u/MisterLaoDeng

My 10-year old daughter and I have recently gotten into watching Columbo episodes, and she loves them! It's been a very fun activity for the two of us to do together. But concurrently, she also will be applying soon to an arts-based middle school where they require a short acting audition in the form of a 1-2 minute monologue. Most kids will surely choose one of the sample ones on the school's website (Willy Wonka kids, A Little Princess, etc.), but I thought my daughter could really stand out if she used a Columbo confession instead (which surely NO other kid will use haha). She loves the idea, too!

My question to you all is -- what would be a good one for this purpose? Preferably something campy and fun, and preferably by a female killer (though not strictly required). Any help with this would be greatly appreciated!

I would like to go to the gym more and get fit, but whenever I get into the habit, I get cystic acne in my private parts area (I am a man) after a few weeks/months and it's very frustrating. This occurs because running on the treadmill specifically causes me to sweat like crazy. The doctor said to take a shower immediately after running and to apply something akin to diaper cream on the affected area afterwards, but I am wondering if anyone here has run into a similar problem and has advice. I am open to advice in general, but I am specifically curious about what types of clothing to wear at the gym to avoid such problems. Does it make sense to wear loose-fitting undergarments like boxers while running, for instance? Or is that silly? Does anyone have experience with products specifically designed to absorb sweat down there, or any recommendations for what brands to purchase?

I've been caffeine free for about a month, but I'm questioning whether it's a good decision or not, mostly because I have yet to really recover my normal energy levels. I'm just so SLEEPY so much of the time, and it's starting to cramp my lifestyle. Today, for instance, I went to see a movie in the theater that I love and was really looking forward to, but I just fell asleep in the middle of the movie, and I often find myself taking unplanned naps in the afternoon too. It's hard to shake this sluggish feeling I have a lot of the time, and I'm wondering if it's even worth it.

For context, I've been a daily coffee drinker since adolescence (currently 44M) and usually had about one French press' worth of coffee every morning (I think it's about 34 oz.). My doctor had recently diagnosed me with hypertension, so I figured I should cut back on caffeine because of that, but then I heard that my ex-wife had gone several years with no caffeine, so I honestly decided to quit completely just to prove that I had as much self-control as she does haha. (I know, perhaps not the most mature motivation). But I did not quit cold turkey -- first I cut my daily amount of coffee in half, and then I started mixing decaf and regular coffee beans for a few weeks while slowly increasing the proportion of decaf beans. So I thought I was going about everything in the right way, but I am still sluggish all the time.

So although I realize that the audience here may be biased, I wonder: will I recover my normal energy levels soon? (Also, for context, my sleep is fine, usually 7-8 hours/night). Is it even worth it to completely cut out caffeine vs. just cutting down to one small cup of coffee a day? Are there tricks to be more alert and have more energy? I'm just questioning this whole pursuit right now.