Stop Eating Licorice!
And other changes to make in 2025
THIS WEEK:
Stop cold turkey? Or everything in moderation?
WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND? Just My Typewriter
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Greeting cards Within Reason
BEHIND THE PAY WALL: DiPerri’s absolutely atrocious children’s book pitch
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DiPerri here. Stop eating black licorice.
If you like this “candy” and you’re over 40, you could face some adverse health risks. Google “licorice toxin New York Times.” I’m not a doctor and I haven’t eaten licorice in probably over 25 years (maybe longer. I’ve always hated the taste) so it’s easy for me to say. But someone I care about may have recently experienced adverse side effects from eating it regularly. They’re fine but they’ll hopefully stop eating licorice cold turkey.
“…Black licorice is more than just candy. It contains glycyrrhizic acid, which can cause swelling and high blood pressure and deplete potassium and other electrolytes that may cause a cardiac arrhythmia or arrest.”
-Patty Verbanas in a Rutgers News article entitled “Hidden Risks of Black Licorice.” Published September 24, 2020.
Not a very funny way of starting the week. Sorry. P.S.A.
This week, let’s give up.
I stopped eating Pringles in 2009. I haven’t eaten a Pringle since Saturday, October 24, 2009.
My last fast food meal was in February 2020. Until last week. We were furniture shopping and needed to eat something fast (Red Flag). So we swung by Chick-Fil-A, which we had gotten once in 2017 (I didn’t get the hype. And Frega is a vegetarian, so she wasn’t impressed either). The place isn’t on my radar. Why do people care about it so much? It’s just fine. I didn’t even realize it was a fast food place until we got our food practically the instant we sat down. “That was fast!” I said, naively smiling to the server. Back in the car, it hit me. “Wait a minute…” My streak was over. At least I can say I haven’t been to McDonalds, Wendy’s or Burger King since 2020. Nor do I ever hope to again.
What other changes can be made this year?
I begrudgingly set up a Buddy and Romeo Instagram account in 2017. I was late to the party (Frega had started her now-deleted personal account a couple years prior) but I didn’t want anything to do with a Facebook platform (we both deleted Facebook in 2013… and even at that time I felt embarrassed to have still been on it). Social media just isn’t for me. I hate it and feel forced into it to market the cartoons and illustration. Now everyone is finally coming around to the idea that “Meta” is the worst (it is) and want to leave (we should). But everyone is still there and we’re afraid we’re going to miss out. Art directors, editors, agents…they haven’t budged. They’re not leaving Instagram. So those of us who are perpetually trying to court them… are stuck there too.
We all know we’re stuck. People are half-heartedly trying BlueSky but for what?Hardly anyone is there, it looks like every other social media platform. Actually, it looks like an unapologetic copy of what Twitter used to be. People were obsessed with Twitter and I didn’t get that either. When I got invited to Facebook in 2005 (at that time you needed a college email address and a friend at another college told me to get on it), I was puzzled. She described what Facebook was and what you could “do” on it (nothing in those days. Just look at profiles). “What’s the point?” I asked. Platforms might start out cool (MySpace, Facebook, SnapChat) or idylic (BlueSky) or fun (Instagram, TikTok) but they’re all the same. A complete waste of our time and a plague on the mental/emotional/social development of our youth.
I can’t say I’m giving up much in 2025, rather, I’m trying to do more. Frega and I are four weeks in on our 5am daily workouts (it wasn’t a resolution, it just started happening) so that’s likely to stick. I actively force myself to be more social at work, which doesn’t come natural because I’m an introvert. And I’m trying to slow down and disconnect more, reading magazines, graphic novels, books, writing thank you’s and letters. And getting one of my typewriters fixed.
We have eight typewriters in our collection. Two were bought for Frega, one for DiPerri, two each set of DiPerri’s grandparents, and all the rest were shared purchases. We bought our first one on on our honeymoon in 2014 (a 1964 Remington Streamliner).
The typewriter on my desk at work is a gorgeous 1936 Underwood 11. I’ve had it for two and a half years and have worked on it here and there, cleaning and fixing it but I’ve never been able to get it working. The arm that is meant to lift the ribbon vibrator is broken clean in half and is beyond repair (at least from me). The part has to be replaced so I’m going to bring it to a pro.
I’ve been relaxing while doing the dishes and eating lunch to typewriter videos on YouTube. Sarah from Just My Typewriter is the best.
After two years of requests following the success of our Coffee Lovers’ Christmas greeting card line, our every day line, Within Reason is now available for sale!
This series is certainly not Coffee Lovers’ Christmas. Black and white; humor Within Reason. This series draws from our magazine cartoon catalogue and offers you the chance to a send a laugh via traditional post to the struggling parent, 30-something, lit lover, and/or girlfriends in your life.
There are 10 unique cartoon cards available separately and as a pack of all 10 cartoons. Three of the cartoons (“OliPhone Twist;” “Married Lisa;” and “What to Expect When You’re Pregnant”) have never been seen and are making their debut in Within Reason.
Shop our new Within Reason cards today!
We’re starting small to see what sticks but we eventually plan to offer themed packs of literature; parenting; and 30-somethings. Let us know what you think!
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