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There’s a cat licking your birthday cake!

Apexians, today is a special day. If my calendar is correct — and it generally is — then it’s my partner Jim’s birthday! Yay!

Happy birthday, Jimmie.

To celebrate, here’s a cat licking your birthday cake!

Oh. And I also got you this collection of links…

Understanding and overcoming financial abuse. [Partners in Fire] — “Financial abuse is a type of domestic abuse. It’s a form of control and a violation of a person’s resources. It’s a horrible situation to understand and deal with when it’s just stealing and gaslighting…so I can’t even imagine how terrible it is for those who lose complete control of their finances.”

Alligators and kittens. [The Happy Philosopher] — “The most effective way to achieve happiness is usually through subtracting bad things from your life rather than adding more good things. We are not programed this way though. Through most of human history we have lived with scarcity, and it was to our benefit to keep adding stuff, no matter the emotional cost.”

Work less. [Zen Habits] — “Most of us spend free time doing more work. Or going to favorite distractions. But what if we used that time to be fully connected to the people we care about? Or to take care of ourselves, to read, to play, to do nothing?”

Lastly: I hate Twitter. Hate it, hate it, hate it. I’ve had a Twitter account since March 2007, and I’ve been confused about its purpose for just as long. I especially hate when people try to tackle tough, nuanced topics on Twitter. Not the place to do it.

That said, occasionally Twitter surprises me. Here, for instance, is a l-o-n-g Twitter thread about five mental models that former chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin uses to see the world differently than others. Good stuff. I have no idea why this is a Twitter thread, though, instead of a magazine article or blog post.

Okay, that’s all for today. Let’s all sing “Happy Birthday” to Jim once more. (Or, if you’d prefer, sing him the song about the cat licking his cake.) I’ll be back tomorrow to take you into the weekend…