Coffee With Tanya #33
Talking about: why clocks smile at 10:10, surprising population facts, intentional living, the origins of knocking on wood, cold remedies that work, and November in history.
Hello, coffee lovers! ☕✨
November always feels like the world is exhaling.... Close your eyes for a second and imagine it...
It's a quiet shift between “almost winter” and “still pretending it’s fall.” Here in Tel Aviv, the weather can’t make up its mind, but my curiosity absolutely can.
This month, it wandered everywhere: from the secrets behind clocks, to cold remedies that actually work, to a reminder that we’re all the CEOs of our own lives.
So brew your cup, settle in, and let’s explore together.
Here’s what’s on this month’s menu:
- Time - Why every clock in ads is stuck at 10:10 ⏰
- World - Surprising facts about the global population 🌍
- Mindset - Becoming the CEO of your life 👑
- Culture - Why people still knock on wood 🌳
- Health - Cold remedies that actually help ❄️💛
- Word Bites - Tsundoku 🔡
- November in History 🌎
“Thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge.” - Carl Jung
Why All Clocks Smile at 10:10 ⏰
Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.
Open any watch catalog, billboard, or commercial and you’ll notice:
10:10. Every. Single. Time.
This wasn’t a cosmic coincidence; it was a design decision.
Marketers discovered that positioning the clock hands at 10 and 2 creates:
- a perfect visual “smile”
- clean symmetry (our brains love symmetry)
- and the ideal frame around the brand’s logo
In older ads, clocks were often set to 8:20, the upside-down, until someone realized: “Hey… maybe our products shouldn’t look depressed.”
And just like that, time started smiling back at us 😄.
Michael Nordine
Surprising Facts About World’s Population 🌍
This month, I found myself deep in a world-population rabbit hole, the kind that makes you blink twice and rethink everything.
Here are a few favorites:
- Half of the world is under the age of 30.
- India has officially overtaken China as the most populated country.
- China is estimated to currently have 1.41 billion people living in the country, while India just surpassed it with an estimated 1.47 billion residents.
- For every person alive today, more than 15 people have lived before us.
- The most common birthday on Earth? September 9.
- Tokyo is still the largest metro area, with over 37 million people.
We talk a lot about our small bubbles…
But we’re part of something overwhelmingly big.
Somehow, the numbers made me feel both tiny and connected.
Interesting Facts
Become the CEO of Your Life 👑
Inspired by Tracee Ellis Ross on Emma Grede’s Aspire podcast (yes, go listen).
This conversation was a warm cup of honesty.
Tracee talks about intentionality, ambition, self-love, independence, and that quiet, steady power women grow into over the years.
A few gems that got my attention:
- Clarity is a form of leadership. Know what you want and speak it clearly.
- Manifestation isn’t magic; it’s direction. Visualize, but stay open to surprise.
- Your dreams don’t need public approval. Privacy is power.
- SUper believe in this one!!
- Aging is a gift. More wisdom, fewer excuses.
- Be the CEO of your life. Choose your team, trust your instincts, stay accountable.
It’s the kind of episode you pause three times just to let a sentence land.
Why People Knock on Wood 🌳
This one also caught my attention last week.
Knocking on wood dates back thousands of years, when people believed spirits lived inside trees. 👻🌳
Tapping the trunk was a way to:
- call on the good spirits for protection
- avoid tempting fate
- or quietly ask the universe to go easy on you
What I love is the metaphor:
We knock on wood when something matters to us.
It's a tiny ritual of hope.
Because sometimes we need a physical gesture for the intangible.
https://www.history.com/articles/why-do-people-knock-on-wood-for-luck
Cold Remedies That Actually Work ❄️💛
Every winter, our bodies send gentle reminders that we’re human, a tickle in the throat, that heavy-headed feeling, the sudden need for blankets even when it’s still warm outside.
And while Tel Aviv likes to confuse us with its pretend winters, our immune systems know better.
So here are the remedies that help, backed by research and a little family wisdom:
- Honey - nature’s cough syrup (and yes, studies show it’s as effective as the over-the-counter stuff) 🍯.
- Chicken soup - anti-inflammatory, soothing, and my personal favorite. I still make it using my mom’s recipe - chicken, fresh vegetables (onion, carrot, parsley root, coriander and dill leaves), slow simmer, pure comfort. The kind of soup that feels like someone handing you a warm blanket 🍗🥕🧅.
- Ginger + lemon - the bright, sharp duo that wakes your system up 🫚🍋.
- Saltwater gargle - the old-school trick that works embarrassingly well 🧂.
- Humidifiers - tiny cloud machines that rescue your sinuses 💨.
And the truth we tend to resist:
Rest is a remedy, not a luxury.
Your body heals when you let it slow down.
Cynthia Barnes
Word Bites 📚🌟
Tsundoku (Japanese)
The habit of buying books… and letting them pile up.
Not unread - just waiting.
Silent promises of future worlds.
I love that this word exists, because it treats unread books not as guilt,
but as optimism.
November in History 🌍
November always brings its own quiet milestones:
- November 1, 1512 - Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling opens to the public 🎨
- November 8, 1895 - X-rays are discovered. Wilhelm Röntgen accidentally captures the first X-ray image and changes medicine forever. ☢️
- November 9, 1989 - The Berlin Wall falls, changing Europe forever 🧱
- November 22, 1963 - The day President John F. Kennedy is assassinated 🇺🇸
- November 24, 1859 - Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species
A book that shifts science, philosophy, and how we understand life itself. 📘🧬
Recommendations 🌟
- 🎧 Podcast - ״Even the Rich״
Our lives can be crazy, but you can take a break from it all with Wondery’s new series, Even the Rich, where co-hosts Brooke Siffrinn and Aricia Skidmore-Williams pull back the curtain and chat about someone else’s craziness for a change. They tell stories about some of the greatest family dynasties in history, from the Murdochs to the Royals to the Carters (Jay-Z and Beyoncé, that is). Because as Queen Elizabeth once said, “A good gossip is a wonderful tonic.” - 🎬 TV Show - ״All Her Fault״ by Peacock
Marissa Irvine arrives at 1800 Crescent Hollow Road to pick up her son Milo from a play date, but the woman who answers doesn't have Milo, sparking a parent's nightmare. A twisty psychological thriller with just enough mystery to keep you awake longer than you planned. - 📨 Newsletter - "Tom’s Marketing Ideas"
Short, bold, and genuinely helpful. Perfect for sparking creativity.
Wrap-Up
That’s all for this month.
As November slows down and the year prepares to wrap itself in memory, I’m holding onto the small things - the smile of a clock, the warmth of soup, the courage to lead your own life.
You can find me writing about Product management in other blog velonova and Linkedin, running my business at velonova.io, rating movies/TV shows on IMDB, or making playlists on Spotify.
You made it all the way here.... thank you for sharing this coffee with me ☕❤️.
If there’s a topic you’d like me to dive into next, just send it my way.
Ciao!
- Tanya
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