Vitamin K

Let’s talk about Kratom. Never heard of it? Well, you’re not alone— most people— including doctors— have never heard of it either. Kratom (K), like marijuana, comes from a plant. It’s cultivated in Southeast Asia, from a species of tree known as

Mitragyna Speciosa

Mitragyna Speciosa, essentially a tropical evergreen.

Marijuana Weed

It’s very similar in reputation to marijuana as well, in that people who aren’t really familiar with either plant like to paint them both in a bad light. As time has shown with marijuana, it is essentially a harmless weed. So too with K, but as it is still relatively unknown, most of the press it gets is bad press. People who know and use K, however, know it to be very different than its reputation would have you believe.

Like marijuana, K has medicinal properties that allow it to act, among other things, like an analgesic, working to alleviate minor aches and pains. But K also has sedative properties, as well as stimulant properties, depending on strain and dose.

Because it works on opioid receptors in the brain, people have successfully used K to wean them selves from opioid addiction. In America, a country that is trying to break the grip of opioid addiction/dependency, it is surprising that the medical community doesn't embrace an alternative recovery treatment.

Then again, marijuana has been federally illegal in the US since the 1930s. Even now, while the majority of states have made it legal for everything from medicinal reasons to recreational reasons, it is still illegal federally. At any time, the Fed could step in with any state that legalized it and enforce the illegality. Don't believe it? Ask California, a state that is now on its third attempt to legalize marijuana.

Is it fear? Maybe. People tend to fear what they don't understand. It's also bad publicity. What chances did marijuana have when every one of its spokespersons through the years has been viewed as a stoner?

Cheech & Chong

Snoop Dogg

  

Believe what you will, but Conservatives still "rule the roost" when it comes to societal mores. If the marijuana culture wants marijuana to be more socially acceptable, like say, alcohol, it needs to be more “mainstream” in its approach, with its advertising and with its "mascots."

K needs to take a page from that playbook. Put out as much good press as possible. Testimonials. Test results. All solid evidence.

Here’s another chestnut that the naysayers like to throw out, only taking half of the equation into consideration: no one has died exclusively from K. Why exclusively?

Well, people who use K have reportedly died, but in all of those fatalities, K was not the only substance ingested. In other words, mix to your own potential peril; much like any substance.

This writer successfully uses K, twice a day. In the mornings I take it to alleviate any residual pains from the night (hips, shoulders, legs, etc). Early evening I take it and it effectively helps me to relax.

I mentioned strains and doses earlier. A strain can usually be broken out by “color” and speed. So generally you have red, green, yellow, and white colored leaves (the veins, to be specific). A green-veined leaf is, “Great for promoting an overall positive well-being. The balanced effects help gently encourage optimism, energy, and

moderate discomfort relief (happyhippo.com).” It is associated with a “fast” speed, meaning it has stimulant properties. I will generally use green vein in the mornings, to wake up and to throw off the residual nighttime aches and pains.

Red-veined K is, “Associated with relaxing and calming effects; superior for aiding physical discomfort (happyhippo.com).” It is associated with a “slow” speed, meaning it has relaxing/sedative properties I generally take red-veined K in the evenings.

I use what’s called a modified “toss and wash:” I have a small cocktail shaker that I use to mix K and orange juice. OJ is a good mixer for two reasons: it’s strong taste somewhat masks the bitter taste of K; and OJ is a potentiator for K (it gives it a judge of strength).

You can read more about the specifics of K at my favorite K retailer, Happy Hippo

Kratom (happyhippo.com— click the Hippo for more info). If you haven’t tried it, maybe you should. Aches? K. Sleepiness? K. Over-stimulated? K. Trying to smoothly come off of pain meds (opioids)? K.

© Ray Cattie

The Beatles

One of the things in my (not-so) humble opinion that makes the Beatles so special— and that a lot of younger folk don’t quite understand— is that everything the Beatles did they did “without a net.” No one— repeat— NO ONE— had done what they did on the scale that they did it, before them.

What I mean is that most bands are derivative— you hear them, and you say, “Oh, they sound like the Allman Brothers,” or “They sound like “Aerosmith,” or even “They sound like the Beatles.” But with the Beatles— they actually didn’t sound like anyone before them, because no one had done what they did up to that point.

Sure, there were big acts before them, and we know that they inspired John Lennon and Paul McCartney: Elvis, Jerry Lee Louis, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Bill Haley— just to name a few. But they were not like the Beatles, with what they started as, and what they became. You could say that technically they “derived” from the music that came before them, but you would be hard-pressed to point to a specific act.

So next time you hear a “Boomer” talking

about the Beatles, add the above thought process into your mix, and you will come out of the discussion having shown respect to the most original band in rock-n-roll history.

© Ray Cattie

Those Voices in Our Heads

What exactly is an inner monologue (IM)? Let's break the title down: inner, meaning inside; and monologue, meaning solo discussion. So, it's a solo discussion that happens inside— the voice(s) in our heads.

Being internal, it often silently “guides” us, enabling us not only to opt between right and wrong, but also to work through scenarios in our head before we actually give voice to them. The IM is often referred to as a “conscience,” but it is much more than our classical image of a little “Jiminy Cricket” sitting on our shoulders whispering rights and wrongs into our ears. It is a preview filter, of sorts.

Statistics tell us that a startling 30-50% of the population do not have an IM. It's only startling, by the way, from the perspective of people who do have an IM. I can unofficially confirm that range, as I regularly (and very unscientifically) ask each of my classes this question in the beginning of the semester, and generally arrive at the same percentages. But remember— not all IMs are words and/or voices; some IMs are in pictures and movies as well. Just as not everyone thinks the same— differentiated learning— not everyone's IM is expressed the same.

Usually the people who do have it aren’t even aware that there are actually people who do not have it, and typically the people who do not have it aren’t aware that there are
people who do have it. It’s almost comical to see their faces when they realize this for the first time!

Little kids who have an IM often have "imaginary friends" that they speak to and interact with as if there was actually another person in the room. They're not yet aware of the concept of the IM, and therefore cannot distinguish their own inner voice from an external one. Eventually they "grow out" of their imaginary friends, which is usually at the time they become aware— at least informally— of their own IM.

And then there are the adults who never lose their invisible friend, and also have never realized that they even have an IM.  The chemicals in our heads— literally the “wet-ware” of the human CPU, aka the brain— are squirrelly things. Scientists have identified over sixty at present moment; a lot of interaction to potentially hit a snag at some point or another. It's why the old chestnut "Mental Health is Health" holds sacrosanct— if you live your life and have never had a mental health issue of one sort or another, you died too young.

I digress. Out of control chemicals that lead adults to hear voices in their heads, and to not make the connections to their IM, are often labeled as schizophrenic, or as they like to say now, "Psychosis Susceptibility Syndrome," which includes schizophrenia, but also incudes other types of psychoses as well. Fortunately, PSS has become diagnosable and treatable roughly since the 1950s and the development of antipsychotic medications.

The "classic" view of the homeless person walking down the street arguing with themselves— this is the IM gone wild, literally. Back in the 1960s "State Hospitals" (public inpatient mental health hospitals) began a program called "deinstitutionalization," which effectively put a lot of people with psychoses out on the street. Prior to antipsychotic medications, a lot of those adults who were in effect
psychotic were thought to be "possessed" by a spirit or a demon. A whole cottage industry sprung up around that concept, in the medical profession, in religion, and even in Hollywood.

The pre-antipsychotic medication era was a dark time for the psychotic who could not help but to interact with the "voices in their head." It has been said that artistic people— the true creatives— have been self-medicating against this for centuries. A quick spin in history shows us countless examples or writers, musicians, artists, and the like who drank, did drugs, were adrenaline junkies, and/or combinations, up to and including taking their own lives to escape the "voices in their heads."

From alcohol to cocaine to wine to mead to heroin to marijuana to LSD to pills— creative types have been trying it all to silence the voices, literally for years. Or at the very least to control those voices while they pursued various secular jobs and other career paths that did not require the creative spark to flourish. At least, when they could. Some were so possessed by their muses that they couldn't silence then even long enough to work a few hours. Once again history is littered with creative people who were all-but penniless in their lifetimes. Debt was also a recurring theme, and Back in the Day debt meant debtor's prison, which took a bad situation and made it geometrically worse.

In sum, the IM and the role it has had in human history is been an inexorable part and function of the human brain for the past 100,000 years or so, when we were first able to look symbolically at the mundane and see— art.

Do you have an inner monologue? Had any good conversations with it lately?

© Ray Cattie

Great Expectations

Expectations can be a real drag on a relationship. Worse, they can be a real drag on your psyche.

You buy your S.O. something— a token— just to let them know that you were thinking about them. The gesture makes them happy. All good so far, right?

But let’s extrapolate that scenario: in your mind (at least those with an inner monologue), you figure, “I got blah blah blah just to get a smile and a nice hug. Why wouldn’t they reciprocate the gesture?” Particularly if they actually do feel the same way that you feel.

The next day comes, and then the day after, and then a week later— with no return

gesture. Your disappointment is palpable, and tastes bitter like the taste you get when you chew aspirins. Your expectations have not been met in this situation.

Now here’s the rub: exactly whose fault is it that your expectations weren’t met? Them, for not meeting them, or you for setting your expectations too high in that instance for your partner to meet.

And you don’t know what their time was spent thinking / feeling / doing. Maybe they were distracted, and had every intention of returning the gesture, but got side-tracked.

Maybe they were happy with your gesture, and didn’t want to equalize it by returning the action. After all— more special if only one person does it.

Or, maybe they’re just not that kind of a person, and they don’t feel any obligation to show you they care.

You have some choices to make.

For some, it would be a deal-breaker. For them, they might have done whatever they did in the first place in order to get their partner to respond, because they needed the gesture; they needed their ego massaged, and so they created a situation where that could happen. But since it didn’t happen, they will take the “scorched earth” response: “You don’t care about me. I got blah blah blah for you, and because you Just Don’t Care you couldn’t even appropriately respond.”

Maybe that will prompt a contingency response from them: “I’m sooo sorry! I was going to blah blah blah back, but work called and a huge issue blew up, sucking away my attention away! Let me make it up to you.”

Fat chance, but I had to mention it as a possibility, unlikely as it may be.

Then there’s the annoyed response, maybe augmented and/or initiated by the fact that they seemingly have no clue what you’re talking about (aka the disproportionate allocation of expectations); what you’ve been stewing over for the whole week, didn’t even give them the slightest pause for thought.

Your fault, or theirs? Was your expectation too high, or their reception to it too low? What I have discovered over the long years is that you have (almost) no control over how someone else acts/reacts. What you do have control over is how you act/react.

How many times do we attribute a negative to a person where it’s actually our issue, not theirs? For instance, I used to think that this one friend of mine growing up was harsh towards me playing guitar; turns out he wasn’t actually being harsh— rather, it was my interpretation of his responses— I thought “harsh” when he wasn’t trying to send “harsh.”

Hence the overarching theme of this essay: a lowered expectation is generally a met expectation. Oh, it’s okay to have a “base level” set of expectations— you should be able to expect generalities like kindness or freedom from being intentionally hurt— from interpersonal relationships. Where we get ourselves in trouble is when we have that floor set too high.

How about this as a paradigm? Work on the things you are capable of changing, not the things you aren’t capable of changing, like someone else.

© Ray Cattie

Saying Sorry vs Being Sorry

They say death and taxes are the only two things that are guaranteed in this life. I would like to amend that and add learning. Learning is something we do— be it consciously or not— until the day we die. Though I have yet to die, I know that I’m in my seventieth decade and the learning continues…!

My wife Deanna taught me something new— the concept of which I found to be quite the epiphany, once I let it sink in, that is: the difference between saying that you’re sorry, and actually being sorry.

With the former, you are saying it for you, to make yourself feel better. Oh, you couch it with the premise that you’re saying it for the person you’ve hurt— in your head, you say, “You’re sorry,” and that makes the other person feel better.

However, the reality is that you say, “I’m sorry,” and you are effectively absolving yourself of whatever wrong you’ve done. To the target of the apology, they’re actually just words. Unless you have the latter part— the actions that are generated from being sorry— you might as well just say “Captain Harris went to Paris;” it has the same effect.

Ironically— or maybe not— the Church (note the capital “C” in deference to the Catholic Church, not Protestant churches) has a similar paradigm in its canon. The first part, the apologizing part, is called “confession.” We do this for ourselves to  unburden our conscience by confessing our transgressions to the priest, who in turn forgives our sins in God’s stead. Part one: check.

As for the second part— the act of being sorry— the part that we do for others— is called “repentance.” We start this part by being contrite, which is a promise in our heart/head not to do whatever it is we did again. Still just words/thoughts, but now backed up this time by an affirming prayer: the “Act of Contrition.” Which leads us to the final piece of repentance—the actual hard part— consciously trying not to do it again. That’s the part— the action— that’s for the people whom we sinned against. 

One without the other— words/thoughts without actions— doesn’t really work. Again, you might as well just say “Professor Hill went to Brazil” and call it a day. Or a relationship. Empty words have the power to erode a relationship as surely as time built the Grand Canyon. You may be helping yourself in the short-term by making yourself feel better about your transgressions, but you’re not really assuaging the target of your offense, even if they don’t realize it— remember, everyone is doing that learning thin, and they might not have learned it yet.

Let’s review. “I’m sorry” is for you; it makes you feel better about what you’ve done. When we’re younger, it usually ends there, and we usually have to repeat it many times until we learn to add action to the words for whom it was said. Sadly, some people— I would venture to guess most— never learn this, and the results can be seen with a deep dive into the efficacy of their relationships.

Being sorry— actually making the effort to not do whatever it was you did that you need to apologize for— with or without the words— that’s for the person you offended. Most people take a long time to learn that simple plum. Took me sixty or so years to learn it— and I’m still learning it— but practice makes perfect, and I have a very patient teacher.

                                                          

© Ray Cattie

The Return of Rhys Hoskins

In the midst of the gloom of the Phillies limping out of the playoffs in a first round series loss to the Mets in the NLDS, here's a happy interaction from earlier this season. The picture shows a golden moment from June of this year, when Philadelphia Phillie fan-favorite Rhys Hoskins made his inaugural return to Citizens Bank Park in a Milwaukee Brewers uniform. Of course, it was an emotional return for both the fans and for Rhys, the former Phillies first baseman who was traded earlier to make room for superstar Bryce Harper, who took over at first base upon returning from an injury. Hoskins was out with his own injury at the time.

A bit of humor amidst the nostalgic return happened when Rhys was walked by Phillies Ace Zack Wheeler. Then Hoskins did something no one expected— including his own dugout: he stole second base. “He’s not really a runner,” Zack Wheeler joked about his former teammate. “I wasn’t changing up my looks at all… He got an easy bag right there.”

When asked later if he thought he surprised J.T. Realmuto, the catcher with the best POP time in the sport, Hoskins quipped that he hoped he did. “(Realmuto and I) will always be able to go back and forth about that,” he said with an easy grin.

J.T. got the last laugh though, because seconds later, Hoskins tried to score from second on a single to center. It was a great throw from Johan Rojas in the outfield, and Realmuto was able to apply the tag, nailing Hoskins at the plate, and in turn have some good natured, butt-slapping in the process.

How can you not be romantic about baseball? The smiles say it all!

(paraphrased from the article by Anthony SanFillippo for USA Today Sports at https://www.crossingbroad.com/2024/06)

© Ray Cattie

Motorola Razr: The Great Experiment

I initially started writing this blog post back in July of this year, and am just finishing it now, in October...

Last year, when the new Motorola Razr dropped, I was absolutely enamored by the red version of that retro flip cellphone.

2023 Razr in "Viva Magenta"

I exercised restraint, however, under the guise that I would give Apple a little bit more time to come out with their iPhone version of the flip phone. A year went by, and news of the release of the Apple flip iPhone cooled, with release dates ranging from two to three years away. My current iPhone is the model 14 Pro Max, which still runs like the premium phone that it is... but would it keep up with the next two-three years, pushing it to five year-old tech? In the cell phone industry five years is all-but forever.

I decided to take the plunge, and pre-ordered the Motorola Razr+ (aka the Razr 50), 2024 anniversary edition, in the Pantone Color of the Year, Peach Fuzz. 

2024 Motorola Razr+ Peach Fuzz

They had done away with the red color that I lusted over last year, in favor of the iconic hot pink color, brought back in homage to the tenth anniversary of the original Razr phone.

In the meantime, I watched every video I could lay my eyes on about my soon-to-be-new Android operating system, and more specifically, my soon-to-be-new Motorola Razr.

It took my new phone about a week to arrive; one week earlier than the in-store release. I was a kid in a candy store queued to buy the latest edition of Wacky Packs, which were all the rage back in the mid-seventies.

Loved these-- you?

I knew that the migration from iOS to Android  would be formidable; after all I had been a resident of Apple's Proprietary Garden for seventeen years, way back to the original iPhone. Currently, I have an iPhone, an Apple Watch, a MacBook Pro, and a MacBook Air. I am heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem. But the lure of the Flip Phone was strong. My original favorite, back when you had the choice of the clam shell (now called flip) or the candy bar/slab  form factor.

Classic Clam Shell

I never lost my secret desire for the clam shell, even though it has been almost two decades since I've actually owned one. Rumors of the "iPhone Flip" have been circulating for several years now, but Apple has remained its usual tight lipped, close-to-the-vest MO, releasing not one whisper of the alleged Apple Flip Phone. Meanwhile, Samsung and Motorola, to name but two companies, are already invested in the flip phone; several years in now. Apple has been know to be late to the market with its products, but when they do release, they have benefited greatly from the extra refinement that they put into their products, believing in quality over speed.

Classic Candy bar (looks like a tv remote!)

By early summer of this year, my resistance was finally breached with Motorola's release of its 2024 iteration of the classic Razr flip phone. I eagerly pre-ordered the Razr+ in the Pantone Color of the Year, Peach Fuzz.

Of course in true "Cattie Style," I watched every video I could about the new Razr, looked at hundreds of pictures, read dozens of testimonials, and also worried over the conversion from iPhone to Android which, as it turned out, was (very) justified. When my new Razr arrived, it was with much enthusiasm that I unboxed it, and launched into the initial setup.

"Hello Moto" welcome screen.

Pleasantly, the fact that it was an Android really didn't make much of a difference-- in mid-2024 there isn't really a whole lot of difference. Oh, Android may have a few more customization options, it’s true, and can really get lost down that particular rabbit hole, and of course I did.

In no time at all I had set up everything to work to my liking, and with a quick phone call to my carrier I had my phone number patched over and was texting successfully almost right away.

Gorgeous, ain't it?

On to the what-I-though was going to be the fun part, equally as easy as the initial setup from the "Hello Moto" splash screen: The Copying of My Specific Stuff From My Deep Purple iPhone 14 Pro Max to My Shiny New Motorola Razr+, in the Pantone Color of the Year, Peach Fuzz.

Bill's eating-- an apple.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah.

I was-- naive? Child-like? Downright Delusional? All apt words to describe an Apple User who has been playing exclusively in the walled-off Apple Garden

Safe, but restrictive…you’ve been warned.

(see above for more detailed immersion notes) who suddenly decides to switch to the relatively "loose" Android Ecosystem.

As easy as the initial setup was from the "Hello Moto" splash screen, I ran headfirst into that brick wall when I endeavored to port over some of my customizations from my iPhone to my new Razr. That hard, very ungiving brick wall that has the Steve’s— Jobs & Wozniak— graffiti spray painted liberally all over it.

There were several apps recommended to help ease the pain of transfer, but to my chagrin the apps were no longer available. The tech had moved on beyond apps, which I will illustrate more fully later.

In a nutshell, there was no way for me to get my 7,000 photos from my iPhone to my Razr. Nor was there a way for me to transfer my gaming data, since I used Apple’s (proprietary) Game Center. While that might not seem to be a big deal, I have games on my phone that I’ve been invested in for years, and the thought of losing them was making me sweat.

Transfer from iPhone to Android?!

But the biggest chestnut was Notes. It might surprise you to know that I am a writer (ha!), and at any given time I have from 350-400 active notes—it’s my go-to writing tool to jot down thoughts and ideas. While they are in fact saved on iCloud as well as on my iPhone, there was no compatible android app that would accept my iCloud notes format. There was no way for me to transfer my notes from Apple’s (proprietary) Notes app to a notes app in Razr, short of literally copying and pasting.

Non-Apple users have no idea how quickly and easily you get seduced by Apple’s ecosystem; ultimately you end up using everything Apple, as it’s miles easier, and everything within the ecosystem plays well together.

My seduction took me across the full gamut from hating Apple, to buying an iPod and iTunes/Apple Music, then iPhone (every year, including camping out at the Apple Store in the early days— great fun!),

Just a few...!

to going from a Toshiba (Windows) laptop to a MacBook Air, then a MacBook Pro, iCloud, an Apple wireless keyboard, an Apple Magic Mouse, an Apple external hard drive, and Apple Watch, AirPods, and of course those magical Apple stickers that come with every Apple product.

Though in the name of “reducing their carbon footprint” to zero by 2030 they have eliminated the stickers in recent years, which strikes me as disingenuous considering all of the Apple people jetting around the world in those fossil fuel-guzzling jets.

Carbon neutral by 2030

Android friends, it’s downright insidious how inevitably and fully you get sucked into Apple’s ecosystem, smiling and happily spending money. As I’ve said, it’s a great ecosystem— everything Just Works. But here’s what they don’t tell you: it doesn’t play well with Android!

Anyway, I digress. I was giving myself the cold sweats thinking about the time I spent working on my conversion, only to realize that I would have to start over with the things that actually meant something to me. And that was the kicker, the rub, the straw that broke the Upgrade Camel’s back.

You can hear it snapping...

I’m no quitter— heck, I’ve been in education for thirty-five years— but after 168 hours, 47 minutes, and 22 seconds of painstaking, aggravating, insomnia-inducing effort, I threw in the proverbial towel and re-boxed my shiny new Motorola Razr+ 2024 anniversary edition in the Pantone Color of the Year Peach Fuzz, and shipped it back.

Update from September 2024: I ended up getting a shiny new iPhone 16 Pro Max, in Desert Titanium (it’s gold, people). It is my hope that it will tide me over until/if Apple ever gets around to releasing the iPhone Flip— errr— the iFlip?

Finis.

© Ray Cattie