So the World Health Organization just declared a new psychopathology, Gaming Disorder, the addictive propensity to sit for hour after hour with an X-box, disdaining sleep and food and exercise. Good diagnosis, guyz! But you forgot to include Facebook, You-Tube, computer addictions, porn and cellphone. Maybe, just maybe, they’re really all one disease. Ya think?

I guess the Facebook zombies actually stop to eat. And it could even be argued that this social media is really social. A new social, I guess, no face to face necessary, just tweets and instagrams, nothing too up-close and personal. Tim Cook, the new warden at Apple, recently declared sitting at a computer terminal to be the new cancer. Thanks, Tim, for asking the troops to stand up. How about asking them to go outdoors and exercise? Or quit their carcinogenic jobs? Or get a life?

We’re rewiring our brains, no doubt about it. B.F. Skinner and the Pavlovian dogs, peck a button and the bait, I mean the reward, comes tumbling out, time after time, predictable as an IV of opiods. Try this experiment if you’re a doubter: put away your cellphone, turn off your computer, unplug the TV and peripherals and devices, see how long you can last before the shakes and the fevers start. I bet about an hour. We might be missing important stuff. You know, Trump, Beyonce, Oprah, the photo from a friend you rarely see, Trump, the latest movie star scandal, did I mention Trump? If I did, let me add Trump again anyway.

This is our reality now. We even made a reality show huckster our Leader. We get what we deserve, the old adage goes in regard to a country and its rulers. Times certainly change and now they’re changing in hyper-drive. If anyone thinks, myself included, that there will be a cure for this disorder, we got another think coming. In about two tweets.

Recently I ordered one of those cool robot vacuums called a Roomba. It’s pretty amazing. It will quietly clean an entire floor while only mildly terrorizing the cats. And when it’s all done, it returns to its charging station and goes to sleep.

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Join Sports Illustrated's Ron Modra and Sony Artisan Don Smith this February 18-28, 2019 for an amazing photographic adventure through the dramatic Patagonia Region of Argentina and Chile. We will photograph both Los Glaciares and Torres del Paine National Parks as well as many other incredible locales that has made Patagonia a "bucket-list"destination.

The Workshop includes (11) nights, single-room lodging and (10) days of photography. We will have you on a boat for two full days getting up close to florescent blue icebergs and glaciers. We will also photograph glacial lakes, rivers, waterfalls, snow-capped peaks and steppes. All transportation during the workshop will be included as well as having local guides for every portion of the trip!

Learn more and see a slide show of images by clicking the image below.

Independent bookstores in the Pacific Northwest aren’t just brick and mortar storefronts. They are part of a thriving literary scene made up of writers, readers, librarians, and publishers. Local literary destinations for our communities.. Click here to learn more about the Independent Bookstore day and participating PNW  Bookstores.

#sunset

Would you like to lose a few kilos, increase your fitness, give your liver a break, de-stress or simply have some "me" time? ..... Read more

http://www.foodmatters.com/

Rob Tilley will be displaying a large number of his photography, including images from 7 countries in 3 continents. All of the images in this exhibit will be photographs printed on aluminum.  If you have not seen metal prints before, you will be amazed at their luminosity, clarity and almost 3D appearance.  www.robtilleyphotos.com - 

Opening reception on February 9, 5-8 PM at the Parklane Gallery in Kirkland, WA. www.parklanegallery.org You can see a preview of some of the images in the exhibit below. 

May good health and fortune 
surround you. 
May you never worry 
anymore. 
May gloom or bad luck 
ever find you. 
May bad tiding never come knocking 
at your door. 
May you live in a world 
of love and giving, 
and may you never wonder 
why, 
certain people keep on living 
while others - even children have to die. 
May there come a time when all others 
will walk with you in peace. 
May there always be a bright tomorrow 
with no longing for a distant shore. 
May you live with happiness forever, 
and forever more.

Picture this: you’re sitting at your work desk, the clock strikes 3.30 pm, and suddenly your sweet tooth is on a savage hunt for sugar........

Click to see the list of Don Smith 2018 Photography Workshops