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MrMuleMan

@mrmuleman

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56, AZ🌵from OH🌰, VSG 2014-⬇160lb Husband, step & pup dad, 🏳️‍🌈ally, book nerd, feminist, travel, lifting, chicanery, memes, rocknroll, hiking, wine

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“Once you have read a book you care about, some part of it is always with you.”

— Louis L’Amour

Reading impacts the brain similarly to experiencing events in real life by stimulating neural pathways and creating lasting connections, effectively “rewiring” the brain.

When reading, brain areas responsible for sensory processing and motor actions activate as if the reader were experiencing the scenes, a phenomenon known as neural simulation. This “embodied cognition” means reading about an action can engage the same motor cortex as physically doing it, making stories feel like lived memories.

Researchers using fMRI scans have shown that when reading about experiences (e.g., running), the brain activates the same regions involved in the physical action, blurring the line between fiction and reality.

Regular reading increases neural connectivity, especially in the left temporal cortex—the area associated with language comprehension and memory.

Immersive reading (or “transportation” into a story) fosters empathy, as the brain processes emotional scenarios as if they are occurring in real life.

The mental workout provided by reading can improve cognitive health in aging adults and is associated with increased longevity and reduced stress.

#reading #bookstagram #books taken in Phoenix, Arizona by @mrmuleman

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8 months ago

Yup…that’s the same guy. That’s me on the left, 2013 probably coming in somewhere around 340 to 350 lbs. Growing list of health concerns, taking five different medications for various conditions. Hard time shopping for clothes, hard time fitting in a booth or an airplane seat, always worried about the physical space I was taking up and how my health concerns were weighing on my family and those I loved.

Fast forward 13 years to that guy on the right. Now sitting at a healthy 185 after a long and winding journey of weight loss and focusing on my health. Had a VSG procedure Christmas of 2014, got focused lost 160lbs, got into running and life was good. Couple of big life changes, move across the country, and the let the wheels come off a bit during COVID lockdown…fell back into some bad habits, gained a chunk of weight back, lost some focus. Eventually, got that focus back, started taking Tirzepatide, started focusing on strength training in the gym, and now have gotten back into running, and I’m back to my healthy and fit weight.

None of it was easy…living so large and out of shape and unhealthy wasn’t easy, and getting up at 5:00am and working out and making good food choices isn’t easy either. But I’m here to tell you that you can pick your hard…the hard that has you unhealthy and in pain and discomfort, or the hard that leaves you feeling energized after and good knowing you’re taking care of your health not just for yourself, but for your loved ones and friends as well.

You can absolutely do it…I’m living proof. You’ll probably need help, again, I’m living proof. But don’t for a second think you can’t pull off becoming your better or best self….you got this👊😎
#weightlossjourney taken in Phoenix, Arizona by @mrmuleman

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8 months ago

As we wrap up 2024 and head into 2025, many if us are reflecting on the past year, the highs and lows, the achievements and met goals, and even our missteps and the lessons we learned.

At the same time, the next day or two will be filled with new rebirth energy, and we’ll all see feeds filled with aspirations and goals for the new year…achievements people hope and plan to accomplish, new and better habits people plan to embrace, and small improvements each of us wants to make in our lives.

For my part, my ‘resolution’, as it were, will be to embrace my favorite platitude as displayed on this graphic : Be the person you’d like to meet. Life and the universe throws many things at us, and most are things we can not control, but we each do have the power to choose how we wish to be, the kind of person we choose to be…kind, considerate, honorable, supportive, authentic, brave, compassionate, humble. Those are all qualities that we control, qualities this world needs, and qualities that make all of our lives better.

So yet again, I’ll be trying to remember this call to action every day in the coming year, and working to have it guide my actions, thoughts, and even emotions. I hope you’ll consider doing the same.😎 by @mrmuleman

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2 years ago

Book Review

Burn Down Master’s House
by Clay Cane

BURN IT ALL DOWN 🔥🔥🔥ONLY FIRE PURIFIES

Let me begin by stating my view that this book should be required reading within the American educational system.

At a time when a great deal of Southern, revisionist propaganda regarding the Confederacy and the institution of chattel slavery is being propagated, Burn Master’s House Down stands defiantly in the service of the truth, bringing to life the horrific, unvarnished truths about the horrors endured by enslaved peoples, and the cancerous, soulless mentality of the slaveholding class and their mental gymnastics to justify their evil behavior and actions.

Weaving together four different stories of resistance and rebellion from an interconnected cast of characters, Burn dramatizes and humanizes the horrific and cruel existence of slaves in the American South, and gives voice to their lives, their suffering, their hopes, and most of all, their will and their rage.

The author does an excellent job of portraying the abject evil of the slave holders, and also their pettiness and weaknesses. He systematically tears down many of the modern, white washed myths about both the slavers and those who terrorized them, and shows how rebellion was contagious and therefore feared by those in power.

A worthy read that will enrage you and having you cheer the demise of each of the oppressors, in all it’s grizzly and fully earned violence.

BURN IT ALL DOWN 🔥🔥🔥 ONLY FIRE PURIFIES taken in Phoenix, Arizona by @mrmuleman

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9 hours ago

Fun little ‘after and before’ comparison….my nephew @ryan_hawkins_11 got married a few weeks ago and I was bestowed the privilege to officiate the ceremony.
Nice little full circle moment back to 18 years ago in the second slide, when Ryan was the ring bearer and wingman for Kelly and my wedding.

Time comes at you fast😎😎😎 by @mrmuleman

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a day ago

Book Review

Fruit Fly
by Josh Silver

If unhinged, unreliable narrators are your jam, come on down. If no holds barred descriptions of drug & alcohol fueled sexual degradation are your jam, you come on down too. If characters struggling with psychotic schisms and questioning what’s real and what’s not are your thing, come on in as well…this juicy big tent novel has a place for you as well.😎

This novel pulls no punches as it explores two main characters struggling with mental health problems, both trapped in lives that feel like cages, but cages they are familiar with and feel unable to break out of, regardless of how harmful those cages are to their overall wellbeing.

It further explores the complex topic of narrative appropriation…where does one person’s ownership of ‘their’ story end and an author’s ownership of their fictionalized version of that person’s story begin?

Suspense, drama, gonzo character choices, shifting views of reality and truth, commentary on freedom, control, and economic dependency??? If those sound like ingredients you enjoy in a book, then this is a novel for you. It’s often propulsive, drawing the reader in and seducing you to find out what happens next. A few sections do get bogged down at times, and a little monotonous, but on the whole, I found this work an entertaining romp through some of the gutters of modern life. taken in Phoenix, Arizona by @mrmuleman

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a day ago

taken in Bimini Bay, Bahamas by @mrmuleman

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9 days ago

Book Review

The Sun Also Rises
by Ernest Hemingway

The first of Hemingway’s “lost generation” novels, The Sun Also Rises traces the drunken misadventures of a group of American, English, and Scottish expats as the drink and carouse their way through France and Spain.

Hemingway’s signature style of muscular writing with short, focused sentences and a noted lack of flowery exposition are on full display here, and his ear for snappy, rhythmic dialogue makes the novel move along and brings the characters to life. Hemingway expertly captures the drunken haze of these people at this time in this place-moneyed pseudo elites whose entire day could be spent arguing over the proper way to order a martini or which town in Spain had the best bullfights.

I greatly enjoy Hemingway’s work and was excited to read his first novel, and experience firsthand his talent at telling these particular kind of stories.

Note : I listened to the audiobook version of this work and it was spectacular, with exceptional narration by William Hurt…highly recommended.

4⭐️ by @mrmuleman

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10 days ago

Day 2 on the cruise, and a sea day with the brilliant blue of the Caribbean 😎

We are ALL Polly

Cabana life

Special edition : Kelly on a Chaise!

Cabana hair don’t care😎

Name this indie band. . .

Exceptional bathroom lighting calls for selfies….

If you book a Rock Star level room on Virgin, you get a turn table and some vinyl selections in your room. The fact that I have The Stone Roses has me over the moon…my 20 year old self has died and gone to rock and roll heaven.

Rock Star status also gains you access to Richard’s Rooftop, and nightly cocktail hour😎

The triumphant return of Kelly in Chairs…this time with wine!

Dinner for Day 2 was at the Korean BBQ restaurant Gunbae😎

Ready for food

Watching the cooking

Get in my belllllyyyy….

After dinner, back to our second home….

And talk about your small world…as we are sitting in the sip lounge enjoying our drinks, I hear someone call out my name from the crowd of people walking by, and it’s a friend of mine Jill from our tiny home town. Jill was a year ahead of me in school, but went to the same elementary school all the way up through high school. Equally amazing, Jill is a travel advisor as well, so she and Kelly knew several of the same people and chatted away about the travel industry. Such a cool coincidence, and further proof that it’s a smaller world than we think😎 by @mrmuleman

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10 days ago

Day 1 of the cruise, boarding our ship, pirates spotted, champagne and cocktails enjoyed, yet more Kelly in Chairs, first glasses enjoyed in The Sip Lounge, cocktail hour at Richard’s Rooftop, and dinner at our favorite restaurant on all Virgin cruise ships, Pink Agave😎 taken in Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady Port Miami by @mrmuleman

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12 days ago

Morning in Miami along Biscayne Bay, killing some time before we board our Virgin Voyages cruise ship this afternoon. Strolled along the waterfront and enjoyed Margaret Pace Park and all the fantastic dogs.😎

Started my new photo installation, Kelly In Chairs” as well, enjoy😎 by @mrmuleman

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12 days ago

Best night of the month….First Draft Book Club at @changinghands . Great book, great discussion.😎 by @mrmuleman

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15 days ago