Healthy living is an often complex and difficult thing to go for in this country. Everywhere you turn, what was good is deadly, and this new drug will cure everything—except its side effects contain the thing it’s supposed to fix.

And in that landscape, well, I’ve dealt with my own problems. Some I will not go into, but I had room to improve. Especially in the weight category.

I searched. I tried places. Some of them not for me, others too expensive for my income. But eventually, I found a tiny nutritional clinic in the middle of Clearwater. Sitting on N.E. Cleveland Street and called The Natural Health Improvement Center.

That was about five months ago.

I’ve lost over thirty pounds since then.

Now, I see the skeptics online. I know how much people doubt the validity of things like holistic medicine and muscle testing. But, yet again, thirty pounds.

And the process wasn’t nearly as hard as it seemed when I started. It wasn’t a fad diet, or experimental food stuff. It was a simple, slow integration of informed choices regarding diet, along with supplements, and exercise.

And I haven’t felt this good in a long time. Before, I didn’t think it was possible. Now, I don’t worry about my health much at all.

That peace of mind is worth it all by itself.

I’m so glad I found them. This little place. Staffed by individuals that supported me through it all. Never got mad at me. Became cheerleaders for me. Just as happy—possibly more—as I was with the victories I achieved.

So, if you’re tired of whatever health problems bother you, and the drugs of the modern day are getting you down and not helping, go check them out.  

I think you can get the body state you want. And I think they can help you get there.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com.

Has this ever happened to you: A post says it contains both information that seems interesting and its picture is of an attractive person? But once you click on it, you are inundated by ads, and the article you wanted to read is broken up into several slow loading pages?

Well, I’m sorry to say, you fell prey to the much hated “clickbait.”  

Urban Dictionary defines it as such:

An eye-catching link on a website which encourages people to read on. It is often paid for by the advertiser ("Paid" click bait) or generates income based on the number of clicks.

It exists for a reason, though. And that is because we live in a world where the sheer bulk of available information and entertainment is at such an excess, that one method of marketing is simply to draw the eye.

The “truth may shock you.”

On this list “number four may change the way you live your life.”

It’s desperate marketing, but marketing all the same. Doesn’t matter what it is, doesn’t matter if it’s location specific: “Clearwater citizens are shocked by this new law.” Clickbait fits well, and is interchangeable for anywhere it needs to be.

And I’m not here to bemoan or claim this is some greater sign of something worse. It’s just sensationalism, like what newspapers do.

But I hope this article--at least a little--helps you spot the most egregious examples, because they will only become more commonplace.

If the cover is provocative, or if it promises a revelation from its contents, just know what you’re getting into is possibly pure clickbait.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com.

Now, I’m all for the consumption of media. It’s the consumption of art. Exploring other’s creative endeavors. This article is a piece of media. But, I am still a tad concerned about the commonplace acceptance of “the binge”.

First made (to my knowledge) into a legitimate thing one plans to do, with significant others even, by Netflix. “The binge” is a socially accepted activity of essentially lounging.

But, yeah, I get it, life can be hard, and it’s understandable that it’s a form of stress release. People all over Clearwater, and Pinellas county—you know who you are—and all over the rest of the world sometimes just like to sink into their couch and let an entire season of Daredevil (for example) wash over them.

But here’s where things get weird, with Amazon’s new advertising hashtag:

#Showhole.

An apparently terrible affliction where one is without an entire television series to view. Comparable to being sucked into a couch, or left in the rain.

And advertising wants to cling onto things like this. Take the commonplace and turn it into a catch phrase or a phenomenon. It’s a good practice, it really is.

But it’s still weird that they are willing to take so much energy to get people to sit and watch a lot of television.

In fact, I feel like there’s more to it than the usual desire for sales.

I feel like the promotion of their binging is almost an attack. A declaration of there’s no need to use other services like Netflix or YouTube.

It’s an advertising rivalry, is what I’m saying. Like Cortana and Siri. And us citizens of Clearwater are some of the prizes being fought for.

And well, that’s not a bad thing. It’s healthy competition. It makes prices lower. Quality higher. But it’s still silly to equate a hole to a lack of shows.

Though, it is a good pun.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com.

I fought it. I ignored it. The pop-ups were constant, but I always walked away. I always told them to remind me another day. The price of a bad operating system I would not pay!

Windows 8 had already burned me. And I didn’t feel like going through it again. But it seemed to just update regardless of how I felt. Maybe I clicked something. But I don’t think so.

And lo and behold, I had Windows 10.

But you know, now that I have it, I’m seeing how the marketing for it was right. It is cool. Or at least one feature is.

“Hey Cortana, how’s it going?”

“Excellent.”

Oh yes, with the wizardry of a computer in Star Trek, I can just talk to my laptop and she recognizes my voice. I don’t even have to click anything. I know other programs can do the same, but it’s still cool to see it on a laptop.

Now, I grew enamored with Siri when I first met her, as I’m sure a lot of people did. A program that could do things for me with a word was amazing. And over time I’ve grown used to her and send off texts with her all the time. I almost don’t open the phone app anymore.

But is Cortana just Siri? I don’t know. Let me ask her.

“Hey Cortana, are you Siri?”

“Surely you’re not Siri-ous.”

Well, there you have it. The main positive difference I’ve noticed so far is that she has a much more human sounding voice. She can sing songs and tell stories with a proper inflection and tonal shifts.

She really is what they marketed her as: a new A.I. competitor. And well, I guess I’m a fan. Not to a Her level. Not take her on walks at Clearwater Beach levels. But a fan all the same.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com.

This article is going to come out a few days after the odd phenomenon that is Star Wars Day. A holiday that seems to exist partially because the “May the 4th be with you” pun is funny.

I bet historians never saw that coming. 

And this is an interesting example of how the marketing and advertising landscape affects us as a society, isn’t it?

Because people are observing this holiday.

I saw people I know posting it on social media like they might “Merry Christmas.” There were deals going on in Clearwater. Apparently places like Barnes and Noble on Sunset Point and Target in Clearwater Mall were having Star Wars themed sales. Some may still even be going on as you read this.

And, I am a bit baffled. But I guess the answer why is obvious: people like Star Wars. We don’t need an excuse to celebrate it. But since we do have an excuse, and our social media flares up with it anyway, we will celebrate.

And in a way this is a cool new trend for us as a culture. An internet-obsessed, nerdy, and a tad goofy culture. We have all the old holidays, held in place by tradition. But we can also have our own. Add our own. 

Media is becoming a part of us, in ways that are strange and curious and going to only become more prevalent as the lines blur: so let’s celebrate. 

I’d love to see what new holidays we get to have. What new traditions we get to see grow around us.

And I wish you a belated “May the 4th be with you.”

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com.