My theme song today - this week, really - is Pale Blue Eyes (click the title to listen), written by Lou Reed and performed by the Velvet Underground. Suffice it to say that my husband (of 23 years) has blue eyes. The song was actually written about someone with hazel eyes and is said to be inspired by Reed's first love, who was married to another man.

"Sometimes I feel so happy

Sometimes I feel so sad

Sometimes I feel so happy

But mostly you just make me mad

Baby, you just make me mad"

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As for the things I would have posted to Facebook this week (if I were still posting to Facebook)...

I saw this on PBS News Hour last night and took a photo of it, because it succinctly sums up why America and the rest of the world must defend the Ukraine against a Russian invasion. (Ukraine is currently surrounded on 3 sides by Russian troops.)

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While talking to a friend today about her 20-year-old son's beyond-necessary spending, I pressed how imperative it is to persuade him to save money NOW, while he is young and unattached. This is something my husband has driven home since before we were married, and I can't say enough about how important it has been to the quality of our mid life (my husband quit his full-time job 3 years ago, and we both work contract/freelance now). Nearly half of Americans 55 or older have NO retirement savings, and 77% of American households are in debt (at an average of $58,604/US adult) - so spending beyond what’s needed is a bad habit in this country. I feel strongly that it is up to us parents to break this cycle and prevent our kids from having to stay on the 9-to-5 treadmill well beyond "retirement age" to provide for themselves and keep up with debts they didn't have to incur in the first place. Below is the best chart I found to demonstrate the importance of saving while you're young. And here's a blog article I wrote about why people should set up a Roth IRA account upon receiving their FIRST paycheck: http://www.melissarooneywriting.com/blog/2021/03/regarding-roth-iras/

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Based on 7% interest/year;

https://www.ngpf.org/blog/activity/chart-of-the-week-why-you-should-invest-when-you-are-young/

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I am on two drugs for high blood pressure (amlodipine and hydrochlorothiazide) and have recently tried to ween myself off them, because I feel strongly my condition is due to anxiety more than genetics/physiological reasons. However, my blood pressure has risen back to ~160/100, which is too high to be safe. So I went down the Internet wormhole and have decided to get back on my meds but also to add pistachios (1 oz or ~50 nuts), beet juice (2 cups) *and* green tea (2-4 cups) to my daily diet, as well as exercise 30 minutes *every day* (yoga or walking), all of which have been shown irrefutably to lower blood pressure. Most impressive to me are the proven effects of green (or oolong) tea, which has been found to consistently lower both systolic and diastolic (top and bottom) blood pressure numbers for non-smoking, non-obese patients. The graph below (one of many such studies) shows that green tea not only effectively lowers both systolic and diastolic (top and bottom) blood pressure numbers, but it takes only a few cups a day (more may actually reduce its benefits). Once my bp gets back to normal, I am going to drop the meds again but maintain the dietary changes and exercise. I'll let you know what happens.

Note: 1 green tea bag contains 1.5 -3 g of tea.

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My first theater review for The Triangle Review and Triangle Arts and Entertainment was published this week: http://triangleartsandentertainment.org/2022/01/lydia-r-diamonds-stick-fly-at-playmakers-rep-is-provocative-and-entertaining/. If you're jonesin' for some live theater but want to be COVID-safe, you can still get tickets for Playmakers' production of Stick Fly in Chapel Hill through February 6 (they’re only $20 ). The venue strictly follows COVID protection protocols , so bring a mask, a photo ID, and your vaccination card; and be prepared for a thought-provoking and entertaining show.

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