Loneliness Can Be Deadly

In many different ways, but it can be helped.

The Pyramid of Luxuries

The Bespoke - $1,000 Home Cleaning Shopping Spree

The Ultra High End - $100 Ice Cream Social

The Superpremium - Rocky Road Ice Cream

The Premium Core - Baskin Robbins Gift Card

The Accessible Core - Loneliness Can Be Deadly

The Affordable Luxury - July Bespoke Prize?

The Everyday Luxury - Community Growth Update

The Bespoke

Click on the banner to enter The Bespoke Photo Contest. Click here for the Official Contest Rules.

• Prize: $1,000 Home Cleaning Shopping Spree [ARV $1,000]

• Odds: For every 130 Ducky Tran premium member by the time of judging, I will give out one (1) Shopping Spree

• Contest Period: May 29, 2024 at 10 AM CST to July 2, 2024 at 10 PM CST

The Ultra High End

Previous Contest Winner

The winner of Issue 30 Ultra High End contest is STACY from MCKINNEY, TEXAS! Here’s her submission for “what makes you think about your dad”:

Congratulations STACY, you get a $200 shopping spree at Nike.com!

Check out the other submissions:

Thank you everyone for sharing pictures of your dad and the tools that remind you of them. Dads are just the silliest people, aren’t they? You guys sent in some really embarrassing pictures of your dads, so I had to pick the most tamed ones. But that’s how we remember our goof-ball, hard-working, laid-back dads.

This Week’s Contest

Click on the banner to enter The Ultra High End Photo Contest. Click here for the Official Contest Rules.

• Prize: $100 Ice Cream Social Gift Card [ARV $100]

• Odds: For every 70 Ducky Tran premium members by the time of judging, I will give out one (1) Ice Cream Social Gift Card

• Contest Period: June 19, 2024 at 10 AM CST to June 25, 2024 at 10 PM CST

This week’s focus is social wealth and the best way to be social is to eat with friends! Today, I’m introducing my favorite type of dessert, ice cream!

You’ve never seen anyone mad eating ice cream! (Sarcasm)

The winner will get to pick their favorite ice cream parlor to receive a $100 gift card to have an ice cream social with friends. I know some of you are tempted to eat $100 of ice cream by yourself, so you’ll have to promise to send a picture with you eating ice cream with at least one other person! And no editing you in multiple poses (yes, I’ve thought of all the things I would do).

Ice cream is just the best. There are so many flavors to fit everyone’s taste, it’s easy to eat and talk, and they’re generally not super sweet (which I don’t like in most desserts). Submit, win, and take your friends out to eat ice cream!

The Superpremium

This week’s Superpremium topic is Rocky Road Ice Cream. I hope you see the theme of this week, it’s not just social wealth but also ice cream wealth. Like I mentioned before, ice cream is my favorite dessert. I don’t have a sweet tooth and eat few sweets, but chocolate and ice cream are my go-to desserts.

Today, I’ll be sharing with you my favorite ice cream flavor and why you should try it. My favorite flavor is Rocky Road.

Rocky Road is normally a chocolate-base ice cream with nuts and marshmallow. There are many variations out there. My favorite grocery store ice cream brand is Rocky Road by Tillamook. But when I go out to an ice cream shop/parlor that allows for mix-ins, I normally add brownie, sliced almonds, chopped pecans, and mini marshmallows. Now, let’s talk about why I like Rocky Road:

1. The add-ins make it stable, so it doesn’t just fall over as it’s melting.

2. I’m a fancy eater, so texture means a lot to me. The variety of textures make for a better mouth feel. A crunchy bit here, a soft mallow there, and creamy chocolate ice cream.

3. I like chocolate.

4. Sliced almonds are crunchy but don’t break your teeth.

5. Chopped pecans are one of the sweetest nuts without additives and has a softer crunch compared to almonds, giving more texture variety.

6. Every bite is different with all the add-ins, this makes it more fun.

7. I like to chew my food, just licking ice cream doesn’t satiate me the way chewing my food does.

If you agree with any of the 7 reasons why I like Rocky Road, you should try it out. If you haven’t had Rocky Road, what are you waiting for! I’ll put a poll at the bottom to find out what your favorite ice cream flavor is.

The Premium Core

That’s right, more ice cream! I’m making sure everyone has an opportunity to eat ice cream, and try out Rocky Road.

This week, I pick a place close and dear to my family. We grew up eating Baskin Robbins and some of their flavors are best in class. I like their pistachio flavor a lot more than the grocery store ones. But they also have Rocky Road, in case someone persuaded you into it.

Deal #1: I’m offering a discount on Baskin Robbins gift cards! If you go to shop.duckytran.com this week, you can get a $15 Baskin Robbins gift card for just $10! There will be 20 available since gift cards tend to go fast with you guys. If you do get some ice cream, don’t forget to invite me out. If you haven’t noticed, I like ice cream.

The Accessible Core

Loneliness Can Be Deadly

Since the COVID-19 Pandemic, social media boom, and work-from-home opportunities, there’s been a huge spike in people who report to be socially isolation or lonely. Other than the proper functioning of society, the condition of being lonely can actually lead to early mortality.

In this 2023 nature human behaviour research article, researchers reviewed various research studies on how social isolation (SI), loneliness, and mortality is related. Through the 90 studies that were reviewed, the researchers made 4 conclusions:

1. SI and loneliness cause our stress hormone, cortisol, to release. High levels of cortisol activation have been linked with risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

2. SI and loneliness were associated with negative mental health outcomes later in life. This is associated with cognitive decline and depression.

3. SI and loneliness often were associated with harmful behaviors such as smoking, alcohol drinking, unhealthy diets, less exercise, and not adhering to prescription medications.

4. SI individuals were less likely to receive emergency and routine medical care.

These 4 conclusions show why SI and loneliness has a positive association with early death by CVD, cognitive decline and depression, unhealthy lifestyle, and not receiving medical care.

Many times, people that are SI or lonely cannot identify or do not realize they are in this state and the effects it may cause. It may be up to you to get them out of the state they are in, so they can see the green grass on the other side. Be a friend, reach out to someone you may feel is isolation themselves or may be in a situation that makes them want to isolate themselves.

Remember, if you build your support group today, one day they may be the friend to help you out in the future. Let’s build the positive change we want to see.

The Affordable Luxury

Issue 30 Community Poll Results

This last week’s poll results:

1. It was a 50/50 split between members that have used online dating apps and those that haven’t. It looks like our community falls in like with the generally population. In 2024, 40-50% of adults say they have used or is currently using online dating as a way to meet people.

2. Everyone voted Tinder or Bumble as the most common dating app, and you are correct! In 2023, 76% of online dating app users said they used these at least one of these services.

3. The generally consensus about online dating from the members is that it is generally hard to build strong relationships since many sites are built around how well you build your profile, not your personality. However, for some it may the only or the better option to meet others like them. And statistically, couples have found love and long-term relationships online. They have a higher chance of breaking up/divorcing; however, that may be attributed to generational dating norms and not just online dating factors, since many of these people meet in person before getting married.

This Week’s Community Poll

Here are this week’s poll questions:

The Everyday Luxury

(The referral program is only viewable on the email version of the newsletter.)

Update on community growth:

The goal of Ducky Tran was to be able to educate, entertain, and connect young adults and parents through articles that were thought-provoking and could become table topics between friends and family. The community has grown slowly and has seen less traction lately. This is expected a newsletter with no commercial advertising or sponsorship is not expected to grow like the ones that do have them; however, I am confident that concept will still perform well with the proper group and exposure.

Ducky Tran will be launching high school fundraisers in the upcoming 2024-2025 academic school year. This is the next big plan to grow the community, support high school senior class, and share the content with a broader audience.

My goals are lofty and uncommon in this newsletter space, so I hope to retain support for the current members to help me spread the word. I will try my best to provide quality newsletters and updated content so it will be easier for Ducky Tran to grow in the upcoming months. Thank you!

Visit shop.duckytran.com with the weekly password: icecream