[DISCLAIMER] When electronic dance music (EDM) group The Prodigy released their first studio album, Experience (1992), I hadn’t heard of the ensemble. Therefore, I missed out on what could’ve been a transformative anthology regarding my emerging eclectic music tastes. Too bad! Also, even though the first album I purchased by The Prodigy was their third album, The Fat of the Land (1997), which I thoroughly enjoyed, I’d heard their song “No Good (Start the Dance)”, from the

[DISCLAIMER] In 1989, as a youth, I attended lyricist LL Cool J’s Nitro World Tour, which featured rapper Eazy-E, his group N.W.A, rapper Slick Rick, legendary group De La Soul, and though he was scheduled to perform, rapper Too $hort was unable to attend the Denver, Colorado concert. One of the songs I most looked forward to hearing by Slick Rick was “Hey Young World”, from his debut studio album The Great Adventures of Slick Rick (1988). I envisioned that the track was

[DISCLAIMER] As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) was formed by the late psychologist Albert Ellis, who reportedly developed the first cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) psychotherapeutic modality in 1955, this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding his book, Ask Albert Ellis?: Straight Answers and Sound Advice from America’s Best-Known Psychologist. Now, REBT uses the ABC model to illustrate that when an undesirable Action occurs and you Believe an unhelp

[DISCLAIMER] I’ve made no secret of the fact that I befriended gang members when in high school. One gang set with whom I was close was the Sureños (also known as Southern United Raza, Sur 13, or Sureños X3 – groups of loosely affiliated gangs that pay tribute to the Mexican Mafia). Their main rival was the Norteños (also known as Northerners; Norteñas for females, and are the various affiliated gangs that pay tribute to Nuestra Familia). Because I was never a formal affi

[DISCLAIMER] Although recorded in 1993, the track “Runnin’” (commonly referred to as “Runnin’ from tha Police”) was released in 1995, written and performed by lyricists 2Pac, the Notorious B.I.G. (“Big”), and rappers Stretch, Dramacydal, and Lil’ Vicious, and was produced by Easy Mo Bee. The song was featured on the compilation album One Million Strong (1995), commemorating the 1995 Million Man March in Washington, D.C. This occurred during the time that I was in high sch

[DISCLAIMER] As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is informed by Stoic philosophy, this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding a book entitled The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman. The authors quote ancient Stoic philosopher and Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who stated, “We are like many pellets of incense falling on the same altar. Some collapse sooner, others later, but i

[ DISCLAIMER ] There was a time when I set out to write blog content regarding the Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) book Creative Marriage (1961). However, I admittedly haven’t contributed many posts to it in a while, and perhaps won’t do so again (current post excluded). That’s because I don’t endorse “sucka shit,” as one source thusly describes this term, “Anything that is not acceptable or violates the G code . This includes snitching, switching up on your t

[ DISCLAIMER ] I’m fond of a number of artists who create music under the category of horrorcore (a subgenre of hip hop music based on horror-themed and often darkly transgressive lyrical content and imagery). For instance, I appreciate the content of horrorcore rapper Novatore . On his album Masters of Morbid Creations (2022), Novatore released the song “ Split ” which was produced by C-Lance . On the chorus, the rapper states: Hyde and Jekyll , I keep the beast up i

[ DISCLAIMER ] As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is informed by Stoic philosophy , this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding a book entitled The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman . The authors quote Roman Stoic philosopher Gaius Musonius Rufus who stated, “For I believe a good king is from the outset and by necessity a philosopher, and the philosopher is from the ou