How It Feels to Run 50 Miles on Two Tabs of Acid, Zoning Out in ‘The Zone’ and the Animals Who Insist on Swapping Sides in Bed

I had a friend (you know who you are) who used to smoke a “grip” of weed, to use the parlance of the time, before jumping in the pool and swimming 10,000 yards (or the equivalent of about five and a half miles). During one such workout — completely zoned out, and stoned — he found himself swimming to the bottom of the pool, having momentarily lost his sense of depth, and it freaked him out.

That, was just weed.

So, to drop a bunch of acid — before setting out on a 50-mile run, at friggin dawn with the sun coming up — is certainly going to result in what experts might describe as an “experience.” But after reading about a guy who did exactly that, I didn’t realize just how life-changing it could get.

Must Read

“I Ran An Ultramarathon Tripping Balls on LSD”
Luke Simon Drake had never done psychedelic drugs in his life, but then a friend at work said it was on his bucket list. Drake’s own bucket list included running an ultramarathon, and soon enough, the two ideas merged in his mind, and he couldn’t get them out. After ordering the LSD, testing the stuff first with his friend Max and taking a half dose on a trial run, Drake was ready for the main event. So, at dawn, with two tabs of acid down the hatch, he stood at the starting line of a 50-mile ultramarathon. And that, as they say, is when things got weird. READ MORE

Zoned Out

Have you ever noticed that, when you’re in “The Zone,” you might find yourself making weird noises or making a strange face, a la Kobe Bryant sucking on his jersey? Chris Bourn has, specifically while hearing his kids speaking in tongues in the midst of a tense game of Monopoly. So what’s going on here? Why should deep focus result in shallow nonsense? Experts say it’s all about “flow.”

Don’t Hate the Model, Hate the ’Gram

Now that the phenomenon of Instagram-based fame and money-making has captured the attention of mainstream audiences, tangible scorn (and if we’re honest, jealousy) for people who leverage Instagram for social and professional gain is permeating pop culture. And by people, we mean women.

The McCain Defense

In case you weren’t aware, Meghan McCain had herself a Twitter moment in defense of her roundtable talk show, The View, on Monday:

Now, did McCain’s response to Denise McAllister, a reactionary columnist who thinks trans people using public restrooms is the greatest crisis in America, qualify as a “clapback,” as McCain hoped? No, actually, if anything, McCain should probably be embarrassed.

Upset the Apple Card

Also on Monday, Apple announced plans to begin distributing a branded credit card, in partnership with bankers Goldman Sachs, and immediately people had questions about how their offering stacked up against established awards cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Unfortunately, the answer is that it doesn’t stack up very well at all… but damn if it isn’t heavy!

Last One Out is a Rotten Egg

Career inertia is often why people who normally have a good sense about them fail to see the warning signs when it comes to knowing when their company is a sinking ship — and sinking fast. What those people should be doing is looking for a new job, stat, because the last thing you want to have is your failing company hanging around your resume’s neck like an albatross. Andrew Fiouzi spoke to a career advice expert for TopResume about how to keep the stink off of you as you search for a new job.

Live, Love, Laugh

Laughter therapy involves forcing yourself to laugh, in order to experience the physical and mental benefits associated with spontaneous laughter. Anecdotally, laugh therapy can relieve stress, calm depression and even harden abdominal muscles.

But can it really do what it says it does? Well, recent research suggests it can be a powerful tool in the fight against depression. Just don’t expect it to also cure the awkwardness of actually forcing yourself to laugh.

These People are Animals

People in a relationship generally pick a side of the bed and stick with it, often forever. This behavior, my friends, is a page out of the universal human handbook, much like the way we decide from an early age to stand or sit when wiping our asses.

So you can only imagine the perverted barbarism that goes into NOT picking a side, and instead, flip-flopping according to however the mood strikes you. Who are these monsters?

What’s weird is, this brave soul who admitted to violating everything we know and hold dear, isn’t alone — more than a few people came to his defense. And, according to a registered nurse and sleep expert, there’s method to the madness.

I See a Promotion in Your Future…

Briefcase? $150.
Fountain pen? $50.
Power suit? $3,000.

Hiring a tarot-card reader on retainer to help you perform better at work? Priceless.

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Jeff Gross

Jeff Gross is MEL’s senior editor for social media and content marketing. His daily ICYMI column, which chronicles all things meta on the site, is the quickest way to catch up on MEL, and the funniest thing you’ll read all day. Follow him on Twitter.