no one clicks the links on Twitter either, so that is just one more thing me and Elon Musk have in common.
If you want updates on the kids, my plight of finding pants that fit, or my beautiful wife, feel free to send me a message, because as you’ll see in this dump, I spend a lot of time thinking about friendship.
If you are wondering if the title of this dump is an allusion to the seminal classic Calling All Angels by Train, yes. Yes it is. that banger was released twenty years ago this month, and I did not want you to go another day without thinking about how omnipresent it was in your life back then.
So first Train, and then the stories:
Minnesota’s had an interesting spring, if we’re being honest. Two weeks ago, we had something like 13 inches of snow, last week we had 4 consecutive days of 80º F, and then this weekend, it snowed again. Maybe this is just what we’re in for from here on out. But while I’d love to sit and talk the weather, this is actually a discussion of the second best part of the season: allergies.
Ah yes, springtime, when the trees and flowers are all abloom, our noses can’t stop running, and our eyes won’t stop itching. But according to science… there may be a solution!
It’s called sublingual immunotherapy, or SLIT, and I’m pretty into it, in theory.
You see, SLIT involves exposing allergy sufferers to small doses of the allergen over a period of time, allowing the body to build up a tolerance. And get this: the exposure comes as drops under the tongue. Wild, right?! It’s a bit like putting a tiny garden in your mouth.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Sam, that sounds gnarly! Why on earth would I want to subject myself to that?”
But here’s the thing: SLIT has been shown to be quite effective. Studies have found that it can reduce allergy symptoms and the need for medication and even prevent the onset of new allergies.
Of course, as with any medical treatment, there are risks and side effects to consider. But overall, it seems that SLIT could be a promising option for those tired of sneezing and sniffling their way through the springtime.
So let’s give a cheer for science and for the tiny drops that might make our allergies a thing of the past.
Therapy Speak Is Making Us Selfish
You know the joke: men would rather sit around naming athletes from childhood than go to therapy (Jeremy Roenick, Mo Vaughn, Duany Duany.)
And yet! Let me go on the record: therapy is dope.
There’s been some buzz lately about a phenomenon called “therapy speak” and whether it might be making us a bit too self-focused.
The inciting incident of this story is about the time the author got dumped by her friend, and the reasons were weighty in therapy speak jargon.
It’s a bit like Banshees of Inersherin, only in modern times. Breaking up with friends is wild to me mainly because everywhere I go, I find a story about how no one has friends, and we got people out here dumping the ones they have?
I digress.
You see, therapy speak is a set of terms and phrases that are commonly used in therapy sessions. These can include things like “self-care,” “setting boundaries,” and “mindfulness.” Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with these concepts, but some argue that they can make us overly preoccupied with ourselves and our own needs and make us real assholes when dumping our friends.
But here’s the thing: therapy speak is just a reflection of our culture. It’s selfish, and maybe that’s okay? We’re encouraged to focus on ourselves and our happiness, and therapy speak is just one manifestation of that. And there’s nothing wrong with taking care of ourselves, of course.
Therapy benefits many people, and there’s no need to feel guilty for taking care of ourselves and putting what we learn in therapy to use. But also consider the world outside of ourselves, how we can positively impact the lives of those around us, and perhaps most importantly: how not to be an asshole.
Click Here If You Want to Be Sad
Let’s discuss news consumption. Where do you get your news? What stories will you most likely consume, click on, or share?
Do you remember briefly when Jim from the Office launched a project during the pandemic focused on finding good news or the entire site: Upworthy?
Those existed because oft-times in media consumption, we are confronted with a curious phenomenon known as the negativity bias. In simple terms, people tend to be more drawn to negative news stories than positive ones, even when they are about the same topic. It’s an intriguing quirk of human behavior that significantly impacts our worldview.
Why is this?
Blame Darwin.
As creatures of survival, we are hardwired to be more sensitive to negative information, as it can signal potential threats or dangers. This instinctual response may help explain why we are more likely to click on negative news stories, as they activate our survival instincts in a way that positive stories do not.
But, excessive exposure to negative news can create a distorted view of reality, leading people to believe that the world is more dangerous and unpredictable than it is. To counteract this effect, it’s vital to seek out positive news stories and make a conscious effort to balance our exposure to negative news.
Ultimately, the negativity bias is a fascinating quirk of human behavior that sheds light on our complex relationship with the media. But also, like, keep it in mind and look for shit to read that won’t bum you out.
Do you remember a few minutes ago when I was bewildered by people dumping their friends? Mostly my shock is in the framework of the repeated stories I see about moms who can’t make friends or men who struggle to find someone to talk to, single people who are unsure of their place in society, or married couples without kids who feel left out.
No one has friends, and everyone needs them. Is this a pandemic thing? Is this a social media thing? Who knows!
So let’s talk about Dads. Specifically NEW dads, but really, let’s go ALL dads, because we’re inclusive here at the Dumps.
Many dads find themselves navigating uncharted territory regarding parenting, household chores, and work-life balance, seeking support and camaraderie in this brave new world of fatherhood.
How can new fathers support each other?
Turns out, dads are super keen to talk about dad shit with one another, but someone always has to go first.
Take Mike, for example, who formed a “Dad Squad” with his buddies. They met for coffee, swapped baby stories, and offered practical advice, from changing diapers to dealing with teething. It was like a brotherhood of sleep-deprived Millenials, bonded by their mutual love for their kids and just having a place to say: damn, this is hard, huh!
I spend a bit of time on Daddit, a Reddit message board that is shockingly upbeat in comparison to many forums on Reddit. Dads chime in about rashes, illnesses, babysitters, wives, houses, and just sort of come looking for affirmation, guidance, and the occasional pat on the back because something cool happened.
The story also talked about dads who take a more active role in sharing household and caregiving responsibilities. Gone are the days when parenting was solely the mother’s domain. More frequently, dads today are stepping up and taking on diaper duty, cooking meals, and doing laundry with gusto.
And sure, I get it, some of you may say: I will not be patting you on the back for doing the bare minimum, and Whoopty Doo! You changed a diaper? There are no trophies for doing the thing you’re supposed to do. And I agree.
But let’s recognize progress as well.
Dads are out here doing our best; frankly, it’s pretty neat to see.
So, to all fathers — new and old — take heart! You are not alone in this adventure. Reach out to your fellow dads, whether in person or online, and create your own Dad Squad. Lord knows we could all use a few more people to talk to in this crazy world of ours. And if you don’t like the dads you meet, don’t dump them in some weird way.
The Day the Dinosaurs Died | The New Yorker
Eliot is slowly rounding into a dinosaur phase. Of course, he had a construction vehicle phase, a Sesame Street phase, and even a quick dalliance with Frozen (I think the snow monster that Elsa conjures was actually the gateway to dinosaurs). But now, we’re into dinosaurs.
I could do an entire diatribe about how hard it is to pronounce dinosaur names and why Paleontologists didn’t have the foresight to think: Kids are going to love dinosaurs, we should make some of these names somewhat approachable and not: Piatnitzkysaurus, Leaellynasaura, and Micropachy-cephalosaurus.
But I’ll save that for another day.
The big dilemma we’re running into now is that since he likes dinosaurs, he wants to know what happened to the dinosaurs.
Another aside, maybe you missed this, but we’re not calling Tyrannosaurus T-Rex anymore?
Did he lose Rex distinction?
And Brontosaurus is just straight-up GONE, replaced by something called Apatosaurus. And Pterodactyls? NOT EVEN DINOSAURS.
75% of my dinosaur knowledge, cobbled together from Land Before Time and Jurassic Park, is outdated and wrong. So I am working on getting the answers like What happened to the dinosaurs.
I am not ashamed to admit that I thought “the big bang” referred to what happened to the dinosaurs for a good chunk of my life. However, the opening credits of the Jim Parsons tv show disavowed me of that notion, and I’ve been searching for the truth ever since. So when my 3-year-old goes: why can’t I have a babmiraptor as a pet? I wanted to have a pretty compelling response.
So how do you explain “a big rock hit the earth and wiped out all the dinosaurs” to a child? Because what I did has low-key scared him and highkey led to more questions I do not have an answer for. “Is the big rock going to hit again?” “What do you mean they all floated away when the water got too high.” “How hot did it get when the big rock hit?” “If they all died, then how come we’re alive?” “Are we dinosaurs?”
We’ve been watching a lot of a tv program that came out in the 2010s called Dino Dan. Dan does dino experiments and can see dinosaurs, so again, curiosity is peaked, but I have not heard Dan approach the asteroid yet. I needed answers, so I read this New Yorker piece from a few years ago. I will not lie; the piece is long, so I went to chat GPT and asked it to summarize the text for me but make it short enough to explain to a 9-year-old. Of course, Eliot isn’t nine, but a good reading level for this sort of stuff is about that, and so, here is what ChatGPT says to a nine-year-old about the article and the death of the dinosaurs:
Long, long ago, there were dinosaurs who roamed the Earth. They were huge and fascinating creatures, but one day, something catastrophic happened. A comet or asteroid crashed into our planet, causing a massive explosion.
The impact created a gigantic fireball that released energy equivalent to billions of atomic bombs!
The article tells us how scientists uncovered clues about this ancient disaster by studying rocks and fossils. They pieced together the story of how the dinosaurs met their end and how new life eventually emerged after the devastating event. It’s a fascinating article about ancient mysteries and scientific discoveries that will leave you in awe of the power of nature.
If that doesn’t do it for you, I also went ahead and watched this stunningly well-produced youtube video about the day the dinos died and was left agog at how horrific it was for them. Wow. Take ten minutes and watch this; it’s way worse than I could have imagined.
Do you know that age-old game where you ask someone how you least want to die? And answers range from “being buried alive” to “drowning” or “suffocating in a hot room.”
So how did the dinos die? All of the above, and then some, including being ripped to shred by the impact blast.
And on that note, Happy Tuesday, have a good one.
I am off to the chiropractor.
On the way out the door, enjoy TWO photos for first four months of the year as a summary of what you’ve missed. Presented without context.
Sam
