Monthly Archives: October 2025

Day 4676: Statistics

Posted on October 21, 2025 by Ann Koplow

Last night, I asked a question about statistics on social media. 100% of the answers were interesting and I am including less than 100% of the answers here.

My show biz coach suggested that I promote my music by getting on podcasts about behavioral health issues. I am happy to report that, so far, 100% of the podcasts I contacted have invited me on.

The statistics about the reach of that podcast are very impressive …

… and a good percentage of me is very nervous about appearing and also wondering if I am jinxing the whole thing by writing about it today.

I approve of 100% of the images in today’s blog post.

I can relate to a percentage of today’s observances as I plan on checking my meds and babbling when I introduce a small percentage of my original songs at a gathering of social workers in my hospital this evening.

Here are the two songs I will perform tonight:

https://on.soundcloud.com/c7rc9GTZr3LfydRJ7y

https://open.spotify.com/track/2DAvl5g5OCDhwvpoeGibUX?si=GyidQsTQSBqpcSlDBO0Jzw

The second song — “Don’t Kill Yourself” — is (1) 100% of my completely serious songs, (2) getting the most listens of all my songs on Apple Music, and (3) probably the title of the podcast episode of Therapist Uncensored I’ll be on.

Now I have to calm down some percentage of my nervous system before proceeding with this precious day.

100% thanks to all who are here for this statistics post, including YOU!

Categories: original song, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: Artificial Intelligence, “Don’t Kill Yourself”, Babble Day, Check Your Meds Day, Jeff Leisawitz, October 21 2025, The Daily Bitch Calendar, the fall season, Therapist Uncensored podcast, Twitter and Bluesky | 7 Comments

Day 4675: The Best Things About Human Beings

Posted on October 20, 2025 by Ann Koplow

Last night, I asked some human beings about the best things about human beings. One of the best things about human beings is how they answer questions.

Do you see the best things about human beings in my other images for today?

One of the best things about human beings is they put things on YouTube about the best things about human beings.

Thanks to all who help me focus on the best things about human beings, including YOU!

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: cats, cats and dogs, dealing with heartbreak, friends, human rights, October 20 2025, Raphael McManus TED Talk, the Beachcomber, Twitter, What Makes Us Uniquely Human, You Don’t Look Your Age … and Other Fairy Tales | 14 Comments

Day 4674: Signs of the times

Posted on October 19, 2025 by Ann Koplow

It’s a sign of the times that today’s photos are signs at yesterday’s No Kings event on Boston Common.

Here are signs of the times from yesterday’s No Kings event in Washington D.C.

Thanks to all who are paying attention to these signs of the times, including YOU!

Categories: life in the USA, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: Boston Common, creativity, gratitude, No Kings rally in Boston, No Kings Rally in D.C., peaceful protest, protest signs, resistance | 10 Comments

Day 4673: No Kings

Posted on October 18, 2025 by Ann Koplow

I’m going to a No Kings demonstration today in Boston. Here’s my sign…

… and my t-shirt.

Every time I go to a No Kings demonstration I see friends old and new. As usual, I’m ready to play my song “You Don’t Scare Me” and share other protests songs.

Here are my other images for this No Kings blog post.

I look forward to spending Hard Boiled Guy/Girl Day at the No Kings rally.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “No Kings.”

Thanks to all who are here for this No Kings post, including YOU!

Categories: life in the USA, original song, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: “Secure Relating” by Sue Marriott and Ann Kelley, “You Don’t Scare Me”, cats, Hard Boiled Guy/Girl Day, MSNBC interview with co-founder of Indivisible, No Kings protests on October 18, October 18 2025, protest songs, The Daily Bitch Calendar, Twitter | 10 Comments

Day 4672: New words

Posted on October 17, 2025 by Ann Koplow

I love new words, so I enjoyed asking this question last night on Learn a New Word Day.

Whenever somebody asks a question like Milton’s, my new words are “Everything counts.”

Because we live in a Kakistocracy where politicians are pettifogging and breaking laws about emoluments, I’ll be protesting tomorrow at a No Kings demonstration in Boston. I’ll be making new words out of this sign:

Can you guess what words will be on my sign tomorrow?

When I do the New York Time’s Spelling Bee puzzle …

… I often discover new words. For some reason, today’s pangram (a word that uses all the letters) was very easy for me to see.

Do we need any new words to describe my other images for today?

The words of my protest song will be new to tomorrow’s demonstrators and I hope I get a chance to sing it.

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

Thanks to John Koenig, I can use the new word zielschmerz, which I’ve been experiencing.

I’m looking forward to new words in the comments section, below.

Thanks to all who are here for these new words, including YOU!

Categories: life in the USA, original song, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: “You Don’t Scare Me”, cats, chicken and stuffing, John Koenig, No Kings protests on October 18, October 17 2025, The Daily Bitch Calendar, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, Twitter and Bluesky | 6 Comments

Day 4671: Repaired

Posted on October 16, 2025 by Ann Koplow

Yesterday, I got my flat tire repaired and tried to get my jaw misalignment repaired by going to my friend Barbara’s chiropractor. If that gets repaired, the annoying noises I’ve been hearing when talking for two years might go away!

I’ve been listening to Buddhist stories while falling asleep lately; several of the stories invite me to think that I am already repaired, here and now.

When I tell people I have congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries, they sometimes ask when that was repaired. It wasn’t and I am doing fine.

I wonder when and if the damage done to my country by the current administration will ever be repaired. I’ll be going to a No Kings Protest in Boston this Saturday, prepared to sing my reparative protest song “You Don’t Scare Me.”

Let’s see what is being repaired in my images for today.

I often feel repaired by photos of cats, so here is Joan to celebrate Global Cat Day!

Thanks to all who help me feel repaired, including YOU!

Categories: original song, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: “You Don’t Scare Me”, barbecued chicken, Buddhist stories for sleep, cats, Congenitally corrected transposition, funniest TV shows, No Kings protests on October 18, October 16 2025, The Daily Bitch Calendar, Twitter and Bluesky | 8 Comments

Day 4670: Beyond time

Posted on October 15, 2025 by Ann Koplow

Yesterday, in my Coping and Healing Group, we tried to go beyond time in a mindfulness exercise. I suggested that people go beyond their usual focus on time (what time is it? how much time has passed? how much time do I have?) and stay in the moment.

One of the group members had their volume turned down and did not hear the chime to end the mindfulness, so they thought the exercise had gone way beyond time. Other people spoke about how difficult it was to go beyond time in one’s mind.

I may have gone beyond time in this introduction, so here are my images for today.

The Daily Bitch is beyond time.

Here’s what I find when I look for “beyond time” on YouTube;

And here’s my song about going beyond time — “Stay in the Moment.”

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time for this beyond-time post, including YOU!

Categories: group therapy, original song, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: audio books, “Stay in the Moment”, Blank & Jones, cats, Face Your Fears Day, mindfulness exercise, NYT Spelling Bee, October 15 2025, The Daily Bitch Calendar, tilapia dish, Twitter and Bluesky | 6 Comments

Day 4669: One Battle After Another

Posted on October 14, 2025 by Ann Koplow

Yesterday, my husband Michael and I saw Paul Thomas Anderson’s spectacular new movie One Battle After Another, after battling wind and rain driving to a movie theatre on a spare tire.

It’s often a battle for me to remember names of movies lately, but it’s easy for me to remember that title, perhaps because life can seem like one battle after another. For example, after I finish this blog my battles include checking my blood INR, trying to get a new tire, and helping many therapy patients with one battle after another.

Do you see one battle after another in my images for today?

Here’s what I find when I search for “one battle after another” on YouTube.

Thanks to all who are dealing with one battle after another, including YOU.

Categories: movies, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: cats, fighting battles, Film at Lincoln Center, INR, October 14 2025, Paul Thomas Anderson, Ray Greene at cinegods.com, salmon dish, The Daily Bitch Calendar, The Singing Therapist’s new single, Twitter | 8 Comments

Day 4668: What gets stuck in our heads

Posted on October 13, 2025 by Ann Koplow

In my therapy groups, people discuss what gets stuck in our heads, including negative thoughts, cognitive distortions, regrets about the past, and fears about the future.

Here’s an example of what gets stuck in our heads.

Wonderful people also get stuck in my head (thank goodness) including the late Eleanor Counselman, whose memorial service I attended yesterday.

Let’s look for more examples of what gets stuck in our heads.

On World Thrombosis Day, I hope a thrombosis doesn’t get stuck in our heads.

Here’s the tune that often gets stuck in my head.

What gets stuck in your head?

Gratitude can also get stuck in our heads, so THANK YOU!

Categories: group therapy, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: burritos, cats, cognitive distortions, cookies, ear worms, Eleanor Counselman, Joe Jackson’s “Steppin’ Out”, October 13 2025, The Daily Bitch Calendar, World Thrombosis Day | 11 Comments

Day 4667: Community

Posted on October 12, 2025 by Ann Koplow

Since I joined the blogging community 14 years ago, I’ve writing several blog posts about community, but I’m not sure if I’ve ever shared this definition.

Community has been life-sustaining for me, from the hospital community that helped me and my parents go through my childhood cardiac issues, through my communities of friends and neighbors, to my work communities where I have built healing communities of therapy groups.

What communities do you see in my photos for today?

I went to my community Urgent Care clinic to investigate my oddly blue finger.

I actually proposed this theory to the perplexed community doctor.

I enjoy seeing the community of humans and animals at pet stores.

Phyllis and Brian are now part of my community of neighbors, friends, and fans because I sang “Everybody’s Somebody’s Asshole” for them!

Joan loves to go outside and explore our community.

I saw this written on a wall in the community where we find my favorite restaurant, Brassica Kitchen.

Brassica has just moved to a new location in the same community.

My husband and I are honored to be part of the community of Brassica’s friends and family.

Josh, who is an amazing server AND an artist, is part of the wonderful Brassica community.

We took a photo to show our membership in the Brassica community.

Every night, I ask a question for my Twitter community.

Every day, I share holidays and observances with this community and others.

Today, on October 12, I am going to join the community of people bereaved by the loss of beloved group leader and teacher Eleanor Counselman in a memorial service.

Here’s Eleanor addressing a community of group therapists.