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David McElroy

making sense of a dysfunctional culture

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Briefly: Here’s my promo video for Phase 1 of my realty company’s renovation

By David McElroy · August 11, 2019

Phase 1 of our realty company’s renovation starts tomorrow and I made a quick video promo Sunday night to use on the company’s Facebook page and website. I don’t have approval for it yet, so it might still change a bit, but here’s what I’m currently planning to use. It’s amazing that just a 60-second video with stills, narration and music takes a couple of hours to put together when you count finding the right pictures and going through stock music and editing everything together. You wouldn’t think it would be so time-consuming. Here’s where you’ll find the video if you’re interested.

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Briefly: As much as I love football, latest evidence convinces me it’s harmful

By David McElroy · August 9, 2019

I love college football and I’m eager for the 2019 season to kick off for my alma mater in three weeks. But as much as I enjoy Alabama football, I would strongly encourage a child not to play the sport. If I’m fortunate enough to have a son, I hope to steer him in the direction of something safer. We’ve known for years that serious injuries are common in football, but the evidence is piling up that the sport does long-term brain damage, even for those who never had obvious injuries. Evidence of brain damage called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) has been found in 99 percent of the former NFL players whose brains have been studied after their deaths. And now a new study shows that playing even one season of college football causes hidden long-term brain damage, even in players who never suffered from a concussion. I still love the game, but I can no longer doubt that it’s too risky for people I care about.

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Briefly: Authenticity matters far more than being ‘impressive’

By David McElroy · August 7, 2019

When I was younger, I cared a lot about other people thinking I was impressive. I hate to admit that, but it’s true. I had already started making inner changes before I saw her talk in 2012, but watching Brené Brown’s TEDx presentation about vulnerability was a profound turning point for me (I wrote about this in 2012.) A friend shared a link today which reinforced the idea that it’s far more important to be authentic than it is to be “impressive.” That would have made me nervous 10 years ago, but I’m able to live it now. I’ve made a conscious effort to unmask myself as much as is reasonably possible and that has had one positive effect I didn’t anticipate. Since my father was a narcissist, I’m vulnerable to falling into some of his patterns if I’m not careful. But being very open about such fears about my failings helps inoculate me against doing that, because it’s hard to have a sense of grandiosity if you’re vulnerable about your faults and struggles. Being authentic, open and honest with each other can be transformative. It can save your soul.

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Filed Under: Briefly

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My Instagram

This is the face of a man who’s thrilled that the This is the face of a man who’s thrilled that the weekend is finally here. It was a very long (and productive) week, but the time has finally come that I have time to write and read and think. Late Friday night, I’m at the McDonald’s near my house with a Diet Dr Pepper and a MacBook. For me, it’s like Cheers without the booze.
Donald Trump has figured out who to blame for the Donald Trump has figured out who to blame for the the D.C. Reflecting Pool turning green. The dastardly deed was carried out by a specially trained squad of Antifa cats trained by the Far Left. It’s not his fault. Arrest all the cats! #satire #parody
This was the sunset that faced me as I left Walmar This was the sunset that faced me as I left Walmart near my house just a few minutes ago. It was a beautiful light show for just a few minutes.
Here’s proof that reality and satire are indisting Here’s proof that reality and satire are indistinguishable these days.
This was the sunset I saw from the parking lot out This was the sunset I saw from the parking lot outside of the Walmart near my house just after the sun went down Friday evening.
This little parody was inspired by my trip to buy This little parody was inspired by my trip to buy gas a little while ago. Even at a no-name brand, the price was $4.09. If I remember correctly, it was $2.29 a gallon at the same station on the day the war started. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of winning. 🤣
For the best and most sophisticated in lawn care, For the best and most sophisticated in lawn care, check out the sponsor of one of my upcoming YouTube video episodes. 🙃 #parody #threestooges
Have you felt as though you’re living through Grou Have you felt as though you’re living through Groundhog Day lately? Me, too. Here’s a quick-and-dirty political satire I made this evening for fun and stress relief.
About three minutes before sunrise, vibrant color About three minutes before sunrise, vibrant color is poking through the skies to the east of my back yard.
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Critter Instagram

From the CritterCam: I was just reviewing some sho From the CritterCam: I was just reviewing some shots that the webcam saved from earlier in the day and noticed this one. The camera is aimed at the bed in which Alex frequently sleeps, but Oliver apparently thought he deserved to be the subject for a change, so he wandered by. I’m surprised he didn’t turn and smile at the camera. 😺
This is top secret, so don’t tell anyone, but Alex This is top secret, so don’t tell anyone, but Alex, Oliver and Sam have been hard at work on an album of feline covers of Beatles songs. If their Abbey Road covers are successful, they’ll be covering the Fab Four’s entire catalog. They’re going to be stars. 😹
When I came home Tuesday afternoon, Alex woke up o When I came home Tuesday afternoon, Alex woke up only long enough to be sure I hadn’t brought dinner yet — and then he was back to sleep in the hanging basket of the castle.
Sam is really serious about his Neighborhood Watch Sam is really serious about his Neighborhood Watch duties Tuesday afternoon.
Sam is here to say good night — if you’re so incli Sam is here to say good night — if you’re so inclined to tell him to sleep well. 😺
I’m slumped over as far as I can in order to give I’m slumped over as far as I can in order to give Oliver a more comfortable spot in my rather large lap Monday evening. I just told him that I need to go out for a few hours, but he doesn’t seem inclined to get up. Am I legally required to wait here until he’s ready to leave my lap? 😺
Alex woke up briefly to note that I had arrived ho Alex woke up briefly to note that I had arrived home from work Monday evening, but he didn’t think the event warranted his getting out of his warm and comfortable bed.
From the CritterCam: Some of us are working on Mon From the CritterCam: Some of us are working on Monday morning, but Alex is heading back to bed — where most of us probably wish we could be.
When I got home just now, I couldn’t find Alex at When I got home just now, I couldn’t find Alex at first, but then I saw the tip of an ear sticking out from the top of the castle’s top level. When I got up to his level — up by the ceiling — I found an extremely lazy boy who was already bedded down for the night just before midnight. He didn’t even tell me good night.
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Briefly

It turns out that the radical far left has been training “Antifa cats” to sabotage anything important to Donald Trump. Everything he did was perfect. Honest. It was all the cats’ fault. Arrest all the cats! This is the latest of my ridiculous satirical shorts. Please go watch it. Then “like” it and subscribe. Please. I’m begging you. (Too much?) Although a couple of the previous videos have had views in the hundreds, most have still been seen by fewer than 20 people. So I seem to be having trouble letting people know that page exists.

Here’s the latest of my ridiculous parody shorts. It crossed my mind Tuesday to wonder what a slick and fast-talking car dealer might do right now to try to turn the high price of gasoline to his advantage. So I conceived of a fat and lovable character who tried to sell cars that don’t use any fuel — and then I started wondering if it would be funnier if all the characters were felines. Designing the King Cashpaw character took about four hours, but the rest took only another four hours, so this was a relatively quick piece that virtually wrote itself. I know it’s almost impossible for these parody videos to find a larger audience, but at least they amuse me — and there are 19 of them on my YouTube page now. The first few were very limited, but they’re getting more complex.

The Republican Party is dead. It still exists in name, of course, but it’s nothing but a shell. All that’s left are idiots and stooges and con men of the MAGA party. When Donald Trump is gone — which won’t be long — those populist idiots and pragmatic fools will have no one to follow. Democrats will thrive. They will take more power than ever and they will push the federal government further to the radical far left than ever. When that happens, don’t just blame Trump if you’re a conservative. Blame every person who has claimed to be a conservative and has given up on principles, character and everything else that Republicans once claimed to stand for. As someone who worked as a GOP political consultant for many years, this is disgusting and disturbing to me. Those who have enabled Trump to have almost unchecked power are going to be shocked when they see what they will unleash in the long run. It’s been plain all along what this narcissistic con man is. It’s your fault that you chose to pretend not to see what he really is.

We are ruled by the dumbest and most incompetent people among us — and we have a system which allows stupid and irresponsible people to force the costs of their idiocy onto smarter and wiser people. Can we get away with that? Yes, for quite some time. But we eventually reach a point at which the dumbest of the dumb — who are habitual liars and mentally ill fools — lead us to the disasters and destruction that some of us have seen coming for years. We are approaching that point. And yet most of the idiots around us still wave their rhetorical banners of support for the evil people who are leading us to ruin — and all of them point their fingers at someone else, never noticing that their own enthusiastic support of evil is to blame. When things finally fall apart, blame yourself for your blindness to the evil, not whoever happens to be in power when it happens.

I’ve been making some changes to the site lately and there are more changes coming in the days ahead, so don’t be surprised if you some small differences. This is not a wholesale redesign, but rather the addition of some features. Since they’re smarter than I am, I’ve put Oliver and Alex in charge of the technical work, which you can see in this action photo from the control room of our media complex. I recently added a series of landing pages for readers who randomly discover the site from an Internet search. I’ve also changed the YouTube link at the top of the page to go to the new YouTube channel for video essays that reflect things I’ve already published here. (Here’s a little bit about both of the YouTube channels I’m working on.) In addition, I’m trying to move away from using Instagram, so I’m experimenting with photo plug-ins that will eventually allow me to host the pictures — cats, dogs, sunsets, whatever — that I often take. So don’t be surprised to see more changes. Thanks for your patience. Let’s hope Alex and Oliver know what they’re doing.

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