Jokes – From the desk of Adam Thomas

16/8 seems to be working quite well.

I have to admit, all my shirts are fitting a lot better after two weeks.

It doesn’t even matter what I eat really, although I have been a bit more conscious, but I have been doing quite well.

I am hoping to take the next step by logging what I eat in the next week. I think that is my next logical step in this war on fat that I am currently waging.

If it all goes well Ill move on to the next step, but I will say instituting a binary switch on how I eat instead of fudging numbers or doing math seems to have made a world of difference.

I feel better about life, to be honest. Maybe I can make something happen with it.

I have been missing with to-do’s lately. I seem to miss doing them in the morning. I realize tat I can plug them in with my laptop, but I don’t quite know how to make the entry point easier.

I have seen that if I make the to dos on the train, it is possible, but it is awkward and I prefer to read then. however, if I don’t get it done, I tend to let them go.

Ill more than likely do it after this post, but I think that is on my to-do list next week mentally. I have to figure out an easier process to get that done.

On the other hand, doing the nightly reminders at night has been fantastic. I have noticed that coming up with followups and fleshing things out is a lot easier when you write down your accomplishments for the day on paper, and from there, I can be a lot more effective, and a lot better at fleshing my day for the next one.

I want to continue that process, because I see it happens with my jokes as well. Writing things out is a boon to my creativity. I just have to keep it up, because I can only imagine where I can go if I keep this up. It takes the stress off the mind, and allows me to focus on other things.

I headlined a hostel show last night. It went well. I had some editing done to my jokes. I cut them down. The beats came a lot better. I connected with the crowd. I showed what i could do. And I impressed a bunch of comedians that happened to be ont he show.

When I got home, I had a conversation with my roommate about comedy, about the events this week, and how it reflects in our careers.

In short, we beat ourselves up a bit.

After a nights sleep, I realized that we need to connect more with our peers. I need to connect more with the industry. I realized that I have to start taking this a bit more seriously.

Try to build walls of protection around me, if for no other reason, I can be scared of failure. In a creative world, where trying things are key, I cannot be. I have to stop trying to shield myself from the lumps, because that fear of failure is the thing that keeps me here in this day job, and expecting a check every two weeks.

*”If there isn’t a hall of fame for what you are doing, what are you doing?” – Phil Hunt
*

I’ll get there. Just need to keep working. This last month was a good start, and hopefully I can keep making progress.

Random Thoughts:

Chloe asked if I want to write for AHH again. I will think about it.

I need to finish Phil’s website and start my own.

Head shots – I need them.

16/8 Done
Water drunk
Reminder List complete
Todo In progress
3 Things Written.

Good Sleep, Dreams, and Premises

I slept for 11 hours today and I feel good for it.

I know you shouldn’t really sleep for so long, but I feel like every once in a while, you gotta just put everything by the wayside and take yourself a nice long rest.

The key is not to mix it up with depression sleep, where you can end up in bed for 18 hours or more, filled with numbness. A mental place where you are so lifeless, you lack fight, where a bunny rabbit could rob you.

But good long restful sleep.

The science on it is getting more interesting, as it has been said that to work at optimum levels you should be getting 8 to 10 hours a night.

That is a large change from what we usually do, which is get along on 4/5 hours and call it productivity.

When I ask people about sleep, most people say they have to stay up passed midnight, but if you really probe them, there is nothing important that happens after 10 PM. They mostly watch TV and text or do things that aren’t too good for you anyway, like drink and eat bad food.

I don’t want to come off preachy here, because I am no saint.It’s still difficult for me, and for me to go to sleep before 11 is a challenge, there is something mixed in with modern technology that makes us feel like we have to get one more show in, have one more drink, hear one more song, even as most of these things can be consumed for no penalty at a later date.

But, lately I have been fighting the war a little better on this front.I have been trying to force myself to get at least 8 hours of sleep a night, and I have felt better. I have adjusted my work schedule, and I have made some other changes to add more sleep to my life.

My reward has been better mental flexibility. And for cutting out some of the noise in my life, like extra YouTube videos and podcasts that, looking back on it, were just used to pass time, I have a lot more focus.

Writing this post that started from nothing really just happened in almost 20 minutes because my mind has been much sharper lately. I remember I tried to start writing again several months ago and it was a struggle to even get 300 words on the paper, but after doing it for almost a month, three hundred words, without any prep work, has been relatively a breeze. I feel flow happening in my work, and I love it.

I hope I can keep this going, because this flow thing is something that i really enjoy. Being able to knock out long coherent articles of writing is also something I have come to really enjoy.

Hopefully this can translate into other areas of life, I can improve my habits, and become a real beast in these streets.

I came up with a few things yesterday by sitting in an open mic and just observing.

It is odd that sometimes as a black guy, you feel you have to mention you aren’t playing the race card.

Women taking pictures with cell phones always look odd, like you can tell that is their 8 shot in a 15 to 20 shot photo shoot.

IMing is the Disco of communication practices.

I really like the last one, I feel like it could become a signature bit. My elusive third joke. Who knows.

Had an odd dream about getting my coworkers arrested and then having to foot the bill for it. I wonder if that is my subconscious telling me something. I feel very intrigued. Ill ponder about it today. Not one that really takes stock in dreams, but this one was just to interesting to pass up.

16/8 Not done fully due to drinks
3 things written
shower done
Water knocked out
Teeth hygiene done
No to-do list
no end of night reminder
shower