LMOH: Fried Rice ... Homemade

I'll admit, I'm a huge sucker for fried rice.  Love it.  Always have.  But there's something magical about restaurant fried rice because I never knew how to make it at home.  I figured "sure, easy enough - cold rice, soy sauce, veggies, eggs, and meat.  How hard is that?!" 

Well, apparently REALLY hard because for years I kept trying and trying and we would eat what I would make and would both agree "nope, restaurant is way better."

And then I saw Jet Tila's episode on HBO Max where he makes fried rice, and (insert magic happy sounds here) everything changed.  I figured it out!  It works!  I recently made it, and let me tell you, it looks AND tastes like restaurant fried rice, and it couldn't be easier.

THANK YOU, JET TILA!

AOT: The Tether of Career + Identity

Maybe you haven't thought about it before now, maybe you have, but the idea of career = identity is long rooted in history.  It's about as synonymous as breathing = needing air.  We've been defined by what we do.  Even back to cave and prehistoric times = Men hunt.  Women gather.  Men fight.  Women raise families.  I'm sure there were men who gathered and women who hunted, but the exceptions aside, you can follow that idea of Person = Job throughout history.  Gladiators fought.  Soldiers fought.  Oracles say the beyond.  Healers healed.  Medicine wo/men healed.  Teachers taught.  Blacksmiths forged.  Cooks cooked.  And on and on and on.  

And if you look at that long enough you realize people were essentially raised into a (one) specific career (unless they were conquered and forced into another, but even then it was still basically ONE area of focus).  And humans died young.  Living to or beyond 50 was not the norm (why we have midlife crises early and not at 50).  Even the concept of last names stemmed from the idea of being derived based on WHAT you did (smith = blacksmiths;  housers = worked in the house; cooks = cooked) or WHERE you were from (Saxon, etc).  https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/blog/blog-posts/norman-saxon-surname/

So all this to say, the idea that today's attempt to break free from your career as your sole identity, having to get permission from one career to partake in another, etc., may seem annoying or even blasphemous, but, in reality, it's one of the most historically-based things we have.  I don't think it's right anymore.  I think humans and the human spirit is changing at a pace quicker than we can emotionally or social evolve, but I am not surprised it's hard to separate one from the other.

LMOH: The Health "Chalk Line"

I love knowing things.  Data and facts.  Facts and data.  There is power in knowledge, and I wish more people (companies, etc) followed that.  In fact, especially when it comes to you and your body, facts and knowledge are key.  I always wondered why we don't have more 'baseline' tests when you're in your 20s to see what the the status of things is so that in your 30s and beyond you can identify changes early.  E.g. blood test everything; do the full-body MRI or CT, ultrasound more sensitive areas, etc.  Do the test.  Know what 'normal' is early so that you can find abnormal early and treat for it!

So that's why when I get new test results back, it always makes me happy.  Now I have a new baseline.  A new "chalk line" for what 'normal' looks like, or if those changes we see are still 'normal' for me.

I hope you get to find your baselines!  Be your own advocate.  Speak up.  ASK for the test.  You deserve it, and your future self will thank you!