Category: Observations

Sleep Cycles and Illness

The clock in your brain doesn’t just take cues from light, but from the hormone melatonin as well. Every night, about two to three hours before you conk out, your brain starts to secrete melatonin in response to darkness. Taking a melatonin supplement in the evening will advance your internal clock and make it possible to fall asleep earlier; taking it in the morning will do the opposite. (You might assume this would make you even more tired during the day but it won’t; you could think of it as tricking your brain into believing you slept longer.)

Yes, Your Sleep Schedule Is Making You Sick by Richard A. Friedman

Basketball Dichotomies

After a difficult loss in 2013, the San Antonio Spurs regrouped and throttled the Miami Heat in a five game series, winning the final game by nearly twenty points.

The series was a microcosm of what we see the NBA — organizations like the Heat, Knicks, Nets and Lakers pay top dollar for elite talent pitted against  teams like San Antonio — organizations built on solid players who form an even better team As we’ve seen over the past four years, talented players win games and regularly make it to the finals. But on the other end of the spectrum, good players in a system can form great teams.

For other small market teams like the Timberwolves and Cavaliers, this series should serve as a reminder that the best talent and highest budget don’t necessarily equate to championships. Players who gel as teams, regardless of individual talent, are just as likely to win. Davids still beat Goliaths.

Wisdom in Kids Books

The Story of NoahWhile reading to Abby recently, I came across these lines:

“Thank you God for a beautiful, clean world.”

Profoundly simple.

From The Story of Noah by Patricia Pingry.