Monthly Archives: May 2025

Day 4513: TMI, TLI, and JRI

Posted on May 11, 2025 by Ann Koplow

I don’t know if this is TMI (Too Much Information), but yesterday I might have shared TLI (Too Little Information) here when I wrote that I had recently dealt with two worst case scenarios. By not describing the worst case scenarios, my TLI caused some people to be concerned and worried.

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes don’t know what’s TMI and what’s TLI. In other words, I wonder whether I’m sharing JRI (Just Right Information).

Is it TMI, TLI, or JRI for me to link to a post I wrote about this years ago (on my 8th day of blogging!), referring to the Goldilocks story?

Anyway, I wonder if I’m now going to share TMI to deal with the TLI I shared yesterday.

Because I was born with a very rare heart condition, I needed to get a mechanical heart valve in 2016, which requires me to be on Warfarin for the rest of my life to reduce the coagulation of my blood. If my blood has Too Much Coagulation, my heart valve will clog, which means I’d need the dreaded open heart surgery again to get a new heart valve. If my blood has Too Little Coagulation, that can cause internal bruising and bleeding.

So, I need to maintain Just Right Coagulation and, because I had a mini-stroke (also called a TIA!) when I had TMC (Too Much Coagulation) a few years ago, the range of Just Right Coagulation is very thin.

TMI? TLI? JRI? Wait, there’s more!

I have to use this device …

… to measure the coagulation time of my blood (also called INR), which has a delay before it displays the magic number. During the delay, my mind always goes to the worst case scenario — the number is too low, which means I need to inject myself with this …

… twice a day until my INR has good enough coagulation.

On Friday, my INR was 2.5, the lowest it’s been since I had my TIA when I was on vacation in Georgia, where I was hospitalized until my blood had Just Right Coagulation. So I’ve been injecting myself this weekend and I’m now hoping for an INR that has good enough coagulation (2.7 or above), which I’ll check after I finish this blog. If it’s still too low, I’ll just keep injecting myself and I’ll take more Warfarin tonight.

TMI, TLI, JRI?

And what about the second worst case scenario I mentioned in yesterday’s TLI blog post? I’m not going to describe that because it’s too long of a story, but I will avoid TLI by letting you know that it has nothing to do with my health or the health of anybody else.

Is there TMI, TLI, or JRI in my other images for today?

I wonder if I’ll find Too Much Information, Too Little Information, or Just Right Information when I search for “TMI, TLI, and JRI” on YouTube.

Here’s the first thing that showed up:

??????

Feel free to share whatever information you choose, below, without worrying if it’s TMI, TLI, or JRI.

Thanks to all who are here for this this TMI, TLI, and JRI post, including YOU!

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: cats, CCTGA, Goldilocks, INR, intuition, Keyword, Lovenox injections, May 11 2025, TIA, Tom & Jerry’s Top 10 Funniest Chase Scenes, Twitter | 11 Comments

Day 4512: Worst case scenarios

Posted on May 10, 2025 by Ann Koplow

If you’ve paid attention to this daily blog, you may have noticed that I write about worst case scenarios and how our minds often expect them to come true.

I also write about how worst case scenarios often do not come true and how no matter how we prepare ourselves for the worst, outcomes are usually not what we expect.

After I wrote my first song, I quickly wrote a follow-up song called “Catastrophizing,” which was inspired by worst case scenarios about performing.

This past week, two worst case scenarios came true for me and guess what? I learned that I can survive my worst case scenarios with my best self intact, happy, and wiser, and that’s the best.

Are there any worst case scenarios in my images for today?

Here’s what I find when I search for worst case scenarios on YouTube.

My worst case scenario for this post is that it doesn’t clearly convey my sincere thanks for everyone here, including YOU!

Categories: original song, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: A Worst-Case-Scenario Job Interview, Catastrophizing, cats, first favorite songs, Key & Peele, May 10 2025, Republican Jesus, The Daily Bitch Calendar, The Singing Therapist, Twitter | 8 Comments

Day 4511: Attention

Posted on May 9, 2025 by Ann Koplow

Because I want my protest song to get more attention, I tried to share it on Twitter yesterday.

While also trying to pay attention to my busiest work day, I could not upload that song to Twitter despite trying several possible solutions.

My producer Riccardo, who always pays attention to my struggles with technology, suggested that I needed to set up a SoundCloud account first. It seems to me that I always need to pay attention to too many steps in order to get things done. For example, I haven’t had time to pay attention to which distribution platform I should use to get my music on Spotify.

Being a psychotherapist full time and giving my patients the attention they need makes it difficult for me to give enough attention to getting my music out there.

However, I was able to pay attention to Riccardo’s suggestion and I got my protest song up on SoundCloud!

Then, when I finally posted it on Twitter, it got zero attention.

I always get SOME attention when I post to my 35.7K followers on Twitter. So I tried again by asking a question (which usually gets more attention).

Again, zero attention.

Fighting back the shame that occurs when we want attention and don’t get any, I tried to find out if it were me, my song, or Twitter that was the problem.

That got responses, some indicating they were also having new problems getting attention on Twitter.

Then, because my cat Joan always gets attention, I posted this:

Attention is such an interesting issue. It turned out that I was so caught up in paying attention to Rachel Maddow and getting attention for my song on Wednesday evening that I forgot to give attention to something very important — taking my medication. I’m hoping that lapse in my attention doesn’t have any attending consequences.

There are too many things I need to pay attention to!

What do you notice when you pay attention to the rest of this post?

Here’s what I find when I look for attention on YouTube.

Thanks to all who are paying attention, including YOU!

Categories: original song, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: cats, Doja Cat, May 9 2025, medication, psychotherapy, shame, The Daily Bitch Calendar, the music business, the new pope, Twitter | 11 Comments

Day 4510: Listening

Posted on May 8, 2025 by Ann Koplow

It was great listening to Rachel Maddow last night.

There were no rules about recording what we were listening to in the theatre, but there was an unexpected rule about not bringing instruments into the Orpheum Theatre, so I had to bring my ukulele back to my car before I could get in.

Before that, people in a very short line outside the theatre were listening to my protest song and they liked it!

On my way back to the theatre after returning my ukulele to my car, I was listening to this near the theatre:

After I took my seat, one usher and I had the funnest time listening to the pre-show music together. I couldn’t believe that I was listening to one of my favorite tunes by my favorite drummer, Billy Cobham!

What I didn’t realize was that while I was listening to music inside the theatre a very huge line was forming outside. If I had been listening to some inner wisdom, maybe I would have gone back outside and sung my song a capella for all the people waiting. Or maybe if I had shown up later many people would have been listening to me playing my ukulele and singing while we were waiting together.

Instead, I was inspired to get my song out there in other ways by Rachel Maddow’s urging all of us listening (including the artists) to do our part to fight fascism in the USA, just as Americans did in the 1930s, as she describes in her latest book.

Here’s more of what we were listening to last night.

After listening to Rachel encourage us to connect to each other to fight fascism together, I did sing my song for a few people on my way back to my car and everybody seemed to love it.

My inner critic tried to tell me that I could have and should have done a better job positioning myself to sing to bigger audiences last night, but I stopped listening to that non-inspiring inner critic.

On my drive home, I blasted my protest song out my car windows, thinking that it was as worth listening to as all the music I hear blasting out of car windows.

Is there listening in my other images for today?

Many of us the USA have the same problem right now, and I hope we can solve it together.

Thanks to all who are listening here and now, including YOU!

Categories: original song, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: “You Don’t Scare Me”, Billy Cobham, cats, Lexington MA, May 8 2025, Prequel, Rachel Maddow, The Daily Bitch Calendar, the inner critic, the Orpheum Theatre, Twitter | 6 Comments

Day 4509: Funnest

Posted on May 7, 2025 by Ann Koplow

I just had fun reading an article about the word “funnest” by Bennett Kleinman, who sounds like a fun guy.

These are definitely not the funnest times for the USA, but I still try to have fun when I can.

I don’t know if I’ll have the funnest time today facilitating a group and then singing my protest song tonight for people who may or may not want to hear it, but I’m looking forward to it all.

Making decisions is not the funnest thing for me, and I need to decide soon which distribution platform to use in order to share my original songs on Spotify.

Which of my images today is the funnest?

Here’s what I find when I search for “funnest” on YouTube:

Thanks to all who helped me create this “funnest” post, including YOU!

Categories: definition, original song, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: Bennett Kleinman, distribution platforms for Spotify, favorite teachers, May 7 2025, salmon and corn croquettes, The Daily Bitch Calendar, Twitter, Why Having Fun is the Secret to a Healthier Life — TED talk by Catherine Price, Yogi Tea | 11 Comments

Day 4508: Opinions

Posted on May 6, 2025 by Ann Koplow

Lately I’ve been asking for people’s opinions about my protest song “You Don’t Scare Me.”

My husband’s opinion is that “You Don’t Scare Me” is one of the best things I’ve ever written and it reminds him of “London Calling” by the Clash.

My son’s and ex-husband’s opinions are also very positive.

When I performed that song at a gathering at a local library I didn’t sense any negative opinions.

However, I feel nervous about people’s opinions when I show up tomorrow with my ukulele and that song outside the Orpheum Theatre in Boston where Rachel Maddow will be speaking.

In my opinion, that’s a pretty bold move, but I trust my ability to deal with other people’s opinions (even though negative opinions tend to stick).

What opinions do you have about the contents of this post?

Actually, the Daily Bitch’s opinion is helping me deal with any worries I have about other people’s opinions.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “opinions.”

I look forward to reading your opinions on the comments section, below.

Thanks to all whose opinions matter to me, including YOU!

Categories: original song, personal growth, photojournalism, quotes | Tags: “Who Needs Facts if You Have an Opinion” TED talk by Gwenda Nielen, “You Don’t Scare Me”, downsizing one’s workplace, feelings, May 6 2025, Rachel Maddow, supports, The Daily Bitch Calendar, Twitter | 8 Comments

Day 4507: Encouragement

Posted on May 5, 2025 by Ann Koplow

When I am trying something new and/or dealing with challenges, encouragement really helps.

Do you find encouragement in my images for today?

I find encouragement in the people I do trust.

Now I need encouragement to get my protest song “You Don’t Scare Me” in front of more people.

I gave myself a lot of encouragement to figure out a way to insert that sound file into this blog post after several failures.

You don’t scare me, technology!

What are your thoughts and feelings about this encouragement post?

Thanks to all who give me encouragement, including YOU!

Categories: original song, personal growth, photojournalism, quotes | Tags: “You Don’t Scare Me”, cats, May 5 2025, protest song, technology, The Daily Bitch Calendar, trying something new, Twitter | 10 Comments

Day 4506: Very good signs

Posted on May 4, 2025 by Ann Koplow

I’m always looking for very good signs. Here are some I saw yesterday.

It’s a very good sign that so many people are coming out for demonstrations in the USA. Also, it’s a very good sign that my music producer Riccardo is putting together good audio versions of my original songs, including the protest song “You Don’t Scare Me.”