Making October Count

Currier & Ives, American Homestead Autumn

Forget about rebooting one's life every new year. The month for goal setting is October, according to the TikTok meme "October Theory":

October Theory is catching on partly because it sets someone up for success by the time January rolls around, say fans of the trend. Instead of picking up a new habit in the dead of winter—at the same time everyone else is trying to make it to the gym, for instance—it has already been in place for three months...

Others view October as a last chance to fulfill the goals and aspirations they set months ago.

October is the perfect month for recalibration. There's still time to complete the unfinished aspirations for this year and test-run the goals for the next. The busy-ness of Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas is still weeks away, and the weather is pleasant and often magnificent.

Metaphorically, we baby boomers (60-78 years old) are in or about to enter the winter of our lives, if indeed we are lucky to be still alive, and there are not many seasons left. Your humble blogger feels the fierce urgency and intends to make this October count.

Finance Bros' Day in the Sun

Forget about going after doctors or lawyers, ladies, it's time to prowl Wall Street:

It all started with a TikTok video by 27-year-old Megan Boni, known as Girl On Couch. Her April post, amassing about 49 million views, features a singsong message: “I’m looking for a man in finance. Trust fund. 6’5.” Blue eyes.”

This video was clearly made in jest. For the height criterion alone the percentage of men over 6'5" is less than one percent. Plus a trust fund and blue eyes? That's a unicorn.

Boni said she made the original video as a satire of women with impossible dating standards, not because she’s particularly interested in dating a man in finance.

“I wanted to make fun of single people, including myself,” she said.

Your humble blogger went into finance, is well short of 6', has brown eyes, and has no trust fund. Nevertheless, his life turned out all right. I recommend finance as a career if you're willing to work hard, but don't expect success on dating apps.

Below is a video that starts with Megan Boni's original, then riffs on it.

Mindful Chewing

I'm an infrequent gum chewer. I buy a pack before boarding a plane, when needing a breath freshener, or am feeling some stress and need something to chew on.

"Mindfulness" ad is not meant for boomers.

Mars Wrigley has come to the realization that we boomers aren't the demographic that will lead a chewing-gum revival and have designed a new marketing campaign [bold added]

that jettisons typical category promises such as fresh breath or great taste.

Mars is instead promoting its Orbit and Extra gum brands through the lens of mindfulness, purporting that mastication can silence anxious thoughts, improve focus or boost confidence. “Quiet your mind mouth with Extra Gum,” one ad concludes...

commercials in other countries lean more obviously into the idea of mental wellness with surrealist images of mouths in the middle of people’s foreheads.

Surrealist images of mouths evoke a negative reaction in this consumer--is that psychologically revealing?--but these ads have no influence on my gum-purchasing decision anyway.

Having no clue to what the TikTok generation will respond to, I wish Mars Wrigley--two venerable brand names--success.

Worth 10,000 Words

Picture is better, but TikTok (below) is best (WSJ graphic)

Airlines have installed larger overhead bins to accommodate more bags. However, there is an optimal way to place the bags to use the space efficiently. [bold added]

A growing number of planes have larger, drop-down bins, which fit one to two more bags each and reduce the number of gate-checked bags...But the new bin math only works if bags are placed a certain way, and the new way of doing it is another snarl in an already stressful travel journey.

The bags should be stowed on their side, not flat, as is the norm with older bins. Major U.S. airlines have plastered stickers in the back of the new bins depicting the proper position. Flight attendants on many airlines make repeated announcements about turning the bags onto their side, sometimes comparing the ideal bin layout to a plate of tacos.

Your humble blogger wasn't getting it from a verbal description ("stowed on their side"), and the "taco" or "book" metaphors improved understanding marginally.

United Airlines produced a TikTok that explains overhead-bin fitting clearly in ten (10) seconds. Can a PhD thesis be far behind?

@united Answer @im_siowei had to show our new overhead bins some love #travel #traveltiktok #luggage #comedy #unitedairlines ♬ Up and down girl - mik :-))

Turn Off, (Don't) Tune In, Drop Out, and Live Longer

For the past five years I've achieved a measure of peace by not tuning in to television news, which--only a slight exaggeration--pushes outrage 24/7. (I also include late night comedy, which has substituted putdowns of half the country for lighthearted laughs about the human condition.)

Internet news is toxic in a different way. Researchers have established that popular sites like Tik Tok and Facebook quickly figure out the subjects and opinions that individual users like to read about and feed them more of the same. Anger is often the by-product.

Within our cocoons it's easy to become outraged at the injustices done to "our" side by the ignorant and evil people on the other.

Do yourself a favor. Use the off switch and add years to your life.

TikTok: It's Like Reading Your Mind

TikTok is one of the fastest growing social-media networks in history. Developers post 15-second videos on any subject, and TikTok deduces the types of videos that the users prefer and steers them onto the next. TikTok has close to one billion users and is enormously influential among young people.

The Wall Street Journal determined how TikTok's algorithm works by creating artificial users ("bots") that did not reveal their interests, e.g., yoga, sadness, forestry, to TikTok. To be clear, TikTok did not ask for user data, spy on text messages, etc. The algorithm found out users' preference from just one thing:

How long you linger over a piece of content. Every second you hesitate or rewatch, the app is tracking you...

Tiktok fully learned many of our accounts' interests in less than two hours. Some it figured out in less than 40 minutes.

Your humble blogger enjoyed TikTok last year until President Trump accused the company of spying for China and tried to force its sale to a U.S. entity. I immediately deleted the app because the benefit of laughing at 15-second vignettes wasn't worth the possible risks. The sale fell through, no proof of perfidy emerged, and President Biden reversed the Trump restrictions. TikTok hasn't been cleared, however, and is still under investigation by various U.S. government agencies.

Now I only watch TikTok videos about once a month when someone sends a link. The vast majority of videos that I have seen are mildly enjoyable and some are astonishingly creative. However, they are not necessary to life and happiness.

Below is one of the most popular (2 billion views...really?) TikTok videos:

@zachking

They rejected my application to Hogwarts but I still found a way to be a wizard. 🧹##illusion ##magic ##harrypotter

♬ Zach Kings Magic Broomstick - Zach King