Midlifing

Simon is dog tired from baking too much bread, and Lee is in the midst of a work load that is barely sustainable: enter Grover from Sesame Street.Some other details from the episode: Enjoying making processes efficient; sourdough and allergens; Lee figuring out the rhythm of his job; being surrounded by kindness; a packet of crisps and a sandwich; cheese and Simon's LDLs; sheese (vegan cream cheese); everybody say tofu; tofurkey time; two-thirty and tooth-hurty; the life-cycle of bad jokes; Grover's near and far; the rule of three in comedy; Simon breathes differently when he is Duck Duck Going; public floggings for academics; finding the toddler; Clifford Geertz (anthropologist, died in 2006); Clifford the Big Red Dog; the difference between a twitch and a wink; Kevin Kelley (and other Kevins); The Girl from Ipanema; Kevin Keegan; Princess Leia; IDEO design laboratory; John Galliano; what Lee wears when he cooks; innovation; first past the post voting systems; Godwin's Law.--- Related links (and necessary corrections): Grover's near and far: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9IuXEwpU7UKevin Kelley "Excellent Advice For Living: Wisdom I Wish I'd Known Earlier": https://www.amazon.co.uk/Excellent-Advice-Living-Wisdom-Earlier/dp/0593654528IDEO: https://www.ideo.com/Godwin's Law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_lawGet in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. ---The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

Lee and Simon have stories of spring before a brief chat about entertaining the possibility of being wrong. Some other details from the episode: Lee and Jefrey saw a seal (eating a fish); scroggin; supermarkets in the UK and class; swans; woman jogging; deer; Simon's bird feeder; anxious Blue Tits; Lee's biodiverse garden; Lee interviewing PhD students; Lee's selfie-taking abilities; Falmouth University (FU); uck you; Lee being delightfully photogenic; Daniel Dennett, being wrong and being specators or participants; philosophical zombies and consiousness; qualia; Kevin Bacon.Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. ---The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

Simon and Lee talk about how well humans know ourselves versus how well we are known by others (with a diversion into Lee scaring someone in a toilet).Some other details from the episode: BST does not stand for Big Sexy Time, the difference between falling and having a fall, manifesting a fall, Lee crashing his bicycle in Lisbon, Dr. David Corbet (@corbetron) is our Ask Jeeves for medical information, dreamcatchers, having a dance vs dancing (for 55 year olds), the articular surface of the patella has a poor blood supply, arthroscopies, Lee getting norovirus, anaesthetics (sleepy drugs), past-future hedonic preferences, some of our best friends read The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma (by Bessel van der Kolk), how nice it was in Malta, floods in Lisbon, Guy Claxton's Intelligence in the Flesh and inferred self-knowledge, being predictable, Lee singing in the toilets at work, the foyer of a toilet, having a gong in a toilet antechamber, man doing a little scream, singing in the toilet is the moral of the story, Lee's sub-routines at work, meeting someone for the first time with their partner, anyone who has not met Bob yet, not wanting to be predictable vs the reassurance of someone's presence, patterns of behaviour vs being more responsive, dog whistling, stability, solidity and security, stability vs routine, construction of the image of someone at the beginning of a relationship (and projection), being a re-homed dalmation, chaos that is not unsettling, Lee met Simon's frolleague (Kathryn) at the conference in Malta. Related links (and necessary corrections): Pain in the Past and Pleasure in the Future: The Development of Past Future Preferences for Hedonic Goods: http://edepositireland.ie/handle/2262/93850Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. ---The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

A side-thought in real-life Subbuteo before a conversation about content moderation online and human beings filming and photographing stuff and putting it online. (Oh, and a bit about trains in the UK).Some other details from the episode: Simon's prior understanding of England: Match of the Day, Subbuteo, and the FA Cup; Lee's laugh (again); fish and chips; fish and chips with puffins, uncontrolled ascents in scuba diving, hyperbaric chambers, Malta conference 2020 collapsing due to COVID, neutral buoyancy, the bends, Radiohead, The Cleaners, Field of Vision (The Moderators), online content moderation, PTS, cameras in our pockets attached to a world wide web, being big daft animals, traffic jams, braking causes traffic jams, the two-second rule, bus replacement service, privatisation, how shit trains have become in the UK, Lee's electric vehicle's collision sensitivity, EV batteries, intemperate braking, back to traffic jams, chaos theory (and butterflies), the difference between watching things and filming things, stepping on Jeff's toes, Simon first built his website (skellis.net) in 1997, the internet's time of innocence.Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. ---The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

Lee laughs weirdly and sets in motion a sprawling natter about cartoons and Penelope Pitstop, before together Simon and Lee drop into a) what it is to be disciplined and committed and b) taking family for granted.Some other details from the episode: Hanna Barbera cartoons, double feature films, staying awake in films, VHS and Betamax, TikTok and the ubiquity of culture, John Berry and timeless time, the scale and invisibility of the climate emergency, weathering the weather with movement artist Helen Poynor, colleague cousins, Woody Woodpecker, the Ant Hill Mob, Penelope Pitstop, Wacky Races (including Dastardly and Muttley), Susan dry retching through lack of content, Simon's brother Ian training as a cyclist, avoiding rain clouds in the Wairarapa, Ian riding into the back of a parked car, Lee being too easily distracted, Ian doing squats (actually they were leg presses), not having siblings and spending so much time alone, coming home in the dark (unsupervised), taking family for granted once we are grown up, Lee's cousins Neil and Mark, Northern idioms and accents, being social creatures, being in and out, teenagers constructing language, understanding family through distance, being excluded, and being a timid kid.--- Related links (and necessary corrections): Coming back to a TikTok: https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/you-are-you-we-live-here-this-isPenelope Pitstop running: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxfFM9neB8MGet in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. ---The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

Simon and Lee talk about affective states (as opposed to emotions) and in doing so veer terrifyingly close to their field(s) of expertise. They also talk about other stuff.Some other details from the episode: Lee reprises some Wet Leg, Simon has been doing some dancing with Katye Coe, the other C word, a place called Beer in the UK, not being interested in being watched, being a performer, people who enjoy being watched, audiences knowing the affective state of a performer, Silvan Tomkins and affect theory, Hamlet being sad because he's Hamlet, Lee having a high temperature week, Lee about to travel, Lee's parents' 60th wedding anniversary, Lee's affective state (irritable, sharp and unpleasant, then crying and distress), not knowing how we feel until we are crying, interoception, emotions, not being nervous but excited (and how they feel the same in the body), words that describe emotions, audiences knowing how performers really feel, electrical and chemical entrainment, being social mammals, being present (in performance), seven minutes before  audience members start thinking about sleeping with the performer, the feeling of being judged or not, letting go of judgement, taking psychedelics, being one with the sky, individualism, Ted Chiang's sci-fi writing (including The Story of Your Life), Matthew McConaughey feeling judged, True Detective, Magic Mike, Channing Tatum, Lee going on his regular train-of-thought ride through his film memory, the Chippendales (finally), the Amy Adam's film Arrival.Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. ---The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

Lee recounts his visit to the UK's corridors of power before they talk about using correct accents (or not) for words that are not English. Some other details from the episode: Gwyneth Paltrow's mother, the original Westworld, a bad joke about a week in tents, Bob and Lee's keynote in Malta, The Beatles (and Paul McCartney) Lee's intemperance and his flibbertigibbet-ness, the weather still being cold, Simon's intense week, Lee visiting the corridors of power (the palace of Westminster), shaking green hands, Lee and Simon's differences of opinion, security arrangements for entering Westminster, parliament tourists, Lee's costume for the visit, Dr. Martens made both in the UK and overseas (and how much they cost), bargain hunting, being anxious about not getting anxious, getting help at work from people who are really good at what they do, making cases for changing policy, policy wonks, politicians not answering questions, academics answering questions they don't know the answer to, getting French philosophers' names on purpose, Walter Benjamin, coming down off high horses, using foreign accents or not depending on the context, the renewal of the Maori language in Aotearoa, the anglicisation of place names in New Zealand, Lee telling Bob everything and Bob being uninterested in other people's business and gossip. Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. ---The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

Lee has watched a couple of films and cried a lot. Simon asks Lee about the pleasure of crying. Some other details from the episode: Eating chocolate in the morning, Jeffrey helping Lee decide whether or not to make cake, Lee's capacity to cry, Adam Sandler and Carey Mulligan in Spaceman and All of Us Strangers by Andrew Haigh, Sixth Sense spoiler (Bruce Willis is dead), Star Wars spoiler: Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father, Carrie (1976), Steven Spielberg's wives, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Spaceman Candy Sticks (NZ lolly in the shape of a cigarette), holding back tears, the content of the film making you cry or the something else that makes you cry, How to Make An American Quilt, Christopher Nolan, Memento and Guy Pearce, Lee remembering everything about films and Simon remembering nothing, Anne Hathaway, the strangeness of human beings, the capacity to make things of such beauty and the terror of human violence, Lee feeling hopeful because we tell stories of love and care, hope being the opposite of fear, Simon's new hot water bottle dreams. Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. ---The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

Lee takes us through his record buying spree, and they both rabbit on before Simon asks Lee what he is afraid of. Some other details from the episode: Lee's selfie photo on work website (see show notes), Lee's face for radio, Simon watching 2024 version of Mean Girls (a musical), Lindsay Lohan's cameo, being frightened by a mediated horror film, Lee goes on a record-buying spree, Idles, not post-punk, Lee has his headphones connected by bluetooth and sound fidelity, Lee not using streaming services, The Sugarcubes, Wet Leg, when Lee listens to records, a banquet of French toast, when Simon finally gets a real job, people's photos on Microsoft Teams, Lee never doing moody and sexy, Lee's cool version of a Pomodoro timer, Simon always listening to music while working, Lee not pulling his weight content-wise, Hafiz quote about fear, the things Lee fears most, pulling back from a thought, Lee distracting himself to forget his fear (and other intrusive thoughts), fear of being found out, Simon's fear of being told off.  --- Related links (and necessary corrections):Lee's professional 'sitting in bed' selfie: https://www.falmouth.ac.uk/staff/professor-lee-millerGet in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. ---The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

A surprise guest appearance gets ruined by Simon. Instead they talk about achievement orientation and finding out what people  think of you. Some other details from the episode: Some blow back from last week's episode from Simon's frolleagues, Finn's girlfriend Sophie (and brownies), the oddness of the phrase "fuck me sideways" and its mechanics, Lee's lovely lovely week of achievement orientation, useful meetings, achievement orientation in general, how well-read Bob is, Mr Product and Ms Process, a report about three types of men in relationships that Lee doesn't want to talk about, the University that cannot be named and locking down computers, Lee's wiggly wiggly picture, Lee's bid success, people change while our perceptions of them don't change, being confronted by knowing what people think of you, the process of 'start, stop, continue', being less of a dick for 15 minutes, the marshamallow test for being a pillock, a lovely friend of Simon's, being nice, and something Lee likes about Simon.--- Related links (and necessary corrections):This might be the report that Lee read about types of men in heterosexual relationships: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953623005002Marshmallow test video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi8jqjo8sV8Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. ---The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

Simon and Lee talk about the size of circles of friends, and being properly in the world. Free tangents included. Send no money.Some other details from the episode: Lee is by himself during the week and gets some space for reflection; Apple Vision Pro; extended/mixed reality; Lee sucks his teeth about AVP; different kinds of reality; George Clooney in ER; video passthrough; Apple Inc.; Simon being happy for Lee and his professorship; being on our way to XR contact lenses; most in and of the world through craft; how many people one ought to be in contact with; getting lost in sourdough blogs; solitude and loneliness; friendship but not to do with healthy; Merton Bakery supplying a Leamington Spa cafe; being a perfectionist; Lee having so little contact with people; the word frolleague (again); Lee's ability to cast people off (again) and not requiring an interim layer of friendship; neoligisms; being guarded about making friends with colleagues (and that division); the future regarding falling out; Lee painting himself as binary when he is very elastic; coefficient of restitution; being people pleasers.Related links (and necessary corrections):Casey Neistat on Apple Vision Pro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvkgmyfMPksGet in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. ---The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

Lee and Simon discuss any possible plans for their funerals. Some other details from the episode: Simon talks final season of The Crown, Imelda Staunton's performance, and the depiction of Operation London Bridge (Queen's funeral); pineapple on pizza, Simon wearing aprons, Imelda Staunton singing, 11 o'clock numbers, parking and barking, Company (the musical) and Here's to the ladies who lunch (and Elaine Stritch), Imelda Staunton singing Losing My Mind, acting through song, Staunton as Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter, Lee's funeral full of song, funerals as dignified quiet spaces, Bob crying at inopportune moments, Simon outliving Lee, a funeral outside or in a church (because of the accoustics), Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, Lee's brain on shuffle mode, funerals reflecting the people we were, all the people Lee has cut off, Simon's too long eulogy for his mother, the form of a funeral, a funeral like Burning Man, wrapping Lee in cling form, being buried in a big loaf, Turducken, Maniac from Flashdance and Proust. --- Related links (and necessary corrections):Imelda Staunton in Gypsy singing Rose's Turn: https://youtu.be/MOTHRn_o5qEElaine Stritch: Here's to the ladies who lunch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slvaecBozmQImelda Staunton Losing My Mind (from Follies): https://youtu.be/7OvlKjT9D8Y Maniac from Flashdance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIgJenz0ZK4Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. ---The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

Lee asks Simon if he is where thought he would be and also where we wants to be: A conversation about change, ambition, community, regret and going along for the ride. Some other details from the episode: Tearing up over bread, Lee will be missed, vacuum cleaners, living a normal life, most car drivers being above average, David McRaney's You Are Not So Smart, what normal looked like to one's younger self, Simon meeting some people who like his bread, regret and not having a great memory, tip-toeing in the world when you are going through something, people banging on about kids (when they are not), life just happening to us, free will, the rollercoaster of life, not working on the weekends, Grotowski, Lee's Mum's spreadsheet, selling cigarettes and pornography to truck drivers, being a goldfish, Simon teaching a sourdough workshop, the pleasure of trying to get good at things, and the difference between being process and outcome oriented.Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. ---The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

Simon goes on a couple of unusual benders before he and Lee talk about trust, mistrust, getting a feeling about people, and the ways we humans function in groups.Some other details from the episode: Crying while watching Love Actually on a long haul flight, a Melbourne billboard for erectile disfunction, folding a fitted sheet, Lee's bedding packaging, ironing, The Traitors (reality TV show), eating kangaroo bottom, Matt Hancock (former British politician), Love Island (in name only), Survivor, Big Brother, Lee's baseline venal character, triggers for not trusting, liking or connecting, Simon being less guarded around women, being bullied, learning to trust men again, Wellington College, trying to be friends with everyone, learning to flirt, the way men wield power, people who talk about themselves, Lee editing himself and audio waveforms.--- Related links (and necessary corrections):The Traitors: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Traitors_(British_TV_series)Blindspot Implicit Association Test (Harvard): https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/user/agg/blindspot/indexrk.htm Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. ---The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

Simon comes in hot with some "content" about margarine and he and Lee discuss health stuff (again), before transitioning into body fat content and (unrelated) a discussion about making ciabatta.Some other details from the episode: Apologising at the beginning of something, attribution and circulation of ideas in dance, saying 'fuck' in multiple languages, margarine trigger warnings, Lee reminisces on learning how to bake, Simon's LDLs and a low saturated fat diet, the difference between statins and stents, Lee's gallbladder (and gallbladders in general), peanut butter being good for you, Lee's body signals as a guide to modifying his diet, Simon really liking butter, brussells sprouts recipes, foul-smelling green smoothies, Michael Fassbender and yoga, The Killer (film), Ben Affleck in The Accountant, George Clooney in The American, skinfolds and fatfolds, being too thin, Lee's Madonna phase, Apple's 'memories' feature, making ciabatta, and how everything on Amazon has 4.5 stars, and enshittification (Cory Doctorow).Related links (and necessary corrections):How statins work: https://www.healthline.com/health/high-cholesterol/how-do-statins-workHealth benefits of red wine: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/265635#benefitsMeasuring body fat with underwater weighing: https://www.verywellfit.com/what-is-hydrostatic-underwater-weighing-3120276Enshittification: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EnshittificationGet in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. ---The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

Simon and Lee discuss some health concerns, eating butter, the unrelenting depressing feeling of watching Fleishman is in Trouble, Taylor Swift's Eras film, and the trouble with boys and men.Some other details from the episode: Follow up on Simon's PSA test, some stuff about lipids, heart disease, LDLs, a TV update (Slow Horses, Reacher, Fleishman is in Trouble, Taylor Swift's Eras film, Saltburn, The Creator), ferries vs fairies, woman vs women, spoilers for a concert film, video mapping, the end of Simon's days as a swifty, grave fucking, pearl clutching and class in the UK, CJ Cregg, John David Washington, Denzel Washington turning 70 in 2024, Of Boys and Men by Richard Reeves, Lee's knee jerk shouting, Lee being gobbed at for being queer, performing versions of masculinity, being loved by one's father, feminism and masculinity, empowerment of men and women not being a zero-sum game, and some audio feedback from a listener's child immitating Lee's German accent. Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. ---The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

Simon and Lee start with yet more cocktail talk and then discuss their respective Christmases. They then talk about the difference between making art and play and marriage as a long-form improvisation, and PSA tests.  Some other details from the episode: A bit about the grey wet weather in the UK; not drinking cocktails in Lisbon; what makes a cocktail a cocktail (three or more ingredients); a Negroni; Ginjinha from a chocolate cup; Aguardiente; how to pronounce modicum; cacio e pepe; Simon's cheese bread; the artisan bread world; slow cooked meat; Riverford Farm (Devon); walking in the rain; having Christmas dinner out (with a set menu); roast baby goat; being taken on a tour of the wine cellar; Bob's "Please Leave Quietly" non-website; Bob's "You can go now" cards; business cards that say "Please stop talking"; PSA tests and prostate biopsies; and erectile dysfunction.  PS Lee's sound is a little poppy because he was recording while lying in bed a little poorly. You'll hear it perfectly when he says the word, "pop".--- Related links (and necessary corrections):Ginjinha portuguese liquer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GinjinhaAguardiente https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AguardienteGet in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. ---The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

Lee and Simon talk about men they are attracted to. Also, Lee takes away Simon's last pleasure in life and they accidentally hang up on each other.Some other details from the episode: Cirque de Soleil, Lee's parents visiting, Norman Miller's (postcard sized) book of life, more on Lee's Swytch wheel, bad Australian accents, Alan Watts (definitely dead), cut glass English accents, inner beauty, jumping the shark (again), Lee's gently (gender) fluid ways, Jack Reacher's bottom, (little) Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher, Tom Holland and not Tom Daley, Timothée Chalamet, Alan Ritchson, wrestling to see who gets to be on top (and television sex scenes in general), erogenous zones, releasing fingers while coming, Rachel McAdams, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret (and the Judy Bloom novel), Keanu Reeves being untouchable, Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises, Mads Mikkelsen, Morten Harket (from a-ha), slightly dirty looking men, John Wick, nice smelling men, Brad Pitt not changing his underpants, New Year's Eve (non) plans, NYE in the southern hemisphere, Prince's 1999, Mount Maunganui, and (not) pashing Chris Robinson.--- Related links (and necessary corrections):Alan Watts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_WattsLee Child Reacher novels: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Reacher_(book_series)Morten Harket: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morten_HarketPrince album 1999 (from 1982): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_(Prince_album)Mount Maunganui: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_MaunganuiGet in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. ---The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

Lee and Simon talk about their experiences of ChristmasSome other details: Simon the Christmas Grinch; Christmas, religion and commercialism; this time of the year in the Northern hemisphere; being communal in the dark and warm; spying on other people's Christmases; stress and violence at Christmas; enforced jollity of being with people; Christmas presents and showing them to your friends; working on Christmas day; Christmas being time not with friends; buying a bicycle for Lil; learning to ride a bicycle as an adult; Swytch electric bike kits; cycling in the Netherlands; dinner at Bel Canto; dog owners, and Jefrey needing to update his priors.--- Related links (and necessary corrections):1970s Raleigh Tomahawk bicycleSwytch bike kitsBel Canto LisbonGet in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. ---The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

Lee and Simon don't quite talk about bribery and corruption, and instead think through if the world is uniquely crazy in this moment. Some other details: Simon is gifted an advent calendar; being bribed and/or blackmailed; John Wick (pre-emptive revenge); illegal Russian websites; how shit the weather has been; how small human beings are; the wonkiness of the world; Simon's clunk on 9/11 (and not quite censoring the thought); the 24 hour news cycle; Martin Luther's 95 theses (in 31 October 1517); emergence of a Protestant Church; German accents (and a bit of German itself); JFK calling himself a doughnut; the telegraph and the historical slowness of communications; queques (Portuguese lemon-orange cakes); being content creators; closing the lid when flushing; fecal plumes; and a big apology for the poo talk at the end.  --- Related links (and necessary corrections):JFK was assassinated on 22 November 1963: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_John_F._KennedyMartin Luther's 95 Theses: https://www.luther.de/en/95thesen.htmlJFK did not really call himself a doughnut: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-does-everybody-think-jfk-said-im-jelly-donut-180963779/Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. ---The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)