spring cleaning

Things are percolating on a number of fronts here at the Tao of Bachelorhood:

I Will (Still) Review Anything

The agreement I made more than a year ago is still in effect: if you have a product that relates to men’s health, grooming, or relationships, I will review it. Just contact me at bachelorhood@gmail.com and I’ll give you instructions to send it on to me. The primary stipulation is that I will always give an honest review—good or bad.

In that vein, I’ve received a couple of interesting products recently that I’ll have reviews for soon.

Ultimate Spring Cleaning 2011

Last year I authored the month-long Ultimate Spring Cleaning series: a daily task for your home, your world and yourself. You can find the series at that link, all year around, but I’ll be fine-tuning the daily tasks for 2011.

Starting April 4, anyone who wants to participate in Spring Cleaning can find a daily prompt and can join in the discussion at the Tao of Bachelorhood Facebook page. If you Like that page, you’ll get the daily tasks posted to your Facebook wall as well.

New Freebies!

I’ll be sweetening the pot for you very soon, with some new freebies that can be yours for subscribing. I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but they’re a couple of the most asked-for items by readers, and they’ll be completely free.

Japan and You

Finally, if you haven’t fully been made aware of the scope of destruction in the Japan earthquake/tsunami, it’s very bad. The devastation caused by the tidal wave in particular was huge in scope, and there is still the ongoing drama of two nuclear plants in at least partial meltdown. My suggestion is that you use this opportunity to help both the Japanese people and yourself.

How yourself? Despite the immense proportions of the earthquake and the rapid follow-up by the tsunami, there will be many fewer deaths than other events of similar or even smaller magnitude. The reason: the Japanese people knew the risks and took all reasonable precautions. Not just the government, but families and individuals knew what to do and where to go when disaster struck.

Do you have the supplies necessary for a week or more without phone or electricity? Do you know the safest routes for evacuation or the nearest shelters? If disaster strikes, can you act on a moment’s notice, no matter where you are? The time you take to be able to answer “yes” to all of these questions may be the most important time you can spend. Whether your area is prone to earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes or any other possible large-scale event, being prepared may save not only your life, but those of the ones you love.

Also, help the Japanese relief efforts by donating what you can. Rescuing those still stranded or trapped, providing meals and emergency care to survivors who have lost everything, and assistance in cleaning up the damage are all vital even in a relatively wealthy nation. In the US you can donate $10 specifically earmarked for Japan by texting “REDCROSS’’ to 90999, or make larger donations at redcross.org. Better yet, make your donation an “unrestricted” donation, so that if the relief effort is over-funded the Red Cross can redirect the funds to other areas in need.

Thanks once again for reading.

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Like NASCAR? This could be up your alley...

If it’s Monday, it must be your last chance to win the AMP Energy cap and t-shirt! You can enter until 11:59 pm Pacific time tonight (5/17) using one of the following methods:

I’ll announce the winner tomorrow. Thanks to all who have entered so far!

In other news, I’m starting my own Ultimate Spring Cleaning today. If you haven’t started yet and want to follow along, I’ll be adding notes to the comments as I go, and I’ll also be cleaning up the daily articles so that they’re even easier to follow. Come join me!

Also, after taking a few weeks off from the gym, I recently decided to switch from the Crossfit program I’ve been doing to take some of my own medicine: namely the Simple Starter Workout.

And it kicked my ass.

You see, after doing the Crossfit program for about the past year, I’m used to performing my workouts with extreme intensity. I’ve left it all on the gym floor many times, and frightened the girlfriend fairly regularly when I would end up doubled over, gasping for breath and sweating buckets. That’s standard in the Crossfit world.

Back when I designed the Simple Starter Workout, I wasn’t really working out with peak intensity. My intensity was more than adequate to get a great workout, and you should be able to get great results even with a one-minute break between exercises and cardio at a moderate level. But this time I did my own workout “Crossfit-style”: no breaks other than the short walk between exercises, weights set on my 10-rep maximum and cardio at high intensity. I went for speed. I changed nothing else; it was all by the book.

The result was a pain-bringing like I haven’t felt since my first 10k run.

I don’t want to scare you if you’re new to working out: the Simple Starter Workout is designed to be beginner-friendly. It’s not a walk in the park, but you won’t be on your hands and knees when you’re done if you follow the book and do the cardio at the moderate level I describe in the instructions. I basically performed the workout at another level entirely, and trust me, it works even at that level.

I’m going to continue performing the Simple Starter Workout for a while, and I’ll keep you updated.

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Tao of Bachelorhood Podcast: Texting for Dates Redux

April 22, 2010Podcast

The second edition of the Tao of Bachelorhood podcast includes: A wrap-up for the Ultimate Spring Cleaning project A discussion of “text game,” why it’s the new buzzword, and whether you can (and should) go from a photo in Facebook to a date entirely using your thumbs. Is seducing women not unlike playing Zork? A [...]

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Ultimate Spring Cleaning, Day 30: The Last Toss

April 20, 2010Health & Fitness

Ultimate Spring Cleaning is a 30-day project to clean and declutter not only your house, but your life. Each day you’ll get a housecleaning assignment, an assignment that involves the world around you, and a project to clear your mind. You can start anytime at the Ultimate Spring Cleaning main page. We started Ultimate Spring [...]

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Ultimate Spring Cleaning, Day 29: Be Charitable

April 19, 2010Grooming

Ultimate Spring Cleaning is a 30-day project to clean and declutter not only your house, but your life. Each day you’ll get a housecleaning assignment, an assignment that involves the world around you, and a project to clear your mind. You can start anytime at the Ultimate Spring Cleaning main page. On the penultimate day [...]

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Ultimate Spring Cleaning, Day 28: Sell, Sell, Sell

April 18, 2010House & Home

Ultimate Spring Cleaning is a 30-day project to clean and declutter not only your house, but your life. Each day you’ll get a housecleaning assignment, an assignment that involves the world around you, and a project to clear your mind. You can start anytime at the Ultimate Spring Cleaning main page. Today’s task is simple. [...]

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Ultimate Spring Cleaning, Day 27: One Last Look

April 17, 2010House & Home

Ultimate Spring Cleaning is a 30-day project to clean and declutter not only your house, but your life. Each day you’ll get a housecleaning assignment, an assignment that involves the world around you, and a project to clear your mind. You can start anytime at the Ultimate Spring Cleaning main page. Four more days and [...]

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Ultimate Spring Cleaning, Day 26: Get Online

April 16, 2010House & Home

Ultimate Spring Cleaning is a 30-day project to clean and declutter not only your house, but your life. Each day you’ll get a housecleaning assignment, an assignment that involves the world around you, and a project to clear your mind. You can start anytime at the Ultimate Spring Cleaning main page. We’re heading into the [...]

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