Yom Kippur Begins Friday Night — But Anyone Can Use My Favorite App To Reflect This Weekend

Set aside an hour or so this weekend to reflect. Julie Mayfeng / Shutterstock
Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, begins at sundown on September 29.

Those that observe the “day of atonement” will fast for 25 hours, until sundown on September 30 this year.

Reflection is a key theme during the Jewish High Holidays – which take place for 10 days between Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year which began at sunset on September 20, and Yom Kippur.

Whether you’re Jewish or not, reflecting on the past year and looking ahead at the one to come is a valuable exercise – one that’s even easier with an increasingly popular website: 10Q.

Every fall, beginning on Rosh Hashanah, 10Q participants are emailed a question a day for 10 days, and answers are recorded in the site’s “vault.” The following year, your responses are emailed back to you, so you can reflect on how your year played out. Then, the process begins again. Think of it as one of those school assignments where you had to write a letter to your future self, and your teacher mailed it to you a year later.

It’s not too late to participate this year, but you have to finish all 10 questions – and officially submit them to the “10Q vault” – within 72 hours of nightfall on September 30, when Yom Kippur ends this year. At that point, the vault closes, and your answers are stored and saved until next year.

The 10 questions (plus one bonus question) cover a variety of topics. You’ll be asked to describe a significant experience you’ve had in the past year, and if there’s something you wish you had done differently. You’ll also be asked to choose one thing you’d like to achieve by this time next year, and how you’d like to improve your life over the coming months.

The site is simple and easy to use. Questions appear like this:

Your answers can be short or long, and you can skip questions that don’t resonate with you. If you miss a day, you can catch up whenever you have time. Everything you write is private, unless you choose to share it, and subject to the highest industry standard encryption, according to the site.

This year marks my eighth year using 10Q as a tool for self-reflection and goal-tracking. As a financial planner in New York, it’s a habit I’ve seen work with my clients as well. The questions aren’t about money, per se, but if money goals are top of mind, you can include them in your answers. It’s become a tradition I look forward to – a chance to review and reorient my goals, financial or otherwise.

The first year I participated in 10Q, my biggest goal was to become fluent in Spanish. Writing down the goal and setting a time limit helped me decide to move to Colombia four months later, where I spent the first half of 2011 working remotely and learning Spanish with a tutor. The timing wasn’t great, but the timing never is. If I hadn’t pushed myself to achieve the goal then, I’m sure I would regret it today.

Life is busy, and time for introspection isn’t easy to come by. But if you can set aside an hour or so during Yom Kippur or over the weekend, 10Q can help you reflect – and set yourself up for a fulfilling year.(businessinsider)

Deshaun Watson Will Make The NFL Teams Who Passed On Him Regret It

Deshaun Watson looks like a potential franchise quarterback. (Steven Senne/AP)

As a refresher, and for the record, here are how the teams who had unsettled quarterback situations, either at that moment or on the horizon, approached the draft during the 12 selections it took for Deshaun Watson to come off the board:

>>> The Browns, having wandered through the quarterback wilderness since they came into existence, used the first overall pick on Myles Garrett.

>>> The 49ers, who had signed journeyman Brian Hoyer to a two-year deal, traded the second overall pick to the Bears. They would pick defensive lineman Solomon Thomas after moving back to the third pick.

>>> The Bears wanted a quarterback even though they had signed Mike Glennon in free agency, but they took Mitchell Trubisky second.

>>> The Jaguars, with Blake Bortles coming off another lackluster season, chose running back Leonard Fournette.

>>> The Jets, picking sixth without a viable long-term quarterback on their roster, chose safety Jamal Adams.

[The Texans got their initial QB decision wrong, but can fix it with Deshaun Watson]

>>> The Bengals, who had the option to get out of Andy Dalton’s contract after the 2017 season, took wide receiver John Ross with the ninth pick.

>>> The Bills, who seemed to have lukewarm feelings toward Tyrod Taylor despite signing him to a contract extension, traded the 10th pick to the Chiefs.

>>> The Chiefs, looking ahead to the end of Alex Smith’s contract, took a quarterback, but chose Patrick Mahomes.

>>> The Saints had Drew Brees, but his contract was becoming onerous as he reached his late 30s. They took cornerback Marshon Lattimore.

>>> The Browns had another shot to take Watson, but instead traded the 12th pick.

>>> The Cardinals, with Carson Palmer nearing the end and picking 13th, declined to pay the tax to move up one spot. Instead, the Texans swooped in and took Watson.

That’s ten teams in position to take Watson, with the Browns getting two cracks, before Houston nabbed him. They may not necessarily look back with regret even if Watson becomes a star. Trubisky and Mahomes, both of whom enjoyed promising preseasons, may work out for Chicago and Kansas City, respectively. The Browns ended up taking DeShone Kizer in the second round, and he’s already their starting quarterback. Fournette has been pivotal in pushing the Jaguars’ offense into adequacy. Adams might become a cornerstone for the Jets’ defense. And so on.

But then again, they may. It took one half for the Texans to hand Watson the keys to the franchise, and all he has done since is impress. In his first start, Watson led the Texans to a road win over the Bengals, keying the victory with a 49-yard touchdown run. He then validated himself as a viable NFL starter in a loss, pushing Houston to the precipice of an upset in New England.

Watson passed for 301 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, one of which came on a Hail Mary, and ran for another 41 yards, making him the first quarterback to go for 300 and 40 against Bill Belichick and the Patriots since 2011.** “He’s a handful,” Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler said. “Running around, people diving at him, missing him. That’s a great guy. That’s an upcoming Cam Newton.”

**Here is some delightfully bizarre trivia: Watson became the fourth quarterback to pass for at least 300 yards and rush for at least 40 against the Patriots under Bill Belichick. Amazingly, all four lost. More amazingly, the other three quarterbacks were Aaron Brooks, Vince Young on the Eagles and Chad Henne. Most amazingly, in Week 1 of the 2011 season, Henne threw for 416 yards, rushed for 59 and lost by two touchdowns! That is a weird game.

Watson’s coach at Clemson, Dabo Swinney, started chastising teams for passing on Watson immediately after Watson’s college career ended. “Passing on Michael Jordan,” he said. That’s a reach, but it is possible Watson went well after he should have.

[The Texans should take a chance on Deshaun Watson as their opening day starting QB]

If a third of the league missed on Watson, then why did it happen? NFL teams typecast Watson as the product of a typical college spread offense, a passer who maximized performance in a system suited to the college game. But he was different. One of the best indicators of NFL success among college quarterbacks is simply games played — Watson started 38 in three years. Clemson’s offense contained many simple reads, but as Watson’s career unfolded, Swinney let him call his own plays and expanded Watson’s progressions. He could diagnose a defense pre-snap, decide on a multilayered play and then execute it. He was doing NFL stuff; the college scheme was veneer.

Watson used his legs plenty, but on pass plays he kept his eyes downfield and looked for open receivers before bolting. His accuracy sometimes wavered, but in NFL games, when he wouldn’t have as many designed runs, he would take fewer hits, which can affect a thrower’s precision.

As a bonus, Watson is as good of a representative of a franchise as a franchise could hope its quarterback could be. His backstory and advocacy for Habitat for Humanity are well-known. This week, Watson donated his first game check to Texans cafeteria workers who were wiped out by Hurricane Harvey.

 It’s not as if NFL teams disregarded Watson — he went 12th, and a team traded up to get him. But he sure possessed the qualities of a top-of-the-draft quarterback, qualities that in retrospect seemed to be hidden in plain sight to teams at the top of draft.

The draft process is so long and so exhaustive, and in some ways the overload of information has made NFL teams more efficient. But it also leads to overthinking. The NFL needs desperately needs quarterbacks, and here came a player who had started three seasons, won 33 games and initiated the offense with a run or pass 77 times against Alabama, an NFL feeder defense, in the national championship game. He had smarts, poise, leadership, experience and speed to spare, with adequate arm strength and accuracy.

It has only been two games, and plenty of good players were picked before him. It is still easy to imagine Watson filling opponents with regret for what they passed up.

>>> Mark Maske and Liz Clarke have an excellent, comprehensive examination of how NFL owners decided on how to respond to President Trump’s caustic comments last weekend.  Here is a key passage, regarding the deliberations of Redskins owner Daniel Snyder and top executive Bruce Allen:

Snyder and Allen considered issuing a statement, deciding to do so only after roughly three-fourths of the owners had already done so. In weighing the content and tone, they gave great consideration to the fact that the Redskins were in the nation’s capital; that the team’s fan base included a significant number of servicemen and women, both active and retired; and that President Trump was a Washingtonian, too.

Neither man signed the two-paragraph statement; it was attributed simply to the “Redskins.” It was one of just two among the 31 NFL teams’ statements that were unsigned, with the Cincinnati Bengals producing the other. Because it wasn’t released until the 8:30 p.m. Eastern time kickoff, Redskins players didn’t have a chance to see it beforehand. When it was shown to one starting player after the game ended, he frowned after reading it, explaining after a long pause that it didn’t reflect the sentiments of Redskins players. “I guess money matters,” the player said.

Allen declined Tuesday to discuss the Redskins’ process in drafting their statement and linking arms on the sideline, saying through a spokesman: “We’re focused on Kansas City,” Washington’s next opponent.

The player’s reaction shows, again, that the objectives of players and owners may not be as aligned as the league is suggesting through its messaging and branding.

>>> The Titans’ Delanie Walker tells people who want to boycott the NFL to go right ahead, as Jason Wolf reports.(washingtonpost)

'Young Sheldon' Spinoff Looks Like A Bright Idea

Iain Armitage and Zoe Perry in 'Young Sheldon.' Photo: Robert Voets/CBS

(CNN)CBS mixes a familiar TV strategy with a bolder one in "Young Sheldon," a spinoff of its long-running hit "The Big Bang Theory" that departs from the network's traditional multi-camera sitcom format. The experiment at least initially looks like a bright idea -- yielding a breezy, likable series, closer in tone to "The Wonder Years" or ABC's family comedies.

The same description also applies to CBS' other new sitcom premiering the same night, "Me, Myself & I," which stars "Saturday Night Live" alum Bobby Moynihan and John Larroquette, as the network grasps for a hit to fill the gaping hole that "Big Bang" will leave behind when it finishes its run.

Sensing that urgency, "Young Sheldon" is the network's most direct attempt to capitalize on the "Big Bang" connection, which includes having star Jim Parsons narrate this affectionate look back at his character's younger self.

As has been well documented within the flagship series, Sheldon Cooper (played by Iain Armitage, a genuine find) was a mathematical genius as a child, leapfrogging him into high school at the age of nine. None of that meshed particularly well with his hardscrabble, Bible-thumping Texas upbringing, and left his parents (Zoe Perry, Lance Barber) pretty constantly confused, as if an alien baby had been dropped into their midst.

"Admit it, he's adopted," Sheldon's older brother asks.


Created by "Big Bang" patriarch Chuck Lorre and Steven Molaro, "Young Sheldon" taps into the inherent comedy in this dynamic, but with an underlying sweetness that permeates its core. Much of that comes from Perry -- as the daughter of Laurie Metcalf, who has guest starred as Sheldon's mom in "Big Bang," an inspired choice all around.

As confused as they are raising a kid they can't hope to understand, Sheldon's parents are fiercely protective, even if they don't entirely understand what they're protecting. Whether that formula can be sustained over the long haul is a clouded by several X factors, but with its sire sitcom as a lead-in -- and the clock ticking for CBS, given the expected end of that show's run in 2019 -- let's just say there's plenty of incentive to ensure that "Young Sheldon" stays in school for a while.

"Me, Myself & I," meanwhile, takes a rather tired conceit and makes it reasonably fresh, with Moynihan playing the 40-year-old version of Alex, an ordinary guy who is also presented at ages 14 ("It's" Jack Dylan Grazer) and 65 (Larroquette). Cutting among these stages in Alex's life, the show zeroes in on key moments, from a failed first kiss to a marriage falling apart.


Making allowances for a few head-scratching elements (the heights, for one thing, don't exactly match up), the series possesses a bittersweet quality -- such as when teenage Alex gets a pep talk about the Chicago Bulls' Michael Jordan from his stepdad -- with a dollop of "This is Us" (a show that's going to generate plenty of flattering imitation) in the time-hopping format.

Perhaps best, both shows mix comedy and sentimentality without falling into the trap of feeling cloying. If they can replicate that equation, there's a chance both of these kids might be able to grow up on TV.

"Young Sheldon" and "Me, Myself & I" premiere Sept. 25 at 8:30 and 9:30 p.m., respectively, on CBS.

Cardi B Just Made Music History — And Dethroned Taylor Swift From The Charts In The Process

Cardi B performs on Sept. 2 at the Budweiser Made in America Festival in Philadelphia. (Michael Zorn/Invision via AP)

It had been nearly two decades since a solo female rapper topped Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. And then Cardi B burst onto the scene.

The Bronx native’s breakout anthem “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)” secured the No. 1 spot on the latest chart, Billboard announced Monday. The last time a female rapper held that spot without the assistance of any other credited artists was Lauryn Hill in 1998 with “Doo Wop (That Thing).”

Cardi B posted a video Monday thanking her fans, radio hosts and others for playing and downloading her song. “I loveee you all each and everybody contributed for this,” she wrote on Instagram. “Ya made it happen for me !!!!! The number 1 WAY!!”

Aside from Hill, the only female rappers to top the Billboard Hot 100 had songs with other musicians: Lil’ Kim (“Lady Marmalade”); Shawnna (“Stand Up”); and Iggy Azalea (“Fancy”).

Cardi B’s ascent also means she toppled Taylor Swift, who had occupied the No. 1 spot for three weeks with “Look What You Made Me Do.” Although Swift broke plenty of streaming records with that much-buzzed single, her reign was more short-lived than expected.

[Taylor Swift’s ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ just broke two streaming records]

Cardi B once worked as an exotic dancer — a past she raps about on her breakout single: “I don’t dance now, I make money moves.” She then gained notoriety through viral videos on Vine and Instagram and even appeared on the VH1 reality show “Love & Hip Hop.”

“Bodak Yellow” dropped in early summer and became one of the year’s most streamed songs. Cardi B plans to release her first studio album next month; she already has put out two mix tapes.

Her unapologetic, unfiltered and outrageous presence, both on her tracks and on social media, has a down-to-earth quality that has brought her legions of fans.

Even Janet Jackson has been dancing along to “Bodak Yellow” while on tour.

Janet Jackson dancing to Cardi B's "Bodak Yellow" on her State of the World Tour. pic.twitter.com/3VEF4eVwat

— Wilnette (@wilnetteo) September 15, 2017

“It feels amazing and it’s overwhelming. It’s like, it fills me up with lot of happiness and a lot of joy,” Cardi B told the Associated Press about her song’s success. “It’s just, like, unbelievable. I’ve been through so many things and I worked so hard for me to be here, and it’s like I’m finally here getting what I wanted, [and getting] the respect from other artists and from everybody.”(washingtonpost)