...

Understanding Catholicism.

This - "Many introverts feel there’s something wrong with them, and try to pass as extroverts. But whenever you try to pass as something you’re not, you lose a part of yourself along the way."

In fact, damn near all this.  More at the link.

The Power of Introverts: A Manifesto for Quiet Brilliance | LiveScience:

"Introverts prefer quiet, minimally stimulating environments, while extroverts need higher levels of stimulation to feel their best. Stimulation comes in all forms – social stimulation, but also lights, noise, and so on... So an introvert is more likely to enjoy a quiet glass of wine with a close friend than a loud, raucous party full of strangers.

It’s also important to understand that introversion is different from shyness. Shyness is the fear of negative judgment, while introversion is simply the preference for less stimulation. Shyness is inherently uncomfortable; introversion is not. The traits do overlap, though psychologists debate to what degree.

Cook: You argue that our culture has an extroversion bias. Can you explain what you mean?

Cain: In our society, the ideal self is bold, gregarious, and comfortable in the spotlight. We like to think that we value individuality, but mostly we admire the type of individual who’s comfortable “putting himself out there.” Our schools, workplaces, and religious institutions are designed for extroverts. Introverts are to extroverts what American women were to men in the 1950s -- second-class citizens with gigantic amounts of untapped talent...

Cook: How does this cultural inclination affect introverts?

Cain: Many introverts feel there’s something wrong with them, and try to pass as extroverts. But whenever you try to pass as something you’re not, you lose a part of yourself along the way. You especially lose a sense of how to spend your time. Introverts are constantly going to parties and such when they’d really prefer to be home reading, studying, inventing, meditating, designing, thinking, cooking…or any number of other quiet and worthwhile activities.

According to the latest research, one third to one half of us are introverts – that’s one out of every two or three people you know. But you’d never guess that, right? That’s because introverts learn from an early age to act like pretend-extroverts.

Cook: Is this just a problem for introverts, or do you feel it hurts the country as a whole?

Cain: It’s never a good idea to organize society in a way that depletes the energy of half the population...

Cook: Are you an introvert?

Cain: Yes. People sometimes seem surprised when I say this, because I’m a pretty friendly person. This is one of the greatest misconceptions about introversion. We are not anti-social; we’re differently social. I can’t live without my family and close friends, but I also crave solitude. I feel incredibly lucky that my work as a writer affords me hours a day alone with my laptop. I also have a lot of other introvert characteristics, like thinking before I speak, disliking conflict, and concentrating easily.

Introversion has its annoying qualities, too, of course. For example, I’ve never given a speech without being terrified first, even though I’ve given many. (Some introverts are perfectly comfortable with public speaking, but stage fright afflicts us in disproportionate numbers...)"

Training.

1/27 - tricep kickbacks 6x6, bent over rows 6x6, wrist curls 3x15, 12m footwork/calisthenics
1/26 - AM - dips 6x6, shoulder side swings 6x6, superset drag curls/inc db curls 4x8, 12m footwork drills

PM - PruFit - 3 rounds - sledghammer tire swings, sandbag lunges, tire flips, db press - chins/close grip pullups/finisher

Vince Gironda, the classic old-school bodybuilding physique - Aspirational Motivation 101.

"Moriarty Was Real: I Believe In Sherlock Holmes."

Pretty cool, geektastically speaking.
[And only really makes sense if you've caught the second series of the show.  Which was *excellent.*]

Via New Sherlock Viral? Or Something Geekier? | Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movies and TV News and Rumors

Truth.

Training.

1/25 - AM - glute activation, supine hip raise + bird dog - goblet squats 3x20, superset calf raise + bent over calf raise 3x20 - 2x2m rounds heavy bag, 3x2m rounds shadowboxing
PM - chins [max rep] 19 - 3 rounds/metabolic pairs - sledgehammer/jump rope - sledgehammer/med ball slams - med ball slams/jump rope
1/24 - tricep rope pulldown 6x6, lat pulldown 6x6, rv curls 4x15, 12m shadowboxing

True Story.

"Yes, this is tech support..."

Childhood, in retrospect.

"Sh*t Comic Book Nerds Say."

Yep.

Reading - a bit over a year's worth of books...

The 'reading/what I've read' posts on the blog continues to be an albatross of sorts.  Been over a year since I've done a post - see here - of books I've read, when the original idea was 'read a book/write a quick review' and move on to the next.  Complicated by two things I think... first is I tend to read a handful of tomes at the same time, so when I wrap up one I'd much rather keep reading the others than write anything up.  The other reason is, much as the overall tone/raison d'etre of this slice of the internet has changed over the years, it doesn't feel quite as pertinent to... well, whatever.

First started throwing things up on the blog so when I first moved to Japan folks could see what was going on, the wife [before she joined me] and family could check out the apartment and and how life was progressing.  Or when the geo-bachelor thing was happening a couple years ago it was a pseudo-connection of showing what TV I was watching/what I was reading/what daily life was life as some sort of bridge to the wife I wasn't around everyday...

Now, what with the advent of Facebook and Picasa Photo Albums and no longer living alone and all the other ways to stay connected in the early 21st... things change.  Now the blog serves as more of way to hold myself accountable [diet, exercise, tech/life balance] and a place to vent about all the shit that makes me crazy in the world.  The latter useful in that it hopefully curbs the desire to steal a sniper rifle at some point and find the nearest clock tower...

[Like I joked - hopefully - at a get together a few weeks ago, if I do lose my shit, no one can say it came out of nowhere.  I'll never be described as the "quiet, nondescript, good neighbor" who one day, out of the blue, goes nuts.  Not by anyone who frequents the blog, anyways.  My damage is clear and way out there for anybody to read.]

Regardless, to the best of my recollection, over the last year [Dec 10 to end of Dec 11] every time I finished up a book I jotted down the title, at least.  Lot of fiction this year, as more than a bit was read sitting bedside and at the hospital over the summer.  Books of depth and requiring a great deal of thought didn't often make the cut.  Anyways, all the stuff I remembered to write down, and brief commentary where I feel particularly verbose, after the jump... [click through if you're reading from the main page]

CDC comprised of puritanical idiots, apparently.

What will it take to get these jackasses to go on a vacation out of our fucking lives?  Nothing more annoying than people who think they've a right to save you from yourself, and know exactly what you need to do to make that happen.

More at the link...

CDC: If You Drink Enough to Enjoy It, You've Had Too Much - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine:

"...According to the CDC, this scientific evidence conclusively demonstrates that you should never consume more than three or four drinks (depending on your sex), even if you refrain from driving, stay away from chainsaws and forklifts, avoid bar fights, and carry a condom—or even if your entire "binge" occurs within the confines of your home.

Perhaps anticipating that many of her readers will disagree with the CDC, Parker-Pope claims binge drinkers consume "an average of eight alcoholic beverages within a few hours," which is pretty impressive but not actually true. First, as noted, the length of an "occasion" is left to the respondent's interpretation; it could be "a few hours," but it might be five or six, or an entire Saturday. Second, the number Parker-Pope cites is actually the average for "the largest number of drinks [respondents] had on any occasion in the preceding 30 days" (emphasis added). In other words, it is atypical, by definition, for any given individual..."

Aldous Huxley speaks wise - "The people who make wars... are never the publicans and the sinners..."

Nothing scarier or more dangerous than the ones certain they are doing the right thing in the name of whatever their pure and just cause is.

Via Liberty For All » Blog Archive » People who make wars:

"“The people who make wars, the people who reduce their fellows to slavery, the people who kill and torture and tell lies in the name of their sacred causes, the really evil people in a word - these are never the publicans and the sinners. No, they’re the virtuous, respectable men, who have the finest feelings, the best brains, the noblest ideals.”" - Aldous Huxley

Not entirely incorrect.

Strikes me as very taoist, keeping in mind I've got a piss poor understanding of the tao.  Maybe more zen, then.  Or zen-ish, at least.

You've got to be of a certain era and inclination to even get this.

Awesome.

*Hint*

Training.

1/23 - AM - wg neck press 6x6, lateral raise 6x8, drag curl/inc db curl superset 4x8, 12m footwork - PM - PruFit - sandbag complex, 5 rounds, clean/squat/press/row/high pull + calisthenics
1/22 - deadlifts 3x20, standing calf raises 3x20, seated calf raises 2x20, donkey calf raises x20, 12m footwork/defense/movement

NO. EXCUSES.

"The world is like a ride at an amusement park..."

"The world is like a ride at an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it, you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills, and it's very brightly coloured, and it's very loud and it's fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they begin to question - is this real, or is this just a ride? And other people have remembered, and they come back to us. They say 'Hey! Don't worry, don't be afraid, ever, because, this is just a ride.' 

And we...  kill those people. 

Ha ha ha. 

'Shut him up! 

We have a lot invested in this ride. SHUT HIM UP! Look at my furrows of worry. Look at my big bank account and family. This just has to be real.' 

But it's just a ride. And we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok. 

But it doesn't matter because:  it's just a ride. 

And we can change it anytime we want. 

It's only a choice. 

No effort, no work, no job, no savings, and money. A choice, right now, between fear and love. 

The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourselves off. The eyes of love, instead, see all of us as one. 

Here's what you can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money that we spend on weapons and defense each year, and instead spend it feeding, clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace." - Bill Hicks

Cooking/Food Log.

Relatively clean, 6 days... a diet soda in there and some starchy carbs/white rice at a dinner party.  Once again, food prep early in the week - roasting a couple chickens and an baking an egg, bacon & cheese dish - keeps impulse snacking at bay with ready and easily accessible foods.

Also washing and chopping a bunch of veg early in the week makes it easy to throw together food for the Mrs.

Free/carb up day - quesadillas & guac, chips, beer, some whiskey & coke, fried chicken and fries...  the standout food was actually paleo, strictly speaking.  Bacon wrapped dates, a recipe I saw and wanted to try out and cooked up for a Game of Thrones get together we had at the apt.  Damned good, if I do say so myself.

"What business is it of yours..."

This.  All day, every day.  Always.
And that's direct physical harm, mind you.  
Your hurt feelings or vague sense of unease or worry "for the children" does not equal 
my. 
fucking. 
problem.

Tweaking the "Weekend Luddite" - Ongoing.

Work in progress balancing my time online and off, detailed here.

Two weeks in, varying degrees of daily compliance, though on balance, more successful than not.  More focused, feeling like I'm getting more accomplished during the day.

Minor tweak, based on two weeks real world application...

*No Internet Monday through Saturday from 0700-1300.*