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BeingKevin Weekly Recap

Another week in Rio, another collection of thoughts, arguments, memories, history, food, books, and the occasional questionable decision to engage with someone on the internet.

This week had a little bit of everything.

I started with quotes and the simple advice that has helped guide my life, wandered through some of my favorite travel destinations, stopped for one of Brazil’s greatest gifts to humanity, pão de queijo, and then somehow ended up questioning whether any of us actually have free will.

There was history, including a look at how Rosa Parks became an American icon while Claudette Colvin was largely forgotten. There were reflections on retirement, aging, family, and the pets we never really stop missing. I also reviewed one of the most challenging books I’ve read recently, Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.

And, because apparently I have no ability to stay serious for an entire week, there was also a very romantic evening involving slow caresses, seduction, and a perfectly cooked filet mignon.

That’s life here at BeingKevin.

So, before we move into another week, here’s a look back at everything published from August 3 through August 9, 2026. I’ll share the most popular posts from other bloggers based on likes this week.

Top Posts by Category

Top posts by likes — 2026-08-09

Date range searched: 2026-08-03 to 2026-08-09

⭐ Blog of the Week: Something to Ponder About — “Proverbial Global Wisdom Dailyprompt 2842” (94 likes)

Daily Prompt

1. # If I Could Meet My Younger Self # — 71 likes, 28 comments — by Retiredकलम
2. Alarm — 53 likes, 2 comments — by Rang-Rivaz
3. Time Was Never the Problem — 42 likes, 1 comments — by Memoirs of Madness
4. # The Best Piece of Advice I’ve Ever Received…. — 38 likes, 8 comments — by Retiredकलम
5. Albus — 33 likes, 8 comments — by David Pearce – Popular Culture and Personal Passions

Life

1. To do…. Life Lessons — 42 likes, 36 comments — by Keep it alive
2. Reading With Ortensia, August Edition. — 24 likes, 10 comments — by Truly Madly Ordinary, Diary Of A Not So Desperate Housewife.
3. What’s something you used to worry about but don’t anymore? — 21 likes, 0 comments — by Manoj Nair Online
4. My pet cat — 21 likes, 4 comments — by Jeanette’s journal
5. They Don’t Write the Ending — 19 likes, 2 comments — by Diary of a Millennial Goth

Travel

1. Destination: Lund, Sweden — 40 likes, 35 comments — by Rebecca Goes Rendezvous
2. The Journey is the Destination – A Haibun — 31 likes, 12 comments — by Poetry For Healing
3. I have a dream. And it is bigger than any destination on any map. — 14 likes, 6 comments — by She Knows All

Books

1. Proverbial Global Wisdom Dailyprompt 2842 — 94 likes, 64 comments — by Something to Ponder About
2. Transition Is Not Uncertainty | Szigetingy Philosophy (Gyorgy Nemeth Philosophy) — 60 likes, 14 comments — by Szingy Gallery | Budapest
3. Select Quotes From July Reads — 56 likes, 20 comments — by Tales from a Mid-Lifer
4. Dropping Jewels — 52 likes, 1 comments — by Memoirs of Madness
5. Wasn’t I Going to Write a Mystery This Summer? — 47 likes, 10 comments — by rachelmankowitz

Writing

1. Rocking for Focus While a Butterfly Judges Me — 141 likes, 49 comments — by Sebastian Stead – My Photography Blog
2. Proverbial Global Wisdom Dailyprompt 2842 — 94 likes, 64 comments — by Something to Ponder About
3. Story nominated — 89 likes, 45 comments — by My little corner of the world
4. Bridge Club Blues — 87 likes, 43 comments — by My little corner of the world
5. FORGOTTEN TELEVISION: THE OREGON TRAIL (1976-1977) — 67 likes, 20 comments — by Balladeer’s Blog

Humor

1. Your Life, Their Plan 😂 — 29 likes, 10 comments — by Wise FoolZ
2. The Wrong Suspect 😂 — 19 likes, 2 comments — by Wise FoolZ
3. Building a good living means we must go onwards and upwards. Or must we? — 16 likes, 24 comments — by Obbverse
4. Gallivanting with Gulliver: #Gulliver300th — 16 likes, 14 comments — by Calmgrove Books
5. The Lost Chapter of Santiago’s Second Personal Legend — 16 likes, 0 comments — by Ministry of Satirical Affairs.

Culture

1. Lens-Artists Challenge #407—Celebrations Around the World — 43 likes, 15 comments — by Journeys with Johnbo
2. HEROES ARE USUALLY VILLAINS TO THOSE THAT MATTER! — 14 likes, 0 comments — by pamen269’s Blog

Food

1. Plum Cake with Cinnamon Streusel — 42 likes, 1 comments — by Culinary Delights from around the World
2. Pudding Pear Cake — 38 likes, 0 comments — by Culinary Delights from around the World
3. Friesian Slices — 38 likes, 0 comments — by Culinary Delights from around the World
4. Apple Cheesecake — 37 likes, 0 comments — by Culinary Delights from around the World
5. Blueberry and Blackberry Ice Pancakes — 35 likes, 0 comments — by Culinary Delights from around the World

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The Week at BeingKevin

1. Daily Writing Prompt — August 3: What Is Your Favorite Quote?

I kicked off the week by looking at the practical wisdom that actually sticks.

Marcus Aurelius has plenty to say about controlling our reactions and focusing on what we can influence. Good advice, certainly. But I’ve always had a weakness for advice that can be understood without needing a philosophy degree.

My favorite quote comes from hockey legend Wayne Gretzky:

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

That philosophy has probably influenced my life more than I realized. It certainly played a part in retiring, moving to Brazil, and deciding to start writing this blog.

Sometimes you just have to take the shot.

Read: Daily Writing Prompt 3-Aug: What Is Your Favorite Quote?

2. Our Perfect Date

This one took a slightly different approach.

I described what sounded like the perfect romantic evening: slow caresses, massage, seduction, anticipation, and the promise of something deeply satisfying.

And then came the reveal.

The object of my affection wasn’t a woman at all.

It was a filet mignon dinner.

Sometimes romance is overrated. Give me a perfectly cooked steak, a buttered baked potato, and maybe a decent glass of wine, and I’m pretty easy to please.

Read: Our Perfect Date

3. Daily Writing Prompt — August 4: What Are Your Top 10 Travel Destinations?

Travel lists can tell you quite a bit about a person.

Mine includes the obvious places where I can do absolutely nothing—Hawaii and Las Vegas are excellent choices when the goal is simply to relax.

But my real travel obsession is history.

Europe has a thousand years of stories packed into its cities, streets, churches, castles, battlefields, and museums. There’s something about standing in the exact place where people lived, fought, created, and changed history that you simply can’t get from reading a book.

My travel list is therefore less about checking places off a map and more about experiencing the history behind them.

Read: Daily Writing Prompt 4-Aug: What Are Your Top 10 Travel Destinations?

4. Pão de Queijo: Why Brazilian Cheese Bread Became My Favorite Snack

Living in Brazil has introduced me to plenty of foods I didn’t grow up eating.

Some I’ve liked.

Some I’ve loved.

And then there is pão de queijo.

These little Brazilian cheese breads have become one of my favorite snacks. Warm, chewy, cheesy, and dangerously easy to eat, they have somehow become a regular part of my week.

It doesn’t really matter whether they’re the size of a golf ball or something approaching a hockey puck. If they’re fresh and warm, I’m probably eating one.

Or several.

Read: Pão de Queijo: Why Brazilian Cheese Bread Became My Favorite Snack

5. Daily Writing Prompt — August 5: What’s a Quote That Perfectly Describes Your Outlook on Life?

If I had to reduce much of my working life to three words, I’d probably go with:

Keep It Simple.

The KISS principle has served me well over four decades of working in technology and management.

Do your job. Stay relevant. Learn something new. Don’t make things more complicated than they need to be. And when an opportunity comes along, take the shot.

It isn’t particularly profound.

But sometimes the simplest advice is the advice that actually works.

Read: Daily Writing Prompt 5-Aug: What’s a Quote That Perfectly Describes Your Outlook on Life?

6. Can a Predetermined Universe Coexist with Free Will?

This was the beginning of a new series that is considerably more serious than steak and cheese bread.

I started looking at one of the oldest philosophical problems we have: if the universe is predetermined, can we really have free will?

And if our actions are ultimately inevitable, what does that do to our concepts of responsibility, morality, guilt, and justice?

If someone was always going to commit an act, can we meaningfully call that act evil?

I’m not pretending to have solved the problem. Quite the opposite.

I’m interested in exploring the uncomfortable contradictions and seeing where the logic takes us.

This was Part 1.

There are more questions coming.

Read: Can a Predetermined Universe Coexist with Free Will?

7. Daily Writing Prompt — August 6: What I Used to Worry About… and What I Worry About Now

Retirement doesn’t eliminate worry.

It just changes the subject.

When I was working, I worried about careers, deadlines, projects, management, employees, and everything else that comes with spending more than forty years in the technology business.

Now?

I worry about different things.

Finances matter. My children matter. And as you get older, you become increasingly aware that time itself is something you can’t earn back.

Maybe that’s one of the less obvious lessons of aging.

You don’t necessarily stop worrying.

You just become better at figuring out which things are actually worth worrying about.

Read: Daily Writing Prompt 6-Aug: What I Used to Worry About… and What I Worry About Now

8. The Engineered Icon and the Unfiltered Present: Why History Cleans the Frame

History has a funny habit of simplifying complicated stories.

Rosa Parks is one of the most recognizable figures of the American civil rights movement. But nine months before Parks refused to give up her seat, Claudette Colvin, a fifteen-year-old girl, did essentially the same thing.

So why did one become an enduring national icon while the other largely disappeared from the popular story?

This piece examines how the civil rights movement, the media, and the realities of 1955 shaped which story became useful as a symbol.

I also looked at how different our media environment is today.

In 1955, a carefully constructed public narrative could take hold.

Today, social media would probably turn the entire thing into a 72-hour partisan war before anyone had finished reading the history.

History may clean the frame.

The internet tends to throw everything into it.

Read: The Engineered Icon and the Unfiltered Present: Why History Cleans the Frame

9. Daily Writing Prompt — August 7: The Best Advice My Dad Ever Gave Me

My dad wasn’t particularly interested in giving me inspirational speeches.

His advice was considerably more direct.

“If you ever get arrested, tell the police not to let you out. It’s safer for you in there.”

It was his rather memorable way of teaching me about consequences.

Apparently, it worked.

I’ve managed to stay on the right side of the law for more than fifty years.

Sometimes the best parenting advice isn’t complicated. It just needs to be memorable enough that you never forget it.

Read: Daily Writing Prompt 7-Aug: The Best Advice My Dad Ever Gave Me

10. Weekend Picks: Netflix Top 10, NY Times Best Sellers & a Book Review

Friday was time to look at what everyone else was watching and reading.

I compared the Netflix Top 10 in the United States and Brazil, where the viewing habits can be surprisingly different. While American viewers were watching The Idaho Murders, Brazilian audiences were gravitating toward Elite Force.

I also included the latest New York Times bestsellers and a look at Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.

If you’re looking for something to watch, read, or argue about over the weekend, this is the post for you.

Read: Weekend Picks: Netflix Top 10, NY Times Best Sellers & a Book Review

11. Daily Writing Prompt — August 8: The Pets I’ll Never Forget

Some subjects are harder to write about than others.

Pets are one of them.

I wrote about Gunter, my Bloodhound, and Keesha, my Keeshond. Both were part of my life for thirteen years, and both left the kind of hole that doesn’t completely disappear when the years pass.

Anyone who has loved a dog understands.

They aren’t simply pets.

They’re part of the family.

And when they’re gone, you don’t really get over it. You simply learn to live with the memories.

Read: Daily Writing Prompt 8-Aug: The Pets I’ll Never Forget

12. Coffee with Kevin: Sometimes the Best Reply Is No Reply

I broke one of my own rules this week.

I got into a social media argument.

The subject was historical accuracy, which should have been my first warning.

The problem with arguing facts on the internet is that facts aren’t particularly useful when someone has already decided what they believe.

Eventually, I was reminded of something I should have known before typing the first response:

Sometimes the smartest comment you can make is the one you don’t make.

It’s a lesson I’m sure I’ll remember the next time I ignore it.

Read: Coffee with Kevin: Sometimes the Best Reply Is No Reply

13. Daily Writing Prompt — August 9: What’s a Thing You Wish Schools Actually Taught?

Education is supposed to prepare young people for life.

So why don’t we teach more of the things they actually need to know once they leave school?

Cooking.

Changing a tire.

Managing money.

Understanding taxes.

Basic household skills.

And now, increasingly, understanding artificial intelligence.

I also explored whether the traditional school calendar makes sense for the world we’re preparing children to enter. Maybe education should look a little more like the adult working world instead of continuing to operate on a schedule designed around a very different society.

Education should prepare people for life, not simply prepare them to pass the next test.

Read: Daily Writing Prompt 9-Aug: What’s a Thing You Wish Schools Actually Taught?

14. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents — Book Review

I closed out the week with a book that is considerably heavier than most of what I write about here.

Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents examines the systems of hierarchy that have shaped societies and argues that America’s racial hierarchy can be better understood through the broader concept of caste.

Wilkerson compares the American experience with caste systems in India and Nazi Germany, creating an uncomfortable but compelling framework for looking at how societies divide people and maintain those divisions over generations.

It isn’t an easy book.

It isn’t supposed to be.

But it is the kind of book that makes you look at familiar things differently after you’ve finished reading it.

Read: Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents — Book Review

Looking Back at the Week

Fourteen posts.

Philosophy, history, food, travel, retirement, parenting, pets, books, education, social media, television, and at least one steak pretending to be a romantic partner.

That’s a pretty good representation of what BeingKevin has become.

I started this blog as a way to write about retirement and what it was like to start a completely different chapter of life in Brazil. But the longer I do this, the more I realize that the subjects aren’t really separate.

History connects to politics.

Politics connects to human behavior.

Human behavior connects to philosophy.

Philosophy eventually makes you hungry.

And when all else fails, there’s always pão de queijo.

That’s the fun of writing this blog. I don’t necessarily know where a question is going to take me when I start writing it. Sometimes it leads to a serious discussion about free will. Sometimes it leads to a memory about my father. And occasionally it leads to a filet mignon that turns out to be the love of my life.

What’s Coming Next

Next week, I’ll continue the Free Will series with Part 2, where we’ll dig deeper into an uncomfortable question:

Are our choices ever truly free, or are they largely products of our upbringing, environment, experiences, and culture?

I’ll also have more stories from life here in Rio, another round of Friday entertainment and book picks, and, of course, the daily prompts that have become a regular part of the week.

And don’t forget to check back for the most-liked posts from other bloggers this week. There is always something interesting happening beyond my little corner of the internet.

Thanks for reading, commenting, disagreeing, agreeing, laughing, and occasionally telling me that I’ve completely lost my mind.

That’s what makes this worthwhile.

Until next week, keep reading, keep questioning, and if you find yourself about to start an argument on social media…

Maybe just close the damn browser.

— Kevin