Best memoirs according to redditors
We found 5,451 Reddit comments discussing the best memoirs. We ranked the 1,954 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 5,451 Reddit comments discussing the best memoirs. We ranked the 1,954 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
Book link for the lazy.
Sorry, I don't have any questions. I don't know much about you or what you do. But, hi! Thanks for doing an AMA and have a fantastic day!
Fine, that's kind of a cop out. Uhhh, what slightly greedy thing do you do most often?
There's also a book - "I am Nujood, age 10 and divorced." It's a hard read, but eye opening. Almost as good as Kristof's "Half the sky." Almost.
http://www.amazon.com/Am-Nujood-Age-10-Divorced/dp/0307589676
http://www.amazon.com/Half-Sky-Oppression-Opportunity-Worldwide/dp/0307387097
Here's my list of the classics:
General Computing
Computer Science
Software Development
Case Studies
Employment
Language-Specific
C
Python
C#
C++
Java
Linux Shell Scripts
Web Development
Ruby and Rails
Assembly
What really surprises me is, well, how women view men. Whenever /r/askmen has threads asking the woman subscribers what they've learned, "that men have feelings/insecurities" is always a popular post. It's great to hear that they've learned that, but kind of worrisome to know that they had to learn it.
To quote from your /r/askwomen thread:
>That people are people, and men aren't these mysterious mystical terrifying powerful unfeeling creatures... they are human beings and not that different from me.
Which sounds beautiful until you realize that was the surprise. Here's what she actually thought about men:
>For a long time, I thought men were immune to that... that they didn't ever feel anything or care about people or women, and never were insecure or worried or anything like that.
I don't mean to pick on /r/AskWomen or that particular user. It's just one example of a common opinion about men. It also bothered me when reading about Self-Made Man. Norah Vincent says that she thought living as a man would be all about power, privilege, and freedom. So shocked was she that this wasn't the case she ended up in group therapy and ultimately cut the experiment short. Along with "men can feel sad too", she also had other revelations, such as "husbands love their wives". Thanks for the insights, Norah. I have always felt that the reason the author had so many difficulties and "revelations" during her experiance living as a man is that she went in with so much prejudice and so little empathy.
Apart from a few aspects of menstruation, nothing I read in /r/askwomen was a surprise. I certainly disagree with much of what is said there, to the point of being an ass, but disagreeing has never prevented me from seeing their perspective. The biggest surprise about women over the past year has been about how they view men.
I never realized how alien I was to women. It's scary and disheartening, and I'm hugely appreciative to the women in my life that treat me like a human being after discovering so many assumed I was an unfeeling robot with a sex-drive. At the same time, it's made me hugely distrustful and unwilling to open up to them, emotionally. And as such I end up perpetuating the myth.
> I think I get just as much rejection as a guy would get
Doubtful. In Self Made Man, a woman lives a year undercover as a man. It's a really enlightening story, but one of the biggest realizations she comes away with is the massive amount of rejection men face. It blew her mind doing speed dating and things like that, being perceived as a loser and/or predator before even having a chance to open her mouth.
If you have approached 50+ men in a row and been laughed at, scorned, or ignored by every single one of them, you'll start to understand what it's like for many guys.
I'm really good at approaching women now, but it's because I spent decades trying and failing. I remember the first time I tried to cold approach a woman in a bar (she wasn't even all that attractive, I just thought she looked nice enough for me to get over my anxiety):
I walk up to her and her two female friends, timing it so that I don't just interrupt what they are doing but find a natural break in their interaction. Then I moved up close to her and said "hi, I'm /u/autopornbot."
She looked at me like I had just shat on her new rug and said "So?" and looked at me with such disgust that I couldn't speak. I just turned and walked away.
I had friends who simultaneously encouraged me to keep trying, and made fun of me for not wanting to. So over the years I kept trying. And for years, the most I ever got from a woman was a polite brush off. And this was when I was young (18-22) and in great shape, pretty good looking - I was told by women that I knew as a part of my friend circle that I was good looking and dressed well and a lot of them liked me - I had girlfriends, but they were all women I had met through work or through friends, so we knew one another for some time first and I never had to come up and introduce myself or anything.
Most of the guys I know have had the same experience. Most guys rarely ever go talk to a woman they don't know, because the fear of being seen as a creep are too high. Nowadays, I know how to walk up to an attractive women and strike up a conversation, and a lot of times it actually goes well. Doing this around most men will absolutely blow their mind. Simply walking up to a woman and talking to her for a couple of minutes is so far out of the realm of experience for most guys, that they act as if I have magical powers.
But that ability only came after suffering through hundreds of failures.
You are right, though. Women rarely do this. Of course the few that do don't land every hot guy they approach. But women are far more gifted socially than men, so they are a lot better to begin with, and most men are so happy to have any woman acknowledge their existence that attraction or no, they are pretty receptive to at least talking - though admittedly there are exceptions.
But do keep it up. Just having a woman come up and talk to us can make our entire week, even if it goes nowhere at all. And it's a really difficult thing to do - especially in a bar or similar environments where there is pressure to act really cool. It's far easier in friendly, daytime events and casual environments.
She has written a book on her experience I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced.
moderately relevant - The Motivation Game
edit: Thanks to both /u/jagsnflpwns and /u/Meriog - link to the book by Allie Brosh called "Hyperbole and a Half"
/u/KaleHavoc mentions the Piraha, which I'll expand on a little. They're not religious in the sense that they believe in god or the devil or have ritual. They don't have a creation myth, they don't have churches, and they have no worship. They do, however, have superstitions, so to speak, and believe that spirits walk among them.
The curious thing about the spirits though is that it appears to be a group delusion that everyone knows about, but maybe pretends isn't real.
Dan Everett has a very interesting book about them called "Don't Sleep, There are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle." In one story he relates how the village hears a "spirit" calling from the woods over the course of several days. He identifies the source as one of the villagers, but when asked, the villager flat out denies that it was him.
In another story, a large group of villagers claims to see a spirit on the opposite side of the river from where Everett and the villagers are. Everett can't see the spirit, but everyone agrees that it's visible.
The Piraha are also known (or at least, Everett believes) as having one of the world's completely unique languages. The language is missing tenses in the way we think of them, and has no memory generally beyond the lifetime of those currently alive.
I'd really recommend the book. It's quite interesting.
Try Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land. It offers a really interesting look at human culture from an outside perspective.
If anyone wants to reach through the interwebs and give her a hug, why not pre-order her book?
Only 13 bucks, and Prime eligible! And they'll deliver it to you as soon as it comes out, so you will be the cool kid who has it first.
Go order it now. I'll wait here in this thread.
Wolfenstein 3D was written mostly in C, with some assembly, presumably hacks to make the game run faster.
You should read Masters of Doom, it gives a very non-technical(but technical) perspective of how some of these early 3d shooters (wolfenstein 3d, doom, quake) were made.
These guys were revered not just for the games they created, but the ways they could seemingly crush and optimize code to be as efficient as humanly possible. For example, Carmack popularized a use of the Fast inverse square root function as one of the ways to quickly render and maximize performance of lights and shadows across 3d models. One story from the book I mentioned recounts how he was able to recreate a fast, efficient version of Super Mario Bros on PC. This revolutionized side scrolling graphics on PC, because it basically didn't exist in a form fast or smooth enough to make game development viable until that point.
P.S. If you're really interested in this stuff, instead of a "quick google", you should maybe try a "slow google". Tortoises vs. hares. That kind of thing. :P
Or, if you hate free things, consider buying her book (which is mostly comprised of content from her site, but is still great).
If you're interested to learn more about the people behind Doom, I highly recommend Masters of Doom. It's by far one of my favorite non-fiction books.
Anything written about Daikatana at this point feels like beating a dead horse. Do we really have to kick Romero over this anymore?
If you want to get what I would consider to be the best summary of this and how it all came around Kushner's book Masters of Doom does a pretty good job of it.
http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155
Reading books like Hillbilly Elegy and Between the World and Me back-to-back suggests that kind of defensive thinking is pretty universal.
"Getting too big for your britches" among poor white folks is pretty similar to the pressure to "keep it real" among poor black folks. Crabs in a bucket, basically.
Actually, no, your sample size is small, and thus, prone to aberration.
Many dudes have less than 10% success rate. I think an attractive, assertive woman should have higher than that, but whatevz. The thing you might not grok yet is that when you're putting yourself out there, you're gonna get shot down. Women typically don't understand how much rejection men get, and how often, and how much we have to overcome it. If you're curious about the dynamic reversal, check this book out:
https://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Womans-Year-Disguised/dp/0143038702
http://www.salon.com/2006/01/20/vincent_2/
This is a discussion, and criticism is a part of that, however, I went through art school, and work in an artistic career, and a crucial tool in learning how to make "better" art is getting and giving detailed critiques that offer explanations for WHY something is failing or succeeding, instead of just stating that it is good or bad.
So, for instance:
> massive dip in quality.
What do you mean by this? My guess is that you don't exactly mean quality as in it being poorly written, acted, structured, etc, but that you aren't laughing, so something is wrong with the humor. Something about the writing isn't making you laugh.
So, let's try to pin down what it is that you used to like about the show.
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As a total aside, if you've never read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", it's kind of related to this topic. It takes deep, perhaps overly so, dives into what we mean when we discuss the idea of "quality", and how it relates to all of our experiences, from relationships and love to machines and consumer products.
Quote from it:
> “The test of the machine is the satisfaction it gives you. There isn't any other test. If the machine produces tranquility, it's right. If it disturbs you, it's wrong until either the machine or your mind is changed.”
Read “confessions of an economic hitman”
The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man https://www.amazon.com/dp/1626566747/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_suAuDb31HGYN9
If you get the chance, I'd also recommend picking up the graphic novel My Friend Dhamer and giving that a read. Supposedly the author who created it actually went to high school with Dahmer before he became a full blown serial killer.
What's the book called, and by who? I need it! I had a quick search but nothing, info please :))** never mind I found it, link for anyone else (blog) .... and book
Norah Vincent interview for anyone who's curious. Skip to 9:25 if it doesn't do so automatically. The interview was about her experiences while writing "Self Made Man".
Starship Troopers and Stranger in a Strange Land, both by Robert Heinlein; both amazing reads. "Stranger" being possibly on of the greatest Sci-fi novels ever written.
For anyone that does read The Art of Invisibility I would also recommend reading Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World’s Most Wanted Hacker
It’s honestly a good read.
also, Persepolis
In no order:
The Gunslinger
Stranger In A Strange Land
Siddhartha
Ender’s Game
East of Eden
The Stranger
Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms
(edit: the rest of the title: Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened)
It can't be because her book didn't sell well. Her book was amazing.
Everybody should buy a copy.
http://www.amazon.ca/Hyperbole-Half-Unfortunate-Situations-Mechanisms/dp/1451666179/ref=sr_1_1?s=books
http://smile.amazon.com/Hyperbole-Half-Unfortunate-Situations-Mechanisms-ebook/dp/B00BSB2AE4/ref=sr_1_1?s=books
"What Do You Care What Other People Think?": Further Adventures of a Curious Character
http://www.amazon.com/What-Care-Other-People-Think/dp/0393320928/
In no particular order:
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions - Edwin A. Abbott
Everyone should understand that crazy people aren't always crazy. This book explains that (while skewering certain social mores the author considered wrong-headed). Oh, and it's free. Edit: and it's about a two-dimensional shape being introduced to the third dimension. It makes you think a bit. :)
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
This book blew me away. There are a lot of alien encounter books out there, but this one describes things that seem truly different. It's worth reading just to get a sense of something "other". A fun book, it's great for coffee breaks and such.
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
If you haven't read this then, well... go read it. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone, no matter their preferred genre of literature. While it is technically science fiction, It's more of an examination of philosophy and religion. Perhaps human nature as well. Bonus: after reading, you will understand (and/or find annoying) people who say "grok".
The Complete Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
It took me ages to finally get around to reading these books/stories. After I read the first story though, I was hooked. Holmes has a style, wit and drug addiction that makes him a completely compelling character. I mean, how can you dislike someone who says "On the contrary, it would prevent me from taking a second dose of cocaine." and then proceeds to solve a crime, beat the crap out of someone, and play violin nonchalantly? Oh those silly Englishmen. Read this.
If you haven't already you should check out On Writing by King. It's incredibly fascinating and gives a brilliant insight into him, how he writes and moreover his process behind it, his absolute revulsion at adverbs, coming up with ideas, advice for beginner authors, etc. It also contains a postscript about his accident (he was hit while he was writing it and it was the first book he finished after it when he thought he might never be able to write again) and how it effected his writing.
And, of course, it's pretty well written too. Informal, pretty short, and very interesting especially when he goes through early drafts of his work (like 1408, indeed he even wrote that short story for this book to be an example) and explains his reasoning behind things, why he cut certain things, put things in, changed things (like changing Ostermeyer to Olin - because it shortened his story by 15 lines and he realized that in the audiobook he'd be better off saying Olin a lot instead of repeating Ostermeyer!), etc.
Would recommend.
You can also read Masters of Doom for some insight into the whole thing. A very good book.
http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1409775369&sr=8-2&keywords=doom+book
Stephen King's On Writing
If you enjoyed this you should read Masters of Doom, or listen to Wil Wheaton's very good reading of it (that's what I did).
It's a very interesting and entertaining book.
You still get a free audiobook when signing up to Audible, right?
There is a great first person memoir about this topic long the Kentucky-Ohio border, JD Vance's Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis It is a great read and sheds some light on the psyche of the poor white working class.
Very well organized post - covers a lot of sensitive material concisely.
For those interested in understanding the decidedly NOT explicitly-racist motivations of many Trump voters, I recommend J.D. Vance's book Hillbilly Elegy.
I'm currently reading the 7th Harry Potter book with my kids, and we just last night got to the bit where Ron Weasley just can't believe anybody would stand by while the Muggle registry laws were rolled out. At time of writing, the inclusion of this exchanges was clearly meant to evoke good Germans just being glad the trains were running on time, but here we are again. To quote Professor Slughorn, these are mad times we live in.
Yeah I've always remembered it as Quake being id's big arena shooter game and all my experiences with the first two DOOM games were the single player campaign, though that nostalgia is probably filtered a bit because I also played the shit out of DOOM 64. And even reading Masters of Doom I got the sense that the networked component of DOOM was just sorta tacked on at the last minute.
Sci-Fi Starters:
Starship Troopers by Heinlein
Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
The Foundation series by Asimov: Foundation -> Foundation and Empire -> Second Foundation
The Robot series by Asimov: I, Robot...
I think the best case study of this is the woman that pretended to be a man for a year to prove that men lived a privilege lifestyle. One of the things she was wildly unsuccessful at was dating. She said that she tried everything she thought that woman wanted to hear and it did not work. Link to book
Honestly, HK was the moment it became clear that Maxwell was the John Perkins of Bitcoin. "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" is a [must read] (https://www.amazon.com/New-Confessions-Economic-Hit-Man/dp/1626566747/ref=sr_1_1?gclid=CjwKCAjw-vjqBRA6EiwAe8TCk254CMFgWS5WkHrigKup-qO1WsyaHNBY5rkXqYfCmZIKRnH3os7KcRoCS1oQAvD_BwE&hvadid=241649512469&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9003807&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=7987636783898004792&hvtargid=kwd-45416145523&hydadcr=22595_10356262&keywords=confessions+of+the+economic+hitman&qid=1566534501&s=gateway&sr=8-1) to understand the hijacking of Bitcoin. It took only one guy on the inside of Chas T. Main engineering to put countries billions in debt. To put Bitcoin in the hands of the banks it took only one neckbeard rat willing to sell out.
Signing the HK agreement
provesstrongly suggests that u/adam3us and u/luke-jr were out of the loop.Part IV
Are mothers' issues really invisible?
Mothers' issues lack visibility in mainstream society as a feminist question, and within feminism... almost completely.
So when it comes to mothers, our choices are too often between "individual women's rights but let's ignore mothers because they hurt feminism/they are too complicated/they invited oppression by choice/they're not really oppressed" and "all women must be mothers to put them in their place, and all mothers must be embodiments of angelic nurturing self-sacrificing womanhood". BOTH these positions buy into patriarchy and strengthen it.
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Where Mothers' Issues Stand Today
The mother-centered feminist movement is growing, but slowly. Blogs like Blue Milk, activist groups like MomsRising, and even some traditional media outlets are starting to get the ball rolling in the right direction for once (remember that article in The Atlantic about "Why Women Still Can't Have It All" and the many thoughtful responses to it? That was AWESOME).
What feminism can/should do for moms:
My plea is basically, MOAR PLEASE. Let's keep the momentum going. In particular, let's focus more attention on mothers' issues on the big online feminist sites which have become the loudest voices for feminism in our generation.
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THE END
Links to all parts of this essay:
The game they are referring to is Daikatana. You should read Masters of Doom if you want to learn about some legendary game developers. The rise of John Carmack and the downfall of John Romero. Although John Romero has chilled out in the many years since Daikatana and makes pretty low key mobile games and the like. His latest project, Blackroom, is a bit more ambitious than his recent work.
You bring up a solid point, however you're falling into the just world fallacy. Not everyone that can't put together a 1000 dollars 'deserved' it. My guess is that at least 50% of that 63% number are hardworking americans working multiple jobs that simply can't break out of the paycheck to paycheck trap. The cost of living has been outpacing pay for 30 years.
I agree that some people simply don't budget properly or are miss appropriating or aren't using their time to get skills etc. but that's simply not the entire story at all
There's a good book on this called Nickeled and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich.
This is not coming from a bleeding heart liberal either. I'm a libertarian that wants to see welfare reduced but that doesn't mean there aren't some serious problems with the economy right now.
It's available for pre-order and scheduled for release in October.
You might enjoy Bringing Up Bébé by Pamela Druckerman.
As an American au pair I was surprised by the range of foods French children would eat. If the kids don't like something, you just present it in another form. For example one of the kids was 10 and hated mushrooms. I began incorporating small amounts of mushroom into different dishes until one day he started liking mushrooms and felt less of a knee-jerk reaction if he learned a dish contained them.
It is kind of a "lost last chapter" of Masters of Doom. If you have read that book, the article would fit naturally as if it was placed right after the book's ending and personally i liked it.
I suppose if you have zero context about the book or the author it'll feel a bit odd.
There's a historical basis to the accent you're hearing in Dayton.
We've talked about this on the local subreddit.
From the 1920s to 1940s there was a massive migration from Eastern Kentucky to Southwest Ohio. This is mentioned in the book Hillbilly Elegy.
What you're hearing is an Appalachian accent. It's extremely common in our part of Ohio, especially in working class white neighborhoods.
Edit: Pasted the wrong link.
Here's a link to amazon for anyone interested! (us). Absolutely worth a read!
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Persepolis-Marjane-Satrapi/dp/0375714839
Isbn to look it up at your library as well - 9780375714832
There was an amazing book called Nickel and Dimed that discussed this. Basically a decently well-off woman took a bunch of minimum wage jobs to see what it was like to live off minimum wage. She wrote about how difficult it was to make ends meet and how hard she worked, but in the back of her mind she always knew this was temporary. She'd signed up for this "experience" and at then end of it she'd go back to her easier life. It helped her mentally push through a lot of the bullshit she had to deal with, and she said she couldn't imagine how terrifying and exhausting life would be for someone who didn't have her fallback.
Whew! Finally. Kids in bed, not running all over town. I am so sorry that I couldn't really say much earlier.
What is it about our spouses telling us when we're pregnant? It's like the dysphoria really gets to them and suddenly they need to share when we're at our most needy and vulnerable. It seems to keep happening. I swear it's A Thing.
Don't Panic. Are you wearing your towel?
You said you found some of my older posts. Yeah, you're me. Except for the twin thing. But you're also several of my friends, too. I just made a new friend a couple weeks ago that you could have quoted word for word. Another longtime friend (as in, someone I knew before this path started for me) has a spouse in the closet and has no idea what to do with spouse at home, yet it's serious enough that spouse is taking advantage of business trips overseas so he doesn't run into anyone he knows locally while en femme. And of course, I gave you Melissa's tale.
It's been an adventure. But speaking from somewhere near the end of the stressful period, it really hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought from going in.
Right up front, they dump this on us. It may have been swirling around in their brains for weeks, months, years, maybe even decades. But it's totally new to us. And what does it mean? What does it mean for our sexual relationship, our stability, our finances? It definitely takes a while to parse through. So Nemo_87 has it right on. Breathe. This isn't something that's going to happen overnight. You have lots of time to figure things out and to talk and figure out what you both want.
First question to ask yourself: Did you marry your person, or did you marry a gender? It sounds like you married your person. He is worried about hanging onto the relationship, and it sounds like, like us, you married someone that you consider a very close friend as well as a father, breadwinner and romantic partner. Does this change if your person changes gender? It sounds like you're at least on good ground to have a real conversation about the path you're about to embark on.
I'm going to second the suggestion of the Jennifer Boylan books. One is She's Not There, which was written 10 years ago when James Boylan transitioned to Jenny Boylan. It goes right up to after her SRS surgery, and the new version has an additional afterword with an update. The other one literally just came out, like last week. I'm still waiting for it to arrive, but it is Stuck in the Middle With You: Parenting in Three Genders.
I identify so much with Dee Dee Boylan (Grace in the book), and I think you'd find it very helpful.
Remember that this is a very loooooong process. Your spouse isn't going to show up at work one day and say, "oh, by the way, I'm a girl now." More likely, she'll grow her hair out to something gender ambiguous, maybe pierce ears, find some support groups, dress around the house, stuff like that. Sooner or later, she will likely want hormones. That requires doctor visits for the prescription and usually a therapist as well. Once on the hormones, you have to work out the dosage. With a wife and kids and sex drive in the picture, how fast the changes happen will be dependent on what you work out. Boobs get to an A or B cup, but it could take 6 months, maybe a year or two. Erectile dysphoria may or may not be a problem. It doesn't bother some people, and at least in our case, our physical relationship hasn't changed a whole lot. Other people want surgical changes. Without talking, it's hard to know what route your family will take.
As for the kids, you said the oldest isn't even in school yet. They won't know the difference. The oldest one might, a little, but kids are so accepting and loving. They love their person, and know nothing of bigotry and discrimination. Honestly, the kids have been the easiest part.
Family and friends are a mixed bag. We have been overwhelmingly amazed by how supportive the great majority of our extended connections have been. We've had a few that reacted really badly at first - the super conservative religiously and politically friend pretty much freaked at the extended family when he found out, and asked some interesting questions, but after a while, even he came to realize that their relationship and my spouse's happiness was more important than any perceived ick factor that his environment had leached into him over the years. So far, we only have one relative that's been a total jackass about it, but honestly, he could play Archie Bunker without blinking, so we don't really hold his opinion in high regard anyway.
I'd be glad to chat anytime. It's hard, especially at the beginning, to realize that going down this road does not mean your spouse is the next contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race. Real people with trans issues just want to blend in and disappear like every other person, not stand out as a model of Teh Trans, so it's really hard to find support from people that don't have Issues or are early or mid-process.
It's hard not to be excited about technology when watching one of his keynotes, regardless of whether or not you understand the content.
Oh, and for those that haven't read it, I highly recommend Masters of Doom. Some really inspiring stories about early id.
> I understand a frustration with rigid, societal gender roles.
OK, but please understand that that's not what gender identity is about.
Suppose we tell you, "We're going to transform your body to female, and that's how everybody is going to see and relate to you for the rest of your life. But don't worry! We're not saying you have to be feminine! You can be as masculine as a woman as you like! But you have to be a woman."
I don't think you'd be cool with that. Possibly a few people have a lot of built-in gender flexibility and could roll with that punch. A lot more people think they could handle it, but in reality probably could not - Nora Vincent thought she could, for example, and almost lost her mind, even though her change was only outward/social and not bodily.
Marmakoide has been thorough, here is our experience, live.
Have our first 6 months old, living in UK, many people are asking us what we do right; we're not so sure.
We breastfed until 4mo, started solid about a month ago, pureed potato, brocoli, carrot, apple (introduced one at a time), no salt. Will move to chicken soon. One meal with solids a day so far.
She sits in high chair and is spoon fed ; lately she's able to grab the spoon to her mouth. No toy, no playing, same with bottles.
Apparently we let her complain more than others before we interven.
Many French moms report these praises of well behaved kids.
We made sure she was able to be by herself or with other people very soon. Knowing that we are not always nearby probably help her only call when there's an issue. So far it's kind of working.
Our British friends swear by bringing up bébé or [French children don't throw food](
https://www.amazon.co.uk/French-Children-Dont-Throw-Food/dp/0552779172/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=DYQFRN2DNTF1S7J9Q0KQ). Haven't read them.
It seems to me to boil down to "you're not the king of me". Treat your baby like a drunk friend, there are things you would do to help them, but there are points where they need to hear "now you're just being a dick!".
Oh, and no screens.
Bedtime routine is: around 8pm, put in bed in already dark room, the end. Maybe come by once to put the dummy back.
Edit: exception to no screen rule is Skype with grandparents.
Read this book. Really well written, it's one of my favorites.
They are all national bestsellers. Everyone should read On Writing, as it is very barebones and no BS when it comes to getting into writing. In fact, it's inspiring in almost any endeavor one wishes to pursue. Highly recommend it.
As far as his fiction, I'm partial to his Different Seasons collection which includes Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil and The Body (of which the movie version is Stand By Me).
just picked up masters of doom yesterday from amazon:
http://twitpic.com/5q2r5e
I've heard it's a good read, and is the tale of Carmack and Romero:
http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310754280&sr=8-1
Also, carmack's twitter is ridiculous and funny to watch, because you never know what he is talking about:
http://twitter.com/#!/ID_AA_Carmack
Give Masters of Doom a read. Romero deserves plenty of credit.
Hummm...não tenho ideia, mas vou chutar do meio do campo.
Tem o caso de uma mulher lésbica que se disfarçou como homem e viveu 18 meses assim. Ela tem uns insights bem interessantes e inclusive teve uns dates com mulheres. Para ela, em termos de relacionamentos e sedução, o papel do homem é MUITO mais difícil que o da mulher. O homem precisa se provar e há todo um tipo de pressão para seduzir, enquanto que para a mulher o papel é muito mais simples.
Eu concordo em boa parte com isso. Atravessar uma sala e abordar uma mulher que você acha extremamente sexy e que tem um sorriso bonito e tal é extremamente difícil e aprender isso é um caminho longo e repleto de frustração. Por isso, por exemplo, que você vê muito nerd masculino virjão, e muito menos mulher na mesma situação, e por isso que pipocam tópicos do tipo "como chegar na crush" partindo de homens, e não de mulheres.
Ter sexo com frequência é muito mais fácil pra mulher, no final das contas, e acredito que um cara que é bi mas que é socialmente morto pode acabar "migrando" pro outro lado, talvez por ser mais fácil e se sentir mais realizado sendo desejado, seja da forma que for.
Como eu falei no início, é um chute do meio do campo e nada impede que eu tenha isolado a bola do estádio.
I posted this a few days ago. Hope it might be helpful for someone else. :)
> I'm a planner and a plotter by nature...so when I wanted to come out to people, I wanted to have this big speech laid out and a massive carpet bomb of information ready for everyone once I told them. I even wanted to tell people at the right time...not around anyone's birthday or holidays or anything, but when the moment was just right. It was just hindering me coming out. So, first tip: RELAX. Some planning is nice, but don't overdo things. You can take notes in, but don't write a letter or an essay. :)
> The good points I'd take from my experience thus far:
> let your family members know you wanna talk to them before you do. It's a thing they need to make 15-20 minutes of time for and not something you may wanna just casually throw in after dinner while watching TV.
> divide and conquer. Separate out the family members you think will be most comfortable (for me, it was my mother and sister over the phone) and speak with them first in private about it. It's a lot harder to come out to several people than just one.
> when you talk, talk to them about how you've felt first. Tell them it may be an awkward conversation, tell them that you're nervous talking to them, tell them how you've felt uncomfortable or dysphoric or how this has manifested in you. Put the 'I'm trans' near the middle/end.
> they may ask questions about it. You may not know all the answers just yet. That's fine. Stand firm, it's okay to not know everything or where things will end up.
> give them some time to wrap their head around things and don't push them.
> If everything goes well...bootstrap. ask the people you've told to help you with the people you haven't. I told my father and brothers, who helped me talk with my aunt, who helped me talk with my grandparents.
Addendum - good resources on trans stuff that I found:
The Praeger handbook of transsexuality. I was so lucky to have a copy in my local library, has some of the few studies/surveys i've seen, covers a lot of ground, trans guys and trans gals. Kinda technical though and a few years old, but I loved it. Learned so much!
Whipping Girl by Julia Serano. I think it really helps you understand society's fascination with trans ladies, but more mtf and activism focused of course.
PFLAG booklet I think it covers the basics okay for friends and family.
WPATH v7 standards of care Lots of fancy documentation about treatment of trans* individuals, expectations of HRT, etc.
I also read She's not there by jennifer finney boylan. i thought it was okay and I think it provides a more personal narrative to the whole thing, especially for me and my family because she's a fellow Mainer. Also mtf focused. Sorry trans guys, hopefully someone else can get you some cool resources. :(
edit: added some links. Also remember that while books are expensive, library cards are usually free and interlibrary loan is the coolest thing ever. :)
>When a renowned Yemeni lawyer heard about the young victim, she took on Nujood’s case and fought the archaic system in a country where almost half the girls are married while still under the legal age.
From her memoir's amazon page.
First, u/Flewtea, please understand that I am not attacking you or your opinion or experiences, I am simply offering some thoughts from my own personal experience.
Also, to avoid derailing your post u/throwawayisnotgreat, I have tried to make it informative for your perspective. I am not sure I have succeeded, and it did get long. My apologies!
If I'm remembering my reading correctly, this book and/or this book (I'm sorry, it has been a while since I cracked them open) state that welfare's original purpose was to allow mothers to stay at home to parent their children effectively when other options became untenable. This purpose has been twisted and tangled over the decades through laws and interpretations into a dungheap of epic proportions which is used to negatively influence public/political opinion toward the poor and further constrain their ability to function effectively within our society.
A welfare queen, in my humble opinion, is someone who utilizes and abuses the system for her own benefit, without concern for her children's upkeep and well-being.
In this instance, OP is being instructed to utilize the system under the original intent of the Welfare system - in order to care for her child - because other options are not apparent, and it would be a viable solution. However, within the system that currently exists, OP would need to understand that the red-tape and political atmosphere of today would make it as difficult as possible for her to "go on the system" and find a comfortable solution.
OP should know that the process itself can be humiliating and degrading. The solutions provided are not intended to provide for anything beyond basic means and support. It is not a matter of waltzing down, getting a hug, and being handed a check. They make you beg.
Additionally, OP should exhaust every option before applying, and be advised that the answer may still be "no."
OP would then be advised to remember that, upon qualification, retention of assistance is not guaranteed. In fact, the system has been engineered in such a way that a qualifying individual or household can be denied or suspended from the system at any time without any forewarning. There is an appeals process available. It puts the burden of proof on the applicant, who generally does not understand the system. The people who work there have trouble understanding it.
OP should also be aware that getting off the system is even more difficult than getting access to it. The difference between allowance and affordability is a hard line which leaves empty bellies and unpaid heating bills, and no more help - unless one falls below the line or becomes homeless. Then, you have an existing file and new circumstances, and they can just plug in the new information and the dance resumes.
People who use this system more than prove that they need it. Is it possible to work the system for personal benefit? Of course it is. People who live by working any system exist in every system, not just welfare and assistance. They are present in government offices, school buildings, retail stores, corporations, banks, prisons, food suppliers, casinos, union halls - if it exists, someone has figured out how to work it for their personal benefit to the detriment of others. I am going to say "Bernie Madoff" to make this point. There are dozens of others whose actions have been untested in a court of law, or tested and mildly punished or unpunished altogether (think Enron, cigarette companies, the banking system) or even rewarded...
The main differences between these individuals and people on assistance of any kind is the amount of money involved, and the ability to hide or fight back.
I (personally) think "welfare queen" might be a bit strong for this occasion.
____
edit, fixed typos, tried to address better, and further apologies to u/Flewtea and u/throwawayisnotgreat because I'm not trying to attack anyone or any position, and as usual I mucked it up.
Another childhood friend defriended me on FB. She posted Meryl Streep's speech tonight. I told her Hollywood is out of touch with average Americans and she and Hollywood should read a great book called Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance. De-friended. I wish more people would stop playing the victim and try to find understanding. It's going to be a long 8 years playing the victim. Believe me.
Seriously though, it's a great read.
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062300547/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_XzZCybGTXRFAK
So I have a friend in jail that I regularly send books to. This doesn't cover every situation, but I assume the circumstances will be similar.
He says that the (meager) prison library is very skewed towards religious books, classics, GED materials, and low-difficulty grocery store novels. Anything other than that will be appreciated. The books most requested are thick fantasy books, activity books (sudoku, physics workbooks, etc), science non-fiction, and coffee-table books or magazines with lots of pictures. These will be swapped with other inmates so that anyone interested has a chance to read.
Some things to keep in mind:
Books that have gone over well and can be found in cheap forms:
for doom, you can look at the code - https://github.com/id-Software/DOOM
some commentary on the code:
carmack is a very smart guy. i am sure there's some writing of his out there that talks more about this, but i can't find it right now.
edit: ah, i think i was remembering https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/169296/Indepth_Functional_programming_in_C.php but it's c++ and probably post-doom.
edit2: also, https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155
This book caused a lot of stir this year when it was released in June. It explains the culture of the areas like Leah's where the poverty is generational. I grew up in an area in rural PA. It was thriving farming community in the 80's but now is run down and trashy, nothing like when I was a kid. I imagine the kids are a lot like Leah and her cousins.
It stuck a huge chord with many because this is a group of people largely ignored in America. If anyone likes reading this kind of thing, I linked its Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Hillbilly-Elegy-Memoir-Family-Culture/dp/0062300547
It’s a memoir about why poor white people vote against their own self interests, and how trump’s rhetoric motivated disenfranchised poor people to go to the polls and vote him into office.
Hillbilly Elegy
One book that may be helpful for answering your questions is Self Made Man. The author spent about 18 months living as a man, in some all-male spaces (the monastery seems cool, but I'm positive that if I went to one of those Iron John camps, I'd be murdered). In the end, she had a nervous breakdown. Along the way she learned totally positively that she is neither a transvestite nor transgender. If Norah (the author) ever comes to Denver, I'd like to buy her a drink.
Two previous links on this subject that I've saved are:
http://www.reddit.com/r/asktransgender/comments/271fnm/changing_sides_in_a_sexist_world_share_your/
http://www.reddit.com/r/asktransgender/comments/2797ax/ftms_how_jarring_is_the_switch_to_the_male_social/
I'm certain that there are others. But I think these anecdotes from people who have been both genders, and the jarring differences that they experience might be something you ought to read. Things like:
> I wouldn't call it the better gender, though things are much easier in a lot of respects. I was recently promoted to electronics at Target. My boss basically said, "you're a guy so you must know a lot about electronics". My female coworker, who obviously knows more about electronics, had to fight tooth and nail to get the same position. She and our boss still but heads occasionally because he treats her as if she is incompetent. I think that's it really. When you're a guy, for the most part you are assumed competent until proven otherwise. With women, the opposite happens. You have to prove yourself competent before you're offered anything.
Another good book that I think you might be interested in is Whipping Girl.
For intro sociology, I'd recommend some preachy nonfiction. They are written for laymen but introduce the sociological style of approach. Something like Fat Land or Uninsured in America.
Freakanomics is not exactly sociology, but could be an interesting read for someone interested in social economics / group behavior. Jonathan Kozol is a reporter, not a sociologist, but his stories mix investigative reporting with a human element to focus on topics of interest to the field of sociology. I remember Nickel and Dimed also being a good read.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is not a book about sociology, but rather a specific example of culture clash within the context of medical care. That being said, it is a big reason why I decided to become a social worker (which is a profession in line with the two fields mentioned in your post).
A Place at the Table is a movie that might fit the bill.
Note: I'm American. I imagine other places would have different topics of interest.
Edited: add movie and fix format
It's really nice of you to be thinking this way. It's hard to solve a serious illness like depression by a gift, though. A cheery letter may be appreciated, and maybe add in the Hyperbole and a Half book. It is hilarious, and contains some great pieces about depression.
Edited because spelling is nice.
you mean this one that is currently available for pre-order? :D
The book was Self Made Man. Here is the video that was posted as part of the book launch press.
Yeah, I had a couple female friends tell me that, too. :/
Being trans is difficult for others to understand. Hell, I'm trans and it took me over 30 years! :)
Self-Made Man has an interesting take on this. It's by a cis female journalist who pretended to be male for a year and ended up finding it far more disturbing than she'd thought.
Two more good reads:
Founders at Work
Masters of Doom
I can't tell you. I can tell you the best book on game development I've ever read is Masters of Doom. I highly recommend that one.
I can also recommend Jordan Mechner's Journals from the development of Prince of Persia.
Kevin Mitnick's book about this sort of hacking "Ghost in the Wires" is a great read.
https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wires-Adventures-Worlds-Wanted/dp/0316037729
I don't read a lot of action-y graphic novels, so I can't really help you with finding more stuff like Watchmen, Wanted, etc. (However, you have to promise me you'll read Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns.)
But I can recommend more laid-back graphic novels if you're ever in the mood for something different! Give American Born Chinese, Anya's Ghost, or Daytripper a shot sometime.
Persepolis and Maus are also graphic novel must reads, no matter what genre you usually favor. And Scott Pilgrim was super popular recently, with great cause.
And, if you're willing to settle down for a long haul and read your comics backwards, I really can't recommend Fullmetal Alchemist enough. 27 volumes, but it's the best action series I've ever read and one of my all-time favorites of any sort of media. Check out a stack of it from the library and you'll fly right through it. That's what I did one afternoon, and my time has never been better spent.
Edit: More suggestions, typos.
The girl who got a divorce in the article, Nujood, has a fantastic book. It is not that long, and I recently read it from my local library. It sheds a lot of insight into this practice, and was dictated by her to a lady who helped her write it. Here is the book if you are interested:
http://www.amazon.com/Am-Nujood-Age-10-Divorced/dp/0307589676
And I highly recommend it. It was a really quick read and while a little sad, this story did have a happy ending. I think it is important to spread awareness about this issue.
For realities, except not so much about 'mother'.
Barefoot Gen is written by a survivor of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. It's very moving and raw and personally I think it's better than Maus or Blankets. It should be required reading in all schools.
Persepolis is another amazing read. It's written by someone who grew up in Iran and witnessed and ran away from the revolution in the late 70's. It shows that the people in Iran and that part of the world are just like us, though because of America's (and other foreign powers) intervention, has become really conservative and hostile. I think this is another book that should be required reading in schools.
Fun Home is another personal tale about a woman's recollections of growing up and about her father.
Adrian Tomine's Shortcomings Adrian often writes very personal stories that are heart felt and touching.
American Born Chinese Gene Yang writes about growing up as an Asian American.
Epileptic French, David B writes about his Epileptic brother.
Bone
Akira
Mouse guard
Persepolis
Scott Pilgrim
Swamp thing by Alan Moore
Judge Dredd: The cursed earth uncensored
Nemesis the warlock
The league of extra ordinary gentlemen
Hellboy
Zot! by Scott McCloud
V for vendetta
Nimona
The sandman
Maus
American Flagg
Bean world
Dan Dare by Garth Ennis
Flintstones by Mark Russell
Giant days
Groo
The incal
Jonah Hex
The nam
Queen and Country
Rork
Usagi yojimbo
Nausicaa
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
Americans.
If you want to understand the differences between French and American attitudes toward food, discipline, and table manners from the perspective of Americans who have lived in France, check out French Kids Eat Everything and Bringing Up Bébé.
Announced (hinted at?) last night on her twitter with spiders. Awesome spiders.
Edit: Link to her pre-order page on Amazon from the main website. Kind of weird that the big picture doesn't take you there.
If you haven't already, you should read "Masters of Doom." It'll give you a whole new insight into gaming history, and make you even more respectful of John Carmack.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0812972155
Have you read this? Haven't read it myself but I've heard good things and it seems like it was written for people like you. I'd love something similar about VR with a smaller section devoted to how we got here, but the brunt of it focused on this VR gen and in particular the beginnings and the stuff that happened prerelease.
If you're interested in Carmack's coding history and the development history of id software through Quake3 then I highly recommend the book Masters of Doom its a nice little insight to Carmack's meticulous coding style and attention to performance.
Stephen King
Masters of Doom is a great book about John Carmack, John Romero, and the creation of Id Software in the 90s. I highly recommend it!
I HIGHLY recommend reading this if you want an in-depth view of being friends with a developing serial killer in high school: http://www.amazon.com/My-Friend-Dahmer-Derf-Backderf/dp/1419702173
I got it on audible and listened to it in about 2weeks. If we were going to have a "book list for the resistance" I'd say this one is crucial. Also, maybe think of these as prerequisites, I think everyone should read or listen to The Warmth of Other Suns and Hillbilly Elegy because, in my opinion, they describe the past in way that informs the present social strife that Trump used to divide and conquer to win the Republican primary and general elections. If the Left is going to have a political answer in 2 and 4yrs for the people who either declined to vote altogether or who voted Trump, we have to understand and have compassion for their plight.
I understand the emotional need to point the finger at Trump voters and say "Ha! You get what you voted for!" when their healthcare is taken away or their jobs are automated without a proper safety net, but that's such a vindictive and shortsighted outlook that isn't going to help with coalition building.
Edit: the hardcover edition of Nothing is True and Everything is Possible is in stock
> I really hope this doesn't come off as transphobic, but I just don't understand how you can "feel" like you're the wrong gender, because it doesn't really make sense to me to "feel" like a gender at all?
doesn't sound transphobic. it sounds exactly like i would expect a cis woman to feel. would it blow your mind to know that i don't know what it feels like to have sex and gender line up?
> I was born a woman, I identify as a woman, I present as a woman, etc.
wait, what? but i thought you didn't know what gender feels like? sounds like you do know what gender feels like. you just didn't realize it. and thats normal for cis people.
> Something that gets brought up with trying to get people to understand what being trans is like is "imagine if you woke up tomorrow as the opposite sex, wouldn't you be desperate to get back?" and my response is pretty indifferent. Like it'd be a logistical adjustment, but I think I'd be totally fine with it.
well, it doesn't work that way but it's really hard to give cis people an example. if you'd be fine with it, why not get a phalloplasty? start testosterone? schedule an appointment with an endocrinologist to discuss starting HRT? or a plastic surgeon to discuss getting surgery? see how it makes you feel? its one thing to just think that you'd be cool with it, that it'd be some "logistical adjustment" because it doesn't fundamentally work that way. its just a fantasy with no possibility of happening. but, cis gender people have been forced to take HRT in the past before with disastrous results. a prime example is alan turing. he was forced to take HRT and was driven to depression and eventually suicide (although there is some speculation about that).
another good example is a book called Self-Made Man: One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man by Norah Vincent. Norah just cross dressed for a year and impersonated a man, but had to quit when the stress of being a different gender nearly drove her to suicide.
the point being that transitioning is not something people are indifferent too. if you are trans, its to alleviate dysphoria and likely save your life. for cis gender people, transitioning causes a lot of distress.
> It just seems like gender is such a social construct, that what does "feeling" like one even mean? Liking pink, or wearing makeup, or having long hair, being attracted to men or any other female stereotypes aren't exclusive to women, and the same could be said for male stereotypes and men.
gender is not a social construct. it is very much a part of biology. brains are sexually dimorphic with a trans woman's brain being more similar to a cis woman's brain, and a trans man's brain more similar to a cis man's brains. with hrt, the brain is continually remodeled. it is suspected that the difference between the sexed body and the gendered brain is what causes dysphoria. someone will likely provide a nice copy-n-paste with links to research papers that help to establish this. as a corollary to this, is gender was socially constructed, then trans people could not exist.
i can tell you that hrt has positively affected my life in numerous ways. if gender was a social construct, this wouldn't happen.
Typing it like this:
Am Nukood age 10 Divorced
Results in this:
Am Nukood age 10 Divorced
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City https://www.amazon.com/Evicted-Poverty-Profit-American-City/dp/0553447459/ref=nodl_
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America https://www.amazon.com/Nickel-Dimed-Not-Getting-America/dp/0312626681/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=nickel+and+dimed&qid=1566530665&s=gateway&sprefix=nickel&sr=8-1
.. e what do you care what other people think?
Non essere presuntuoso, non hai una vaga idea del nullo cazzo che glie ne frega alle persone di te (e di me, hai capito il senso del discorso).
Inoltre, la prima volta "fai la figura", il resto della tua vita lo sai. Mi sembra onesto come scambio!
I'd read A Random Walk Down Wall Street first. Then Intelligent Investor before Security Analysis.
The first book I read when I was a n00b was The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing. It's pretty simple and basic and made for total beginner's.
Also, you may want to read Reminiscences of a Stock Operator at some point.
Also, check out Robert Shiller's Financial Markets course.
Stock Charts is a good online introduction to technical and fundamental analysis.
Have fun!!
Edit: correction
Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance
It took me three months the first time I read it; it required a highlighter and notes in the margins.
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a deeper understanding of values.
In the words of the author, "[This book] should in no way be associated with that great body of factual information relating to orthodox Zen Buddhist practice. It's not very factual on motorcycles, either."
Her book is definitely going on the to-read pile.
Psychology (studied, but never practiced)
Here are a selection of interesting books:
https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/406180/
You are not defective. That would imply that being neurotypical is better. I don’t believe that, except that society’s constructs make it easier to be neurotypical.
One of the coolest guys, who designed the guitars for the rock band Kiss was autistic with Asbergers. You have hidden talents and ways that your brain can organize information that are superior to a neurotypical. You just have to find the way that works for you and train yourself to do it. These books are Asbergers related, I’m not sure what kind of autism you have but they are a good read.
https://www.amazon.com/Look-Me-Eye-Life-Aspergers/dp/0307396185
https://www.amazon.com/Journal-Best-Practices-Marriage-Asperger/dp/1439189749
Good luck and feel better!
Have you looked into autism in general? Being in a close relationship with someone who is not neurotypical is difficult and I don't know if doing things with the RPW toolbox will necessarily help. Autism requires a schedule, structure, and a direct form of communication from a logical standpoint.
Based on what I've seen of people on the spectrum in my family and their relationships, the most successful relationship I've seen was actually where the wife acted in far different than a "RPW" way; almost like a manager. Their home is clean, they seem happy, their son is doing well. The least successful; they've been married for almost 20 years and they don't speak, she's cheating, and she's allowed his hobbies to take over the home and between his random hobbies of collecting various things and his failed small business attempts, the house is like an episode of hoarders, and their daughter is open about how miserable she is on social media.
This is anecdotal, and by no means fact. I'm just not sure whether submissive sexual strategy is going to fix this.
There's a chance that he's centered his curiosity on too many things at once and unguided, people on the spectrum can overwhelm themselves. Sounds like this could be happening to him. I don't know how or why he's so against getting diagnosed, in the States it could qualify him for state help and getting a therapist could help him deal with sensory overload. It's as far as I know, illegal to discriminate against autistic people.
This is an amazing book on the experience of someone on the spectrum, by the way, I highly recommend it!
Welcome to the community! Happy to see a new face join in; I'm a little new to reddit myself, but, I've got a few places and lessons that have helped me develop my craft in a major way.
Welcome to the craft. If you want some coverage on your draft, I'd love to give feedback once you're ready. Cheers!
I'm a software engineer here. I made mediocre money with 10+ years of experience. I freelance now, make less but do things on my own terms
Programming in Japan is not what it is in the U.S. or other tech hubs around the world. You're more likely to make 4 - 7 million / year ( roughly 40 - 70K USD ) instead of the starting 8 - 9 million yen ( 90K ) / year in the U.S. Entry level in Japan is both competitive and hard to get (IMO). There are a lot of talented junior engineers or soon to be engineers so the market isn't really in need of them. It's mid - senior positions that are obtainable.
I also fancy myself an amateur writer, but could never go through what Steven King details in his book, "On Writing." Reading every moment and writing 8+ hours a day just sounds daunting.
If you really do want to get into programming, I would bank on your personality, language skills, and tenacity to get you a job vs. your programming skills. My recommendations:
- Start going to dev meetups and make some friends. People are often the best way into a good position. Finding a mentor is good, too.
- Put 40+ hours into a personal project that you show off to people. Could be a command line utility or some sort of web application that makes your life better.
- Start practicing with leetcode.com. You should aim to solve easy problems in less than 45 minutes. Don't let "easy" fool you, optimal solutions are difficult. You'll need to start studying CS concepts to get through them.
OP, you're getting a lot of downvotes here, which is unfortunate. I think a big part of the "kid friendly" food is due to modern American culture. For a different view, consider looking at different cultures. For example, the book Bringing Up Bebe talks about the French policy on raising children--and their food policy is similar to what you're talking about.
A tricky point that many people don't mention, though, is that other cultures (like the French culture) are cohesive in supporting a particular idea or expectation involving parenting. When there's less cultural support or unanimity surrounding an idea, it becomes more difficult to support--instead of leaning on the culture for support, you have to become the willpower driving your expectation forward. It's easier to slip, feel tired, feel that it's "too much work," for the child to get other ideas, etc.
Book is shipping in October, and you can pre-order it here.
She confirmed in the other thread that it's still on.
There's a great book I just finished on this topic: Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman. It's the true story of an American mom who admired how French children behaved and her resulting exploration of how and why.
I do think there is an American, child-centric form of parenting that has developed that is bad for the kids, parents and the rest of the family. It blows my mind how parents let their kids be such ultra-picky eaters. This book addresses that issue and many others.
We assassinated leaders. We supported the overthrow of a number of democratically elected leaders financially and militarily. We installed despots who sold their peoples' birthrights. Some of those despots received IMF loans which went straight into their Swiss bank accounts. Some of those countries continue to carry the burden of this debts to this day! We built alliances with drug lords and armed and trained their protectors. The CIA was caught flooding inner cities in Californa with drugs from our 'friends' in Latin America. This is all well known and here Obama acknowledges at least some of it and apologizes. He must if we hope to do business with the emerging nations. China is encumbered with no such legacy. Hillary says she will look to Kissinger for advice! This is why Hillarys glorification of Kissinger is so apalling to Bernie. He was objecting to these criminal policies vigorously back in the day. The books below are a must read. It will help you understand the Hillary Hate.
Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Hope-C-I-Interventions-II--Updated/dp/1567512526/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1458068896&sr=1-2&keywords=killing+hope+u.s.+military+and+cia+interventions+since+world+war+ii+by+william+blum
And Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire http://www.amazon.com/Blowback-Consequences-American-Empire-Project/dp/0805075593/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1458841254&sr=1-1&keywords=Blow+back+Chalmers+Johnson
And The New Confessions of an Economic Hitman http://www.amazon.com/New-Confessions-Economic-Hit-Man/dp/1626566747/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1458841994&sr=1-1&keywords=confessions+of+an+economic+hitman+by+john+perkins
Hyperbole and a Half
http://www.amazon.com/Hyperbole-Half-Unfortunate-Situations-Mechanisms/dp/1451666179
Amazon UK Link
Amazon US Link
If it's anything like her blogs, I'd certainly recommend it, especially if you yourself or anyone you know is coping with depression, as when she covers that she explains how she felt in quite a memorable way.
Thoreau: Walden, although non-fiction, may be the closest.
Ram Dass: How Can I Help, also non-fiction, has stories that are perhaps what you are looking for.
Ken Wilber One Taste. Wilber's meditative "journal" for a year. It's one of my 5 top books ever.
Ken Wilber: Grace and Grit. "Here is a deeply moving account of a couple's struggle with cancer and their journey to spiritual healing."
In another area are Carlos Castenedas books, which came out as non-fiction but there have been arguments they are fiction, and I don't know or mind either way. They are based on shamanistic drug use, but I believe it all is possible without drugs.
The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge
I have not read (Lila) Kate Wheeler's works, but I have heard of them. I've not read them mostly because if I can't get them at the library, I am too cheap to buy them.
Not Where I Started From
Nixon Under the Bodhi Tree is a collection of works and the authors there might lead you to more of their works.
I did read Bangkok Tatoo which has some Buddhist meditation themes in it, but it wasn't really to my liking.
The Four Agreements is said to be like Carlos Casteneda's books, but I have not read it.
Bottom line, I've read a lot, and I can't find any matches in my memory for Herman Hesse's Siddhartha. If I think of any I'll add it as an edit.
If you find anything interesting, please pm me, no matter how far in the future it is!
---
Edit: as per the reply below, I've added here if anyone has "saved" this post:
I thought of two more, these actually should be higher on my earlier list:
The Life of Milarepa : "The Life of Milarepa is the most beloved story of the Tibetan people amd one of the greatest source books for the contemplative life in all world literature. This biography, a true folk tale from a culture now in crisis, can be read on several levels.... "
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance which was the start of all books titled, "Zen and the Art of ____." "One of the most important and influential books written in the past half-century, Robert M. Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a powerful, moving, and penetrating examination of how we live . . . and a breathtaking meditation on how to live better."
Although not the same as actually transitioning, I found Norah Vincent's book Self Made Man a really interesting and insightful read on this topic. She doesn't have a full epiphany but does have some startling realisations that make it well worth reading.
I highly recommend Nickled and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein.
By far one of the most thought-provoking, entertaining and just downright excellent books I've ever read. It literally changed how I think about certain things and made me more open minded about others.
http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Strange-Land-Robert-Heinlein/dp/0441788386/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278976774&sr=8-1
Stranger in a StrangelLand, doubt any cinematographer/screenwriter would do it justice- plus the movie going world isn't ready for man from Mars starts a religion
Give this book a read. It's a really easy and actually gives a good history of PC gaming.
A few graphic novels:
A couple more books that are on my wish list, though i haven't read them yet, are:
Here's a amazon link mate : https://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Friend-Dahmer-Derf-Backderf/dp/1419702173
My Freind Dahmer, this book was actually written by an individual whom attended school with Jeffery Dahmer. What I find creepy about this book is the topic at hand, and how it is freakishly well mixed with the Crumb art style, to me that provides a grim juxtaposition.
Writing Excuses is a great podcast that covers a lot of important concepts.
I'm a big follower of Sanderson's First, Second, and Third laws of magic.
Stephen King's On Writing is one of the only books that I'd recommend on the subject. There are a ton of books about how to write well, but don't read too many of them, because at some point you're doing the equivalent of buying a bunch of running shoes and never actually putting them on to go jog around the block.
Dan Harmon's Story Circle Method is my preferred method of structuring stories; it's a prescriptivist version of Joseph Campbell's descriptivist The Hero with a Thousand Faces. (Glimwarden's plot is structured as story circles within story circles within story circles next to story circles.)
Also, /u/daystareld and I will be putting out a podcast in the next few weeks, "Rationally Writing", which is about writing rationally, so keep an eye on that.
My number one advice is to read a lot and write a lot, and do both of those with an analytical mindset. Break things down to see how they work and why they work, or in some cases why they fail. If you need help getting into an analytical mindset, try reading some in-depth criticism of something that you like or are at least familiar with. (Though they're not about writing, Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud and the Youtube channel Every Frame a Painting were both things that influenced how I think about telling stories.)
Edit: Oh, also TV Tropes, which is itself a form of multimedia criticism.
Hello and welcome!
There is a helpful FAQ in the side bar. I'd recommend reading some books on writing, such as On Writing and Characters and Viewpoint. You can definitely get published without a degree (my sci-fi book is coming out in a few months, hurray!) but you do need to put the time in to learn what you're doing, formally or informally.
My best advice is to write, a lot, and keep writing.
Cheers!
I tried reading your first paragraph aloud; it felt like my mouth was full of thumbtacks.
Climbing out and onto the fire escape two stories above the food vendors of the sixth district of the city, Moonrow, the street food's scent made him instantly hungry and the harsh sounds of the busy night below somehow relaxed him.
What is the subject of this sentence? The street food's scent? The scent appears to be climbing onto a fire escape? You're stuffing too much shit into one sentence. He climbed onto the fire escape, and he smelled food, the smell made him hungry, and he heard the city, and the sound relaxed him, somehow.
He sat on the metal steps leading to the apartments above and watched the people move in between the rusted bars below his feet.
Is it important that the words "above" and "below" fit in the same sentence? This is awkward. Again, trying to stuff action and description into the same sentence.
The Sixth was the mutually agreed upon best place to be on weekends like tonight, and because of that every district throughout the city was represented.
This should be two sentences, or at least attacked with a semicolon. And this is telling, not showing. And "mutually agreed upon" is an awful way of saying "considered."
I respect that you're trying to get into writing. Continue writing. And study the basics:
The Elements of Style
On Writing
Later, if you're serious, get into a workshop full of people who are much better than you, who will openly tell you when your work is bad and that you should feel bad.
In his book "On Writing" he goes into detail about his life, his habits, addictions, etc that led him to his creations. It also shined some light on just making things simple. To write something how you say it. It's one of my favorite books, highly recommend.
Can't tell if this is a sarcastic jab at the lack of capitalization of the book's title, or if you couldn't see the title of the book in the corner. If it's the latter, it's a nice read!
Thanks. I had to go drag my book out of a storage box, because it is CRITICAL that I re-read it at 2AM. Right now.
I gonn' be tired tomorrow...
That being said if you want some good books about the market I suggest:
https://www.amazon.com/Reminiscences-Stock-Operator-Edwin-Lef%C3%A8vre/dp/0471770884
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Pools-High-Speed-I-Financial/dp/B008ARPZFK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504266590&sr=1-1&keywords=dark+pools
I'm thinking Masters of Doom is a good one.
Check out the graphic novel My Friend Dahmer, by, well, a friend of Dahmer's who went to school with him. It's disturbing in a special kind of way. No big revelations or anything, but gives you an oddly uncomfortable insight into events in Dahmer's life as an awkward highschooler.
http://www.amazon.com/My-Friend-Dahmer-Derf-Backderf/dp/1419702173
I plot out the major arcs of both the story and the characters. I make sure to nail down the essentials of what is happening when, as well as developing a good understanding of my character motivations.
For me, a lot of planning involves just taking the time to mull over the themes I want to work with, or explore questions I want to raise. This involves asking a lot of questions to everyone I know, everyone I meet. It makes for great party conversations!
It takes a few months, during which time I'll also explore what's already been written/said about what I'm hoping to do. I look at similar movies and books, anything at all that's already been produced that has themes or topics similar to what I'm developing.
I watch a lot of movies and read a lot of books.
As a concrete example, my most recent novel is about what would happen if everyone in the world stopped sleeping.
I spent months asking everyone I knew what the longest was that they stayed awake. I also read pretty much the only comparable thing on the topic, a fictional novel called "Sleepless" by Charlie Huston. I also read articles on sleep and neuroscience, as well as watched TED talks and other related videos.
Then I conducted a sleep-deprivation experiment on myself. I wanted to know what it would be like to not sleep. (I am a wuss and didn't make it that long- I need sleep more than the average bear apparently!)
This novel is in the style of World War Z (early title: World War ZZZ, huehuehue) and so it involved a lot of characters. Too many to keep track of in my brain, unaided.
I had index cards for each one, as well as drafts notes (using Scrivener- hurrah!). I got really comfortable with character creation. I read Stephen King's On Writing and O.S. Card's Characters and Viewpoint.
I was able to craft an overarching narrative by determining which characters would inject the story with which elements, and placing them where they needed to be. They got moved around a bit as I went on, but throughout I was very aware of the overall flow of the work.
Through careful planning, the actual writing (80,000 words) only took about seven weeks. I am a machine when it comes to word output, if I've done my (months and months of) homework. A second draft saw a lot of that cut, and more added in to bring it up to 86,000 words in three weeks of the hardest work of my life.
For me, planning is super important. If I don't plan well enough, I waste days. Days where my story goes off the rails, or my characters do things which don't make sense.
It's wonderful to see some things happen more fluidly, and I've had lovely surprises this way, but I always stop and think about if that is really what I want to be doing before I proceed.
I hope this long winded reply answers your question. I do enjoy sharing this sort of thing, and I hope it helps other writers do what they love to do.
> What knowledge base should I build up so it’s not painful to talk to me?
None that you don't clearly already have.
> What common requests do you get that drive you insane?
Managers that treat estimates of how long something will take as a negotiation like they're haggling for a carpet in Marrakesh.
For the most part, things take as long as they take. Badgering an engineer into telling you that a 5 day task is really a 3 day task has no effect on how long it will actually take to do - it will just mean that you have less accurate information to work with.
> What fundamental principles of CS should I know that will help me understand the developer’s perspective?
None of them. If you want to understand the engineer mindset, read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
First, actually find a therapist.
​
Second, since you probably won't actually find a therapist (even though you should), below are a few strategies that got me through my roughest patches in investment banking and private equity:
Related:
http://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Womans-Year-Disguised/dp/0143038702
>Vincent's first experiment in cross-dressing came on a dare from an acquaintance who was a drag king. When she experienced the intoxicating invisibility and safety that came from wearing the disguise, she wanted to learn more. For 18 months, she disguised herself as a man, renamed herself Ned, joined a men's bowling league, visited strip bars, and dated women. Along the way, she found that the freedom and privileges enjoyed by men were counterbalanced by a constant testing and severe limits on emotions. She also found women to be distrustful, ever ready to criticize men for being emotionally distant yet clearly preferring men who met stereotypical images of strength and virility. Vincent is frank about her experiences--the hard business of sexual transactions devoid of emotions, the easy bonding between men, fear of sexual attraction among men, and, ultimately, the explosion of her own notions of sex roles. She also explores the guilt she feels about her deception. Writing from the perspective of a gay woman who had a view of the male world that women don't get to see, Vincent finds unexpected complexities in the men she meets and in herself as well.
(Yes, this really happened. It's non-fiction)
It sounds like you would love this book. It's the memoir of Norah Vincent, a 5'11" androgynous lesbian who spent a year living as a man to find out what it was like. Fantastic book.
https://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Womans-Year-Disguised/dp/0143038702
Her book came out in October of last year (which I just noticed is #1 in "Biographies & History Graphic Novels") and over the summer I pre-ordered her 2015 wall calendar. It's currently hanging up in my office so I've got another year of Brosh's creations to hold me over. I am guessing she has a lot on her plate, I hope she is focusing on herself whatever she is doing when not blogging. Apparently there's a 2015 engagement calendar as well...sooooo, buying that now
I just noticed she has a bunch of things on Amazon that are going on sale in 2015, so perhaps that explains the hiatus:
Hyperbole and a Half Notepad (and Mouse Pad)
Hyperbole and a Half Notebooks (Set of 3)
Hyperbole and a Half Die-Cut Notecards
Edit: Here's a video that was posted in August featuring Brosh (bonus points if you're also into MTG)
Eh. One of the most debilitating things about poverty is the feeling of despair. They're not going to have any of that.
Btw, you should check out Nickel And Dimed
http://www.amazon.com/Nickel-Dimed-Not-Getting-America/dp/0312626681 where Barbara Ehrenreich did this experiment for a year. (But she never forgot all the advantages her privilege still afforded her)
Give him something sneakily socialist yet normie af like Nickel and Dimed. A teacher gave me that in High School when my politics consisted of nothing beyond "fuck bush" and it was a very good read.
His book, Ghost in the Wires. Very good read, can probably find it at your library.
Edit: this is a joke, I now realize. But you should still read the book.
I just finished reading that one as well as the sequel "What Do You Care What Other People Think"...
http://www.amazon.com/What-Care-Other-People-Think/dp/0393320928/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b
It's beautiful, brilliant and tragic at the same time, especially when he writes about the death of his first wife.
This lecture was featured in the last chapter of the book and was what inspired me to post the link up.
There are two substantially different versions. The longer (and from what I can tell, better one), looks like this.
She (co)wrote a book about her life. I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced
Precisely. http://www.amazon.com/Am-Nujood-Age-10-Divorced/dp/0307589676
Except that's not true. Health care for catastrophes is far more expensive than most people think it is. Hell, this is the entire reason obamacare is a damned good thing, and will really pay off for our country in the next 10-20 years if the republicans don't rape it.
I mean, for colon cancer, you're talking 50k/yr average. I don't care many months of emergency money you've saved, it's not enough. You're talking 2-3 aggregated lifetimes worth of 'emergency funds' to get through something like this.
You're still sitting here with the idea that it's poor choices that drive poverty, and you couldn't be more wrong. There are entire books written on this. There are scientific studies on this. Poor decision making is such a small factor. You are claiming that they make up a majority, but quite frankly, every piece of data out there disagrees with you.
Republicans love to froth at the mouth about poor people with cell phones -- how else are they supposed to get a job? And who is going to hire an unwashed street person? Without access to a phone, mailing address, and showers, you're unlikely to get a job. That's nothing to do with laziness or poor decision making, that's a self-reinforcing cycle. Also you leave out the mental toll that being poor takes on people. You also ignore the time costs of being poor.
If you want to actually get more educated about the situation with poor people in America, there's a few books to read: Nickled and Dimed is one of the best books out there, and it's a great first book to read in this arena. It gets into all the decisions and constructs in society and government that prevent poor people from getting ahead on their debts and breaking free of poverty. Any book of this type is going to get mixed reviews, and of course all the 1 and 2-star reviews on amazon are basically entitled people who think like you do -- the poor are poor because of moral failings, not because of any external factor.
Then, read One Nation, Underprivileged. From the description itself: "the fundamental causes of poverty are to be found in our economic structure and political policy failures, rather than individual shortcomings or attitudes." The top reviewer states:
> Two important points stand out in my mind. First, poverty isn't something that just happens to other kinds of people, as the author demonstrates through careful analysis of several large, longitudinal data sets; second, poverty is not the result of personal deficiencies, neither moral, motivational, or intellectual weaknesses (as conservatives would claim) nor educational Rather, poverty is a necessary consequence of the current structure of our economic and social systems. His data sources are much more recent as well, so I find the logical arguments from him more compelling.
If you have an open mind and actually care about being informed, I'd highly recommend these two books. There's a third I've heard a lot about, called Poverty in America: A Handbook. I'll admit I haven't read this one yet, but his message is nearly identical to the other two:
> The persistence of poverty in the United States reflects more than just an aggregation of individual failings. Structural factors, such as the way we understand and define poverty, [and] the inherent features of our economic system that produce income inequality
The idea that the poor are poor because of their own decision making, and that they can just stop making stupid decisions and get out of poverty, has been thoroughly debunked for the last 30 years. But, it's such a simple argument that lets somebody think they understand the world (and of course, such a world has them as a moral paragon for not being poor). The idea that even a majority of people are poor because of bad decision making is, frankly, not true. It's a straight up ignorant statement in this day and age.
Get Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich out at the library. There's an interesting chapter or two in there about the way housekeeping agencies make it hard on their crews. I think it was Merry Maids in the book.
She is definitely better off working as an independent cleaner (and can make her own hours.) I mean, if a homeowner is willing to pay $125 for three cleaners for two hours, one very efficient person can probably do the same work in a few more and pocket 100%. Well, minus materials, etc.
Even if that doesn't appeal and she's busting her hump for less than minimum wage, a different job might be a better way to go.
>I must admit this challenge has opened my eyes in so many ways I could probably write a book.
You would really like Nickel and Dimed
Its been written. "Nickled and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America," by Barbara Ehrenreich
The way I learned about pre-revolution Iran was through the excellent graphic novel (comic strip book?) Persepolis. I'm not sure if it's properly called a graphic novel, but it was so easy to read, and interesting.
Here's what the art looks like.
It was made public by his daughter Michelle (from his second marriage) in the book, [Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Path: The Letters of Richard P. Feynman](http://www.amazon.com/Perfectly-Reasonable-Deviations-Beaten-Track/dp/0738206369], which she edited. Feynman's deep love for his first wife was scarcely a big secret (see: What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Adventures of a Curious Character), his atheist-leaning agnosticism and sanguine attitude about his own death, and the obvious love that he felt for his children make me strongly doubt that there is anything amiss about this letter.
The only issue is that it is posted here without a link to the source and likely without permission. But that's an issue of copyright ethics and law, not whether Richard would want this letter seen now, a quarter century after his death and a lifetime since Arline's.
> I've never heard of the o-ring investigation afterward being obvious in any sense.
Feynman's second autobiography has a pretty clear explanation of the post-event inquiry. They called in Feynman to take a look because he was known to have an excellent technical mind. Rather than try to get up to speed on the thousands of components and systems of the shuttle, instead he chose to chat with a bunch of engineers; it took him 48 hours to conclude an O-ring had failed, because every engineer he talked to said the same thing. He then fashioned a tiny O-ring out of the same material as the Challenger's, and dropped it into a glass of ice water in front of a Congressional panel. It deformed severely.
I’ve become consistently profitable for a little while, so here’s a brain dump of the things I wish I had caught on to slightly earlier. Sorry for the novel...
You can use investopedia to look up anything you don’t understand, but most any site or you tuber is going to try to sell you some sort of system. Honestly these are for suckers and the best thing you can do is just get in there, trade the minimum and garner up some experience. The psychology is different and you’ll likely have a lot more nerves once you have lost a handful of trades with real money. After a few wins you’ll likely be tempted to up your lot size but you really shouldn’t and instead pace yourself until you’re really confident. Stick with one or two pairings at first to really understand the tendencies, not all charts and indicators are created equal.
As far as books, my favorite is Reminiscences of a Stock Operator. It’s something you’d likely want to give a read or listen a few times as you gain experience. There’s a decent number of lessons in there that will resonate at different stages in your career. I’m on my third listen and still finding things I didn’t see as relevant at the time. https://www.amazon.com/Reminiscences-Stock-Operator-Edwin-Lefèvre/dp/0471770884
Other than that one book, I wouldn’t suggest spending any money on educational materials. Youtube should be sufficient, but don’t be tempted by the shiny offer at the end of each video. Instead try and just take the good. These guys don’t make money from trading, they make money from selling manuals. If they had a magic bullet, they’d use it and be driving their Bugatti or what have you instead.
Side tips: Trade, don’t gamble. If you’re unsure, it’s a gamble. Stick to your time frame and don’t rely on indicators to tell you when to trade. This can be tough, but you’ll understand how to use them as confirmation instead of signal in due time. Always take the time to understand what the indicators are telling you and always take news into consideration before making a trade. Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing. I use almost all of the default time frames to paint a complete understanding and as additional confirmation to what I think I should do (M1 M5 M15 M30 H1 H4 D).
Finally, if you feel like you’re most of the way to your profit target, I (personally) like to just take the guaranteed profit and move on to my next idea. The market can have unexpected changes in sentiment and it’s often not worth throwing away profit for the last 10-15% of a movement.
My mantra is “modest daily gains are best gains.”
Wow, I'm sorry to hear that :(. Riding is defiantly a form of therapy. When you get on two wheels it's just you and the bike; you set set aside whatever thoughts may be going through your head and just focus on the ride. I would defiantly recommend Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance: an inquiry into values. Great read about what riding is about.
Don't let anyone tell you that you're selfish for wanting to ride. Get the bike and do what you've always wanted to do. I'm only 22; I hope I helped.
if you ladies think you have it so hard you're more than welcome to trade places.
here's a couple ladies that tried it out.
http://iamkoream.com/helie-lee-finds-that-passing-as-a-man-can-be-a-drag/
http://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Womans-Year-Disguised/dp/0143038702
first woman said it felt suffocating, it was the first time she'd ever felt suppressed, and she never wanted to do it again. the second one needed to be institutionalized.
Awhile ago there was a woman who dressed up as a man - IIRC it was for like a magazine article or a book or something. But she documented her life as a woman, for a period of time - a week or a month or whatever it was. Then dressed up as a man and did the exact same things over again. Went to the same places, did the same things, etc. She even dated as both genders. She concluded that there are good things and bad about both genders so largely it ends up pretty even. i.e. - women had to put up with subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) harassment, but men couldn't get any special treatment like talking your way out of a speeding or parking ticket. The one conclusion that stuck with me (and the reason I actually remember any of this) was that dating in particular was harder as a man. As a woman she could dress up a little, go to a bar, and a couple of guys would buy her drinks and virtually all of them would ultimately ask her out. But when she did the same thing as a man she found it was a lot harder to get positive responses from women. She could dress up as a good-looking man, but just approaching and talking to women and buying drinks wouldn't guarantee her a date. Then, once on the date, a lot of pressure is on the guy to be a gentleman but not too old-fashioned or overly formal. Do you open her car door? Hold out a hand to help her out of the car? Open the restaurant door? Let her go in first? Help her off with her coat? Pull out her chair at the restaurant? Stand up when she gets up to powder her nose? Order a bottle of wine for the table? Order dessert? Pay for the whole check or take her up on splitting it? Help her put her coat back on? Hold the door again? Open her car door? Help her into the car? etc... And none of that even went on to the things that are traditionally seen as the man's responsibility to initiate, like the first kiss, sex, etc.
(sorry I searched for the source but couldn't locate...guess reddit will have to take my word for it)
tl;dr => There was an author/reporter who did this and found that in life male/female kinda balances out, but in dating men have it harder.
edit: found it - http://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Womans-Year-Disguised/dp/0143038702 - it was a book and she was "undercover" for 18 months
I've been told it's more like this: http://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Womans-Year-Disguised/dp/0143038702
Self-Made Man: One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man is near the top of my reading list. It's about a woman who disguises herself as a man for a year and tries to merge into "male" society. The reviews sound promising and I'm really interested in it.
You would love the book, Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes. by Daniel Everett. He was a christian missionary sent to the Amazon to study the Pirahã, a small indigenous tribe, and translate their language so that he could recreate the bible in their native tongue.
He ends up breaking with the "universal grammar theory" in which it is thought all languages have certain common grammatical similarities (he also ends up breaking entirely with his religion). The Pirahã have a completely unique sense of time, evidence, and culture. It truly is a fascinating world they survive in, and an equally well told story.
Not who you wrote to, but I read "Look Me in the Eye" by John Elder Robison and it was a revelation. He was also diagnosed late in life. I knew when I saw the book's title in a bookstore that this was going to be about That Thing that I'd tried to deal with too, and had so many failures with.
It's an excellent read!
First thing for you to remember: You are the same person you have always been. If you really do have Aspergers, then you always have. This changes nothing.
You might want to get a 'professional' diagnosis, at least then you'll know for certain and you'll have actual proof.
Alright, supposing you do have Aspergers. Where do you go from here? I'd say this could be a good opportunity to dig into some self-improvement. There are plenty of forums (just like this one) full of autistic people going through a lot of the same situations as you. I'm one of them! If you have any questions on, say, "How do I respond to this in a conversation", etc, ask away.
I'm sure there are also books on the subject - but honestly, it's nothing I've read up on. I just sort of played it by ear as I went. Although I did read the book Look Me in the Eye and enjoyed it a good bit. It might not teach you much about handling autism itself, but it'll give you someone to relate to, and John Elder Robison really made something of himself.
Other tips? Study people! Figure out what draws you to someone or turns you off from someone else. Try to take steps to act more like the people you like. (This should actually go for everyone ever, but it also applies here!)
As far as eye contact goes, try actually thinking about eye contact when you're having conversations. Learn to not look at "their eyes", look at "those round white spheres with a black dot in the middle", or their forehead, or their head as a whole. The action of directing your eyes at theirs isn't what's difficult, it's the thought of looking at their eyes. So just give it some practice, focus on it, and you'll get better.
Sarcasm? Sarcasm can be tricky for anyone. If someone says something with a strange tone of voice, or if what they said doesn't make sense for some reason, take a moment to think about the possibility that they were just kidding. If you're looking over a ledge and your friend says "Hey, jump off", obviously that wouldn't make sense, they're probably joking. Stuff like that.
As far as stress having your routine disrupted - that's actually something I struggle with a bit myself, and I personally don't have a great fix for it. If you can, see about finding something happy or distracting to preoccupy yourself with during the distraction. If you're able, maybe text a close friend, or if not, replay in your head some favorite scenes from a movie you like.
Hopefully this is actual the start of some good changes for you. It's not a disease, and it's not a sentence! It's just who you are.
Bless.
Schabacker is supposed to be the bible but it's from 1932 and not modern. That being said, modern isn't the be all and end all. Human mindset doesn't change. We have the same limbic system they did. And battling extremes of greed and fear are no different now than then and tend to play out in similar ways despite our modern tech.
My favorite read for insight from one of history's greatest speculators, Jesse Livermore, is Reminiscences of a Stock Operator.
Reminiscences teaches that a trader's greatest battle is not with the market but with his own mind. The most money is made identifying a bull market, getting on board early, or at least when it corrects, and riding it until just before it breaks. Which means basically doing nothing for a long period of time, other than adding on dips. Most people can't stand to do nothing. They try to catch the little swings, playing for peanuts, and end up missing the bulk of the move.
Better to sit tight, forget about it even, as long as the bull remains intact. Like, for example, the people who forgot they mined a lot of bitcoin early, only remembering about it after the price had soared. It's like Rip Van Winkle waking up rich. Do you think they would have had the fortitude or resilience to hold their position to that point had they been watching the market everyday? No. Or maybe perhaps 1 in a 1000. Forgetting was their saving grace. Sitting tight is the way to ride the bull.
I highly recommend Masters of Doom to anyone interested in learning more about the history of Doom, id, Ion Storm, and everything that went on between Romero and Carmack. Great read.
If you're interested in id's history "Masters of Doom" is a really good book.
http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155/
Just posting to bump Masters of Doom which does a good job of bringing to light the events which reshaped PC gaming as well as explains Romero's eventual fall from grace.
To sum it up:
-Romero is worthy of a little more sympathy than most give him, but only a little.
-However amazing a programmer that you think John Carmack is, you're mistaken. He's more amazing than that, though possibly at the expense of other things.
You'll have to read the book to know the rest.
Masters of Doom
If that's not going to inspire the shit out of him I'll kill myself making a Doom clone in Html/CSS.
Well, the obvious answer would be to read this:
Elements of Style
But Stephen King's On Writing is well respected (I'm reading it now, and it's told in a narrative. It doesn't feel like taking your medicine, if you're worried about getting bored.)
If you're looking for examples of quality writing that translate well into journalism, anything by Hemingway would be a good investment.
I think this is another one of those "actor-audience" versus "actor-writer" things. The powers might appear random to the characters, and if you're in actor-audience mode, that means you feel like it should be random to the players as well. But that's not how Fate works; you have to take a step back from being purely a participant and assume some aspects of the creator's mantle in order to get the most out of the game, and I think a lot of people trip over that, since it's exactly the opposite of what most RPGs encourage you do to.
...which I suppose is all a long-winded way of saying that the best Fate resource books I own are this and this.
I recently read a book by Steven King called "On Writing: Memoir of the Craft" which has some realistic advice on how to deal with rejection, especially for fiction.
Maybe you're just writing to the wrong audience? Maybe it's better to avoid the bottom of the barrel? I can't say, but $15 an article sounds like slave labor to me.
I love Hyperbole and a Half. She's writing a book. It is amazing what Allie Brosh can convey using MS Paint.
The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man https://www.amazon.com/dp/1626566747/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_WabSCbT9XCCY1
My sister recommended this one. I read it. I laughed. It was helpful since I think it's a bit in line with my parenting style.
https://www.amazon.com/Bringing-Up-B%C3%A9b%C3%A9-Discovers-Parenting/dp/1594203334
I am too, she's just got a particular brand of humor and empathy that I really missed. I went and pre-ordered her book because I was so happy to have her back.
You're probably familiar with this one already, but just in case: Hyperbole and a half isn't a self help book by any means, but it is hilarious and she shares her experience with depression. https://www.amazon.com/Hyperbole-Half-Unfortunate-Situations-Mechanisms/dp/1451666179
PSA: You can pre-order her book now on Amazon!
It's set to be released in October of this year, and will be half new material and half stories from her blog (the old ones will possibly have new illustrations).
Hyperbole and a Half
The War That Ended Peace
The Hobbit
Projects like this are straight out of Confessions of an Economic Hitman
Was coming to say this! She also has a book out.
Allie Brosch herself has depression, not fibro, but her experiences with depression were eye opening for me since I don't have it but I have many friends who do.
How about a repair manual full of words of advice for young people? Like https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Inquiry/dp/0060589469
> Can't make the living here? There are tons of other places in the country which are less expensive and where a barrista's salary-to-monthly average rent is far, far more attractive.
Have you ever moved across the country, or even to a neighboring state? It's really expensive. If you're in debt and living paycheck-to-paycheck, it's nearly impossible.
If you haven't already read it, I recommend Hillbilly Elegy. Vance does a good job of explaining why the "get your butt to another part of the country" plan isn't feasible for many.
Isn't that the premise of this book?
Okay, a little controversial and not that sexually focused but Don't sleep, There are snakes provides quite a bit of insight about living with an isolated tribe.
THANK YOU. Holy hell there is so much "I got mine" un-constructive circle-jerking going on in this thread. People with under-utilized degrees arguing over scraps. You aren't a better person who deserves a living wage more just because you got a degree. Everyone deserves the right to be able to work hard and put food on the table. Working retail may not be fulfilling work or mentally challenging work but it is still work and it isn't easy. Your head shouldn't explode because the OTHER HARDWORKING PERSON is making a comparable wage to you.
People in this thread need to get off their high horse and read a book (like Nickel and Dimed).
I highly recommend Ghost in the Wires. The guy evaded the FBI for years because he was able to tap and trace their own numbers and stay one step ahead.
I highly suggest "Ghost in the wires" by Kevin Mitnick. I really enjoyed it!
https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wires-Adventures-Worlds-Wanted/dp/0316037729
As far as fiction goes, the best I have read is "Nevada" by Imogen Binnie. This is one of those books that I immediately started reading again as soon as I finished it the first time.
https://www.amazon.com/Nevada-Imogen-Binnie/dp/0983242232/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466321271&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=Nevada+imogene+binnie
Another work of fiction that is not about the transgender experience but does touch on some themes that you may be able to relate to is "Middlesex" by Jeffery Eugenides. It is really well done and has several interesting story arcs that intersect in really interesting ways with the protagonist.
https://www.amazon.com/Middlesex-Novel-Oprahs-Book-Club/dp/0312427735/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466321681&sr=8-1&keywords=Middlesex
As far as bios go I really liked Janet Mock's "Redefining Realness" and "She Not There" by Jennifer Finney Boylan.
https://www.amazon.com/Redefining-Realness-Path-Womanhood-Identity/dp/1476709130/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466321501&sr=8-1&keywords=redefining+realness
https://www.amazon.com/Shes-Not-There-Life-Genders/dp/0385346972/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466321522&sr=8-1&keywords=She%27s+not+there
Edit: My auto correct want Boylan to be be Moylan.
I know a number of real rocket scientists who consider the shuttle a black hole, many of them who've been wishing for the end of the program for over a decade.
Know who Richard Feynman is? Ever read his opinions?
What Do You Care What Other People Think?
> Masters of Doom
Hadn't heard of it, thanks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_Doom
http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155
I'm such a sucker for tech success stories (Masters of Doom was a great book and I loved The Social Network).
I bought this on Amazon a long time ago after renting it from Netflix. Such an awesome movie. I bought it with Revolution OS which I have yet to watch (it's been years. I really should just watch it).
In the same spirit, "Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture" is a pretty good book too, it's about ID Software, John Carmack & Romero, Doom, Quake..
Link
Not exactly theory of game design, more like history of game making but really good ;)
read Masters of Doom
A really good book about the rise and fall of ID, Carmack, and Romero.
There's a great part about after Doom was put out, got huge, and this dude in Kansas who ran a modem switching service that started a grassroots type campaign getting people to 'matchmake' pretty much.
If you paid him like 5 bucks a month, he'd allow you to call in and make matches or be paired with a random person.
Seriously, he was the original matchmaker. ID caught on, and fully promoted this, he became a ally to ID and FPS multiplayer.
Welcome to RDR! Congratulations on publishing your first thing for critique, it's a big step as a writer.
Disclaimer: The usual - I'm just an amateur like most people here, take my comments (and everyone elses) with a healthy helping of salt, pick the comments that resonate with you. You're the writer, not us.
Disclaimer 2: You're a special snowflake, because you get a second disclaimer that nobody else gets :) I have to admit I feel a bit uncomfortable critiquing a submission about suicide if you tell me upfront that the guy who told you it was good was your psych. I'll just assume that you didn't come here to hear the fluffy duffy "things get better" stuff, so i'll just focus on what you wrote, and give you my blunt impressions as a reader, same as I would with anyone else.
GENERAL REMARKS
I think you're an asshole for being able to write this well at 15yo. Shit man, the stuff I wrote at that age was nowhere near this. So yeah, good job in general. There's plenty of room to polish and learn to improve, but I would say you have definitely got talent, and if you develop it well you can build yourself up into an awesome writer. Don't underestimate how long that takes though - people sometimes forget that a guy like George RR Martin had been writing professionally every day of his life for 25 years by the time Game of Thrones came out.
Every now and then there will be people on r/writing asking for tips on how to become a better writer, read some of the tips there, like the responses to this guy's thread. As resources, I would definitly recommend Brandon Sanderson's lectures on youtube, Stephen King's book, and the Writing Excuses podcast.
OVERALL STORY IMPRESSIONS
I'm not the intended audience for this. I'm a 34yo with 3 kids, I've had my teenage angst years and I'm glad I'm past them. I'm also glad facebook and whatsapp weren't around when I was your age. I liked the quality of your prose and the overall style. I didn't enjoy the 2nd person POV (more on that in a second), and I wasn't a big fan of the ending. Some parts got a bit repetitive, and I found the story a bit lacking in interactions. That is, what makes a character in a story interesting is the interactions with other characters or explorations into the setting; we got very little of that here, and spend most of the story inside his head.
MECHANICS
Okay, let's talk about the big one here: you choose to write this piece in the 2nd person. Writing in 2nd isn't easy, and there are not many people doing it. Most people nowadays write in a tight 3rd person limited POV. This article has some good insights into the effects of writing in 2nd person.
For me, 3rd person allows us to empathize with a certain character, and go through their emotions by mental association. But 2nd person more or less forces the emotions down my throat. When you write something like this:
> You laugh at yourself. “Oh wow, you really fucked this one up man… priceless”
That doesn't work for me, because my psyche rejects it like a bad transplant. It's like you're forcing me to feel those emotions, and it feels dishonest because I don't feel that. But if you tell me in 1st or tight 3rd person about somebody else who does genuinely feel that, chances are very good that I will empathize by association.
HOOK
> “Fuck it. If I’m going to die before the next time I wake up, I might as well ask her out… just to see what happens.”
ENDING
> With a push, an asphyxiation, and a squeak of wheels against bamboo floor,
> You end it.
(more to come in part 2, gotta run to a meeting now, will continue this evening)
These are the sources I would use if I were to give a class on writing. Totaling out at about fifteen bucks if you don't mind used books or, you could go online and find a PDF I'm sure.
This book is widely considered the holy bible for logophiles.
https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Style-Fourth-William-Strunk/dp/020530902X/ref=pd_sim_14_9?ie=UTF8&dpID=51q3tYpGjnL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR101%2C160_&psc=1&refRID=ARMA7SMW0KWG1JSEB0P2
Do that first, practice the core conceptsas you go along, then read this.
https://www.amazon.com/Moral-Fiction-Harper-Torchbook--5069/dp/0465052266/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467830718&sr=1-1&keywords=On+Moral+Fiction+by+John+Gardner
and lastly, since you're interested in fiction, I would read this.
https://www.amazon.com/Writing-10th-Anniversary-Memoir-Craft/dp/1439156816/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467830937&sr=1-1&keywords=on+writing+stephen+king
The take away is understanding, so don't just skim if you can help it. Meanwhile, I'd write short stories. (aim for about 2-3k words at first) Monthly, one hundred words a day and keep at it for three-four months. See how you improve and such along the way and then, increase your goals. two hundred words a day. One story instead of different short stories.
*The most important thing is setting a goal for yourself and seeing it through to the end.
He's just... a badass. I loved It, need to re-read it someday soon. King has a way of creating a vacuum when the front cover is opened, you just find yourself turning pages. I've often felt that this is necessary sorcery.. The black art of tricking a reader into getting themselves ensnared. Like a Chinese finger-trap, you can resist, but it will just get tighter.
Also, for anyone who missed it. Stephen King wrote (in my opinion) one of the best pieces available for other writers, titled On Writing.
http://www.amazon.com/On-Writing-Anniversary-Edition-Memoir/dp/1439156816
I don't think you can beat On Writing. And you can always adapt suggestions/rules from screenwriting if fiction's your thing. Other than that, check out Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules for Good Writing.
Or think about what your favorite authors do, and have a long think about what you can do differently/more fitting to your you-ness. That's what I started off with, and I've had a few pieces published.
Edit: Linkage.
allie brosh (creator of hyperbole & a half) is amazing. I found her description about depression really relatable which (amongst other things, also relatable) she describes in both her book & in a really good interview over @ NPR
her twitter is really good too, floods your inbox like once a year.
</fanboy>
Try amazon; https://www.amazon.com/Hyperbole-Half-Unfortunate-Situations-Mechanisms/dp/1451666179
Our first home computer —
Was a Dick Smith "System -80" with fake wood
panelling and a built in tape deck. It had a pretty
awesome keyboard and 16 Kb on a green screen.
The 1st game we bought in 1981, "Penetrator"
came in a plastic ziplock baggie with photocopied
manual. I think we played this for months, until
we found the local TRS -80 meet up at some high
school after hours.
A bunch of shady middle -aged men standing
around high speed cassette duplication machines,
with pocket knives jammed between PLAY and
FFWD buttons for high speed dubbing. We'd go
home pretty excited with C90's filled with Scott
Adams text adventures.
_
In hindsight, after reading David Kushner's
"Masters of Doom" I'm even more impressed by
the relatively smooth scrolling, sound and overall
production on "Penetrator" given the hardware.
I'm pretty sure it was also the first game for
a home computer to ship with a level editor that
you could use to build your own maps and save
them to cassette back in 1982.
Funny how things come full circle —
That cover art for "Penetrator" on ZX Spectrum
to portray the expected gameplay [ ! ] looks a lot
like "Eve Valkyrie". In turn, Philip Mitchell was the
Carmack -like figure at Melbourne House. Mad
respect to the early explorers.
Commaner Keen - it has nazi symbols in it.
Note: This was to bring attention to ID Softwares upcoming game Wolfenstein 3D which was about to change the world. Read the book "Masters of Doom" - the most amazing story you will ever come across.
Masters of Doom was a good read.
While not about video games, Dreaming in Code is close to the spirit of the wired article.
I'll leave this here
Unfortunately, it's a book. Here's a link to buy it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Writing-10th-Anniversary-Memoir-Craft/dp/1439156816/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1314430698&amp;sr=8-1
Some of the best I've used:
Story by Robert McKee -- As its title indicates, this book takes a look at story construction from a more theoretical perspective. McKee works mostly in the realm of screenplays but the ideas he puts forth are universally applicable and have already helped my writing immensely -- story itself was one of the big areas where I was struggling, and after reading through this book I'm able to much better conceptualize and plan out thoughtful stories.
Stein on Writing by Sol Stein -- if McKee's book is written from a theoretical perspective, Stein's takes a practical look at how to improve writing and editing skills. The mechanics of my writing have improved after reading this book; his examples are numerous and accessible. His tone may come off as a bit elitist but that doesn't mean he doesn't have things to teach us!
On Writing by Stephen King -- A perennial favorite and one I'm sure you've already received numerous suggestions for. Kind of a mix of McKee and Stein in terms of approach, and a great place to start when studying the craft itself.
Elements of Style by Strunk & White -- King swears by this book, and although I've bought it, the spine still looks brand new. I would recommend getting this in paperback format, though, as it's truly meant to be used as a reference.
Writing Excuses Podcast -- HIGHLY recommended place to start. Led by Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler, Dan Wells and Mary Robinette Kowal, this is one of the places I really started to dig into craft. They're at Season 13.5 now but new listeners can jump in on Season 10, where they focus on a specific writing process in each episode (everything from coming up with ideas to characterization and world building and more). Each episode is only 15(ish) minutes long. Listening to the whole series (or even the condensed version) is like going through a master class in genre fiction.
Brandon Sanderson 318R Playlist -- Professional recordings of Brandon Sanderson's BU writing class. Great stuff in here -- some crossover topics with Writing Excuses, but he is a wealth of information on genre fiction and great writing in general. Covers some of the business of writing too, but mostly focuses on craft.
Love this idea - hopefully I've sent a couple you haven't received yet!
I hope I helped.
On Writing by Stephen King, a combination of auto-bio and the craft from the well known author. < 300 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/On-Writing-Anniversary-Edition-Memoir/dp/1439156816
Allow me to help on a few notes, listen if you want
B. Often times your story starts with a character idea. Seriously, it doesn't even need to be the protagonist, but most of the time it will be, or the antagonist. A story doesn't need to be thought as a lego building instructions, you don't have to follow the steps from beginning to end. You could write from the middle out, just as story building you can start with a character and world build around that character. Ask yourself why this character exists. What kind of story would fit this character? What event would they be good at. Then figure out how they got there, how they are in the state they're in, and what they'll do till the end of the story.
3 or C or the little roman numeral triple "i" thing: Stephen King made a fantastic book on writing. It's titled: On Writing: A memoir of the craft.
Amazon has it for like 11-12 bucks, and by personal experience it's a must have in any writers arsenal from novice to expert.
Link: http://www.amazon.com/On-Writing-Anniversary-Edition-Memoir/dp/1439156816/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1367567721&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=on+writing
4,D,iv: Good Writing my friend
I recently read Stephen King's "On Writing: a memoir of the craft" and It's very biographical. He tell his story about booze and how It affected his life and writing. It's an awesome book. Read it. You are not the first one to face these things.
Also. It seems like you have 97 meetings to go to, and 20 mile weeks, too.
Run it off. It helps a lot. Good luck on the race! Cheers.
I don't know why you were downvoted for telling people to support the artist.
Here's the link to buy the book if anyone is interested.
“When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called a Religion.”
― Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
At /r/atheism we like our quotes to be real.
At first I thought you were making a reference to this book.
Do you really want to be a mechanic? Most people suck at new things until they get enough practice at it. BUT, if it is overly frustrating, yeah, maybe find something else.
I'm probably going to come to the same conclusion after I start my veggie garden but I'm going to at least try. I'll probably be feeding all of the critters that live in my yard instead of myself.
I think it's worth restarting your reward loop by taking small steps.
I'm not sure what your situation is, but most people I've met who "lack drive" have trained themselves to dislike doing hard work and have gotten used to low-effort dopamine hits (here goes hand wavy psychology!). So fundamentally, you have to think about routines, habits, and projects that will help your brain appreciate doing hard work again, putting in the extra work / grit, and persevering and delaying when you feel that dopamine.
It may be worth focusing on setting some reasonable personal goals and creating / iterating on routines to help you meet those goals. These goals should be attainable but require effort.
Look around and think about what in your life you've given up on or no longer pursue because they're difficult / annoying to do.
Phase 1
Restart your reward loops that are lowest on Maslow's Hierarchy of needs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs
Some examples:
Some even simpler examples:
By committing to chores, routines, and tracking goals and celebrating your progress with family (and explaining your high level plan like this), it's possible your parents are relieved and are more patient with you as you shift and improve.
Phase 2
Try to find a craft / skill that you want to get better that could one day lead to job. Look to the skills / jobs / etc you already have some knowledge about. People think being a barista is a dead-end job, but I know someone who worked their way up (got promoted yearly) from Starbucks barista to National Manager. I know someone else who got really deep into the craft of coffee, eventually starting their own roastery and coffee shop (and they sold for millions, etc). I recommend reading https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Inquiry/dp/0060589469
If you become very good at a single craft (Cal Newport's book is great here - http://calnewport.com/books/so-good/) by doing sustained improvement, you can trade that unique skill / position for improved life traits (working less, more money, more creative work, more autonomy, more ownership, etc). But keep in mind that when you're starting out, you're at the "bottom" and you need to focus on just getting better. Another Cal Newport post coming your way (http://calnewport.com/blog/2010/11/12/the-pre-med-and-ira-glass-complicated-career-advice-from-compelling-people/). You may also find that you have multiple interests and instead of being top 5% of a single craft, you become top 25% in 2 or 3. Scott Adams (from Dilbert) talks about that here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2013/10/23/dilbert-creator-scott-adams-reveals-the-simple-formula-that-will-double-your-odds-of-success/#41a096f42dbc
What else?
I would say more, but to be honest doing all of the above \^ will be PLENTY for you to restart your outlook and habits. It takes time and if you can find a life situation that will allow you to be patient (staying with supporting parents at home is a great way to do this) and improve, then that's excellent. If you try living alone and changing your habits alone while also trying to scale up your job, it may be difficult. But who knows, I don't know you, and maybe the "wake up call" is actually what kickstarts your journey.
I'll just end with:
Okay this has gone on too long, I thought I was only leaving a 1 paragraph reply ><
> home server programming
Pfffft. That just sounds like setting up your home wifi and how we used to set up a LAN to share all our mp3s in a dorm/frat house.
But, for him, I'd think this or this or an AutoZone gift card.
Oh boy have I got some books for you:
The editor of National Review Online argues the path to a better conservatism lies in a marriage with libertarianism.
National Review's Roving Correspondent argues that the American government is collapsing under its own weight and that's a good thing.
A former marine and Yale-educated lawyer gives a powerful account of his upbringing in a Rust-belt town and his family's connection to Appalachia.
The Fellow of the Royal Society and member of the House of Lords describes how spontaneous order is behind a great many advancements of the modern age and why centralized "design" is ineffective and prone to failure.
The popular freshman senator describes the crisis of America's youth, and how the solutions lay beyond the realm of politics.
One of America's leading constitutional law scholars explains why Americans would benefit from a renewal of our Republican Constitution and how such a renewal can be achieved.
A curated collection of Buckley's best eulogies, A Torch Kept Lit provides invaluable insight into both the eminent twentieth century conservative and an unrevised conservative account of the great lives of the twentieth century.
This volume of Justice Scalia's finest speeches provides intimate insight on the justice's perspectives on law, faith, virtue, and private life.
Maybe Hillbilly Elegy?
If you don't understand someone, it's easy to call them stupid. There's a couple of books written specifically to help people understand those who voted for Trump:
Hillbilly Elegy:
>Now, along comes Mr. Vance, offering a compassionate, discerning sociological analysis of the white underclass that has helped drive the politics of rebellion, particularly the ascent of Donald J. Trump. Combining thoughtful inquiry with firsthand experience, Mr. Vance has inadvertently provided a civilized reference guide for an uncivilized election, and he’s done so in a vocabulary intelligible to both Democrats and Republicans.
White Working Class
>White Working Class is a blunt, bracing narrative that sketches a nuanced portrait of millions of people who have proven to be a potent political force. For anyone stunned by the rise of populist, nationalist movements, wondering why so many would seemingly vote against their own economic interests, or simply feeling like a stranger in their own country, White Working Class will be a convincing primer on how to connect with a crucial set of workers--and voters.
From what I understand, there's always been a tension between the colonial frontier states and the more coastal centers of wealth and political power. Without getting too long-winded, colonial America was populated in several waves that each laid claim to different geographical areas. The last wave was largely made up of poor, uneducated, war-ravaged people from the hinterlands of northern England/Scotland/Ireland. When they arrived they weren't accepted with open arms and given housing/jobs in Philadelphia and Boston so they could acculturate. No, they headed west into the wilderness and, more or less, carved out their own 'nation' up and down the Appalachians (living close to the bone, fighting natives, and mostly being left alone). The common thread in this culture is a more pronounced tribal instinct, bellicosity, skepticism toward highfalutin concepts related to Social Contract, and pride.
I don't want to unnecessarily piss people off by painting with too wide of a brush. I'll just say that there's a lot to admire about the Appalachian culture/nation. However, there are also a lot of flaws too. Most fundamentally, I think it's the pride that is the toughest to overcome. It's hard to convince one struggling person to swallow their pride and try an alternative approach. How do you convince millions?
EDIT: Shit! A whole paragraph got fat-fingered. Anyway, what I typed out was something like:
> Today the culture has adopted a contrarian stance using the confederate flag as an emblem of resistance/antagonism designed less as an honest affinity toward the Confederate mission, but more as a statement that they're unique and don't identify with the urban cultural centers. Sure there are hard-line organized and principled racists in the mix too, and they may be exploiting the current milieu. But (in my experience) the initial attraction that an average West Virginian might have toward the confederate flag is more about thumbing their nose at moralizing Yankees while signalling their membership in an alternate club. In short: librul tears.
Sources and references:
Good on you for admitting you were wrong. That takes guts.
By the way, I'm assuming you're a woman? If so, I recommend the book "Self Made Man" by Norah Vincent. She spent 18 months "undercover", living as a man. It doesn't deal with male rape, but it does reveal a lot of misunderstanding by women (or at least the author) of what it's like to be a man.
Or the reverse.
http://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Womans-Year-Disguised/dp/0143038702
> When I see bizarre, broad generalizations being made about women
When you run into something like this you should always try to think about what the other person's life experience might be that leads them to their beliefs.
For example: Let's say you meet a man, or a teen, who tells you "women don't like sex". A man who thinks this may have a life experience of growing up both unattractive and being surrounded by male friends & family who are also unattractive. In his life experience, as well as those he is close to, women will express little to no sexual desire in front of them. Sometimes women will do this as a self-defense measure against catching the attention of men they are not interested in. Other times this man's life experience will be constrained because he's never been around when women meet attractive men. This can happen because we all live in our own social bubbles and often don't pay much attention to others outside of our bubbles.
An unattractive man who lives his life around other unattractive men may spend his lifetime never seeing the "I want you" look in a woman's eyes. If he never sees that look, weather at himself or those around him, he may not believe it exists.
Back in the days we all lived in small towns you may have an entire town of unattractive men who have never seen women expressing sexual desire. With our more mobile country and social media it's becoming harder to be so sheltered, but it still seems to happen from time to time. I think it probably is more common among teens because they tend to be more self-focused.
>If someone, especially a women, wants to give you a little nudge in a different direction it might actually, maybe be worth considering.
If she's a lesbian who's been in relationships, than sure. But if you've never had the experience of seducing another woman then any advice is dubious at best. Most people lack a good amount of self-awareness so to believe that women know what they want or what they respond to is just incorrect. Even the NYT knows that women don't know themselves:
>All was different with the women. No matter what their self-proclaimed sexual orientation, they showed, on the whole, strong and swift genital arousal when the screen offered men with men, women with women and women with men. They responded objectively much more to the exercising woman than to the strolling man, and their blood flow rose quickly — and markedly, though to a lesser degree than during all the human scenes except the footage of the ambling, strapping man — as they watched the apes. And with the women, especially the straight women, mind and genitals seemed scarcely to belong to the same person. The readings from the plethysmograph and the keypad weren’t in much accord. During shots of lesbian coupling, heterosexual women reported less excitement than their vaginas indicated; watching gay men, they reported a great deal less; and viewing heterosexual intercourse, they reported much more. Among the lesbian volunteers, the two readings converged when women appeared on the screen. But when the films featured only men, the lesbians reported less engagement than the plethysmograph recorded. Whether straight or gay, the women claimed almost no arousal whatsoever while staring at the bonobos.
One woman learned the difference between men & women when she went undercover as man and she wrote a great book about her experience. Here is an interview with her.
A lot of people will suggest The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, which is a fine book, but the author didn't do enough research and was just writing a novel.
I'd recommend John Elder Robison's books. He has wrote multiple memoirs and lives a very vivid life; he, his son, and possibly (don't remember if she was diagnosed) his son's mother are all autistic. I loved the books, and I've never seen myself or connected with a book like I did with his. His books aren't hard to read and I believe there are four in total.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time:
https://www.amazon.com/Curious-Incident-Dog-Night-Time/dp/1400032717
Look Me in the Eye:
https://www.amazon.com/Look-Me-Eye-Life-Aspergers/dp/0307396185
I'm reading "Bringing up Bebe," which is all about the French style of parenting. That sounds stuffy, but it's really interesting and a great alternative to books that will make you anxious. It is light and funny. I'm picking up some good advice on how to be a relaxed and patient parent and thus create a relaxed and patient child.
http://www.amazon.com/Bringing-Up-B%C3%A9b%C3%A9-Discovers-Parenting/dp/1594203334
This should be required reading in schools
https://www.amazon.com/New-Confessions-Economic-Hit-Man/dp/1626566747/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1509744650&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=confessions+of+an+economic+hitman+by+john+perkins
Have you read the new book?
http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Confessions-Economic-Hit/dp/1626566747
https://www.amazon.com/Hyperbole-Half-Unfortunate-Situations-Mechanisms/dp/1451666179
This is the book that meme is from! I feel obliged to mention it because apparently the author wrote something along the lines of "I love it when people share my stuff, but I wish they wouldn't cut off the part of the picture that has the name" or something like that. I may have it all wrong. I just remember there being something about that. Anyway, here's the book! You should get it. You should read it. You should read about the simple dog and the helper dog and stuff.
Nope. It was this one
I'd recommend reading Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer before you do anything. It's a real-life story of a guy who really did go to Alaska to live in nature. He died fairly quickly. Wild by Cheryl Strayed is another book worth reading.
Living remotely in nature is great, and I get the appeal. But learn everything you possibly can about wilderness survival, and definitely take classes with other people, so you can have input from real experts on what you're missing. And read about where others went wrong, because nature is unforgiving and brutal. It doesn't care about you. It gives no shits about you finding your inner peace/strength/whatever. If you mess up, a painful death awaits. So if you're really going for it, be as smart and prepared as possible.
*Also see a doc about getting vaccinations. Tetanus is no joke, man.
I think that you, like many people, have a lot of engrained beliefs about poverty that aren't fact-based but learned from a lifetime of media angles, biased and anecdotal accounts, etc that you haven't questioned yet. If you'd like some good reads to expand your education on the poor in the US, $2 A Day and Nickled and Dimed are great reads.
I hesitate to say you should feel bad per se, but gentrification is becoming a major issue in urban areas. It's nice when upper-middle class white people take it upon themselves to "renovate" areas, but the people who were there need to go somewhere.
If you're still on the "the homeless are only homeless because they are lazy" train, let me suggest Nickel and Dimed. It's a great exploration of poverty in the United States, although it's a bit dated now.
Persepolis
Not exactly scholarly, but a good read.
Books: I'm reading She's Not There and my wife has found _Transgender 101_ to be very useful too.
Videos: I liked How do I know if I'm Transgender? and the series from "The Transition Channel" (like with Are You Transgender?) was quite good too.
Personally I really liked this article: Transition Deconstructed as it showed a positive story coming out of a spouse transitioning. I find that there are so few of those, and would really love more resources showing a positive outcome for families!
I'm really looking for resources about how to transition with young children (toddlers) and books to help them understand what's going on. Definitely not sure of how to go with that other than _I Am Jazz_, which is aimed at children a bit older than toddlers.
What else has helped you? Thanks so much for sharing!
She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders: This would be my highest recommendation. Jennifer Boylan is a great writer, and succinctly articulates what a lifetime of low-level dysphoria is like. This one or something like it, would help greatly with fleshing out your character's personality.
Whipping Girl: Probably needs to be read so that you don't make a tremendous misstep and offend a ton of people. Julia Serrano is an activist. She comes off as a political warrior, which was a bit off-putting for a mostly apolitical person such as myself, but her information is solid and comprehensive.
Warrior Princess, A U.S. Navy Seal's Journey to Coming Out Transgender: I haven't read this one yet, so I can't really say if it's an interesting read but, this one is sure to have some of the qualities that you're searching for. For someone to complete Seal training, and succeed in that extremely masculine environment, while suppressing her female nature seems to be just the kind of insight you need for your story.
Also, you can gain a better understanding by reading up on "dysphoria" here on AskTG. The experiences of the people here are vast and varied, so you may find a better feel for your character by delving into this subject. Does your protagonist just feel as though something is slightly off? Do they feel shame for wanting to be female, because of the lower social station? Does your character experience crippling fits of anxiety and depression, or anger at their plight?
Hope you find what you're looking for. We could use more trans-positive literature to counteract the bile that has been present for far too long.
Don't forget these fiction/non-fiction works too:
Stranger in a Strange Land
The Red Queen
The Harrad Experiment
Open Marriage
Super girl power book-buying trip today - I guess I'm in need of some girl time or something. Came away with:
What are you currently reading? Anything you'd recommend to someone like, oh, I dunno - me?
In Wild she backpacks and survives the Pacific Crest Trail with very little.
Here are some links for the product in the above comment for different countries:
Link text: I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced
This bot is currently in testing so let me know what you think by voting (or commenting).
There is a book about this.
There are many reasons for the higher crime rate in the US versus most other countries. One of the biggest, which ties into income inequality, is the fact that we have a very harsh probationary system for people who have been released from prison as well as a very weak social safety net. People who have been convicted or have taken a plea deal have an incredibly difficult time finding work in the US, and when they do it is typically part time and low income work. Not only are ex-convicts denied most social services like food stamps, but they are also required to pay "probation fines" which can be ~$50-$90 a month while they are under probation. On top of that Obamacare now requires that all Americans purchase insurance, or are forced to pay penalties, adding further financial burden. Add to all of these things the fact that America has a larger incarcerated population than any other country on the planet. So in many of these poor communities people end up in a cycle of incarceration, where they are jailed for a minor offence, lose their job, serve time, are released and expected to fend for themselves while not provided with a means to do so, and then are forced into crime and gangs in order to survive.
Hopefully I provided a decent summary about why America has such a disproportionally high crime rate compared to other developed countries.
Though it doesn't directly deal with crime, the book Nickel and Dimed gives an incredible picture of how difficult life is for poor Americans. Mind you the research for the main portion book was done in 1998-1999 when America's economy was significantly better than it is now, the 2011 version of the book adds an even more bleak picture of the situation of America's poor.
I came here to say this, he could have saved himself a week. Here's a link for those who are interested.
Here's a Wikipedia entry on the book.
Get this book from the library:
http://www.amazon.com/Nickel-Dimed-Not-Getting-America/dp/0312626681
Read author's AMA
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/23d7n9/
If your library has it, watch the documentary Paycheck to Paycheck by HBO
Keep in mind that you are 18 now but your opportunities for better jobs are significantly stymied without postsecondary education. And your opportunities for postsecondary education are significantly stymied by isolating yourselves from the parents.
well, duh, but if you remember that servers are human beings trying to live off what you give them, you probably already tip well so the change in price wouldn't be as much as you might think, or might be close to zero. feel free to read some more about it here,
here, here, or here. and those sources were just what I found quickly searching.
an interesting read on minimum wage in the US in general is Nickel and Dimed, although anecdotal, it is robustly filled out with facts and statistics.
Okay, thank you. I've added it to my reading list. However, I do not see that I can spend the time reading this book in the near future (or have the money to do so). I was hoping you would have some more immediate answer.
Jack London lived like poor people in London around 1903 (People of the Abyss) and Barbara Ehrenreich did the same in the US in the late 90's or early 2000's (Nickle and Dimed: On not getting by in America). Both proved there is virtually no way to get out of poverty by your own efforts when you cannot get a job or can't get one that pays about subsistence level. When people can't escape poverty playing by existing rules, some asshole inevitably comes along and says they have no right to basic necessities. In my opinion, that's why uprisings happen.
I think you know next to nothing about "the system" nor the people who are part of it. Who, exactly, do you think of as "the poor"? It's not just lazy trailer-park dwellers or single parents anymore. Being poor can mean being a full-time student working multiple part-time jobs. Or not being able to work due to mental or physical health issues. Or even having a job and making so little that you can't make ends meet. It's nice you and your wife have fairly good jobs but I bet you couldn't begin to identify the actual poor among you. This is a good look into how one can work and still be destitute: [Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America] (http://www.amazon.com/Nickel-Dimed-Not-Getting-America/dp/0312626681/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1376894758&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=nickel+and+dimed+on+not+getting+by+in+america)
When I was working full-time making what I considered to be a quite good salary, I still qualified for yearly fuel assistance and I was damn thankful it existed. Now I'm thankful that I qualify for EBT. They know all the details of my situation and they made the decision to give me assistance. I don't get unemployment and I don't get disability...not that it's really any of your business.
I have the internet because I pay for it.
You don't know me, my life or my situation, and I honestly couldn't care less what you think about me.
> Any money they saved up
What money? How much money do you expect someone earning ~$290 a week (minimum wage) to be able to save? And even if they could save money, do you really think it will be enough to afford a down payment and a mortgage and a car payment?
>sell their unnecessary stuff
What unnecessary stuff? And to whom?
>Moving with friends/family
So now we're only talking about those people who are in a position to move AND who know multiple other people who are in a position to move AND who want to move to the same small town? And even if they did, what about anti-brothel laws that in loads of municipalities prevent multiple unrelated people from living together?
>Small towns dont have gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants?
Sure they do, but not many. And even if our would-be relocator could find a job in one of them, what makes you think they would be treated any better just because they are now in a small town? And don't forget, now they have a mortgage and a car payment and have been drained of any savings they originally had.
>Presumption of racism is a bit of a stretch, especially when theres laws agains that
There are laws against it, but racism is still pervasive in the workplace. Here is just one small example of how that manifests.
You seem like you mean well, but you also have demonstrated a lack of understanding about the reality of life of urban poor. And that's okay--unless you've lived it or specifically gone out of your way to learn about it, there's no reason you shouldn't lack knowledge of the subject. But I really encourage you to go out of your way to learn about it--and keep an open mind. It's kind of boring, but I strongly recommend starting with Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich.. She defintely has an angle, but the factual narratives are elucidating, and it provides a good foundation for further learning. If you're comfortable PMing me your e-mail address, I'd be happy to buy you a copy.
Edit: formatting because dumb
Someone absolutely asked us to go into Iran in 1953, in fact, it took them several years of begging and eventually threats that Iran was in imminent danger of falling to the Soviets, while we were in the midst of the Cold War, to get the US to finally do what they wanted.
That someone was Britain, and it was all because they wanted to take back control of the oil in Iran that the democratically elected leader, with the support of the Iranian people, had nationalized. Britain's agents were also already in there doing everything they could to subvert the government long before the US came in.
The coup ended up being a huge mistake and the world (and especially Iran) is still paying for that mistake today, but there absolutely was external pressure to get the US to take action.
The US doesn't make every decision in a vaccuum. I think you'll find many (perhaps not most, but many) of its military actions have been influenced or been supported by other governments, in the context of the current situation across the world. That doesn't make it right, but it can be hard to determine what is right when you're in the midst of the situation. It's all too easy to condemn the action in hindsight, but I bet if you saw the spread of Communism and knew they had thousands of nukes trained at us in submarines and countries just off of your soil, and one general getting some bad info could lead to global thermonuclear war, you'd be making some crazy decisions as well.
You can read more about this on Wikipedia, although I first heard about it when reading Persepolis, a graphic novel written by an Iranian woman, when I was in college. It was very interesting and I highly recommend it by the way. They made a film adaptation as well, although it's not on Netflix Instant currently.
Te recomiendo She's not there que la verdad me encantó. Es de una autora que tuvo bastante exito antes de hacer la transición, asi que muestra que no es solamente interesante por el tema sino por la manera de escribir.
A mi la verdad que me encantó porque tiene mucho humor y no es una de esas historias de una marginal que siempre fué totalmente diferente, sino de alguién común y corriente.
Lo unico que te diría es que es un libro que ya tiene unos cuantos añitos, así que algunos terminos ya no se usan y algunas cosas ahora se hacen diferentemente. Pero dentro de todo te lo recomiendo mucho.
Jennifer Flynn Boylan has the book: "Stuck in the Middle With You" I didn't read this book because I fall into the 'our children are grown category'. However, I read her other book, "She's Not There" and thought it was fabulous. Maybe give it a shot! :)
I feel as if most of the media you'd be able to find on trans people focuses on this aspect of the story. The novelty of transition is presented in a lot of movies and books, and then when we live "happily ever after" there aren't a lot of stories told. (Unless we die really dramatic deaths by violence or AIDs or cancer or something. Not that it never happens IRL, but Hollywood loves a tearjerking death.)
If you haven't got a lot of time, read the Laura Jane Grace interview. She's amazing.
For a book-length resource, I've heard good things about She's Not There, but I haven't read it myself.
Film-wise, I just watched Becoming Chaz the other day while bored and found it decent. See if you can catch it on the OWN channel if you have a tv subscription that provides it.
And for a multi-part documentary, see if Netflix still has TransGeneration. It's a little old now, but it focuses on young people with many different trans identities.
This should provide you with a good mix of experiences from trans women, trans men, famous people, non-famous people, and people of all ages. All non-fiction, and nobody dies a horrible death at the end. (God willing, ugh.)
Honestly it's not easy. Our marriage has struggled a lot with regards to this. I've had two suicide attempts two years apart, plus I've been on antidepressants longer. I also suffer chronic pain from two back injuries and take 100mg of morphine daily with other meds to deal with it. That has also has an effect on us.
My therapist, who is also transgender, recommended the book "she's not there". Its supposed to be a good book on helping spouses in this situation. I've been too busy to read it. Here's the link.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0385346972/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1479183924&amp;sr=8-1&amp;pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&amp;keywords=she%27s+not+there&amp;dpPl=1&amp;dpID=517fucEmy%2BL&amp;ref=plSrch
There's another book of Feynman anecdotes titled, curiously, What Do You Care What Other People Think. Enjoy!
Anything by Simon Singh is worth reading. In addition to what others have recommended, these books are good:
[The man who loved only numbers](http://www.amazon.com/MAN-WHO-LOVED-ONLY-NUMBERS/dp/0786884061/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1254333710&amp;sr=8-1
)
Flatland
Prisoner's Dilemma
A mathematician reads the newspaper
A mathematician plays the stock market
Innumeracy: mathematical illiteracy and its consequences
Also, while not exactly about Maths:
Surely you are joking, Mr Feynman
What do you care what other people think?
The Art of Computer Programming
As long as you're happy ... you're happy. Why do you care what other people think, Mr. Feynman? (link)
Naturally the true test of a model is "out of sample testing", in which you use the model to predict the results of a new experiment before you perform the experiment. In particular, you predict and then perform a new experiment whose parameter-set was not used in the creation of the model and the fitting of its parameters k_cooler and k_steak.
Ah, see, I understand where you're coming from albeit on the opposite side of the spectrum. In a strong breeze, I'm likely to blow away. Last week, I started going to the gym. It's full of guys that are likely to break someone like me in two just by looking at them.
But you know what else is interesting? There are a couple of people in terrible shape, totally obese, that are making an effort to shed pounds. No one stares or cracks jokes. If someone has a question, the regulars answer it. They're thrilled to see people that want to better themselves. All you need to do is take that first step.
My best advice is to start walking more, no need to jog. Instead of eating 5 slices of pizza, eat 3 and have a salad. Little cuts will make a large impact.
If you're interested, I can check with my buddy and see what he did to lose weight. On average, he lost 5 pounds a week through diet and exercise.
PS - If you're looking for something to read, check out Feynman's What do you care what other people think? If I can live half the life he did, I will be content.
Stop caring about what people think and you could become a Nobel Prize winning physicist.
What are your top five must-own books?
Mine, in no real order are:
(I'll put in links when I get home)
edit: with amazon links
> I started trading after weeks of reading documentation/watching videos about the basics of any FOREX market, technical analysis and fundamental analysis etc.
After you've been trading longer you will realize that 99% of all that stuff you've read is wrong and written by people that don't trade for a living. When you can sort the 1% that's real out of the other 99% written by "professionals" you can consider yourself at least a novice trader.
I started trading the dot com bubble in the late 90's and did quite well for about 3 years. Then a bear market arrived and I realized two things:
Edit: If you haven't read it yet, you should read Reminiscences of a Stock Operator. It's useful and very entertaining as well. It is just as relevant today as when it was first published in 1923!
I'll give you some books to use as a starting point. You want to start out as generally as possible and then follow what interests you. Someone can give you a list of top books, but if they don't fascinate you enough to really dig in deep and reflect on them to sate your own curiosity, you'll just be scratching the surface. I don't care what it is, you can make money anywhere in the markets. So starting generally will help you find out what direction to go.
So, that said, these are the ones I'd recommend starting out with
https://www.amazon.com/Market-Wizards-Updated-Interviews-Traders/dp/1118273052
https://www.amazon.com/Reminiscences-Stock-Operator-Edwin-Lef%C3%A8vre/dp/0471770884
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400063515/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684840073/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0809045990/
Some less conventional ones I really liked
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1578645018/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1422121038/
Chaos theory describes some properties that pop up again and again in markets. I really liked this one.
https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Simplicity-Bringing-Order-Complexity/dp/140006256X
I also highly recommend finding a few good books on behavioral investing, just to get acquainted with the common mistakes investors make (how you can avoid them, and how you can exploit them). I don't have a lot here because the books I read are outdated and you can find better. So one example:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470067373/
But in general reading about psychology will help you understand the world better, and that's always a good thing.
https://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Perennial-Classics/dp/0061339202
https://www.amazon.com/Reminiscences-Stock-Operator-Edwin-Lef%C3%A8vre/dp/0471770884
You should read or listen to that book.
Dont trade in that first couple hours your Ritalin starts working or you'll make a shit decision that you feel really good about lol
Longer, but Reminiscences of a Stock Operator is great.
If you like philosophy and/or psychology, I'd recommend Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Pirsig's famous Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance has an entire lengthy chapter on the methods of employing "just". Great philosophy book about Man's irrational behavior towards technology.
I randomly came across this book,
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060589469/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_luTqybJZ9JNNA
and everything just clicked. This book outlines the connection between man and machine and will bring a different meaning to riding.
The second part gets a bit spiritual but the first half is an amazing read for any rider.
I see Banner's gamma poisoning hilariously impeding Sith training. Think about it- any time Bruce tries to "give into his anger" he goes big and green, which isn't exactly a Force technique. Dark Side training might even do Bruce some good in preventing Hulk-outs.
Jediron Man ends up writing "Zen and the Art of Power-Suit Maintenance."
Tony Sith gets some nice synergy bonuses between alcoholic self-loathing, ptsd, and the Dark Side and between Force-Lightning and power for his suits, so that's really handy.
Interesting.
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062300547/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_AkidAb2T3C5JM
Recommend Hillbilly Elegy for insight into this phenomenon.
What I get out of this is that Rush:Conservatism as Jon Stewart:Liberalism--considering, analyzing, and mocking both the other side's attitudes--and particularly the other side's preferred media.
But no one serious on the left yields the discussion to the talk-radio or television. Ten years ago, the left was reading Robert Putnam and Thomas Franks; now, in an increasing show of empathy, they're reading even more serious authors.
Where are the Arlie Russell Hochschild, the Katherine Cramer, or the JD Vance of the right? Where are the calm, serious, extended analyses--the book-length treatments, and the informed, sober book reviews?
Sorry, poor WHITE working classes.
>Trump essentially won by just 80,000 votes in three states, maybe that, along with issues like the opioid epidemic and poor health outcomes, was enough to put him over the top. But the analysis also shows that a bulk of support for Trump — perhaps what made him a contender to begin with — came from beliefs rooted in racism and sexism.
It's important to note that the poor white working class was not integrated--they didn't work alongside poor blacks and Hispanics at the same jobs. They were surrounded by other white people.
https://www.amazon.com/Hillbilly-Elegy-Memoir-Family-Culture/dp/0062300547/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1522176550&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=hillbilly+elegy
A good read.
I was painting with a broad brush, yes. It's probably better to say that Rosanne Connor is representing a very specific, individual person.
Edit: The three states being Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
This year I read all four of Chris Guillebeau's books, Hillbilly Elegy, and Hand to Mouth. I enjoyed all of them.
I also often recommend books by Eckhart Tolle and The 5 Love Languages.
>It didn't really change anybody's mind, and one's view on it was 99% shaped by what they were already thinking.
These books are about why they think that way. Hillbilly Elegy is about communities (mainly the non-urban communities that gave Trump huge support) that feel left behind and the recent history and thinking of those groups. The Big Sort is about the homogenization of social groups and thinking in the US, leading to why people feel comfortable throwing "grenades". The Righteous Mind is a book on the psychology of morality and politics in the US and why the ideologies are so different.
Trump may have won big with white voters of all stripes, but he also did better among Latinos than Romney, so it's obvious that it isn't just "poor uneducated whites", but if people don't try to figure out why the division is so strong and where the other side is coming from, what chance do we have for uniting and restoration?
I live in the most liberal district in one of the most liberal cities in the US. I have no difficulty in understanding that perspective and its driving forces. The other view is not so well illuminated
Edit: though I shouldn't have said anything in the first place. This is the one place I can go to avoid all the cross-talk about politics and ideologies. I like all of you guys and our light conversations about shoes. I'd rather not ruin that for myself.
> I just watched The Red Pill and honestly
Interesting. Will try to watch it.
Also stumbled on this book on the link you gave: https://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Womans-Year-Disguised/dp/0143038702
Its about a woman who disguised herself as a man and was surprised on when she found out that men also have problems. Will queue this up on my reading list.
Have you read Self-Made Man? I'm reading through it now, and although I feel there are some feminist biases that the author has trouble seeing past, she does make some interesting insights and comparisons with regards to how the world expects men vs. women to act/think.
Self-Made Man: One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man, by Norah Vincent. Amazon link.
These are people whose rights are protected under our shield. If they are, were, or will be identifying as men they need to be taken care of. For transmen in particular it can be a shock to learn about the burdens of expected male gender roles in western society.
From what I know there's a certain brand of radical feminism that demonizes the trans community (some crap about transwomen trying to steal victimhood from women and transmen betraying their sisters by trying to claim male privilege).
A few years back, I read Norah Vincent's Self-Made Man, and found it an interesting read.
(I will admit it also simply felt good to read someone acknowledging the difficulties that men face in daily life.)
I was genuinely surprised later on to find out how anti-trans-anybody Vincent turns out to be. I would have thought her experiences would have opened her up to the understanding of how important identity is to people, but some of the things she has apparently said come across as downright scornful of the trans community.
I'm at a loss for understanding where this hateful impetus comes from, and was wondering if you had any comments of your own to add, recommended reading, or the like.
If you don't, that's ok. I've been enjoying your answers to the other questions in this thread. Thanks for taking the time to do so!
I have a ftm tg friend...He does take hormones,but when he first started,he simply dressed as a man...
People see what they want to see and if you dress like a man,get short hair, a masculine name,they will see you as a man.
My friend also had some bottom and top surgery. Those are options as well.
This book,Self Made Man, depicts a lesbian who spent a year as a man..it's an interesting read:
http://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Womans-Year-Disguised/dp/0143038702
http://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Womans-Year-Disguised/product-reviews/0143038702/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm?ie=UTF8&amp;showViewpoints=1&amp;sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending#reviews-container?sortBy=recent&amp;reviewerType=all_reviews&amp;formatType=all_formats&amp;filterByStar=one_star
LOL, they basically call her a misogynist and out the women she dated as mentally ill. Also the nice wall of text saying her experiment sucks because she went into it without a strong bias favoring feminism.
Here's another perspective, also published 2006:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143038702/ref=cm_rdp_product
Good find! I could watch this for hours.
I wish all anthropology and linguistics departments did this demonstration once a semester/quarter, not just for students, but for the public. It's fun to see structure and rules emerge in only a few minutes of interaction. It's difficult to think about linguistics or cultural anthropology and not start recognizing the arbitrariness of our own ways of thinking and communicating. That kind of confrontation/awareness/seeing is really invaluable; it's good for everyone.
Everett's book "Don't Sleep There Are Snakes" is a really fun field memoir of his time with the Piraha. One need not be a linguist to understand and enjoy it. It's not heavy on the academic linguistic stuff. It's sort of light linguistic and light ethnography. So if anyone finds something in this lecture intriguing, I'd recommend checking it out. Piraha is one of the most interesting languages I've come across. https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1498712271&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=daniel+everett
He also spoke at The Long Now Foundation about the Piraha, and about saving disappearing/endangered languages. https://soundcloud.com/longnow/endangered-languages-lost-knowledge-and-future
If anyone watched "Arrival" and thought "hey that looks interesting", guess what! You can do that! Even without aliens. It's almost just as hard, and definitely a lot of fun.
Actually, if you saw "Arrival" and thought "hey that seems neat" or "ugh this is NOT how linguistics and aliens would work" or whatever, then you might be interested in a collection of articles put together by NASA into one document called "Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication" which goes a bit more into the history of concepts around alien contact scenarios. https://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/archaeology_anthropology_and_interstellar_communication.html
I would read some more "casual" or pop linguistics books to really cement your interest in linguistics before any of the more heady pieces of literature scare you off. As a side note, I'd learn the English IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) chart before you pursue further literature. Not knowing would be like performing math calculations without knowing what any of the operator signs were. As a high schooler, this is your time to read. God knows you won't have as much time to do it in college. Only after you get a general feel for what linguists actually do and study, would I recommend making a choice, it's certainly not for everyone :)
Great story demonstrating just how different certain languages can be.
http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1335511683&amp;sr=8-1
If you want a great pop introduction that'll really help you tap your toe on the vast ocean surface known as linguistics, I'd give this a try too http://www.amazon.com/The-Stuff-Thought-Language-Window/dp/0143114247/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1335511905&amp;sr=1-2
If you like what you read, and think it would be admirable to contribute to the swiftly growing pool of knowledge we currently have in this wonderful field, then pursue more academically oriented sources, and as others said, maybe narrow your interests further by contacting a certain professor or researcher. Hope this helped :)
I suggest you read a few books about speculation and poker betting strategies as well as historical investment bubbles.
Read the classics as there's nothing new about human nature and human nature is what moves all asset prices. Ask yourself this question; Why do people pay a half a billion dollars for art that most people wouldn't hang on their walls for free?
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https://www.amazon.com/Reminiscences-Stock-Operator-Edwin-Lef%C3%A8vre/dp/0471770884
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Reminiscenses of a Stock Operator is a pretty good and easy read to start with. 2,3 & 4 are good. Michael Lewis' Big Short and Liar's Poker are pretty entertaining and definitely worth picking up.
Theirs was an amazing story, like the dream of every teenager's wish of being a game developer. Then the subsequent nightmare and reality of that success.
For more on the history of Doom and Quake's development, check out the book Masters of Doom which chronicles both John Carmack's and John Romero's lives, and includes anecdotes from Michael Abrash.
You might also be interested in reading Michael Abrash's Graphics Programming Black Book, published in 1997 as a compilation of Michael's writings on assembly and graphics programming, as well as a specific chapter on Doom and Quake technology. It is fully available for free online.
The "Metaverse" that Michael Abrash references in his announcement is from Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. His vision of a virtual reality that inspired so many others is described on pages 23 to 27 from that novel and can be read online for free.
> This video has 21 minutes of me playing DOOM before the sound effects were put in as well as some early deathmatching with Shawn Green. - John Romero
This footage was shot November 1993, the game was released December 10, 1993 (Wiki).
Doom was create by the guys at id Software.
These legends revolutionised the gaming industry by creating games such as Command Keen, Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake.
Fun facts:
Book recommendation: Masters of Doom
That was a pretty cool video, If you want to read more about id and how John Carmack and John Romero I recommend Masters of Doom. It is a really good read and puts you into the mindset of how revolutionary the stuff these guys were doing at the time.
You would probably love this book.
http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155
It's mostly about DOOM but it talks a lot about Commander Keen.
Anyone interested in Doom and gaming history in general should read Masters of Doom. It's really well written and very entertaining. Get it along with The Making of Prince of Persia, because, why not.
The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon--The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World by Steven Kent
Game Over: How Nintendo Conquered The World by David Sheff
Joystick Nation: How Videogames Ate Our Quarters, Won Our Hearts, and Rewired Our Minds by J. C. Herz
Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture by David Kushner
Digital Play: The Interaction of Technology, Culture, and Marketing by Stephen Kline, Nick Dyer-Witheford and Greig De Peuter
Replay: The History of Video Games by Tristan Donovan
All Your Base Are Belong to Us: How Fifty Years of Videogames Conquered Pop Culture by Harold Goldberg
Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time by Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton
Guys, just read Masters of Doom. Now you know everything.
read the book "Masters of Doom" for an entertaining and informational piece of the two John's !
http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155
Reading.
Lots and lots and lots of reading to get the sense of how stories evolve and unfold.
then, if youre really serious, find a short-ish one you like and type it out page by page so you can get a sense of the pace of actual writing and then adapt it to your own.
oh yeah, and lots of reading.
and when in doubt, get this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Writing-10th-Anniversary-Memoir-Craft/dp/1439156816
Can I suggest to you, and anyone else, that it would be beneficial to read Stephen King's book 'On Writing'. If you click on the 'Look inside' sample pages, and scroll down to pages 285 and 286, it illustrates how to edit text with the notion that less is more.
Taking a piece of text from your line 10, as an example: "Maybe it's time we, became adults!" Due to her saying this to the boy it caused him to blush slightly.
Taking Stephen King's advice I'd imagine it would be more like:
"Maybe it's time we became adults!" she said.
He blushed.
"How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy" is a good book, there's some useful stuff in it. But for a raw beginner it doesn't hold a candle to Ben Bova's "The Craft of Writing Science Fiction That Sells" (http://www.amazon.com/Craft-Writing-Science-Fiction-Sells/dp/0898796008).
Some other books I recommend:
http://www.amazon.com/Characters-Emotion-Viewpoint-Techniques-Viewpoints/dp/1582973164
http://www.amazon.com/Self-Editing-Fiction-Writers-Second-Yourself/dp/0060545690 (note: despite the title, I'd recommend reading this before you write a book).
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-10th-Anniversary-Memoir-Craft/dp/1439156816
Mr. Coorlim is right however that you should ignore anything you read about the business side of writing. It's all changing too quickly now for any book to keep up.
Here are a few I think are good:
Getting Started
On Writing: This book is great. There are a lot of nice principles you can walk away with and a lot of people on this subreddit agree it's a great starting point!
Lots of Fiction: Nothing beats just reading a lot of good fiction, especially in other genres. It helps you explore how the greats do it and maybe pick up a few tricks along the way.
For Editing
Self-Editing For Fiction Writers: there isn't anything in here that will blow your writing away, land you an agent, and secure a NYT bestseller, but it has a lot of good, practical things to keep an eye out for in your writing. It's a good starting place for when you are learning to love writing (which is mostly rewriting)
A Sense of Style by Steve Pinker: I really loved this book! It isn't exclusively about fiction, but it deals with the importance of clarity in anything that is written.
Garner's Modern American Usage: I just got this about a month ago and have wondered what I was doing before. This is my resource now for when I would normally have gone to Google and typed a question about grammar or usage or a word that I wasn't sure I was using correctly. It's a dictionary, but instead of only words, it is filled with essays and entries about everything a serious word-nut could spend the rest of their^1 life reading.
^1 ^Things ^such ^as ^the ^singular ^their ^vs ^his/hers
Publishing
Writer's Market 2016: There are too many different resources a writer can use to get published, but Writer's Market has a listing for Agents, publishers, magazines, journals, and contests. I think it's a good start once you find your work ready and polished.
There are too many books out there that I haven't read and have heard good things about as well. They will probably be mentioned above in this thread.
Another resource I have learned the most from are books I think are terrible. It allows you to read something, see that it doesn't work, and makes you process exactly what the author did wrong. You can find plenty of bad fiction if you look hard enough! I hope some of this helps!
I found Stephen King's On Writing to be enormously motivating and educational.
> Personally I quite enjoy his style because he's not afraid to just say shit as it is, gnarly and uncomfortable as it might be.
You should read his memior / book about how to be a writer, On Writing. I don't want to be a writer, but I've read it several times because it's so good.
Stephen King wrote a book a while back called ON WRITING that, while being more focused on writing novels and short stories, details many of the pitfalls that new writers will encounter when starting a new story. It's a fantastic tool, written by somebody that knows a thing or two about telling good stories, and it can help you get a leg up. I highly recommend it!
As for formatting a document to conform to screenplay requirements, try this wonderful software called Trelby
I noticed you mentioned having Grammar and style errors, if you want some help with grammar and style let me link you two extremely helpful books that are very low bullshit for their price:
The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition: https://www.amazon.com/dp/020530902X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_-YyyCbQ6NC2R1
This is the best book for grammar help in my opinion, it's especially helpful if you still have to write essays.
On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1439156816/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_L0yyCb9D4H4SE
The first half of this book is a memoir, but the second half is absolutely packed with good advice for novels, regardless the genre.
The first book will help you catch those Grammar errors before you go back with another story, and the second will help you with Style. IE your "The elf walked with grace to the door." Sentence and how to avoid Adverbs.
Not a real person option, but have you read Stephen King's On Writing? It's really good.
I'm not a terribly experienced dev, so I can only give really general advice mostly from the perspective of a game player.
For writing in general, Stephen King's On Writing is often touted as essential reading.
If you are set on a cyberpunk setting (and you should have the setting decided before you start) then there are a few influential works that should act as a foundation. I'm not an expert in the genre, so that list looks good to me, but it could be a bit much. I'd focus on Neuromancer, Snow Crash, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
As for writing a plot for a game, try to decide how the story will be presented to the player. Will there be cutscenes? Will there be dialogue trees to navigate through? (Do those paths change the narrative.) And maybe consider how the mechanics of the game relate to the themes of the narrative.
Getting started is difficult sometimes, so maybe start with a character. Decide their personality, and their goals, and their background. Work on what they want and how they think they'll get it (and why they think that), what obstacles are in their way, etc. And each part of that requires more things to work on, so once you've started, there are always places to go.
I hope some of this is helpful.
Constructive criticism accepted? If you're trying to live up to your blog's name, then you're succeeding. Lines like "The cinematography was pretty decent. Nothing really ground-breaking, but it was a really pleasant movie to look at during some scenes." do very little to tell your readers anything. Who was the cinematographer? Did they do anything else of note? IMDB is your friend. In this case, Spanish cinematographer Oscar Faura; probably not many American readers are familiar with his work, as I believe it's his first English-language film. Same goes for the Norwegian director Morten Tyldum. What was interesting, or can you use more evocative language? Do you understand the visual language enough to recognize and describe things like tracking shots, handheld shots, framing, lighting? "I only have one minor complaint about this movie, which is the CGI." Cut off the "which is the CGI" part. I'm pretty sure no one calls it CGI anymore (just CG), and the phrase isn't necessary because you spend the rest of the paragraph talking about that very thing. Don't sound like Perd Hapley. Remember that it's not just about your impression of the movie, but why you felt that way. And, too, that you're writing about the film, not about how you felt about it. It's your opinion, sure, but there's a balance between putting yourself on the page and putting your recommendation or lack thereof on the page - the line between being Harry Knowles or Roger Ebert. Make the reader feel your joy...or pain...or indifference.
I used to be a semi-pro film critic and editor of other people's reviews. I learned a lot from reading the great critics - Pauline Kael, Roger Ebert - and from books about film. A Short Guide to Writing About Film, Film Art: An Introduction, How to Read a Film. All books I remember reading. And not just those, but books about writing. Particular favorites are The Elements of Style and Stephen King's On Writing. If you want to brush up on your knowledge of what you're seeing, Every Frame a Painting is a stellar look at film's visual language.
If you haven't read it already, Stephen King's book On Writing offers a lot of advice. Some of it's interesting, some of it is... odd, but there are some good pointers in there. It's a decent book, as well.
If you want to understand depression better, and also laugh your ass off, read this: https://smile.amazon.com/Hyperbole-Half-Unfortunate-Situations-Mechanisms/dp/1451666179/
If you're even questioning getting help, get it. You may decide later you don't need it, but it rarely hurts. Even people without depression find therapy valuable.
I have it, but very mild as these things go, and all tangled up with fibromyalgia (which carries chronic fatigue and pain).
For me, it just makes me feel... Blah. I can't get interested in stuff I actually like, I can't motivate myself to do anything. Everything has an air of "fuck it" about it.
For other people, it lies to them. Depression's favorite lie is that you suck, no one likes/loves you, you're not worthy, that all you do is fuck up. Nope. Lies. All of it.
The main benefit of therapy (other than access to medications which can really help some people), is the totally impartial listener. Not even impartial, on your side while also helping you expose and manage your real flaws. Teaching you how to cope. Teaching you how to communicate with others the way you need to.
Therapy carries the knowledge that you can tell this person anything, and they will help you and never repeat to anyone what you tell them. We keep so much bottled up for fear of what our partners, family, or friends will think of us... But a therapist's job is to take your darkest crap and let it out to the light to float away.
Good luck. Mental health is so fucking important, and I hope you can find it.
You're a great santa to care about your giftee/ask how to help them. Pets help a lot with depression. I know you can't give them a dog, cat, etc. but maybe you could find a way to send them a fish/small tank setup like a beta? Or maybe an animal type experience might be available in their area from groupon?
Also maybe [this book by Allie Brosh from Hyperbole and a Half] (https://www.amazon.com/Hyperbole-Half-Unfortunate-Situations-Mechanisms/dp/1451666179) She posted about her depression on her blog
And maybe a little something like this that they can carry with them/hold in their hand just to help them remember that they're amazing.
Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
The Hyperbole and a Half book deals with the author's issues with depression and it makes me laugh so damn hard. Even when I couldn't laugh about other things it did the job, still my goto 'I need a laugh book' even now.
I got a lot of wisdom from this one
https://www.amazon.com/Bringing-Up-Bébé-Discovers-Parenting/dp/1594203334
This one has all the basics though, solid book.
https://happiestbaby.com
Yes I have, he released a newer revised version a couple of years ago with lots more details
The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
Note that her book is actually coming out this fall.
Pre-order link here: Link!
Not an affiliate link, I swear.
Here's the book
I have four kids, all born within 5 years. When they were small, I found it downright impossible to have proper dinner ready when my husband got home from work. I just couldn't joggle the baby, toddlers and cooking all at the same time.
I found the perfect solution from the book Bringing up bebe. We are European (but not French) and before we had kids we used to eat late. Now we decided to move dinner close to children's bedtime. It turned out to be a real win win solution for everybody.
When my husband now comes home, he first spends an hour or two with the children while I cook dinner. He loves it, children love it, and I have a wonderful stress-free time in kitchen listening to radio all by myself (ok, this is in theory - in practice kids run in and out and I'm needed every five or ten minutes for something. Unless they all go out.) By the time we sit at the table, all children are in their pajamas. Dinner is also much more relaxed, we know that within ten minutes after the children leave the table, they are in bed.
Nowadays we are both working, and late dinner is still the perfect solution for our family.
FWIW baby raising has changed a lot in the past few years. Even just in our generation, and more than it did for previous generations. A lot has actually.
A fun read:
http://www.pregnantchicken.com/pregnant-chicken-blog/2012/11/9/why-youre-never-failing-as-a-mother
And if you're looking for more books to read
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1594203334
Well, I stand corrected.
This and this are what im reading at the moment. Just finished this. Also recommend this.
These guys: http://www.amazon.com/New-Confessions-Economic-Hit-Man/dp/1626566747
Look what just spring up: "you are doing that too much. try again in 7 minutes." Seven minutes! Who in hell is controlling this? I've been told to wait 1 minute in my many years on reddit...under different names.
> Capitalism has been consistently proven to raise the standards of living wherever it has been tried.
Google the word neoliberalism sometime, and spend a day researching it.
> Meanwhile, every single attempt at socialism - the USSR, the PRC, the DPRK, Venezuela, Cuba - has resulted in disaster, and has lowered the standards of living wherever it has been tried.
In what sense are these socialist, apart from what they call themselves in name? An anarcho-capitalist can have some actual, justified criticisms against socialism in practice (I've seen many), but when people like you plow forward with such an elementary misunderstanding, believe me when I say you look bad, even to your own camp.
The Zapatistas? The Paris Commune? The Ukrainian Free Territories? Revolutionary Catalonia? The Israeli Kibbutzim? That is your actual target.
> There is a reason why every single country that was once considered communist has transitioned towards capitalism...
Because they were bombed to hell in the interest of the capitalist class?
> ... and it should be no surprise to anyone that the standard of living has raised in these areas.
Like the four asian tigers did through State intervention? (And like the US did, also). Nothing even close to a free market prescription, albeit a quasi-capitalist one nevertheless.
I have no idea what's in that dump, but given that it hasn't made the news it hardly warrants the term big.
It seems you like donquixotic crusades. If you want to hack the bad guys, try smoking out the people behind http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Confessions-Economic-Hit/dp/1626566747
The Russians are pikers in comparison.
Should you do so and succeed, I suggest you cover your tracks really well.
Here is one: https://www.mqup.ca/blog/secwepemc-people-land-laws/
Here is another one: https://www.amazon.ca/Unsettling-Canada-National-Wake-Up-Call-ebook/dp/B012XYFJHO
And another: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1632460688/?coliid=I9PKGROBS5P88&colid=3VO89QG4XNLG3&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
More: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1632460688/?coliid=I9PKGROBS5P88&colid=3VO89QG4XNLG3&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
Additional: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1626566747/?coliid=I1BAWUWU32N6NC&colid=3VO89QG4XNLG3&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
Another: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1442614714/?coliid=I3P3FGFUIK7RFG&colid=3VO89QG4XNLG3&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
One more: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0888646402/?coliid=I2843W2GF6U9NS&colid=3VO89QG4XNLG3&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
More: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0814798535/?coliid=I30HZQ9D3V5O2W&colid=3VO89QG4XNLG3&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
Here: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1138585866/?coliid=I2UL77UTJ47BF0&colid=3VO89QG4XNLG3&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
Another: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1496201558/?coliid=I3BTQMC9LYCLHJ&colid=3VO89QG4XNLG3&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
One: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0822330210/?coliid=I1SEHQBGT2K6CT&colid=3VO89QG4XNLG3&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
Another: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0803282869/?coliid=IHTY3OT3VU8CZ&colid=3VO89QG4XNLG3&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
Last one: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0773547436/?coliid=ITIW0V5V1H7TR&colid=3VO89QG4XNLG3&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
Allie Brosh of Hyperbole and a Half has announced on her facebook page that she has published a book.
It's available for pre-ordering on Amazon.
Well, in the military's defense, highly decorated General, Smedley Butler, did say, after years of post-service reflection, that war is a racket and that he was nothing but a henchman for Bankers, corporations and resource extractors. At least we have finally moved beyond this hypocrisy, pretending war is a liberating force. Now we can openly protest the nefariousness of this Empire-scaled civil forfeiture for blood and money.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler
And about our later tactics;
https://www.democracynow.org/2004/11/9/confessions_of_an_economic_hit_man
https://www.amazon.com/New-Confessions-Economic-Hit-Man/dp/1626566747
Confessions of an Economic Hitman, a NYT best seller, contends that it's part of a devious scheme on the part of the developed world to impoverish the poor by giving them loans that they are forced to spend on developed-country goods, and which they can never pay off, which traps them into a perpetual cycle of dependency. Entertaining read if you like conspiracy theories and spy novels.
http://www.amazon.com/Hyperbole-Half-Unfortunate-Situations-Mechanisms/dp/1451666179
Link for the lazy.
Came into the hidden comments looking for this. Thanks ;)
Want to move to France?
http://www.amazon.com/Bringing-Up-Bebe-Discovers-Parenting/dp/1594203334
Amazon.com pre-order page for those interested in Allie's book. Note: the current release date is October 29th, 2013 and may or may not change. I'm just sharing the link as a fan :)
I expect that once I read Divergent (which will be before the end of this month), I'll be looking forward to Allegiant as well.
I'm also looking forward to the book by Allie Brosh, the author of Hyperbole and a Half.
*My favorite birthday was my 16th because I got to see family I have seen in a while & share memories.
Amazon
First off, thank you--I always appreciate commentary from teachers/professors/academics/educators on reddit--the insight is invaluable, and you clearly know your stuff. This looks to be a wonderful curriculum, and I hope to be able to work my way through it or something similar eventually; after all, money's tight for me right now as a student.
Second, you say you prefer the topical approach, so maybe you could speak to this: my primary reason for posting is that last year I read Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and thoroughly enjoyed it. Recently, I had time to read it's sequel, Lila: An Inquiry into Morals and found it to be even more complete argumentatively-speaking. Almost all of his points were genius in my opinion, but what I found most compelling was the manner in which he argued that modern scientific reasoning is a flawed, incomplete way of looking at the world. I suppose on the surface you could call it epistemological, but he also engages metaphysics and ethics heavily in these two books. I'm fascinated by Pirsig's work, but just feel as though I need to be more well-read in these areas to really engage with it and better evaluate it's merit.
Barbara Tuchman was brilliant writer of history.
Albert Camus was a brilliant absurdist philosopher and novelist.
Jared Diamond has written some brilliant books at the intersection of anthropology and ecology. Another good book in this genre is Clive Ponting's A New Green History of the World.
Gwynne Dyer is an acclaimed military historian turned journalist on international affairs who has written a number of very engaging books on warfare and politics. His most recent book Climate Wars is the ONE book I would recommend to someone, if so limited, on the subject as it embodies both a wonderful synopsis of the science juxtaposed against the harsh realpolitiks and potential fates of humankind that may unfold unless we can manage to tackle the matter seriously, soon. Another great book on climate change is Bill McKibben's Deep Economy.
For social activists interested in ending world hunger and abject poverty, I can recommend: Nobel Prize winning economist Amartya Sen's Development as Freedom; Nobel Prize winning micro-financier Muhammad Yunus' Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism; UN MDG famed economist Jeffrey Sach's End Of Poverty; and Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea
For anyone of Scottish heritage, I heartily recommend Arthur Hermann's How The Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World and Everything in It
For naval history buffs: Robert K. Massie's Dreadnought.
Last, but not least: Robert Pirsig's classic Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance.
Enjoy!
Looks like you could use some direction in a comforting form. Some books to consider:
The Tao of Pooh
A great little book to get you to look at things differently at times. I wont go deep, but I think the reviews on amazon give you a good idea of what to expect. It's quite short as well, so it wont be some huge commitment.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
This is not a manual for repairing motorcycles. No, it's a work of fiction that helps you find a more "zen" approach to live. Have you seen "The Big Lebowski"? Yeah, it defends the values in finding peace in the world around you, even if things don't always go smoothly.
Invisible Monsters
Finally a book for embracing and confronting that anger and hurt you have built up. Palahniuk is just the author for the job. Don't read the synopsis and DON'T get the silly remixed version of the book. I've known people who have found this book life changing. It seems to really speak to women.
I guess I have been a bit unclear in my post, but then again, Wikipedia is misleading in that aspect, Sōtō Zen Buddhism (Japanese) is different from Buddhism (India/Tibet/etc) and still very different to the modern schools of Zen.
I.e: Prajnaparamita is very different from Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance.
Followed you over here from RBN.
Some of the best novels about narcissism IMO don't ever mention the actual word itself. Instead, they're about the ins and outs of emotional manipulation. These immediately come to mind:
They're all fairly intense books about the depths of self absorption and manipulative rationalization.
https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Inquiry/dp/0060589469
https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Inquiry/dp/0060589469
It's rad, but avoid hallucinogens as you near the end.
Replying to your final edit bro.
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I hope you learn from this. But honestly I am just unpacking my own shit.
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I've lived in 3 different states, 5 different countries and been in dozens more. 3 stints of zero income. Poor, well-off, poor, rich, broke. I've read my stoics and my Tao, met interesting people and fucked women that are not my wife. I am a serial addict, gambler, artist, entrepreneur and in every way a dumb motherfucker who has chased every color of dragon to the ends of the fucking earth and back.
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I know what it is to make a comeback and what it is to slip the noose for a time.
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A comeback is when the artist reinvents themselves. They accept their art has become stale and they change medium or play with the old one in a new way. They legitimately find some fun and purpose in it. Fans are quick to detect trying to randomly inject novelty. And that's one reason you shouldn't be doing it for the fans.
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When an artists does make that legitimate transformation. They always get new fans. There are always people out there looking for a fresh new sound. Some of the old ones might even turn around. But they are more likely to not get it. But fuck them, maybe you were stuck in a rut trying to please them anyway.
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Doing it for real is hard work and it takes time.
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The point is, long term, as long as you end up producing Quality, even the harshest critic will look back and say "ya know, I didn't see it then but that was a real vintage record.".
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A real critic will do that while acknowledging it is not their cup of warm piss.
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But I am not a music guy, I am thinking of some post-modern novelists I enjoyed and maybe the critics are different.
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Anyway.
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Why I do not think you are inventing that rare, fresh new sound: your in-laws.
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In the back of my mind somewhere, I always disliked my in-laws, thought I was better than them, thought they were judging me. All that good stuff. Wasn't that big a deal because we traveled and had little to do with them, so fuck them right?
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When I washed up on THEIR couch. I humbled myself. Internally.
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Fake it till you make it bro. But that internal humility is the only way you can know when you are doing what it takes while acknowledging things are what they are.
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I took out their garbage. I cooked. I spoke respectfully to them. I
hadhave a thousandreasonsexcuses why I ended up there and how temporary it would be but I swallowed my pride and CHOSE to think respectfully about them.&#x200B;
They owned the couch. They earned the right.
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They got to see me at my lows. They got to see me hustle everyday. They got to see me work like [a word you can only say on 4chan], get a plan, get a home, get our lives back. They got to see me on the days I believed in it and they also saw the days I gritted my teeth to get through it.
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They let me do what I needed to do and we all moved on.
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I would like to think that I earned their respect.
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But THEY earned MINE the first day I sat my three-time-loser-ass down on their couch.
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Now I highly recommend blowing up your life over staying in a rut.
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But you are just heading to let yours wither on the vine.
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If you find yourself incapable of aligning your actions with other people's actions and earning their respect when you are down, or you think that a new job has saved your shit life, and "attaboys!" from your boss are worth a fuck, you are just going to drift from disaster to disaster when the going gets tough.
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You are stating on record that you are doing this.
Fact.
You are never going to write a book if you can't hold down a shit job.
Fact.
Simply running away to another state is not bold or courageous in anyway.
Fact.
You are never going to win the critics that matter if you can't face down the ones that don't.
Fact.
You are never going to BE the critic that matters while you're burying the criticism with your ego.
Fact.
You are not talking about making a comeback right now.
Fact.
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Best case you give away a few free tickets to a sad "evening with a has-been" event that no-one is going to go to. Find the "alpha" that is authentically fulfilled by that.
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This is NOT what it takes to nuke your life into black glass and start over.
Fact.
I'm taking a shot in the dark with this one, but what about Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance?
You could also check out this brew starter kit.
What else stands out about him? How does we decorate, style or design preferences, etc.?
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainance
Buy it, read it. Pirsig did an amazing job on this book. It's got pretty much nothing to do with motorcycles realistically but it's a study in psychology, morals and thought from the head of a rider on a ride across the US. Do it.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Or if you want to know how to fix/maintain/repair specific issues, buy the specific service manual for your bike. You can get the one from the manufacturer, which are usually around $100, or get the Haynes or Clymer manual, which are usually $25-$40. It certainly doesn't hurt to have both.
Definitely need to read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, although it has less to do with motorcycle maintenance than it does with everything else.
have you read Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance?
Like succeeding against white culture is hard.
Have you read Hillbilly Elegy? https://www.amazon.com/Hillbilly-Elegy-Memoir-Family-Culture/dp/0062300547
The author grew up in Appalachia and went to an Ivy League law school. He writes about how unfamiliar the social terrain was, the way his classmates talked down about poor people, and how he made his way. It's one of the best books I read last year.
In Columbus and Cleveland, absolutely, by a 2 to 1 margin. The rest of Ohio loves Trump and fits into every stereotype of Trump country you see in the media. Hillbilly Elegy was written in large part about Ohio outside the major metros.
>...while violent crime is still a problem in urban areas, many of them are in fact safer now than they’ve been in decades. The violent crime rate in rural areas, meanwhile, has climbed above the national average for the first time in 10 years. In Iowa, the overall violent crime rate rose by 3 percent between 2006 and 2016, but shot up by 50 percent in communities with fewer than 10,000 residents. Violent crime rates have doubled in rural counties in West Virginia over the past couple of decades, while tripling in New Hampshire. “Rural areas, which traditionally have had lower crime rates, have seen dramatic increases in incarceration rates,” says Jacob Kang-Brown, a senior research associate with the Vera Institute of Justice. “We see them now having the highest incarceration rates in the country.”
http://www.governing.com/topics/public-justice-safety/gov-crime-rural-urban-cities.html
More articles describing the problems in rural America:
https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/29/magazine/the-alchemy-of-oxycontin.html
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/01/white-working-class-poverty/424341/
https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/20/politics/election-2016-white-working-class-donald-trump-kaiser-family-foundation/index.html
A series of Washington Post articles examining the myriad causes for the social problems among the rural working class:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/unnatural-causes/?utm_term=.ab7b22c86e2d
And I would recommend this book for a more comprehensive overview of this situation
> Do you think this extends to disgracing people who migrate for work?
I don't know about "disgracing," but in my experience there is definitely a stigma about "leaving your people." Also when someone starts to get "above his raising" you can start to hear that "you think you're better than people. Well let me tell you... you ain't."
I don't think it's ubiquitous, but I have seen it. The education can also be resented, particularly if you now question or have moved away from the religion of your community, or even interject unwelcome information into a conversation. Your outside experiences and education have changed you, which means you're now different, and being different in these small rural communities is not easy.
Granted, I grew up in the 70s and 80s, so the culture might have changed. But from reading Vance's Hillbilly Elegy, I don't think my experiences were all that unique.
Regarding how the culture of honor ties in, I think it predisposes people to be hyper-sensitive for any perceived slight. If you come back from school or your city job with airs or big ideas, that can be seen as disrespectful and arrogant.
> It seems to me like we have two 'extreme' personality types in America, one which looks back to the struggles of their parents and grandparents and idealizes it, and one which learns the lessons of those struggles but attempts to apply it to new experiences.
This is refreshing, and came up in a discussion I had recently. The book I was recommended is Hillbilly Elegy about this exact thing. I drove through a few states in New England and most of my drive was through dilapidated and forgotten towns where more than half of the buildings in the town center are boarded up and the main building is a huge church, which is typically their community center. Imagine growing up in a town like that as a member of a family that is a part of the church and a member of a family that hates the church. Imagine growing up either in a house that's close to town and well-kept vs a house that's a little further outside of town with rotted siding and extra appliances and car parts strewn about your lawn.
Also, imagine growing up in a household where your dad beats everyone in your family into submission vs a household where your parents work together to expose you to the arts and other parts of the world. It's all about that early programming.
(Before I get into this, I want to say that I love you and I hope we make it through the next four years. You feel shitty now. I feel shitty now. But the only way we save this is to work together and be optimistic. Don't give up, you beautiful prince. And with that said, watch my tone shift very abruptly because that's the kind of day this is.)
You honestly think she lost because a few Bernie people refused to vote for her? As I understand it, it's a whole heckuva lot more complicated than that, Foxy.
I bet there's a ton more, too. That's all I can think of off the top of my head, though. Listen. I voted for her yesterday. It fucking hurts. But you know what? The people have spoken. And you know what else? Somehow, I'm not mad at Trump. I'm mad at Clinton, the DNC, her campaign, and those of her supporters who have vilified Sanders supporters since the beginning. We tried to make an argument for our candidate and instead many of your fellow Clinton supporters decided to call us names and treat us like we were stupid. We understood that Bernie was tapping into a feeling that Hillary had no hope of grasping. It feels weird because democrats are now the party of diversity but the truth is that working-class whites of Greater Appalachia and the Midwest have suffered for a long time, and they're fucking pissed. Trump recognized that (somehow), and Hillary didn't (unfortunately). Trump didn't even need to provide a fucking plan. He just needed to identify that this group of people are hurting because no one else had the balls or understanding to do that. It sucks, but that's how it happened.
I highly recommend reading Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance.
Anyway. Like I said in the beginning... I love ya. We're all hurting today, and we're all pointing fingers (naturally; it's a necessary stage). I recognize your points and don't really refute them. I listed my points, some of which may be wrong... I guess I'll find out when the comments start piling on.
Has anyone interviewed that right wing apologist, soi-distant polemicist JD Vance?
Huh?
This guy.
While you do need a college education in this day and age, it doesn't have to follow a strict formula. My little sister just graduated with her PhD in Math at Rutgers at 36. Her road was a pretty long one. She got married to an asshole at 18, divorced him five years later (thank god no kids), went to community college, then a state school, and then got a fellowship for her PhD. She has ZERO debt. Her bachelor's took longer, because she was working full time and taking night classes at first, but then she scaled down the work to part time and college full time. She was just offered a position by her former employer at $150/hour for 10 hours a week and she has a fully funded post doc at UPenn for another 10-15 hours a week starting mid June.
My point is, you have time. Yes, you do need to get a degree, maybe more than one, but it's also not a race and if you get creative you can do it with a minimum of debt. She's pretty special. I mean, to get a PhD in math you have to be, but she is also EXTREMELY frugal and that made an astronomical difference.
If you have to take a year off to work full time and save money, then that's what you have to do, but SAVE THE MONEY! Don't get sucked into just making that your life, because a lot of people do. Ultimately, you want that degree so do whatever you need to, even if it's just putting inspirational quotes on your mirror to remind yourself of your ultimate goals, no matter how long they may take.
My little sis, who I am so fucking proud of, called me many many times wanting to quit, because she was used to being first in her class and now she was in the bottom third. I finally told her, if she quit now she would forever regret it, because she would never ever know if she could have made it or not. I told her that quitting was the same as failing and that if she just kept going they would either kick her out and she could go back to her corporate job or she would succeed. Even as incredibly smart and talented as she is, she had to face down reality and work hard hard hard and save save save and forego many little pleasures, but she fucking did it and she did it all by herself and you can too. You may not get a PhD in math, but if you get creative, don't spend a dime you could possibly save, and work as hard as you can, you will achieve so much. You will find out who you are in the process, what you want, what you can achieve through hours of hard and often tedious and drudging work with people you don't like very much, but you will come out the other side a complete and whole person. Not many people can claim that, but you have taken the hardest step, which is to be your own person and escape a mind numbing cult, even when it meant forsaking your own parents. That is an experience not many people can claim and it will make you stronger than you could possibly know. You will meet people in college and university who have NEVER had to grapple what you have had to grapple with and that experience will be a strength to you for the rest of your life.
No one can tell you exactly what to do and based on what you have said, it sounds like the road is going to be long and difficult, but that's okay, because when you get out there in the "real world" you are going to find that this experience is an asset, not a disability.
/u/olsh gave some great practical advice. You are in a very tough spot, but you can do it. It will take more than courage. It will also take a lot of endurance through many difficulties. I would urge you to read or listen to Hillbilly Elegy before you do anything else.
Well, Norah Vincent and Alan Turing provide some insight into things.
https://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Womans-Year-Disguised/dp/0143038702
Norah wasn't even living full time or taking HRT and she had a nervous breakdown as a result of the experience; her next book was about her experience as a mental patient when she was hospitalized...
Turing was forced to take HRT as a 'cure' for homosexuality and committed suicide.
It's all pretty circumstantial and there's not many data points, but you can probably just look at cis people's reactions to the idea of taking HRT and 'suffering' the effects of that to get an idea of how well it sits with people.
[edit: corrected spelling of Nora to Norah.]
It might not be what you're asking about, but I think it's related: There's a number of folks who are incel/ForeverAlone/etc. who cite Norah Vincent's book, "Self Made Man" as evidence that dating really is that much tougher for men than women.
If you guys haven't read her book, I highly recommend it. There's a lot of little insights that you can't quite cram into a page-length Reddit post.
Well I don't know about a week.....But here's a story of a lesbian woman who dressed up and pretended to be a man for a whole year. She also wrote a book about it.
Most often, it's very difficult to treat a girl as one of the guys. So ask yourself, is she part of the rule or the exception. She'll be part of the rule most likely. This lady tried being one of the guys and ended in a mental institution.
http://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Womans-Year-Disguised/dp/0143038702
> Isn't that the complaint with thots and the like? Basically if all you bring to the table is sex and nothing else why spend money and time on you?
Actually, if you go back to the 1950s, the first sociological studies were coming out and revealed that a surprisingly large number of prostitutes' clients actually did not hire her to f--k: instead they spent the whole visit talking.
At the time, this was interpreted as, "Men are incapable of finding anyone to talk to." Note the self-contradictory nature of this interpretation.
Looking back, I think we can fairly re-interpret that data as, "Female sympathy for a male instead of another female is impaired, and they are intolerant of weakness in a male."
This ties into something lesbian journo Norah Vincent noticed in Self-Made Man: One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man. After the experiment was over, she was listening to a man in a bar and found herself hanging on every word, not because it was important to her, but because she now knew how important it was for him to be able to open up to a woman who would actually listen:
> Ditto for the stereotype about men monopolizing conversations. Like Sasha, many of my dates - even the more passive ones - did most of the talking. I listened to them talk literally for hours about the most minute, mind-numbing details of their personal lives; men they were still in love with, men they had divorced, roommates and co-workers they hated, childhoods they were loath to remember yet somehow found the energy to recount ad nauseam. Listening to them was like undergoing a slow frontal lobotomy. I sat there stunned by the social ineptitude of people to whom it never seemed to occur that no one, much less a first date, would have any interest in enduring this ordeal.
Sounds like you had a bad date :-/ Sorry.
Yes, the dating world can be very cold to men that aren't attractive. It's not something that's discussed much, because it's hammered into our heads as kids that all you need to get the girl is a sense of humor, maybe a job, some confidence and a decent sense of style. But women can be every bit as superficial, unfortunately.
I wouldn't defend all the horrible shit that men have done to women throughout history, but this book should be enlightening reading for many women these days:
http://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Womans-Year-Disguised/dp/0143038702/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1458690380&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=norah+vincent
All that said, though - if you realize you're a 2 or 3 out of 10, are you taking steps to improve? Have you been working out? Perhaps you need to dress better? Get on a diet?
Read "Self Made Man" by Norah Vincent. She takes acting classes and disguises herself as a man for a year to to look at the world of masculinity and write a book about it, but one chapter in particular will really speak to you. I think its the second or third chapter and she joins an MLM business and she writes about the significant toll it takes on the men who work there and the dirty psychological tactics the management and company employ to keep people working. Some of what you wrote makes me think of that.
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The book isn't sexist, she takes an unabashed look and admits to her own biases and where she was wrong. The other chapters aren't related to anything in this sub, but the chapter I mentioned (I Think it's chapter 6: Work) is very much related to the frustrations you're feeling.
Self-Made Man: One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man By Norah Vincent which you can buy here in case anyone is looking for it.
https://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Womans-Year-Disguised/dp/0143038702
Is this it? Is it any good?
Have there been any studies done on this or are you just talking mostly about trans feminists? I'd be much more interested in the experiences of trans people who don't have a vested interest in a certain gender narrative.
There was an article on some major news sites about a lesbian woman who dressed up, acted like, and pretended to be a man for a year and a half to see how men really act and how other people treat men. I think she was even a self described feminist. She became good friends with a group of guys she joined a bowling league with. She was shocked by how much more badly she was often treated as a man and realized how many problems she faced living as a man. Ultimately she said it made her her realize that she was actually privileged to live as a woman.
Edit: here's the book she wrote about it
http://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Womans-Year-Disguised/dp/0143038702
And here's the ABC article:
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Entertainment/story?id=1526982
heres her book
heres a short news story on her writing her book and her experiences
Don't sleep there are snakes.
> A riveting account of the astonishing experiences and discoveries made by linguist Daniel Everett while he lived with the Pirahã, a small tribe of Amazonian Indians in central Brazil. Daniel Everett arrived among the Pirahã with his wife and three young children hoping to convert the tribe to Christianity. Everett quickly became obsessed with their language and its cultural and linguistic implications. The Pirahã have no counting system, no fixed terms for color, no concept of war, and no personal property. Everett was so impressed with their peaceful way of life that he eventually lost faith in the God he'd hoped to introduce to them, and instead devoted his life to the science of linguistics. Part passionate memoir, part scientific exploration, Everett's life-changing tale is riveting look into the nature of language, thought, and life itself.
http://www.amazon.ca/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120
Deconversion is literally like 3 pages long. Long book about what a godless society looks like.
My linguistics experience is limited, mostly coming from a philosophy and comp sci background, so I am sure someone can answer this better than I, but I'll give it a shot.
Universal Grammar has always been controversial, Chomsky is more important for 'Chomsky Hierarchies' and generative grammar.
Some linguists call it pseudoscience, mostly because its all based on post-hoc observation, we already have language so thinking about what comes before it is incredibly hard. Criticism has grown alongside the use of computer modeling for this stuff, but we still don't have a definitive neuroscientific answer.
It's been a few years and I can't seem to find the book I am thinking of, but I recall reading a book that attempts to bridge the gap between Chomsky and Daniel Everett, Don't Sleep There are Snakes (a fanastic read but not what I am thinking of), whom makes some of the most compelling arguments against universal grammar.
I would not say that he went in the wrong direction, even specifically referring to universal grammar, because it helped to promote discussion on the subject even if it was by being controversial.
TL;DR Chomsky is always controversial, but he is very clever and is hard to disprove
> the concept of omnipotent being is universal
Nope. It isn't. Check out the Pirahã People of South America. They do not have a concept of a god.
If you want to read a really interesting book sometime, check out Don't Sleep, There are Snakes written by the missionary who was sent to convert these people who ended up being deconverted by the tribe.
There are many videos of him on youtube. Here's one.
Edit: Here's another.
> I will deconvert if you prove me wrong.
I doubt you'll do that.
My experience is that grad school is actually a pretty great time to have kids, if you can keep up with your work. Babies aren't really on a schedule too early, and it's a lot easier to spend 40 hrs/week working on your thesis/obligations at your convenience, rather than working 9-5 and looking after young children at the same time. You have to maintain the motivation to keep up with your work when the (baby/child) is down, but it's certainly not a bad time to be a parent. It is difficult not to just want to sleep when everyone is quiet, but if you have the motivation to do that, if I had the choice to go back and re-visit some of my decisions, I would have no hesitation about doing grad school instead of working when I had infants.
You're going to be exhausted no matter what you do (SAH parents are just as exhausted as working parents), and I would rather do something I love, and get paid for, rather than just a job that I had to do.
I don't think that there's a wrong decision here. I've known a lot of people who became very unhappy when they were living the academic life daily, but it does work well for some people. Most of my 'academic' friends didn't have children until after they were tenured, which meant that there were different pressures. I'm also Canadian, which might make a difference in terms of what to expect as a tenured professor.
My best advice (as someone who is currently a mom) is to do what makes you happy, and while you're doing that, also put the rest of your family's needs as a high priority. I've got a pretty complicated family (triplets, all autistic, one cancer kid, one divorce), but I still kind of wish that I was a history prof :-)
Just be aware of what your choices are, because there will always be positives and negatives no matter which road you choose. It's more than possible to be emotionally and intellectually involved in your career choice, and still be a great parent/partner. It's also possible to be so fixated on your own happiness that you neglect everyone else's.
I still haven't found a point where I say "this is absolutely what I want to do, and everything else needs to revolve around that". I've made choices (in full knowledge of what I was giving up or gaining), but I think that it might be less of a choice to your age group, in that you might not have to make an either/or choice. My kids are now 15, and some of them say "but you don't have a full-time job" and some of them say "you actually thought that history was important", and most of the time, all of us agree that I'm a pretty decent parent who is accomplishing good things in various areas. It still makes me twinge when a child comes across an old research paper and says "wow- you used to know stuff?" I still know 'stuff', but it's different :-)
Do what feels right, and good, for you. My guess is that my children's generation would be a lot happier if they had happier parents, and if my generation of women hadn't been faced with either/or choices. Go for what you are passionate about, treat your family with the respect, decency, attentive time, and love that you'd expect for yourself, and do what feels right. If you love (and by "love" I mean respect your children, do what is right for them to the best of your understanding give them care and comfort, teach them basic skills and the knowledge that people are interesting, make different choices, and and are decent people, and you'll probably be fine.
I don't think that there are easy choices to be made for women, but I think that you can't go wrong by trying to set your priorities (if you have common sense), by showing your family (partner and kids) that you are happy, doing what you want to be doing, and still giving love and affection at the same time that you take love and support from them. From what you've written you don't seem oblivious to your partner's/future children's needs, so you'll probably make the right choice.
I'm not sure that there's a wrong decision. After I gave up my hopes of academic brilliance I worked in a (large) University environment for a long time, and although I miss the research and what I hoped to achieve, I sure don't miss academia. Now, you couldn't pay me enough to go back into an academic environment full-time, but I don't regret the time that I spent just learning knowledge and doing research, and I'll probably be doing that again when my kids leave home.
Do what intrinsically feels good to you, and trust your common sense to make up for the rest. It's possible in any field now to make a splash without being an academic- the latest linguistics book that I read was "Don't Sleep, there are Snakes", but one of my kids' speech therapists did her PhD in linguistics before she decided to go back to speech therapy, and she's been incredible for my kids.
Do what feels right (and as you can tell by my babbling, I'm definitely history/english, and not linguistics!)
You'll work it out.
I think it was this article.
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/thefreethinker/2008/11/how-an-amazonian-tribe-turned-a-missionary-into-an-atheist/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307386120/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
this is actually known to be aspergers-specific (not saying that anyone who reacts this way is on the spectrum, but that aspies are more likely to react this way), also as documented by the memoir look me in the eye.
John Elder Robison is the brother of Augusten Burroughs (who you might know as the author of “Running with Scissors”) and is on the spectrum.
John has this book called “Look me in the eye,” which got good reviews and is about his experience living with ASD. I read a snippet of it and keep meaning to go back to read more (because his writing style is witty/funny, like his brother’s, and what he writes about is also very relatable).
Here’s a link to the book if you’re interested:
https://www.amazon.com/Look-Me-Eye-Life-Aspergers/dp/0307396185/ref=nodl_
I've been a special education teacher for 10 years and I haven't found anything like what you are describing. However, two books that helped me understand what some of my students have to deal with are Overcoming Dyslexia and Look Me in the Eye
Also the Wrightslaw website that deals with Special Education Law. I've used that quite a bit
I just finished reading Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's and if your experience is similar, you'll probably be great at advertising. John had to learn how to interact with other people by observing as an outsider, which is a super useful skill for advertising. You might also consider exploring the art side of things, and getting good at InDesign and Photoshop.
My mistake. The book was Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's by John Elder Robison.
I would really like to read [Wild] (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0307476073/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&amp;colid=1KW5XWA99ZFZK&amp;coliid=IEGUJUFTLXKGY). I love the outdoors and real life stories of adventure and travel.
Best book I read in the past year would be Beloved, which I read in my Women's Literature class.
[BOOP] (http://img.pandawhale.com/17985-Karate-watermelon-cat-gif-U6ul.gif)
Travel. Hike multi-month trails. Buy a boat, sail the oceans. Plenty of places to go/things to see.
I always liked the idea of a long solo hike. No day to day bullshit - just focusing on getting from point A to B... allows you to re-examine life from a quasi-removed position.
You should check out Wild. It's the memoir of a 22 year old woman's solo PCT hike.
Wild by Cheryl Strayed is a perfect follow up piece for Krakauer. Haunting, humble, and abrasively honest at times.
In addition, the other recommendations (South, The Lost City of Z, Walden on Wheels) are great reads as well.
Hey! You may want to check out this book. It seems totally up your alley. It's a memoir by a woman who dropped everything and hiked the PCT, published in 2012, has gotten a ton of acclaim:
http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Found-Pacific-Crest-Vintage/dp/0307476073
I'm sure your friend has access to all the recovery literature he can handle, and more. I wouldn't even go there, if you are considering it.
I might go for some light entertainment.
Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods is about hiking the Appalachian Trail, it's an easy read and it's hilariously funny.
Cheryl Strayed's Wild is about hiking the PCT and is also a fun read.
For novels, I have to recommend A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, and Middlesex by Jeffery Eugendes. They are both big huge sprawling books that are also super enjoyable and easy to read. (So they are not a new Moby Dick.) I've never read them, but I hear the Lord of the Rings books are completely absorbing too. They would take up a huge chunk of his time.
You might also send some comfort clothes. Some warm socks or slippers or sweatpants or a hoodie, something like that. (I'm a huge fan of LL Bean's sweats, they are super comfy and well made.) Also maybe an iTunes gift card if he's got an iphone or ipod.
Out of curiosity, what's the scifi book you're sending? I'm a big scifi fan too.
I really enjoyed "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed.
https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Found-Pacific-Crest-Trail/dp/0307476073
It should be done. If they can get done in Yemen..
https://www.amazon.com/Am-Nujood-Age-10-Divorced/dp/0307589676
There is a great book on this topic. Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich granted she is a liberal journalist as opposed to a conservative, but the concept is the same. Can a college educated female make it on her own, working menial labor jobs (waitress, hotel maid, and Walmart associate) without any help from personal contacts.
> I feel like not defining yourself by your work can definitely make it easier to deal with.
In that regard, yes. I have very few memories of my parents every talking about work or complaining about their day. I knew they went to work but that was about it.
I was first asked that question by an old therapist of mine who was really big on environment: home, family, work, etc. I have never defined myself by what I do and sometimes others equated that to "lack of ambition". Sorry, there is more to life than 80 hour work weeks. My parents were always home in the evening and seldom worked OT.
Several good books if you have time:
You scrimp and you save five dollars here 10 dollars for mowing a neighbors lawn maybe 20 bucks because food was cheaper one week... then bam a part on your car fails you have the choice of letting the car go or paying 200 to fix it and you need that car to get to work. You could take public transportation but it would be an hour one way and 60 bucks a month so you swallow your pride and put that 200 into the car praying hoping that it does not break again. This is just one example of why being poor is so expensive and makes it nearly impossible to save. If you want actual books on the matter http://www.amazon.com/Nickel-Dimed-Not-Getting-America/dp/0312626681/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1454131226&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=nickel+and+dimed This is a good one.
After loads of reading on the bus to work every day, here follows my reading list for military aviation:
Modern
Vietnam
WWII
Overall/Other
Bonus non-military aviation
I highly second the recommendations of Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, and Diamond Age. I would also recommend:
I recommend The Hacker Ethic:
The Hacker Ethic https://www.amazon.com/dp/0375505660/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Kp2nDbAM9QMP1
Also Kevin Mitnick's book, Ghost in the Wires is a really good read:
Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316037729/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Ar2nDb1YSE47W
I was really surprised no one mentioned either of these yet 😎
There is always a chance for former hackers to reform themselves..
https://smile.amazon.com/Ghost-Wires-Adventures-Worlds-Wanted/dp/0316037729
> Im studying at college in telecommunication field right now, but i enjoy hacking atm, i've been learn hacking for 2 months. But are those two things related? (telecom and hacking) If yes, what skills i should focus on? Sorry for bad english tho
You will enjoy reading this book (for entertainment, not knowledge):
https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wires-Adventures-Worlds-Wanted/dp/0316037729
Kevin Mitnick - Ghost In The Wires
He was a telecom hacker in the earlier days.
Unfortunately, I don't have, Not sure if on Archive there's something.
Will Edit this once I can find a way of seeing removed texted.
Edit: FOUND IT
Here's the Text:
"Hi r/sysadmin
Each week I thought I'd post these SysAdmin tools, tips, tutorials etc with just one link to get it in your inbox each week. Let me know any ideas for future versions in the comments.
Here are the most interesting items that have come across our desks, laptops, phones this week. As always, I have no affiliation with any of these unless I explicitly state otherwise
A Free Tool
LetsMonitor.org(https://letsmonitor.org/) is a free service that alerts you when your site certificates are misconfigured or nearing expiration. Notifications can be sent to multiple contacts.
A SysAdmin Site
Wahl Network (http://wahlnetwork.com/) is a weekly technical blog with a focus on data-center technologies, business challenges, and new products and solutions. The site was founded by Chris Wahl in 2010, with a goal of providing technical solutions for SysAdmins.
Another Free Tool
Switch Miner (http://switchminer.sourceforge.net/). Ever have trouble figuring out what's connected where? Switch Miner is a port-discovery tool that can help locate all the devices connected to any switch. This handy utility can also discover and scan neighbouring switches via CDP. And best of all, it's free!
A Hacking Story
Ghost in the Wires (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316037729). This is the intriguing true story of Kevin Mitnick, who was the most-elusive computer hacker in history. He broke into networks at the world's biggest companies, all the while being pursued by the Feds. The complex cat-and-mouse game that ensued ultimately inspired permanent changes in the way companies protect their sensitive data.
A Server Room Tip
Here's a simple trick for physically tracing unlabelled server-room cables: Slide a velcro loop or binder clip along the cable until you reach the other end.
Have a fantastic week!!
u/crispyducks (-REMOVED 2 NOT VIOLATE SUB REDDIT RULES-)
Why am I doing this each week? (Updated)
I want to be mindful of the rules of the subreddit, so if you’d like to know more about my reasons for doing this, please visit the the sister post on /r/SysAdminBlogs here."
>How is education in your country?
It's complicated. Please keep in mind that what follows is directly from my experience from going to public and charter (primary and secondary) schools, and public community college/university. My experience is also limited to the following states: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, Montana, and Wyoming.
First, everywhere I have lived, education has always been the means to a job/career. No more and no less. The humanities and the arts are generally seen as knowledge for the sake of knowledge (or mere "hobbies"), and thus are only really pursued by people from the higher socioeconomic backgrounds, or anyone lucky enough to get a "full ride" scholarship, or anyone who qualifies for loans from the federal government based on financial need and academic merit. Non-STEM people are the academic "second class" who aren't really taken seriously until they are successful (read: millionaires).
Primary school is very general and is usually focused on learning how to read, write, and do basic math, along with social interaction.
Secondary school is also very general and usually has a focus on social studies (history and government), math, science, and English, but students can begin to follow their own direction by choosing from a variety of elective classes to take. These electives are limited to what is available based on the school's budget, what teachers are available, and what the demand is for particular courses. Some schools require that students take language electives and art electives. Some schools offer technical and professional electives. This phase also includes taking regular standardized tests (both from the state level and national level) in reading, math, and science.
As far as I know, the requirements for admission to an accredited college or university vary wildly, but most require a minimum SAT (980) or ACT (21) score and a minimum high school GPA (usually 3.0 on a 4 point scale). Some also require that people take specific courses in high school. Some also require essays. Some also require letters of recommendation. The for-profit schools usually only require someone who is able to pay (or get loans) and occasionally demand that their applicants have a high school diploma or G.E.D.. Tech schools (job training you pay for) requirements also vary widely, but are generally incredibly flexible and can be as minimal as completing an interview.
Once at the post-secondary level, quality of education is difficult to quantify. Each school has its own professors with their own research focuses and specialties. A few schools (including public ones) have been criticized for grade manipulation (in both directions). The trick is to find the school that is focused on what you want to learn and go there. More and more post-secondary schools are partnering with industry representatives to tailor the curriculum to industry needs, but that is usually limited by location (i.e. universities in California teach a lot of tech because they partner with Apple and Microsoft while universities on the east coast teach a lot of finance because they partner with investment firms and banks). Most people assume that the schools on the coasts are the best, but, again, there isn't an unbiased, controlled way to quantify that assumption.
People who do get to post-secondary education have a variety of ways to pay for it. The ones who appear the most exceptional on paper (or are good at sports) get full scholarships that pay for all of their expenses. The ones who apply to the federal government, show academic merit, and financial need (based on family income) can get access to grants, scholarships, and loans. For everyone else, scholarships are available for a variety of qualifications, but are more competitive. There are scholarships for women in STEM, people who have blue eyes, people who wear duct tape dresses to prom, people who like archery, people who intend to enter a certain industry, single mothers, and first generation college students, to name a few. For those who don't qualify for, don't get, or don't apply for scholarships, they either get their family to pay for their education or they hold a job while going to school.
I personally believe that knowledge is a right and should be freely available to anyone who seeks it, but I understand how and why our current system works the way it does, and what benefits such a system affords. The internet is also helping in this respect by making loads of information available for free, but sometimes a good teacher/guide can make all the difference (and not everyone in the U.S. has access to a computer, let alone the internet). People who are smarter than me are working on it, though, so I’m pretty optimistic that we’ll soon find a balance between individual merit, industry, correcting systematic inequities, collective intellectual progress, and paying for it all. Go team!
>Have you heard about our lord and saviour Synthwave?
No. I mostly listen to the radio in my car and Pandora. I occasionally find new music on YouTube and through friends, but it is usually specific to a single artist or band, not really a whole genre. I don't really focus much on music either (I don't like concerts or "live" versions of songs, I don't go out of my way to follow any specific band, and I don't buy merchandise or cds).
>Did you know that it snows in Iran and we have ski resorts?
Yes. This is the first photo I ever saw of Iran. I was writing a paper on Persepolis and had trouble connecting some of the story with my mind image of Iran (sand), so I looked up "Tehran mountains" and got this image. Those mountains look a lot like the Rocky Mountains, but the Tehran is so much more expansive and cluttered-looking compared to Denver (and it looks like Tehran is right up against the mountains, while Denver is several miles from the Rockies).
Let me know if you have more questions for me or if I need to clarify anything! Thanks for the info!
I've read and loved almost all of the recommendations already here (TAMORA PIERCE). But to add some that haven't been mentioned (and trying really hard to not overload you with 20 books at once), I read and reread Robin McKinley's The Hero and the Crown and its prequel so. many. TIMES. Maybe even more than I reread Tamora Pierce. Patricia McKillip, Maria Snyder, Patricia C. Wrede (Dealing with Dragons quartet), Althea Kontis, Francesca Lia Block, Libba Bray and Susan Fletcher (Dragon Chronicles) are similar authors to check out for awesome female-driven fantasy, with varying degrees of lightheartedness. Wrede, Fletcher, Snyder and Kontis all wrote books that lean a little less epic/serious, Block writes a lot in prose that's also a very quick (but more intense) read, McKillip tends to be more wordy but beautifully so, and Bray can kind of go either way depending on the series.
For more contemporary fiction, RACHEL COHN (of "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist"). Her Gingerbread series has content a good deal more mature than Angus, Thongs, etc., but her style is similarly irreverent and witty and really fun. Seriously, check her out. Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons is like a much younger version of Cohn, still zingy and sweet. For a quieter modern-day read, Garret Freymann-Weyr writes realistic (more mature) young adult relationships, and introduced me to the idea of bisexuality in a sort of roundabout way.
Julia Alvarez relates stories about the Latina-American experience incredibly well, although I think the first book I read by her takes place solely in the Dominican Republic. According to my reading list, I guess young me got sick of reading about other white people, so I'll add Marjane Satrapi's hilarious graphic novel Persepolis and the more sedate Shabanu series by Suzanne Fisher Staples.
I'd also strongly second comments for Gail Carson Levine, E.L. Konigsberg, and did I mention Tamora Pierce?
(I tried to link a lot of authors to my faves from their work, but I won't be mad if you never look at any of them. Is your reading list long enough now? Also, I know you didn't ask for a ton of fantasy/historical fiction recs, but I think a lot of us defined our teenagerhood by and identified more strongly with one of those series or another.)
tl;dr my top three recs that haven't been mentioned yet are Rachel Cohn, Julia Alvarez, and that one duo by Robin McKinley.
Yep. I haven't read the sequel.
Edit: I may have read "The Complete Persepolis" which is both books in one volume.
Oh man I love Maus. It's fantastic.
Have you read Persepolis?
I'll tell ya one thing, if you submitted a story/chronicle of how your class responds to this etc I would read the shit out of it.
Good on you for thinking outside the box and trying something new to help engage your kids. I had a spare few teachers back when I was in school who did but I was grateful for each and every one of them.
Keep being awesome!
Edit: Also, ever considered throwing V for Vendetta into your lesson plan? Or Persepolis for that matter.
Last thing, if you can find time or on the occasional handouts to include something from Calvin and Hobbes there's a lot of thought provoking strips that Watterson did that could easily be an aide for struggling readers to help them find deeper meaning in literature. Just a thought. Shouldn't be hard to figure out why my favorite job was working in a book store, heh.
Also a graphic novel that's pretty awesome.
So I like comics but I agree with Jacob that overall, comics are simplistic and less interesting than regular novels. They can be charming in that aspect, but I understand why many people don't like them.
With that said, Persepolis fits all the criteria Jacob asked for.
Persepolis is an autobiographical graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi depicting her childhood up to her early adult years in Iran during and after the Islamic revolution.
I don't think it ever gets any better. Twenty years ago I was where you are now. I chose to repress, deny, and cope. And now I realize the huge cost of my choice. It has negatively affected every aspect of my life and my families lives.
Either path you take will be with fraught with pain, frustration, sadness, and uncertainty. But one path might also bring you and your family peace and happiness, too.
A book I recommend: She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders
https://www.amazon.com/Shes-Not-There-Life-Genders/dp/0385346972
And I'll be honest with you; I was wary of transgender rights and issues when it was first being talked about. I found I didn't have enough information about trans folk. So...I looked for stories.
May I suggest some books that helped me to understand?
https://www.amazon.com/Shes-Not-There-Life-Genders/dp/0385346972
https://janetmock.com/redefiningrealness/
https://www.amazon.com/Whipping-Girl-Transsexual-Scapegoating-Femininity/dp/1580056229
Don’t listen to this person below, like yikes. Have you read any biographies or autobiographies of women who have transitioned? Some of them will have stories that you can relate to and I highly recommend it. They also have written letters to their loved ones and I recommend taking a page from them in how to format the letter and what to say.
Try “She’s not there: A life in two genders” by Jennifer Finney Boylan. She’s an English professor married with two kids before transitioning and her relationship survived with her wife and children. She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders https://www.amazon.com/dp/0385346972/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_UGi8BbB6YG241
I borrowed a lot of inspiration from her letter when I transitioned, and granted I’m not married or have any kid or was even in a relationship at the time.
You also need to see a therapist. You can’t take care of your family without first taking care of you. It’s like the oxygen metaphor for when oxygen masks on a plane deploy. You put yours on first, then help your kids.
When you find a story that resonates with you, have your wife read it too. It sounds like maybe she knows already about your gender crisis, and she’s still here, so she can be a great ally. Don’t push her away.
She's Not There by Jenny Boylan has a huge chunk about how she and her wife handled her transition from male to female while staying married. It's heartbreaking, heartwarming, and uplifting. The whole book is a great read, funny and fascinating, and highly relatable for both AMAB folks and the people in their lives.
Another really good memoir is She's Not There by Jennifer Finney Boylan.
To the OP - when you figure it out, I would love to know. I haven't made the determination that transitioning is my only option. My dysphoria can be really bad at times and hasn't lessened all that much. For me if I do decide to transition it is that I can't take the terrible dispair that I feel 20-30% of the time. For me, it feels like someone pushes their hand through my rib cage and crushes my heart for hours on end.
Well, hopefully others who use it have a better feel for what it's really like day to day. I hope your interview goes well. Ever read any Feynman about his time up there? It's pretty entertaining.
Edit for link to book: "What Do You Care What Other People Think?": Further Adventures of a Curious Character https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393320928/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ilGzDbPP6AZHQ
he wrote another one, too!
"What Do You Care What Other People Think?": Further Adventures of a Curious Character
For more pure gold like this, read the pleasure of finding things out, Surely you're joking Mr. Feynman and What do you care what other people think
True to form - He really did not care what others think!
Most of my exes remain friends, so I don't really have anything against seeing them. Again I guess I'm also pretty picky so I've never had the misfortune of dating a real psycho. I've also never tried to actually date within my own immediate team (I would agree that that feels a bit incestuous to me for some reason).
Where I currently work (a major fortune 500 multinational), about a quarter of my closest coworkers are married to other people in the company (and a bunch work in the same building. 2 of the 4 in particular work even on the same floor, but different departments). My current boss's wife used to share the same skip level manager with him, several years ago. The rest of us on the team rarely see them at lunchtime since they usually run off to eat with their spouses :) The oldest guy on my team is in his 50s and his second wife works downstairs and it's really cute every day at noon he goes "time to go collect my bride, see ya later!".
For the 2nd point I like to follow the advice given in the title of this memoir..
What do you care what other people think?
http://www.amazon.com/What-Care-Other-People-Think/dp/0393320928
Relevant reading, and a very good story: The chapter called "It’s as Simple as One, Two, Three…" in Richard Feynman's book, "What Do You Care What Other People Think?."
In this chapter, Feynman explains how he came to discover, with some help from his friend Bernie Walker, how different people think in different ways. In essence that thoughts can be visual as well as verbal.
Highly recommended read.
If anyone is interested in some great books about the disaster I suggest these:
Riding Rockets
Dick Feynman's Second Book
It's either in Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!, or in "What Do You Care What Other People Think?". Both are well worth reading.
I'm reading Time Enough For Love by Robert Heinlein right now. It takes place in the year 4272 in an interplanetary human civilization with "the Senior", who's been alive since the 1940's (and who's genes aided research into 'rejuvenation clinics' for the wealthy and connected), giving his life stories and wisdom to the leader of a planet who wants to leave and colonize a new world. It's a fascinating read, and gets into some decent scientific detail too. Heinlein also wrote Stranger in a Strange Land and Starship Troopers.
Try some of Martin's literary influences:
> We are all God. We are all animal. We are all human.
All that groks is God. Thou art God. I am God. -- Stranger in a Strange Land -- Robert A. Heinlein, 1961. The book also spawned a
short-livedcult. Funny. The church still exists. Perhaps you should join.I'm very interested in your copies of Your Inner Fish, Anatomy of an Epidemic, and Evil Genes. I would love to be able to take all three off your hands. I have several books that I can offer you in exchange, all of which I've read and highly recommend! What I have that might match your interests are:
And seeing that you had a Steve Berry novel up for trade, I also have these two excellent Brad Meltzer thriller novels:
If any of my books peak your interests, I'd love to make a trade!
You sure are getting defensive now, but I'm okay with everyone having their own opinion on matters. I would suggest reading Stranger in a Strange land if you are looking for some more philosophy from Heinlein (it's not boogey man fascist communist killing material I swear).
Also check out Forever War, which is probably the harshest criticism of SST from one of Heinleins peers, which ironically became Heinleins favorite book of all time.
Also anything by Andre Kostolany. You will get great insight on how the markets work.
You'll always have small fish and big players. Big players will use their power to profit, will try to manipulate as much as possible. If you're small, try to stay out of the big player's frequency. Usually big players manipulate markets shorter term. Try a mid to long term strategy. Don't get overwhelmed by short term price swings. This is a huge topic and these are very general recommendations, but still worth to ponder on. Develop a profitable strategy, then stick to it. Then change it.
My own pension strategy: buy bitcoins from 10% of my monthly personal income and do not care about its price. End of strategy. (I am saying this after 3 years of profitable FX daytrading and algo trading).
(edit: formatting)
Oh lmao my b
I’ve heard McMillan on Options is a good read, though I haven’t read it myself.
A good book on psychology and market behavior is Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
Options as a Strategic Investment is personally what I read and it’s very easy to understand and has plenty of examples.
https://www.amazon.com/McMillan-Options-Lawrence-G/dp/0471678759
https://www.amazon.com/Reminiscences-Stock-Operator-Edwin-Lefèvre/dp/0471770884/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=reminiscence+of+a+stock+operator&amp;qid=1565785781&amp;s=gateway&amp;sprefix=reminiscen&amp;sr=8-1
https://www.amazon.com/Options-as-Strategic-Investment-Fifth/dp/0735204659/ref=pd_aw_sbs_14_1/132-8096628-1903040?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_i=0735204659&amp;pd_rd_r=311ef362-2080-434e-899b-ea36ca08058a&amp;pd_rd_w=6v6iP&amp;pd_rd_wg=HtwRb&amp;pf_rd_p=3861f3e6-3054-41ac-9570-6a1994716f7e&amp;pf_rd_r=34KSEETK9NV6305R430Q&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=34KSEETK9NV6305R430Q
It is how I make my bread, day in and day out, so I can't complain. It'd be more helpful if you iterated what exactly you're interested in, but I'll list books/resources that I always give people to start out with. I think it's really important to get a solid understanding of how the entire system works before jumping straight in (which most people end up doing, and their performance shows it).
Lastly, when it comes to technical analysis I'm a huge fan of market profile. Here's a great free ebook about it: https://www.cmegroup.com/education/interactive/marketprofile/handbook.pdf
These are investing and trading books I'd read. Even if you don't believe their strategy, others do, and that makes them important to read.
http://www.amazon.com/Reminiscences-Stock-Operator-Investment-Classics/dp/0471770884
http://www.amazon.com/Trading-Living-Psychology-Tactics-Management/dp/0471592242/ref=pd_sim_b_27
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0393315290/$%7B0%7D
http://www.amazon.com/Technical-Analysis-Financial-Markets-Comprehensive/dp/0735200661/ref=pd_sim_b_28
http://www.amazon.com/One-Up-On-Wall-Street/dp/0743200403/ref=pd_sim_b_26
Top books to get into Finance and trading. This first one is by far the most fundamental book. Most jobs you get you will be asked to read this, and even if you aren't its still an amazing read. Published in 1931, still very relevant today, you will read 10+ times over your Finance career
Reminiscences of a stock operator
Then the Market Wizards series by Jack Schwager
Market Wizards
Hedge Fund Market Wizards
The New Market Wizards
This is where I would start. GL
The real bad thing with trading (which investing actually is, just longer term) is that there really is no place to go for a good advice.
If the OP doesn't have time to do the research, then I would recommend looking into some managed accounts or funds (and doing the research there - it still requires research work).
I trade differently from the parent, I'm a techie/quant (well I do some fundie stuff too) so depending on your history, I would look into different methods on how to trade. There are plenty.
Buy and hold is what some people praise, especially those newbie stock books but I really wouldn't like to advocate that approach but that's just me.
edit: As some people posted links, I'll post some good books - forums tend to be full of crap and it takes at least of 6 months (at least, possibly years) to be able to understand who know something and what really is somehing you should be reading so here are some great books:
This is an easy to read, good book for beginners in a form of a story
http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Currency-Trader-Trading-Courage/dp/0470049480
These two are must
http://www.amazon.com/Market-Wizards-Interviews-Top-Traders/dp/0887306101
http://www.amazon.com/New-Market-Wizards-Conversations-Americas/dp/1592803377
This is a real classic and still relevant
http://www.amazon.com/Reminiscences-Stock-Operator-Investment-Classics/dp/0471770884
This is good if you are interested in technical analysis/trading system design (and not too complicated)
http://www.amazon.com/Reminiscences-Stock-Operator-Investment-Classics/dp/0471770884
to complement these (and i know you asked for books):
video:
how the economic machine works
pdf:
turtle trading
i put this because this is the way real people making real money traded. and the rules are VERY simple.
books:
market wizards
reminiscences of a stock operator
urls:
the best investment advise you'll never get
--i will come back and edit this post and add some more stuff.
--> note, i RARELY trade single name stocks.
Masters of Doom. Fantastic book. I grew up around the time it was all happening, but never knew what was going on, just that these amazing games were being released by this tiny company. The two Johns and Chris Roberts (who created Wing Commander) made me want to be a game designer. Or rather, I had wanted to be one from the age of 4, but they showed me that it was possible for one person to come up with something amazing. I've read this book about once a year for the nostalgia.
I also recommend reading Jordan Mechner's journals on the making of Prince of Persia. The guy kept tons of records of everything about making the game. It's pretty amazing to read. His journals are available on Amazon as well.
Meh. Thanks for lecturing me on id software history. You are right. Congratulations.
Here is your prize: Masters of Doom
If you enjoyed this I highly recommend you read Masters of Doom, which goes into more detail of the rise and fall of ID software and is an extremely entertaining read for any gamer.
I listened to an audiobook while driving a year ago, Master's Of Doom. An amazing story and incredibly entertaining to listen to the story of my childhood heroes. Memorable quote:
> The computer. It contained worlds.
There is Masters of Doom, but I don't know if that is exactly what you are looking for.
This is a tough one but I’ll give it a shot. Masters of Doom. https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155
I suggest you read http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155
You would like this then
http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155
> Dostojevskom...
Kockara sam u jednom danu pročitao. Doduše, imao sam gripu i ležao u krevetu, ali svejedno.
Moja najdraža knjiga ikad - Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture. Počneš čitat i ne možeš stat.
edit - kad sam imao cca 16 godina pročitao sam nekoliko knjiga od Svena Hassela. Kod nas ima jeftinih džepnih izdanja sad, njegove knjige su isto takve da ih počneš čitat u petak navečer i onda dva dana ne radiš ništa nego samo čitaš.
> Hassel je bio iznimno popularan u Hrvatskoj sredinom sedamdesetih i osamdesetih godina prošlog stoljeća, kada je Nakladni zavod Globus Zagreb izdao sedam od 14 njegovih romana. Svaki se roman morao dotiskavati, tako da je Hassel uskoro postao jedan od najprodavanijih stranih pisaca svih vremena, čije su knjige na području bivše Jugoslavije prodane u više od sto tisuća primjeraka.
http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1374812801&amp;sr=8-1
Very interesting book detailing this and their early days. Its a bit dated (was released in 2003), but a great read for those interested in gaming, none the less.
There was a lot of conflict and infighting going on with the style for Quake. I think the colors they went with were a compromise.
Romero was pushing for medieval, while the rest of the team wanted to continue Doom's direction.
With these questions you may really enjoy reading the book Masters of Doom. It's about id Software but it was the same time period as when Cliff Bleszinksi gaining popularity with his games (it mentions several of his games like Jazz Jackrabbit and Unreal).
It'll give you a great understanding of what the wild west of game development was like. It's really well written and surprisingly engaging.
It's based on a graphic novel with a very unique artistic style - think Napoleon Dynamite meets Hannibal Rising.
http://www.amazon.ca/My-Friend-Dahmer-Derf-Backderf/dp/1419702173
Not a dumb question at all. In my opinion, it's best to think of Graphic Novels as a completely separate medium from books. So you can have fiction and non-fiction books, the same way you can have fiction and non-fiction movies (documentaries), the same way you can have fiction and non-fiction Graphic Novels.
Most non-fiction graphic novels are either memoirs like Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant and Persepolis, or biographies like My Friend Dahmer. There is old historical stuff like Gettysburg, and even graphic novels about The History of Hip Hop.
It's definitely a niche genre within a niche medium, but it has its audience!
> As for getting it made that will be easy because I'm making it as a comic book not a film.
This is a really good idea. I would recommend checking out MY FRIEND DAHMER which is an auto biographical graphic novel by Derf Backdef as well as his book TRASHED. (Google just told me this was adapted as a film.)
Also look at PERSEPOLIS first the graphic novel and then the movie.
[AMERICAN SPLENDOR] (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0305206/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_47) (once again the graphic novel and then the movie.)
FUN HOME, the graphic novel then the stage show any way you can catch it.
ROLLING BLACKOUTS by Sarah Glidden (graphic novel as jouralism)
You should also see CRUMB, which is a doc-- but uses autobiography and comics in an interesting way because of its subject matter.
You would probably really like the comic written by one of his childhood friends. My Friend Dahmer
The author's name doesn't match, but here is a comic book about Jeffery Dahmer.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1419702173?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER
It's about his early years in school in Ohio. It's written by a dude who knew him back then.
https://www.amazon.com/Writing-10th-Anniversary-Memoir-Craft/dp/1439156816
All of them, really. Absolutely no harm will come from reading all the books out there (for a while). At worst, you'll learn ways of doing things that DON'T work for you but it's still good knowledge to have.
After a while, eventually, you'll start noticing though that all the new books out are just copying and rephrasing the books that came before them. That's when it's time to stop.
Some of the popular ones are syd field's book, Robert McKee's book, Joseph Campbell's book (and imo a book called The Writer's Journey by Christopher something that analyzes Campbell's book and puts it into modern story telling terms). That'll get you started. I have varying opinions of each of those books and none of them should be adhered to by law, but they ALL contain concepts and theories that, as a professional writer, you'd do well to expose yourself to. If for no other reason than that you can be aware of the concepts when others talk about them.
Tangentially, Stephen king's On Writing and William Goldman's books are great reads but don't necessarily apply to the craft of screen writing directly. Also useful to read any interviews or collections of interviews with screen writers. You may also want to check out some podcasts, Jeff goldsmith's interviews with screen writers is great and I have no idea if it's still available or even what it's called but I used to listen to one titled something like Sam and Jim Go to Hollywood (I am positive I got those names wrong) about two guys who up and quit their careers as restaurant owners and moved to Hollywood to become writers and share what they've learned. Ted Rossio and Terry Elliot also run, or ran, a website with forums (which are eh) and and a collection of articles about screen writing which are fantastic.
This was all stuff I was into years ago, so I don't know how much of it is still relevant, because like I said when you get to a certain point you've kind of read everything out there and it all starts repeating itself, and you realize all that's left is to read screenplays and write a ton.
Good luck.
e: back on my computer, here are some links:
Syd Field's Sreenplay (he has several books out, that's the one you should start with as it lays the foundation for basic story structure of nearly all modern movies. IMO, it's also the best one out there because he never says these are rules in any way, he simply analyzed a bunch of movies and lays out his findings for you to do with as you wish)
Robert McKee's Story
Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces
and Christopher Vogler's The Writer's Journey
Stephen King's On Writing which describes his writing style and, while I don't prefer it, is a very interesting style similar to the Cohen Brothers
William Goldman's Adventures in the Screen Trade and Which Lie did I Tell? two accounts of William Goldman's experiences as one of the top writers in Hollywood, and dealing with the business. Writer of The Princess Bride, Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, and many others. Dude's a legend.
Jeff Goldsmith's Q&A podcast he also did the same style podcast while working for a screenwriting magazine, though the name escapes me right now
Sam and Jim Go to Hollywood holy shit I got their names right I can't believe it. Seems to be dead for a few years but it looks like their podcasts are still up.
Wordplay, Ted & Terry's website read every single one of those articles
e: BONUS! Not that useful as an educational resource, but it's fun to read Ken Levine's blog, writer on MASH and Cheers Ken's blog (no, not the guy who made BioShock)
I'm personally getting a lot of great recommendations who cares if Grey's assistant likes them.
[TLC: High middle ages]
(https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/high-middle-ages.html)
Really interesting professor does a very broad overview of the changes happening in Europe during this time period.
[Unfamiliar Fishes]
(https://www.amazon.com/Unfamiliar-Fishes-Sarah-Vowell/dp/159448564X) Actually most Sarah Vowell books are pretty interesting and entertaining. This one covers the time period of Hawaii from when it was a kingdom to a state, when it's soul is being fought over by missionaries, fruit companies and shipping.
[What I talk about when I talk about Running](
https://www.amazon.com/What-Talk-About-When-Running/dp/0307389839) I'm not a runner, neither is Grey, still a really interesting reflective book.
[Cod: The biography of the fish that changed the world](
https://www.amazon.com/Cod-Biography-Fish-Changed-World/dp/0140275010/ref=sr_1_1?
keywords=cod&qid=1566160678&s=books&sr=1-1)
You need to read this just for the charming cod wars Iceland engages in, also a ton of history and geography.
[Stephen King: On Writing](
https://www.amazon.com/Writing-10th-Anniversary-Memoir-Craft/dp/1439156816) Very nuts and bolts book about the physical act of writing and a lot of inside baseball about the state of mind King was in while writing some of his most famous books,
Hi u/Calicox,
Brandon Sanderson has a series of lectures he did at Brigham Young University when teaching a creative writing class there. Here's his lecture on character, but the others I've seen are also worth your time.
You may find the following books helpful:
This
This
This
This
This
This
This
Best,
DR-M
Have you read On Writing? it is a very good book.
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers is hands down the best book I've read for creative writing.
Stephen King's On Writing is also very good, but about half of it is a biography more than writing lessons; still interesting though!
Otherwise the best things you can do are to write more, read more (think like a writer though - why did they choose the words they did, the order they did, the perspective, etc.), and seek critique for your own work.
For more formal writing, the most important part is keeping it organized. For example, once you get comfortable with the 5-paragraph formula, you just modify it to fit your need each time and you can pound out an essay in no time once you have your research on hand.
The Elements of Style is the classic reference and I've probably read it over a dozen times, but it has seen a pretty big backlash and it does contradict itself in some humorous ways. I'd recommend Style: Ten Lessons In Clarity And Grace by Joesph M. Williams. I found it much more clear and sensible than TEOS. In addition, I'm a big fan of Garner's Modern American Usage, not as a book on grammar but as a reference for use during composition. For what it's worth, I got both of these recommendations from professional editor John McIntyre. (But TEOS has Stephen King's blessing, so there's that as well.) Those and King's On Writing are the only writing books I've ever been able to stomach.
I'm starting too. Here's the list of resources I am planning on working my way through. No promises that you will know how to write after you are done, but it's a place to start. I haven't read/watched everything on this list yet (I'm just starting Brandon Sanderson's lectures, I have read On Writing, I have read some of Chuck Palahniuk's essays, and I went to a lecture on plotting that was largely based on Save the Cat), it's just the list of what I am planning on checking out.
Brandon Sanderson's Creative Writing Lectures
Chuck Palahniuk's Essay on Writing
On Writing by Stephen King
[Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott]
(https://www.amazon.com/Bird-Some-Instructions-Writing-Life/dp/0385480016/)
Story by Robert McKee
Save the Cat by Blake Snyder
This thread also has additional resources.
Oh, also, this is a funny resource, but I like reading Query Shark because one of the things that comes up over and over again is boiling a story down to three questions: who is your main character, what do they want, why can't they get it? I think when you are writing, you want to keep those questions at the core of your story and a lot of her comments on the blog are about cutting through all the extra stuff and getting to that core.
Edit: I missed that you said you already watched the Brandon Sanderson lectures. Sorry!
One of the best books I ever read was Stephen King: On Writing, and what he said about dialogue stuck with me. Basically, he said take your characters and throw them into a room/situation and just watch them.
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So start! If you're interested I would suggest you read On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King. It is a great book that talks about his start as an author, his personal issues he faced during his years as an author, and his insight to the craft.
“you can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.”
― Stephen King
I wouldn't have passed this. Your writing is incredibly flowery, your description is overwrought while managing to convey absolutely nothing, you adverb and adjective all over the place...
Sorry to be harsh, but you need to pick up some books on the absolute basics of fiction writing. I recommend:
http://www.amazon.com/Scene-Book-Primer-Fiction-Writer/dp/0143038265/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1291362532&amp;sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-10th-Anniversary-Memoir-Craft/dp/1439156816/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1291362561&amp;sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Style-4th-William-Strunk/dp/0205313426/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1291362620&amp;sr=8-1
> Romanian
You know, I actually wondered if English was your first language because you did it consistently and I wondered where it was you'd learn the dash trick. But you are right. Quotes are always used in English.
> I am prone to go to extremes in the other direction
It is a fine line, I agree. I haven't read it myself, but my writer friend highly suggests Stephen King's "On Writing".
The struggle with all new writers is that your taste will always exceed your ability in the beginning. You want to write because you've got a story or an idea that speaks to you. You probably know what makes a good story, which is what makes writing so enticing.
But like an art critique who wants to try their hand at painting, it can be a frustrating experience. You just have to keep trying.
As far as writing materials go I personally recommend On Writing by Stephen King. His methods don't work for everyone, but it's a great start. Try listening to the Writing Excuses Podcast, or watch Brandon Sanderson's creative writing lectures on youtube. (Here's a link to the playlist I am currently watching. It's fabulous.)
I also enjoyed Make a Scene. It is excellent at breaking down difficult concepts.
Other than that, just look around. Google writing blogs for tips, track down the blogs of authors you like, read as much as you can in the genre that you want to write. If you're consistently working towards improving your craft, you will improve. The more time you put in, the faster your improvement will be.
Advice from Jerry B. Jenkins, and Stephen King's On Writing
For the writing process: be consistent. Try to write every day, or almost every day. Try to write for a set time or reach a set word count each day. Try to do it in the same place each day. Make it a part of your life. And don't be hard on yourself if life happens, you can always adjust and customize, but establishing those habits now will help yourself be more disciplined for professional writing.
As far as constructing the story, most writers start with some kind of a plan, whether it's doing all of the detailed outlines and research first, or just jotting down a few ideas to get started, or something in between. ALL professional writers then create the first draft, get the whole thing out of their head, then go back and revise it. They may do all of that differently, but the important part is that the first version of a story is never perfect, and you'll need to look it over for more than just spelling errors and such.
If this is truly an interest, just start writing. As others have said, it's going to take a while to learn "how to write," as well as to develop your own writing voice and style. It'll come with time, and it'll change over the course of your life.
For advice: an idea is not a story. That's why jotting down notes can be so useful, you can turn it from an abstract thought to concrete words and figure out what the actual story is, or if it's just an element to use in a story. Especially with fanfiction.
Don't get too attached to your prose, because sometimes you'll write the most amazingest scene ever, but it doesn't add squat to the story so it'll need to be pruned out. You can stick it in a folder somewhere "to use later" if you must, just accept that not all the words will make it to the final version.
When in doubt, look it up. There's a whole frikkin internet and so many people don't use it.
Check out the other /writing subs too. Writing prompts and challenges are a fun way to get in a little practice. There's also NaNoWriMo each November, and come to think of it Camp NaNoWriMo starts today.
Get a mug. Writers have a mug, sometimes for beverage and sometimes just for pencils or something.
And don't forget to stand up and stretch now and then. It's good for both body and mind.
Oh, and the old computer mantra: save often and back up your work. Flash drives are cheap and awesome.
I would love for you to message me when it's out.
As for books you should read, I would start with the three most commonly recomended books for writing. Believe me, these are gold printed on paper.
How To Write a Sentence
The Elements of Style
On Writing
and here's a great reference book: The Little, Brown Compact Handbook. Don't be turned off by the price, just search for a much cheaper older addition, it will have the same information.
On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft
I read his book "On Writing A Memoir of the Craft", he does not take emails any more since a fan tried to sue him by sending a writing exercise from the book to him for critique. I would suggest that book to anyone serious about writing books. http://www.amazon.com/Writing-10th-Anniversary-Memoir-Craft/dp/1439156816
But yes in his book his father "Done run off" when he was but a child and the King family shut him and his mother and brother off, like they did to my parents and me and my brothers. I have a brother named Stephen King, but not the same as the book writer, it is a family name passed down from generation to generation.
Even if you aren't a fan of King's work, this is the single best place to start for anyone who fancies writing. See here.
Okay, everyone's "read and write" advice tells you what to do, but not how to do it. Simply reading will not teach you how to write well; it will only teach you how to write LIKE other people do. If you want to "learn the rules," what you need to do is learn how to think critically about your own writing. For that, either take a creative writing class or read a few good books, or both. I'd recommend picking up a couple books. First, go through The Art and Craft of Fiction (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1457613905?psc=1&amp;redirect=true&amp;ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage) by Michael Kardos, and then read something like Stephen King's On Writing (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1439156816?psc=1&amp;redirect=true&amp;ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage). These will provide you with the central problems that writers of fiction must keep in mind.
Then, write regularly. Practice editing your own work. Find some other writers to read it and give you feedback.
And I have these in my list on amazon. Would love to get some opinions on them:
&nbsp;
How to Win Friends and Influence People
by Dale Carnegie
&nbsp;
Secrets of a Freelance Writer: How to Make $100,000 a Year or More
by Robert Bly
&nbsp;
Words that Sell
by Richard Bayan
&nbsp;
Tested Advertising Methods
by Caples and Hahn
&nbsp;
Writing That Works
by Kenneth Roman and Joel Raphaelson
&nbsp;
Confessions of an Advertising Man
by David Ogilvy
&nbsp;
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
by Al Ries and Jack Trout
&nbsp;
The Robert Collier Letter Book
by Robert Collier
&nbsp;
Nicely Said: Writing for the Web with Style and Purpose
by Nicole Fenton and Kate Kiefer Lee
&nbsp;
Letting Go of the Words
by Janice (Ginny) Redish
&nbsp;
Essential English for Journalists, Editors and Writers
by Harold Evans
&nbsp;
Can I Change Your Mind?: The Craft and Art of Persuasive Writing
by Lindsay Camp
&nbsp;
Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer
by Roy Peter Clark
&nbsp;
Read Me: 10 Lessons for Writing Great Copy
by Roger Horberry and Gyles Lingwood
&nbsp;
Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: The Classic Guide to Creating Great Ads
by Luke Sullivan
&nbsp;
WRITE IN STEPS: The super simple book writing method
by Ian Stables
&nbsp;
On Writing Well
by William Zinsser
&nbsp;
The Wealthy Freelancer
by Steve Slaunwhite, Pete Savage and Ed Gandia
&nbsp;
Write Everything Right!
by Denny Hatch
&nbsp;
The Secret of Selling Anything
by Harry Browne
&nbsp;
The Marketing Gurus: Lessons from the Best Marketing Books of All Time
by Chris Murray
&nbsp;
On Writing
by Stephen King
&nbsp;
Writing for the Web
by Lynda Felder
&nbsp;
Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content
by Ann Handley
&nbsp;
This book will teach you how to write better
by Neville Medhora
/u/ReedsyRac20 is faster than I am. I also recommend Allie Brosh's book that she recently published.
And the author of said webcomic wrote a book by the same name
She has a book on amazon with these comics in it as well
Add cinnamon on top. Not for me, but something I'd like you to send my sister and her husband in the armed services. (I recently purchased this for myself).
My guess $2400.
If you're into odd, and funny books, I recommend Hyperbole and a Half, by Allie Brosh. Seriously funny, quirky, odd, and looks nice on a shelf.
Allie's website:
http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com
Her book:
http://www.amazon.com/Hyperbole-Half-Unfortunate-Situations-Mechanisms/dp/1451666179
This book of 1921 or 1923 and it is a must read about trading and it is still VERY relevant today.
Check it on amazon and all the comments.
Fooled by randomness is excellent as other have mentioned.
To understand Soros read The crash of 2008 and what it means... he is the opposit of of warren buffet and both make still lots of money at very different end of the game and both lost a lot in the crash and recovered nicely.
Thanks for all the love. "This time is different" is literally the best indicator that you should reconsider your thinking. In the end you are the owner of a (digital) asset and you are telling me you cannot place a value on it? That would bother me.
But you are indeed right, I am coming from the stock world and tend to look at those crypto currencies that are linked to a venture (or better yet where the coins are direct share ownership in the company such as Lykke). In this way I can try to ascertain a value because I can see an underlying business model.
I usually try to avoid pure crypto currencies because they have no ascertainable value to me. You are buying hope that one day they will be used for payments or as a store of value. That being said, I do own BTC and a few others where I see this may one day be the case. I am painfully aware however that it can go to zero tomorrow and that could be perfectly plausible. Something like BTC is based on what people believe it's worth, it can be $5'000 just as likely as it can be $0. Be prepared to lose everything and invest accordingly. I like the optionality to the upside as long as I can afford to lose 100%.
And no, you shouldn't listen to investment advice on this space specifically form finance people. But you should respect investment and speculation wisdom that has recurred over centuries stretching from [tulips] (http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20160419-tulip-mania-the-flowers-that-cost-more-than-houses), to [stock certificates] (https://www.amazon.com/Reminiscences-Stock-Operator-Edwin-Lef%C3%A8vre/dp/0471770884), to [real estate] (http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2009/01/06/reference/lessons-from-when-the-bubble-burst/#.WVye_BOGPUI) to [Beanie Babies] (https://qz.com/114753/meet-the-family-who-lost-100000-when-the-beanie-baby-bubble-burst/).
There is nothing new under the sun.
Jumping in, but I've heard a lot of people recommend this book and I think it is very relevant to the crypto space because it was written by a guy trading stocks in the early 1900's. The stock market back then was a lot like the crypto space today, wild west. I have the book I just haven't gotten around to reading it yet.
https://www.amazon.com/Reminiscences-Stock-Operator-Edwin-Lef%C3%A8vre/dp/0471770884
> "Although Reminiscences...was first published some seventy years ago, its take on crowd psychology and market timing is a s timely as last summer's frenzy on the foreign exchange markets."
—Worth magazine
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefèvre. It's from 1923, but it's still just about the best book on trading and speculation that you will find and widely regarded as a must-read for investors. And in addition, it is also gives a very interesting look at Wall Street at the beginning of the 20th century.
reminiscences of a stock operator
http://www.amazon.com/Reminiscences-Stock-Operator-Investment-Classics/dp/0471770884/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1382663586&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=reminiscences+of+a+stock+operator
Which one should I buy?
ebay
amazon
What's the difference?
This question really piqued my curiosity, because it reminded me not to take the things I know for granted. Being born in the early 80s, and having been introduced to videogames by older siblings and my parents in that decade, and then being involved with videogames either in the industry or as an avid enthusiast, the obscure (and most times useless) history of the medium is something I've taken for granted.
Recently, as older millennials and younger Gen X'ers have reached maturity (or middle age), there have been a surge in books, documentaries, and other materials about videogames... As they're seminal in many of our lives and so now we're looking back and writing these nostalgic retrospectives. Many are trash, even some of the best are still trash, but I'd recommend a few of them... The following are either entertaining, informative, or some balance of both:
This is by no way supposed to be an exhaustive list, just a list of stuff that I enjoyed and others might too... Part of these videos/movies/books is video game theory, part is history, part is just sheer entertainment value, but I think anybody who is into videogames enough to talk on 'True Gaming,' would probably enjoy most of those.
Yeah, really. Start with this book:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0812972155
Every game that made use of Carmack's engines (Quake and derivatives) ran natively on NeXTSTEP:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXTSTEP
The first series of hardware engines, including the first Voodoo graphics drivers were heavily influenced by Carmack's work. Almost all the games that targeted those engines were binary compatible with various flavors of UNIX and later Linux. The commercial versions weren't released, but there were builds, because porting everything from NeXTSTEP and variants and back would have bankrupted the industry.
Then there's Android, which got an incredible head start on gaming because of the thousands of Linux codebases and open source utilities available for it day one. Had Google been required to start from scratch, Android would have drowned in six months.
This concludes the free lectures. If you want more information, you know where to look.
People are throwing books that you'll come across as textbooks anyway or books that, while awesome for real-world preparation, won't prove interesting to most high school grads.
I'd recommend Masters of Doom, which is a story and history of CS blended in. It's an excellent, excellent read and should be relatable on some level.
http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155
Enjoy and good luck.
Not entirely related, but Masters of Doom was an amazing read. As someone who grew up playing Doom, this is an awesome behind the scenes look as to how it was created and offers insight on other games & graphics too.
Not so much about PCs as about PC gaming. Masters of Doom is required reading for gamers who like history.
A fun entertainment read is Masters of Doom about the early days of Id pushing the limits on PC gaming.
I don't know what his contraints are, but if he wants to work on games & game design skills without being able to access a computer, but can use art supplies, then you could get him some blank playing cards and some thin-point sharpie markers. I found those were pretty solid for just sketching up random cards on, and can easily be used to whip up card-game prototypes.
Card games aren't video games, but some of the skills are transferable I bet.
I don't remember if I had finished it, but I found What the Dormouse Said: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry to be interesting (and it's especially interesting to consider in light of the trend toward cloud computing - if counterculture influenced the personal computing revolution, what cultural force is pushing us into the cloud?)
Not related to hackers or the computer revolution at all, but I also very much enjoyed Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture.
There are also a lot of fun stories on https://www.folklore.org/ relating to the creation of the original Macintosh. Along those same lines is the documentary from 1995 called Triumph of the Nerds. You can find it on YouTube.
If you want to see something truly amazing, go watch The Mother of All Demos. Or rather, first imagine yourself in 1968. Intel had just been founded earlier that year. The moon landing was still ~ 6 months away. Computers were things like the IBM System/360. UNIX was at least a few years away, much less the derivatives like BSD. OK, now that you have the proper mindset, watch that video. It's pretty amazing to see all the things that they invented and to see just how many have survived to this day.
For a long time, Carmack didn't even own a mattress. He slept on the floor and spent most of his time coding. They were raking in money from game sales.
https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155
> Si te la pasas boludeando con jueguitos no vas a tener nunca poder adquisitivo.
Eso le decian a John Romero sus padres, cuando conocio a John Carmack.
Source.
Fascinating. If you like this kind of story, the book about the making of Doom is a great read. https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155
I hope these are what you're looking for.
If I find any additional stuff, I'll edit the post - also if anyone else finds stuff similar to what I linked, feel free to drop info, i'd love to read more of this stuff!
Obligatory Subreddit Plug
/r/TheMakingOfGames - A subreddit featuring a lot of behind the scenes stuff.
Books
Masters of Doom is a book that follows the lives of John Carmack and John Romero, the creation of what became iD Software, and some of the most memorable games of our generation. (Daikatana's failure, Doom, The super mario clone that eventually became Commander Keen, Quake, etc.)
Jacked is a book that follows the creation of what became a memorable game studio (Rockstar Games) and one of the most memorable franchises of our lifetimes. (Grand Theft Auto)
Stay Awhile and Listen is a book that tells the story of the company known as Blizzard and the difficulty of creating Warcraft as well as the fight to create Diablo.
[Hourences] (http://www.hourences.com/product/the-hows-and-whys-of-the-games-industry/) is a book written by someone who's worked freelance / contract for quite some time now. The basic questions this book will attempt to answer are: Why would one want to work in the games industry? Or why not? And, if the decision has already been made, then: What would one look for or expect? How can one pick a good mod (modification) team or a development studio that will fit one’s personality and meet one’s expectations?
Minecraft: The Story of Notch A story about Notch before, during, and after the rise of Minecraft - talks about his family, his life, etc.
Rise of the Dungeon Master the story of Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, one of the most influential games ever made. Like the game itself, the narrative casts the reader into the adventure from a first person point of view, taking on the roles of the different characters in the story.
Documentaries / Movies
Double Fine Adventure - A game following the conception and delivery of what would become "Broken Age"
Indie Game: The Movie - Follows the trials and tribulations of indie developers trying to "make it big" and/or "continue to succeed".
Minecraft: The Story of Mojang - Follows how Minecraft was formed, Notch, and the impact the game has made on generations.
Amneisa Fortnight 2012 A documentary that follows various groups doing a "game jam" that eventually became published games.
[Amneisa Fornight 2014] (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIhLvue17Sd7Y5qXNqV1wDPtdNPjZ-tw0) Same as the 2012, just a documentary following the game jam.
GDC Post Mortems A good variety of games, the ups and downs, from indie to AAA.
estoy por empezar masters of doom
And the book Masters of Doom is a really good book to learn about these folks.
Maybe this is a little too longform for you, but Masters of Doom is a great book about the rise of id Software.
http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1335567255&amp;sr=8-1
Masters of Doom. Tells the story of John Carmack and John Romero. Touches games like Commander Keen, Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake, Daikatana and Deus Ex.
It's not the best written book I read, but certainly one of the ones I enjoyed the most.
I read it a few months back and if you have questions about content, lenght or other stuff, feel free to ask.
Archives for the links in comments:
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Mr. Baird, I believe you and I are on the same page. There has to be the situation and an awareness on the part of policymakers for an industry to grow. For instance, my hometown Shreveport, Louisiana invented the modern video game industry, but there was no sense that this was a real industry and once they had the money they were gone. Here is a great book about that: https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155
In a case like that I just wonder if Shreveport ever had a chance, because it is anything but cool and I don't know how you could hold on to a bunch of young rich guys who could live anywhere.
Perhaps it was the same thing with Microsoft which was born in Albuquerque and moved to Seattle as soon as it was a money making business, but I don't think Seattle was that cool. For young guys with a lot of money cool does matter.
Lincoln, Des Moines, and Columbia, Missouri can compete on good schools, cost of living, and general quality of life to people in their thirties, but not to people in their twenties. They really want to live somewhere cool in a way old guys often forget - unless they sell real estate or sports cars.
I enjoyed your answers.
My Friend Dahmer and yes yes yes I would suggest it. It's excellent.
>I like Jimmy Corrigan, and Harvey Pekar's stuff, if that's any indication.
Besides what others have already recommended, you should read all of Daniel Clowes,
also look for The Alcoholic by Jonathan Ames and Dean Haspiel
My Friend Dahmer & Punk Rock and Trailer Parks by Derf.
But seriously, all of Daniel Clowes. Daniel Clowes is exactly what you're looking for.
For those interested in Dahmer. https://www.amazon.com/My-Friend-Dahmer-Derf-Backderf/dp/1419702173
> Do you know if it's online? I can't seem to find it anywhere
I found the book on warez-bb.org and since it seems rare I mirrored it.
So here ya go.
edit: the Amazon page says the book is 224 pages while the file I linked to is 28 pages..so I don't know if it's the book, an early version of the book or an extract from the full book..
edit: Yup..it's a earlier version (2002), extract from the second page:
>In fact, I don't expect to make a dime off this book. I published this out of my own pocket, because, not unexpectedly, I couldn't find a publisher who was daring enough to put it out. I don't expect distributors or comic book stores will carry it. Just the title alone will provoke outrage and disgust. most people won't even give this book a chance. but I still HAD to produce it. it was gnawing at me that it was unfinished.
Part of the reason he couldn't explain what he did, and part of the reason he was deemed not insane in his verdict, was because he was a severe alcoholic. Had been since high school. He didn't remember most of what he did. It's almost a literal Jekyll and Hyde situation. Being drunk was the only way that he could commit the crimes, because when he was sober he knew what he had done was bad as opposed to a Ted Bundy or Jon Gacy who believed they had done nothing wrong. He is one of the few that had genuine remorse and, I think, knew how much of a monster he was and truly hated himself for it.
There's a FANTASTIC comic about this called My Friend Dahmer by an amazing comic artist who happened to go to high school with Dahmer and was his friend for a period. Really interesting, drawn well in an interesting style but very sad and, obviously, creepy.
I seen some special on TV about Dahmer maybe last month or so it mentioned a highschool friend wrote a comic book about it called My friend Dahmer...Seemed interesting so I just downloaded it and I read a few pages of it and I was thinking they could make a film about this except it's kind of glorifying a serial killer...but hey people are into it apparently...so I was about to post it here but seen you posted this about a Film of the same name it must be based on..
The comic (book) https://www.amazon.com/My-Friend-Dahmer-Derf-Backderf/dp/1419702173
How dark and twisted, exactly? Teenage horror like Christopher Pike,
or psychological thrillers like Robert Cormier,
or narrative non-fiction works such as "My Friend Dahmer", done under the pseduonym "Derf BackDerf" and which won a number of YA awards?
Just kind of curious which genre you're aming for.
It's also not a documentary.
For a look into the childhood of an actual serial killer, I'd recommend this book: http://www.amazon.ca/My-Friend-Dahmer-Derf-Backderf/dp/1419702173
Amazon, my friend
He went to school in NE Ohio. Interesting graphic novel that was recently published about him.
I highly recommend the book “On Writing” by Stephen King. Everything you need to know about his process and recommendations are there.
On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft https://www.amazon.com/dp/1439156816/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_--VKAbD0520AS
Here are a couple of books and a few other things you can do to help you improve. Generally speaking I would only use books to learn the nuts and bolts of writing (grammar, passive vs. active voice and Point of View - stuff like that). Everyone writes in a different way, there are a thousand paths up the mountain as the saying goes, so learning how Stephen King writes (On Writing) may not help you understand how you write.
If you only read one book on writing, make sure it's Elements of Style by Strunk and White - It's short and covers all the basic mechanics of writing.
As others have said, read widely. This is probably the most important thing you can do. Read and then read reviews and critiques. You will begin to see common themes to what people like and dislike. If you can spot these in the work of others, you will learn to spot them in your own work.
Join a critique group. This is basically the same thing as reading Goodreads or Amazon reviews, but supercharged. You see the raw material, warts and all. You will probably get more from learning to critically assess the work of others than you will from their critiques of your work. Lots of libraries have writers groups or you can join one online like Critters.
I would suggest not to jump straight into a novel. Learn to write short stories and polish your craft there. A 3000 word short story is less of an investment in time than a 100,000 word novel. You will make mistakes in the beginning, best to make them quickly and get them over with, learn and move on.
http://www.amazon.com/On-Writing-Anniversary-Edition-Memoir/dp/1439156816
When Stephen King almost got killed by Bryant Smith, he had his hip broken. Bryant Smith was like a character out of one of his books, drove a van recklessly down the road and hit Stephen King and did nothing to help him and left for a candy bar instead of phoning the police.
Anyway Stephen King survived and then wrote that book for people who want to learn how to write.
Unplug your TV, don't watch videos. Read books to learn how to write books. Show don't tell. Avoid adjectives. Show actions. Murder your darlings because less is more and delete stuff that doesn't add to the story.
Stephen King gets paid not to write books, but to finish books. There is a big difference. Also don't give up when you get rejected, keep on learning from your mistakes and failures and improve your writing.
Aristotle's Poetics is where my literary criticism course started. You might also look at Longinus' On The Sublime and Burke's A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful. If you want to get more specific on mechanics of pleasant writing that isn't so philosophically dense, you might look at Strunk & White's Elements of Style, Pinker's Sense of Style and my personal favorite, Stephen King's On Writing (The first half is biographical but the second part is an interesting commentary on the act of writing).
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, by Stephen King. I enjoy his work, but a peek inside his mind and work process is something I would really find fascinating!
These two are the most basic, they're books to read through and soak in the information. The following two are more like reference books, still highly recommend:
Pick them all up if you can, they are invaluable and go over basics like format, grammar, sentence structure and other fundamentals of writing. Invisible Ink in particular will go over what makes a story impact, how to build armatures for your novel/short story and how to effectively communicate emotions through the written word. Good luck my friend!
EDIT: The Curious writer has a new edition of their book but why pay four times the amount to get virtually the same book? Stick with the fourth edition.
It isn't genre specific, but Stephen King's On Writing is very interesting look into King's creative process. He talks at different points about horror, fantasy, as well as his more traditional work.
There are two books that I recommend reading. On Writing by Stephen King and The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White. I have learned a lot from both. One of the best pieces of advice from King was; read a lot and write a lot. It seems too obvious to be helpful advice, but I started a reading regiment that matched my writing regiment. Soon I was studying books as well as reading them, and I learned a lot more about wordplay, grammar, and vocabulary.
As far as grammar is concerned, I want my writing to communicate my emotions to the reader. That's my ultimate goal. Sometimes that requires perfect grammar, sometimes that requires breaking the rules. Take The Road by Cormac McCarthy for example. He's basically thrown all grammar rules out the window for the sake of his story, and it's an excellent story.
One of my writing professors told me there are three rules to breaking rules, and they have become my favorite rules of all. They are:
If you can accomplish those three than it's a safe bet you haven't lost your reader. However, readers will put down a book just because of the grammar, so we must be diligent.
I found "On Writing" by Stephen King a great place to start:
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-10th-Anniversary-Memoir-Craft/dp/1439156816/
Save The Cat by Blake Snyder (Technically for movie writing, but a ton of tricks and tips that would help any writer.)
Take Off Your Pants by Libbie Hawker
Stephen King: On Writing By Stephen King
Let me second On Writing by Stephen King. It's a book you can pull inspiration from by getting lost in random paragraphs when you're looking for ideas, or staring at a blank page.
On Writing is the most useful thing I ever read.
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-10th-Anniversary-Memoir-Craft/dp/1439156816/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1419426548&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=stephen+king+on+writing+a+memoir+of+the+craft
I hope you get some better answers.
Do you have a daily writing routine? Practice makes perfect, and this will be a good place to start
Also, make sure you check out 'On Writing' by Steven King, and this article on how he teaches writing.
Thinking up ideas is a very different ballgame than putting them into writing, so get cracking!
Listen!
If you're trying to improve your writing, I cannot recommend the book On Writing by Stephen King enough.
It's one of the few examples I've seen of a legendary author offering up specific tips and secrets on his craft. I still go back to it from time to time.
Thank me later.
Writing a Christian book without actually writing a Christian book.
Read on Writing.
>Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer’s craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King’s advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported, near-fatal accident in 1999—and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery. Brilliantly structured, friendly and inspiring, On Writing will empower and entertain everyone who reads it—fans, writers, and anyone who loves a great story well told.
Love you
Your Writing;
Some good writing in your details and solid word images. You have a good sense of humor, I would have enjoyed more of your dry timing. The story and characters, that was very difficult for me to follow. The paragraphs seemed to dance, move to one thing or another, almost like it didn't need to connect. They did connect but It felt to me I had to work hard to get it.
I stopped when Owen got to Lake Tahoe.
I found it hard to understand when it's the Mc thinking, or a dream, or something else. It didn't feel very real to me. I didn't get a any sense of a 'when', no sense of time passing, nor a viewpoint that let me understand what I was reading.
I thought Owen was a type of kid I wouldn't much like to hang out with. The red haired girl, not sure. Good world building, a firm start.
Other ways to get better feedback;
If you want to avoid bad habits before starting, be clear about how much help you can get here. Ask specific questions about areas you think don't work. Post a small intro, maybe just a scene or two from a chapter. Start a bit smaller. Build up from there.
The best help I see comes from very specific questions about your work.
More detailed critiques can be found at the link shown below. There they will read all of it and give very detailed responses, however there is a catch. You have to do a 1:1 ratio of other works in order to receive the same. So you'd have to complete a high level critique of a 2,500 plus story, then you would get the same.
If you don’t follow this rule, your post will be marked as a leech post. And if your leech post has been up for 24 hours without any new critiques from you, it will be removed.
[Destructive Readers](https://www.reddit.com/r/DestructiveReaders/ "The goal: to improve writing and maintain the highest standard of critique excellence anywhere on Reddit. DestructiveReaders isn't about writers being nice to writers; it's about readers being honest with writers. We deconstruct writing to construct better writers." )
Sharing the writing process;
A lot of us here are working and struggling with becoming better writers. So you are not alone in this painful process.
I myself find the task of becoming a good writer very daunting. I only keep going because I create a belief in myself. After that I go through the slow hard swim in the deep dark oceans of the unknown. I have no directions, no compass, only fear which if allowed becomes an anchor.
It would be good to know something about your skill level, things you've already read to improve crafting stories, classes you've taken, daily exercises or how much you write each day.
Myself; I do a daily poem, then write from 5/6 am to 9 am, that will be either my current novel or on a short I plan to submit to a magazine. I listen to Podcasts and do exercises from Writing Excuses
Books I use as my reference on writing;
end
I haven't read this but the advice on writing is supposed to be fantastic.
I'm currently reading Stephen King's book On Writing and you are right according to the book!
The book is extremely entertaining and easy to read as well as being extremely motivational and helpful to writers. Even if you don't care about being a writer the book is excellent.
This is my writing bible, for whatever its worth...
On Writing by Stephen King is good.
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott is a very entertaining and funny book on writing. Lamott is a well known novelist, but also the author of several essays on religion. She is very funny.
For the record, I'm an atheist and I like Lamott's writing.
I know it's not explicitly geared for short stories but The Nighttime Novelist is my go-to text for how to think about structuring a larger work. Though I have yet to publish my first novel.
Short story writing is very different. Janet Burroway's Writing Fiction and Stephen King's On Writing are both wonderful craft books that shed some of the practicalities of the Nighttime Novelist and look a good writing in its simplest form.
Much more important than nonfiction books, though, is finding short story markets you'd like to read. Figure out what kind of place might accept the most perfect form of the fiction you'd like to write, and then read those magazines religiously. While you're reading, do what you can to consider what these stories are doing well and how they are pulling off what they are pulling off. Use the vocabulary learned from craft books to better articulate (to yourself, mostly) what these stories are really doing, and begin to generate a sense of what good writing looks like. Then practice, practice, practice, write, revise, and write some more until you've got something worth sending out.
At this point in your writing development, the name of the game is simply learning to write well--keep that in mind, and try to make decisions based on what will help you become a better writer. And finally remember, there is such a thing as "practicing well."
To each his own. Reading On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft might change your opinion.
I suppose seeking validation after every chapter is one way to do it, but you'll never get anything written if you're seeking validation from Internet randoms. Internet randoms are kinda assholes.
The secret to writing for me is to outline a story I want to read, then attempt to write every line slightly more clever than then last and to come back after I'm done and edit out the grammar and the crazy. So I look at you all puckered up and afraid to get past your one chapter without seeking validation from strangers and I worry. Then I see your username and I worry a little more.
My unsolicited advice is read this (I recommend zooming in with CTRL-mousewheel or CTRL-+) and then go get this at your local library and read it and then write every single day you're alive until you die so that you can live forever!
The wishlist is pretty awesome, but if he likes writing I'd also reccommend this. Its a book that Stephen King wrote about writing and we used it a bit in my creative writing courses. Its informative but also interesting to read. Its not just strictly a writing manual.
And moleskin notebooks are awesome!
Its arguable that we are all confused about where we truly wanna go as often what we want and what we do are in contradiction. So you are not alone.
I would recommend three things for you:
Finally, use school and exams as way to measure you performance and focus on learning by yourself as that is the beat way to grow
I recommend:
http://amzn.com/0452271878
This book goes over how he got his first film made + him getting his start in Hollywood.
http://amzn.com/1557042462
The script is well written, but it also includes scene by scene breakdown of how the movie was made, problems they had with certain scenes and how the fixed them, etc.
http://amzn.com/1439156816
Great book on story by a master storyteller.
My suggestion is starting with easy to read books that you connect to. I highly recommend Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh. The stories there have something everyone can connect to, they're easy to read, and you will piss yourself laughing.
If after that, you still want to read, you should hunt for more books that you can relate to. This can be hard - especially if you like reading non fiction. I've helped a friend pick books that I found easy to read and not too wordy in the past. Once you make a habit of it, and you start finding books you enjoy, it gets much much easier.
Also, almost every book has something you can learn from - you just need to find what that is. While I've never felt bored or like I've wasted time after reading a book, there are certain books that make me want to punch the wall in frustration of how terrible the pace/writing/character is, and I tend to take a lesson of some sort from them. It can be a life lesson from that character, a lesson on what not to do if you're narrating a story to someone, or a simple "how could this situation be avoided."
Also, as /u/macksting suggests, try audiobooks. The audibles are amazingly well performed, and they're fun to listen to.
While not so much a comic, Hyperbole and a Half was something I picked up in a 52 in 52 book club, and was pretty funny. Was also one of the few "Comics" I got my girlfriend to read.
It's a chick. She was working on a book recently then disappeared and was never heard from for months. She's back thankfully, and her book is awesome.
Lesson being that it can happen to anyone
edit: Link to the book if anyone's interested
Happy Cake Day!
You didn't mention a dollar limit, so I'm not sure which one to link, so here's like five. One Two Three Four Five
Number five actually has the word "Cake" in it!
Intro - check
Wishlist flair - check
I haven't been gifted, so here's my golden foot trophy, and assorted Halloween decorations, on top of my movie shelves. ^alongwithsomedustbewe'llignorethat I won this at my very first Halloween party, which I also hosted. I went as a Weeping Angel, and won Best Costume. Legit votes, too, though I was drunk when I counted them.
Pic me!
We all know interspecies romance is weird... and speaking of weird "romance" items, this is on my wishlist, lol. Why? I seriously don't know. Maybe because I have the humor of a 10 year old and like to giggle at "dirty" things. Maybe because I want to troll all my female friends by handing these out on Christmas. I don't know. Just... dicks, man. =p
Non-makeup related, but I have lots of other weird things in my wishlist. For example:
Happy birthday, /u/purebredginger!!
I am totally going to make that delicious bacon-wrapped asparagus this week - looks divine! I'll probably add some lemon juice to it, because lemon and asparagus are a match made in heaven. I hope you have a fantastic week, month, year!
link~
I would like magazines, short humor essays, or something else that doesn't require much attention since I'll probably be tired, overwhelmed, distracted, and interrupted a lot. I packed the Hyperbole and a Half book ( http://smile.amazon.com/Hyperbole-Half-Unfortunate-Situations-Mechanisms/dp/1451666179/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1410993131&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=hyperbole+and+a+half ) for myself.
Meditations is a great book. That's one of the only books I'll almost always have on me. I've been focused on coding books lately, but otherwise I'll often pick that book up if I have a few minutes to read.
Regarding habit building and practicing, there were a few books I've skimmed over the years regarding that topic, but a lot of them feel like they're saying the same thing. Many habit forming books are a bit more like a self-help book, which is totally fine of the book gives you ideas and insight that you apply in order to acquire the results you want in life.
I'm a bit more interested in science and philosophy for 'managing myself' style books, so I have two recommendations.
Buddha's Brain - This book talks about meditation and mindfulness from a neuroscientific perspective. It shares ideas and practices based on facts and does a fantastic job of connecting a lot of 'woo woo' meditation gospel to measurable changes in the brain. You'll learn about ways you can train your brain while learning about what's going on under the hood, that way it isn't just about finding your center (which is a bit too abstract for me).
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - This is possibly one of the greatest philosophy books ever written (in my incredibly limited opinion). It's a story about a guy traveling on a motorcycle across the country with his son. During the trip, you get to follow along with the guy's deep trains of thoughts as he mentally works through an enormous body of thought surrounding ideas like values and quality.
The first book is more practical. You'll get step-by-step methods for meditating and nurturing the growth of your brain, and those ideas can also be applied to forming habits. Forming habits can also be thought of as training your brain to handle routine tasks with as little resistance as possible. If you're trying to exercise more often, resistance might pop up in the form of "I'm tired" or "This is uncomfortable" or "I can skip today and start up again tomorrow". Ideas like that take practice to notice and disregard in order to move forward with something you know you should do but may not fully want to at that moment. Overcoming those internal objections is quite possibly one of the hardest steps in the process of forming habits because your mind will come up with all sorts of escape routes to get away from something that makes you feel uncomfortable (like exercising for the first time in a while). Discipline is the act of staying with the habit by catching yourself when you start looking for these escape routes.
The second book is still plenty practical if you give the content the time and patience it deserves. There were a lot of points in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance where I had to put it down for a few days and think through what I just read. It's a deep book, but it has the potential to give you an idea that could fundamentally change the way you approach skill development and application.
Enjoy!
Only The Three Pillars of Zen and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance so far.
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.
AND
Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance By Robert Prsing
Both books have ideas that influence the way I think since I have read them. Zen Art also is a character with a mental illness and how it influences his really deep thoughts about life.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. This is one of the most important books I've ever read.
mirando: Robot & Frank. Me gusto mucho, aunque esta es la segunda vez que la miro.
escuchando: ESTA. Me fascina Yasuko Omori.
leyendo: Estoy leyendo "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". Esta bueno. Es sobre un viaje en motocicleta de un padre y su hijo. Durante el viaje el papa hace un analisis sobre los valores, sobre lo que es bueno y lo que no lo es, sobre la calidad de las experiencias en la vida. Escrito en 1974.
This book seems to have the best reviews on Amazon (of similar books).
Also, I couldn't let it pass...check out Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, a great work of fiction.
I got your list right here:
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho - great story about finding your way in life, destiny, etc. One of my personal favorites and a real life changer for me personally (read it when I was 14, very impressionable)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominigue Bauby - memoirs of a magazine editor who has a stroke and goes from being a hot shot playboy to being paralyzed. He loses all motor function and the whole book is written by him blinking out the letters. Despite it all he has a razor wit and such a positive outlook it really makes you think about your own life and what is important to appreciate.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig - kind of an interesting book that gives you a historical breakdown of philosophy all through a somewhat biographical story about a motorcycle trip with his son. Has some really insightful views on what is quality and what is the point of education. Highly recommend for anyone just starting college.
Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman by Richard P Feynman - Autobiography/memoir of one of the greatest minds to ever live. From learning how to pick locks while working on the manhattan project, experimenting with acid, and learning the bongos. Dr. Feynman has such a passion for life, science, and learning it's contagious. Seriously, just see how excited he gets about rubberbands.
I also liked the dude and the zen master. Probably wasn’t taken seriously but the “dude” character is my spirt animal 😂
I recently got zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance . I haven’t started it yet but I love Zen and motorcycles so should go over well with me
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is an old favorite.
http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Inquiry/dp/0060589469
As I've said, if you need to chew someone out at random, be my guest, my self esteem can take it. However, I think you could use something more helpful in the long term. This might help you somewhat in regards to your anger, as it's been helpful to mine.
http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Good-Life-Ancient-Stoic/dp/0195374614
http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Inquiry/dp/0060589469
http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280
Are all interesting books at your place in life.
http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Inquiry/dp/0060589469
I promise.
Either go to your local library and check out, buy, or pm me your info and I will send you this book.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Inquiry/dp/0060589469/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1418000780&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=zen+and+the+art+of+motorcycle+maintenance
Do not look upon work as something that is outside of you, or a chore. Your labors must be of you, and include your mindset, because the end result is almost wholly dependent of the mindset of the laborer.
Among other philosophies and tenets of Quality...
And another book that may be a bit simple in its approach, but still has some important ideas, Fuck It: The Ultimate Spiritual Way. http://www.amazon.com/It-The-Ultimate-Spiritual-Way/dp/1401927599
There's something very freeing about being able to just say "fuck it" about something that's giving you frustration. I've found that after saying it, and really meaning it, the true solution becomes apparent.
If you get a chance, grab this book for your next tour.
For traders, Mandelbrot's The Misbehavior of Markets for a dose of humility.
Taleb's Black Swan talks about an investing strategy that seems relevant to crypto: keep mostly low-risk liquid assets and invest small amounts in things that can pay off big.
For developers, this is a weird one but my all-time favorite is Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
Design with Nature by Ian McHarg
I started reading this one a while ago, but was sidetracked by life and it sat collecting dust. I just started it again, but haven't gone very far. This book is supposed to be the bible for planners and landscape architects, so I'm excited to get back into it.
I just finished reading Need for the Bike by Paul Fournel. This book is a collection of short stories and musings written by a lifetime cyclist. He does an amazing job conveying feelings associated with biking and I devoured this book much quicker than I expected. My wife bought it for me for Christmas because it was supposed to be similar to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values, another book I really enjoyed.
I also finally finished The Landscape of Man, which I had been working through. I still don't see how this one was supposed to impact me as much as others claim it should, but it was an interesting read.
I went through a heavy Watts phase in college. A few of his books are just transcriptions of his lectures. Become Who You Are is probably my favorite. Most of what he's doing is taking concepts of mindfulness and self from Eastern traditions like Buddhism, and explaining it through a Western style of understanding.
If you like Watts, you would probably like Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. Very similar tones, except this is more of a universal parable.
I'm not sure if people still read this book, but Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was pretty influential for me.
I don't like to promote woo-woo but Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance ( which isn't about Zen and isn't very factual about motorcycles either according to the author's intro) helped me at a point in my life where I had to bridge the chasm between being raised by fundie parents and the wider world of philosophy.
http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Inquiry/dp/0060589469
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Eines der für mich einflussreichsten Bücher die ich je gelesen habe.
Spoiler: es hat relativ wenig mit Motorradwartung zu tun.
The journey begins! Welcome to the club man, there's no going back. I highly recommend buying the shop manual for your bike and perhaps this book. Both will give you a good idea on how to maintain your motorcycle and fix majority of the problems you run into while saving you money! Not to mention the satisfaction of doing your own work.
Definitely get a set of frame sliders asap! I don't know a single person that hasn't dropped their bike at one time or another. The first bike i had i dropped pulling into my brothers gravel drive way literally 5 minutes after buying it. My second bike (SV) I've dropped once from losing my footing and again not putting the kickstand down entirely. Only thing you can do is laugh and do your best not to do it again. This might be helpful to! Best of luck to you, ride safe out there!
The Zen of Motorcycle Maintenance http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0060589469/
I remember trying to process this about a year. I'm still not quite there, but a couple of chapters of Hillbilly Elegy and time spent on knowyourmeme should help...
Good book about it: https://www.amazon.com/Hillbilly-Elegy-Memoir-Family-Culture/dp/0062300547 -- lots about the struggles of addiction and the decline of WV, KY, and OH
If you want individual thoughts, try reading the book Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance. It's a first-hand account of what life as one of the people perpetuating the stereotypes you're talking about is like.
Maybe Hillbilly Elegy? https://www.amazon.com/Hillbilly-Elegy-Memoir-Family-Culture/dp/0062300547
i just got a book called Hillbilly Elegy which claims to explain that answer. https://www.amazon.com/Hillbilly-Elegy-Memoir-Family-Culture/dp/0062300547/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1483442945&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=hillbilly+elegy
edit:havent read it yet so i cant answer
Absolutely. Many of them don't want to learn a new skillset, which puts the Dems in a tough spot (versus just lying that you'll bring the old jobs back). But in the end, that is the only possible answer. Coal isn't coming back. Towns that were built around factories, even if those factories came back, due to automation they would employ only a small fraction of the people they once did, and those jobs would be higher-skill jobs than the old ones.
Recommended: Hillbilly Elegy.
I haven't experienced this first-hand at all, but I did enjoy reading J. D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy which gives the topic and the people a wide-ranging and somewhat sympathetic treatment.
Hey, have you read Hillbilly Elegy? You really should. The author is getting a lot of fire underneath him for a political run, actually, based mostly on the arguments you're raising in our conversation.
And I currently live in a new england suburb of a large city, so I finally landed among my tribe, but I spent many years in the rural, deep, bible belt south and in the extremely rural west (western Idaho). I know what you're talking about because I was raised around a lot of great "salt of the earth"-type people, but also a LOT of people who literally bragged about never reading a book.
That is WILLFUL ignorance. It's not an attitude that should be treated as just some sort of cultural peccadillo. It is WILLFUL. IGNORANCE. There's no excuse for that shit. Fuck those people.
Have you read Hillbilly Elegy?
https://www.amazon.com/Hillbilly-Elegy-Memoir-Family-Culture/dp/0062300547
White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America
https://www.amazon.com/Hillbilly-Elegy-Memoir-Family-Culture/dp/0062300547
Exactly.
This sort of article is written by someone simultaneously educated enough to put together a decent thought piece while staying completely detached from the reality of how uneducated most people are.
Hillbilly Elegy speaks to this sort of (unintentionally) elitist thought bias.
Hillbilly Elegy is a great book that deals with the culture. Tom Woods had the author on: http://tomwoods.com/ep-706-hillbilly-elegy-self-destructive-ideas-and-behaviors-among-the-white-working-poor/
General
Conservative - I'm keenly interested in the intellectual history of American Conservatism and could make this this list could go on forever. I'll keep it to three, but if you want more suggestions feel free to ask.
Liberal - You may get a better liberal reading list from another user, but I'll give it a shot.
I have always kind of went back and forth with the same thing. I recently moved from a larger city to a small southern Illinois town and it's insane the amount of racism that stems from a very large, uneducated and poor population. I feel bad that it comes from a long lineage of just being ignorant and passing it along to family but that's also not really an excuse. I've known plenty of people who come from a racist background and even people who grew up very poor and they made the conscious decision to be different and compassionate towards all people.
You should read "Hillbilly Elegy" (link here ) the author grew up in what most call "white trash" household - poor, uneducated, drug use etc. he made the decision to change his future and end up differently and he went to Yale and became a lawyer ( and also a liberal) The book is good too because it goes into depth into that demographic of poor, uneducated and racists, how it all started and how it keeps continuing (and probably will continue forever, unfortunately).
Speaking of books... have any of you read Hillbilly Elegy?
https://www.amazon.com/Hillbilly-Elegy-Memoir-Family-Culture/dp/0062300547
I've been meaning to pick it up but keep forgetting to.
Have you read Hillbilly Elegy by J.D Vance?
Hi, I’m a Buddhist in the US. And I can answer this.
First of all, the US is a massive country. One state is larger than most European countries (and we have 50 of them!). The majority of our residents live around the coasts, but plenty of people still live in rural and remote places. This makes things complicated when it comes to national politics as there’s not just one type of American. We are incredibly diverse in background, values, morals, life priorities, etc, and that’s what makes most of our elections on the state and national level challenging.
When Trump was elected I woke up and couldn’t believe it. Hundreds of thousands of Americans felt the same way. How could this happen?
In my view there are three factors that led to his election:
(1) After the 2008 economic crash, many rural areas didn’t recover. Factories closed and moved overseas; coal mining jobs evaporated as new EPA rulings came down limiting the use of coal and other dirty energy sources; people lost their homes due to the mortgage crash. The rural areas were by far the hardest hit, and these realities in people’s lives were the “proof” for their anti-immigrant and anti-EPA sentiments for example. When rural whites say “immigrants are taking our jobs!”, some of them actually meant it since the only factory in their tiny town outsourced to India. Or when someone from West Virginia says “EPA is over regulating our rights!” they really mean that the coal mining job, one of the only viable careers in West Virginia, is making cuts due to new regulations.
(2) As the presidential election neared, it was clear the only democratic contender worth representing the party was Hilary Clinton. As much as I liked Bernie Sanders, he would have never one, as he was too left for most moderate Democrats, and we couldn’t risk splitting the party vote. Many people in my parents’ generation (age around the 60’s) loathe Hilary. The reasons are complicated, but she’s been tarnished since the Bill Clinton presidency. Some hate her for the way she acted during the presidency, others hate her for her political decisions she made as Secretary of State. So there was no way many people in my parents generation and older would vote for Hilary. That cut out a large number of possible Republican moderate votes that the Democrats could have gained in order to win.
(3) Trump is a businessman used to getting what he wants through bullying and switch and bait tactics. He also is very experienced with television. This makes him incredibly skilled at telling people what they want to hear in order to garner support. During Trump’s campaign he spent billions of dollars traveling in rural midwestern and southern areas. He would say things like “Immigrants are taking our jobs and I’m going to stop that and build a wall!” in towns where factories where outsourced. In towns feeling a loss of jobs from new EPA rulings he’d say things like “I’m going to bring back coal!” Of course there are more than these two issues happening in rural areas, but you see how he realized that a large body of American people were still struggling after the 2008 crash and he found a way to prey on them for his own political gain.
These three factors led to overwhelming rural turn out in the vote and he was elected. The sad thing is that Trump made promises to these people that he largely hasn’t kept. The Democrats saw that coming, but many Trump supporters were straight up duped. He said he’d find a way to get more jobs, but towns are still collapsing. He said he’d find a way to bring back certain industries, but they are still dying. He said he wouldn’t cut Medicare/Medicaid (what most rural people rely on to get health care), but he has.
I am a Democrat and very anti-Trump, but I understand why he was elected. He was the “hope” that a lot of ignored Americans needed. I don’t agree with him, or many of their values, but I empathize with their situation. Living in rural places right now in America is very bleak.
Source: I am a Soto Zen practitioner living in Washington DC. I am originally from the rural south and frequently travel home and I see first hand what these places look like.
Edit 1: If you want to understand the mindset and experiences of rural white people living in America, I suggest reading [Hillbilly Elegy] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0062300547/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1511706844&amp;sr=8-1&amp;pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&amp;keywords=hillbilly+eulogy)
You should read Tripping the Prom Queen and Self-Made Man, gave me a totally different perspective on how women treat each other, and how women are treated by men.
Here's a book by a woman that lived as a man for a year.
>Self-Made Man: One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man
After the experiment, she was institutionalized for depression, and stated that she never felt so glad for being a woman.
>"I really like being a woman. ... I like it more now because I think it's more of a privilege."
>"Living as a man taught me a lot about the things I most enjoyed about being a woman in the world, things I consider to be the privileges of womanhood—the emotional freedom, the range of expression, the sexual and social power we can exercise over men. Returning to my life as a woman was about reclaiming those privileges and taking greater satisfaction in them".
Norah Vincent's book Self Made Man is high up on my reading list. In an interview, she said that she "ran smack up against the different between male and female sexuality ... Female is mental. It's up here [in the brain]." At 11:18, Norah "was surprised that many women had no interest in a soft, vulnerable man". "My prejudice", she said, "was that the ideal man was a woman in a man's body, and I learned 'no, that's really not it'. There are a lot of women out there who really want a manly man."
>Ultimately, Ned told most of his [female] dates that he was Norah. Many of the women reacted angrily, but usually just for a little while. Some women wanted to continue the relationship. [Heterosexual women] remained interested in pursuing something further. That's what I'm saying: [the difference] is all up here [in the brain] because they said "we connected, and there's something. I really like you, and I don't care." How many guys would do that? That's the different between male and female sexuality right there.
Have a read of Self Made Man
Either way it sounds like it has as many downsides as upsides to be listed as a privilege. I wont get judged as much for being a sexual being..true
The clothes I wear wont matter one iota...true
No one gives a flying shit about me... also true
> It was the first time in my life I've ever been, for the most part, ignored. And it was great
You say this from the context of it being a choice. You may have a different perspective if this social alienation was not a choice. This woman author tried presenting as a man for a year and had to be checked into a mental hospital afterwards. She absolutely hated the dating dynamic the most. The way other women would just outright dismiss her as though she were dirt. She thought..like you did... that nobody noticing you/caring about you would be super fantastic fun time. She had a different experience and to my knowledge hasnt cared to repeat it.
Yeah being ignored is great when you want to be ignored...no question. But thats not really the whole issue is it? What about all those times when you want to connect with another human being?
Its just another bullet point on this list but it spells out the overarching problem. Its clearly made by a woman looking at men and thinking these things are all awesome with no real empathic depth, thought, or experience. I mean this kind of crap really exposes the gender war for the senseless middle-school shit that it is.
Have you ever read this book? I did. You might find it interesting.
There's a whole book on this very phenomenon called Self-Made Man which is very interesting!
Nora Vincent did it for a year and published a book about it:
Link
Is that what you're referring to?
http://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Womans-Year-Disguised/dp/0143038702
This might provide insight, since I've only ever been on one side of the fence.
Self-Made Man: My Year Disguised as a Man is a book by Norah Vincent
https://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Womans-Year-Disguised/dp/0143038702/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Self-Made+Man&amp;qid=1558381553&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-1
Instead of a post, some free publicity for a book that basically answers that question
Already done.
You could always walk a mile in the other man's shoes.
Consider reading this compelling book Self-Made Man by Norah Vincent.
this post's is literally a feminist doing exactly what you want.
I mean seriously "a young feminists compassionate view of men" is the title. this isn't even something that is all that rare.
oh and you might enjoy this book
Self made man by Norah Vincent
I think it's great! It's awesome to see the world through different eyes, even if it's still somewhat anonymous. People treat you differently.
If you're interested in reading more into this sort of perspective-shifting, Self-Made Man is a great book.
Are you talking about this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Womans-Year-Disguised/dp/0143038702#immersive-view_1554747937592
I wouldn't call that picture feminine per se. But whatever.
If you're interested in having a serious conversation. I'm willing to talk.
My stance:
Negging and the number system are fine. I have no problems with them. First: The number system [this is the whole attractive 1-10 scale]. Its not an evaluation of how much the person is worth. Its how attractive are they to you. Women do this and men do this. They have different reasons for doing this. Claiming that it's a crappy thing to do is disingenuous to yourself and who you talk to. If you don't use a number system, you still compare others. The other benefit [and why pua uses] to the number system is that its easy to describe to others without going into the appearence details or personal identifiers of the girls online. As the community, we're not interested in identifying the person. We're interested in the interaction.
Negging: Its teasing. It's not a compliment and it's not an insult.
From a lot of feminists that I"ve read their arguments, their opposition tends to stem from extreme situations or the lack of social IQ. When you go for a kiss with a girl, both parties don't confirm that the action that is going to take place is going to happen.
In a perfect world:
It would be easy to get to know the opposite sex and come to a mutual agreement about what each other want. However, games are played. Girls, in general, are playing a game that the guys aren't aware of. However, guys are thrown into the game and are expected to play well. I am of the opinion of lets stop playing games and have a bit of fun together. Everyone could be direct and clear about what they want and don't want. However this is not the case in the real world.
Marketing
When PUA information is sold, it is typically sold by marketers. They're going for what appeals to a base desire of the demographic (guys), sex. Guys want to be able to communicate what they want without the negative reprocutions that have been getting worse. [There are women out there that want to ruin a guy's reputation for hitting on her or just wanting sex. Thats screwed up, but again... some women] I think there is a lot of bad marketing out there. I'm referring to the types "have sex with any girl you want." A lot of the fear about the pickup guides/classes/bootcamps comes from the same fears about hypnotism... its "forcing people to do what they don't want to do." You cannot make any girl, without the threat of violence or coercion, have sex with you if they don't want to. Where am I going with this: Seduction/game requires that you learn how to be your best self, be aware of the situation, and to become very approachable to the opposite sex. From the perspective of strategy, coercion and violence is a very bad idea and it would limit your opportunities. Seduction/game: We want to meet agreeable people, and to have fun with others.
How men are treated
I think something that should be address is how men are treated in modern society. As a man, you're not given a lot of opportunity to be social, or to be apart of a community unless you really work for it. Norah Vincennt might be able to explain this point a bit better: http://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Womans-Year-Disguised/dp/0143038702
[However, after the experiement she found her self to be in such a bad state that it required a stay in a mental insitution for depression.] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norah_Vincent)
This?
Here is the mobile version of your link
I really enjoyed this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143038702
I would love a Daniel Everett AMA. I also recommend that book to anyone.
Everett's book is fascinating (from a linguistic standpoint especially): http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1323629930&amp;sr=8-1
"Don't Sleep There Are Snakes" by Daniel Everett is a non fiction book about a Christian missionary who goes to convert a tribe who live in the Brazilian amazon region called the Pirahã. He ends up losing his religion and the process of him realising this is fascinating. Also how he interacts and describes the Pirahã culture is very well done - especially the discussion on their language.
Check it out - http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120
http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120
Piraha. A primitive but comparatively incredibly happy and free culture that has no concept or want for math, personal wealth, or material possessions. They have a well developed sense of humor but their humor has nothing to do with suffering, because that type of humor just isn't a part of their society. That book is an extreme eye opener.
I'd recommend the book "Don't sleep, there are snakes" whichdescirbes their language and their way of life. It's HacksawJimDGN's "Golden Banana pick of the month TM"
No its not. Your cynicism is blinding you to the value cultures like these have, that our modern cultures are desperately lacking. Of course they had their shortcomings and some were even violent by our standards, but their cultural pathos pale in comparison to ours. You should check out "Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes" by Daniel Everett. It's a first hand account of a missionary in the Amazon who ends up abandoning his Western beliefs for a much simpler way of life. It's a fascinating story and in this ever advancing world, one that is becoming harder and harder to tell. Please don't throw what we could learn from them under the bus because of their shortcomings.
http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120 - Here's the Amazon link, its a great book, you won't regret it!
Actually, it is. He wrote a memoir documenting his experiences with the tribe.
I read it in a summer linguistics class since Daniel Everett is a linguist himself and we watched a little bit of the film version of the book that focuses more on the linguistics aspect of it as opposed to the deconversion. I didn’t end up becoming a linguistics major (and if I had, my dad probably would’ve pulled financial support because linguistics doesn’t result in a real job /s), but I still found the class interesting and I did pretty well for someone who knew nothing going in.
It was my first experience (I read it like a high school AP Lit student would read an assigned book: not really) with a deconversion from Christianity to atheism. I’m sure if my dad’s girlfriend (fundie-lite evangelical) or maybe even my dad had heard what I was reading for school, they’d accuse the university of forcing atheism on people of faith, even though that wasn’t even the purpose of us reading the book.
Check out Don't sleep, there are snakes by Daniel Everett , a fascinating look at another culture with a language so different to what we consider the norm.
Here is a video snippet
Go to your local library and check this book out
http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Sleep-There-Are-Snakes/dp/0307386120/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1261514973&amp;sr=8-1
Quite an interesting read.
I've been reading Don't sleep, there are snakes and the author discusses how Pirahã is one such language. That's what gave me the idea.
Don't Sleep There Are Snakes - Excellent read about a linguist's study of an Amazon tribe with a language unlike any other. Contains very interesting musings and science regarding how language and culture can affect how we perceive the world around us.
The Evolution of Useful Things - Very cool read if you are at all an engineering or design inclined person. The author has a great way of weaving in cultural and historical context into how all the tiny and useful things around us have evolved and come to represent very specific functions.
Don't Sleep There Are Snakes
Look Me in The Eye
Hey, at least you didn't write a book in which you told the whole world that you wonder if you picked the right sister or not. While referring to your wife as "Unit 2" because she's the second oldest of three sisters.
Surprisingly, they're divorced now.
http://www.amazon.com/Look-Me-Eye-Life-Aspergers/dp/0307396185
There isn't?
http://www.zazzle.com/flappy_happy_t_shirt-235660970405064707
http://portal.wpspublish.com/portal/page?_pageid=53,190663&amp;_dad=portal&amp;_schema=PORTAL
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/002-8452392-8940808?url=search-alias%3Daps&amp;field-keywords=Aspergers&amp;x=0&amp;y=0
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Aspergers-Syndrome/dp/1843106698/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1216825309&amp;sr=8-2
http://www.amazon.com/Look-Me-Eye-Life-Aspergers/dp/0307396185/ref=pd_bbs_3?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1216825309&amp;sr=8-3
I’m sorry you’ve had to go through all of that.
Although if 3 of your psych doctors think you have Aspergers, you probably do. From my understanding (from my own psych doctor) there isn’t really a test for it, rather than behavioral markers, thought and even speech patterns. There also isn’t much you can do for Aspergers other than behavioral therapy.
Source: I have Aspergers.
Some books that might give some more insight are:
https://www.amazon.com/All-Cats-Have-Asperger-Syndrome/dp/1843104814
And
https://www.amazon.com/Look-Me-Eye-Life-Aspergers/dp/0307396185
Look me in the eye is a story from someone who was diagnosed later in life.
A good book for sometime. https://www.amazon.com/Look-Me-Eye-Life-Aspergers/dp/0307396185
You need to read the book Look Me in the Eye. Its a book about this guy growing up with Asbergers and having to grow up feeling different. I had to read it for my summer reading for university, but it was honestly one of the most interesting and changed my view on the whole subject, I'm extremely glad I did (its the only school assigned book I ever liked and that's saying something). If you haven't read it, I would pick it up and read it ASAP, the guy goes through the same stuff as you.
If anyone has, or is friends with somebody with aspergers, read look me in the eye
Hilarious, informative and inspirational imo.
http://www.amazon.com/Look-Me-Eye-Life-Aspergers/dp/0307396185/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1451791511&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=look+me+in+the+eye
It's one of my favorite books, it's written by the brother of Augusten Burroughs (Running with Scissors, Sellivision) who was diagnosed with asperger's well into his adulthood. There's some funny stories about how he viewed the world as a child and you can really get to see inside the mind of someone with the disorder.
Here is a link to the book, because I get the promotion anxiety but I really want people to buy the shit out of your book.
That being said, I am so glad to see you posting and am so excite for your book. As anyone who works with me can attest, I regularly go back through your archives and spend the rest of the day snickering quietly to myself.
This is true! Thanks monotheism! Even though pre-monotheism, tribal culture was all about who your mom was, not your dad.
Wait until you end up with all of your oldest male cousins having Jiddo's name (grandpa's) and all your uncles are addressed as Abu-Issam (or whatever Grandpas name is).
My dad and I joke about this though, I am Umm-Khalil. Khalil is the name of my first male dog.
Say hi to Abu-Shezabel! ;)
Also no, there is a whole book about not losing your personal identity when becoming a parent; technically it details how child rearing is hugely different between the US and France but there is a whole bunch of the identity issue throughout the book and it has its own chapter if I recall correctly. Its called, Bringing Up Bebe
For a Leftist reply, see this. Stopping immigration won't stop the corporations from ruining the planet. Even you admit that neoliberals use migration to lower wages (don't ignore that Capitalists had no problems exporting the industries themselves to the South to use the superexploited labor and that was and is more profound than migration), yet somehow your answer isn't fighting the system that creates such conditions of exploitation, but fighting the victims of destructive policies by the IMF, WB and WTO.
Congrats! You found the one overseas Chinese military base. One. Russia has about a dozen overseas bases. Most are in the former USSR, but of course 2 are in Syria.
But the Russians and Chinese are amateurs when it comes to overseas military bases. Those petty bases pale in comparison to the 700, 800 or 1000 or whatever overseas military bases that our empire operates.
> The debt handcuffs China is slapping on governments across Africa and Latin America?
Are they really doing that? The Chinese and the governments involved say no.
Meanwhile, many have written this is exactly what US banks and our gov't does as a planned strategy.
To dismantle the semi-socialist countries of Africa and other places, western banks deliberately give them unpayable amounts of loans. Then when the targeted countries (it is a deliberate targeting strategy) are unable to pay off their loans, the US banks and our IMF/World Bank tools forces the targeted countries to sell off their public assets at discount prices to western capitalists. And voila! -- we gain control of a country's economy.
Former NSA employee and long-time international banker John Perkins managed to get approval from our "Deep State" security censors to allow him to actually publish a book about this, "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man." That link is to Amazon; it's definitely worth buying and reading since Perkins describes this process in detail.
Here
Are you fucking serious? YOU GOT JENNY LAWSON TO REVIEW YOUR BOOK ON AMAZON?! That is amazing! Talk about a glowing recommendation from a reputable source--her book is one of the funniest things I've ever... ever'd!
Oh. You're funny too. But I haven't read your book yet, so I can't say for sure if it'll be funny... though Lawson's recommendation might have pushed me over the edge. I love her.
Question: what was the funniest part of Lawson's book? Follow-up: why was it the part about the turkey named Jenkins?
see for yourself
This book talks about a lot of that. https://www.amazon.com/New-Confessions-Economic-Hit-Man/dp/1626566747/
There's a book that details this sort of strategy that's been done by deep state crooks in the US forever, it's called "confessions of a economic hitman" by John Perkins
https://www.amazon.com/New-Confessions-Economic-Hit-Man/dp/1626566747
Short cartoon that summarizes it
https://youtu.be/37Dvt2EqXF4
Good book
http://www.amazon.com/Hyperbole-Half-Unfortunate-Situations-Mechanisms/dp/1451666179/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1373900056&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=hyperbole+and+a+half
> Sure, but they make those investments knowing full well that the country will never be able to repay them. It's literally imperialism with extra steps.
Good thing the western world never does anything like that.
I recently read this book and loved it. I highly recommend it--I think the author does a good job presenting a balanced view of "American" versus "French" parenting. She cites anecdotes and personal experiences, but also some really fascinating scientific studies.
No way; I don't buy it. I'd recommend reading the book "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" by a former int'l banker.
The author details pretty well the "offer you can't refuse" arrangement the US gave the Saudis in the 70s: Invest most of your oil money in Wall Street or we'll overthrow your petty dictatorship. That was right around the time Jimmy Carter publicly announced the Carter Doctrine (forget the anti-Soviet spin of that doctrine; that was the US claiming hegemony over the Middle East) to let them know we were serious.
And what do you know -- today the US has military bases in Saudi Arabia to shout our domination of that country.
> "The Plan is for the United States to rule the world. The overt theme is unilateralism, but it is ultimately a story of domination....It calls for dominion over friends and enemies alike." -- Investigative journalist David Armstrong, explaining the Pentagon's policy of "full spectrum dominance."
Allie Brosh is wonderful and you should all buy her book.
No comment regarding atheism, here's the book:
http://www.amazon.com/Hyperbole-Half-Unfortunate-Situations-Mechanisms/dp/1451666179
So, I think I am the kind of person you are describing. I have a pretty great job, so I usually just buy my own technology stuff. Not only that, but I am rather picky with technology stuff, so even if someone did get me something like that, I would act excited and happy, but in the back of my mind I would secretly wishing they did more research before buying the thing that they did.
That said! If I were buying for me, I would go with something like the hyperbole and a half book (http://www.amazon.com/Hyperbole-Half-Unfortunate-Situations-Mechanisms/dp/1451666179), or something by the creator of the XKCD comics (http://www.amazon.com/Thing-Explainer-Complicated-Stuff-Simple/dp/0544668251/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1449202837&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=xkcd).
If it has to be tech related, there is always http://www.thinkgeek.com - they have tons of fun, nerdy gifts that I would like. All of these things combined are probably way less than $1,000. That is just a lot of money.
Another random suggestion - if they were ever into pokemon, this is a dream come true: Gym Badges! https://www.etsy.com/listing/128753018/pokemon-kanto-gym-badges-gen-1?utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_campaign=shopping_us_b-accessories-patches_and_pins-pins_and_pinback_buttons&amp;utm_custom1=a91c90fb-48c1-4024-87f9-fb14aadac033&amp;gclid=CjwKEAiA7f-yBRDAgdv4jZ-78TwSJAA_WdMaz_NXsXrFH_0f-Mb6ovmqqcCHto-b7S6zm1DplssHQhoCNuvw_wcB
I just finished Bringing up Bebe and thought it was really good. I found it funny and insightful, and really made me think about everything start to finish! Congratulations!
I've been reading Your Pregnancy Week by Week - I don't really enjoy it, I feel like BabyCenter is equally informative without trying to scare me.
You need to read this book. You are NOT a servant to your children. You have the total ability as a parent to make your children behave. This book helped me in a LOT of ways. I have a 5.5 year old and one on the way. We still have problems as times and she acts out. For the most part though our family is calm. I learned it was up to me to make that happen. Her actions were my fault as a parent. I had to give her guidelines and realistic ones.
LMAO! I hope you're not an American or European who's saying that. :(
The US is populated by African-Americans who we literally brought here in chains on slave ships to build the US. We destroyed Africa's development, weakened their countries and set them back by an immeasurable amount.
Europe then seized Africa by military force, held them as literal colonies and ruthlessly exploiting the continent.
Post WWII we in the west perfected "neo-imperialism" and "neo-colonialism" -- controlling countries and their governments and economies from afar. We propped up corrupt dictators and gov'ts if they did what we told them, and subverted and overthrew them if they did not follow orders.
Int'l bankster John Perkins wrote a book about how US and western banks literally give unpayable amounts of "development" loans to corrupt gov'ts, all in a scheme for the banks to force the sell-offs of valuable assets when the African country inevitably cannot keep up with the payments on their loans.
Yet you have the gall to complain about what China has done in the past 20 years?
> "I hate all forms of imperialism, and I consider the US brand to be the most loathsome and contemptible." -- Nelson Mandela.
> The USA doesn't rule over anywhere it's invaded.
Let's see, except for Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the entire US southwest (fully 1/2 of old Mexico).
The British Empire did not officially rule over Iraq. That evil empire invaded Iraq, put a puppet king in power, and then ruled from afar while economically exploiting the country. But everyone knew it was part of the British Empire.
That form of empire -- neo-imperialism/neo-colonialism -- has been often used by empires and is the US' preferred method. We put in puppet regimes and then economically exploit them while letting the locals deal with the headaches of actually running the country (the local leaders only demand a relatively small cut).
The classic US example is the Philippines. We invaded promising them independence. We then fought a vicious, brutal war to terrorize the Filipino people into submission when they realized we were liars and were not giving them independence.
We then ran the Philippines as a flat-out colony of the US for a half-century.
After WWII, we gave them "independence" -- with US corporations in complete control of the Filipino economy, of course -- and supported a dictator (Marcos) to rule the country. That's just how we roll.
Former NSA guy and int'l banker John Perkins wrote an entire book on the topic which included many of his first-hand experiences. Those experiences included everything from assassinations of uppity nationalist leaders who would not follow US orders and/or allow US/western corporations to run rampant in their countries, to deliberately giving loans to poor countries run by dictators that we knew they could not pay back all so we could later force them to sell off their national assets.
I'm simply baffled at how Americans can look at the world, see US military forces operating in over 100 countries, retaining bases in Germany and Japan 70+ years after we conquered them, routinely attacking country after country to install puppet governments, the US gov't doing every dirty trick in the book to control other supposedly-sovereign nations -- and then say that we are not an empire, and all with a straight face.
Edit: Typos.
> "I hate all forms of imperialism, and I consider the US brand to be the most loathsome and contemptible." -- Nelson Mandela.
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Room by Emma Donoghue
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
You don't start jogging around your neighborhood and then do the PCT.
Some people do it's not as hard as you guys want to believe.
Ooh I love reading but I've never owned any kind of ereader. I'd love a used one 😊
Cowabunga!
I have a hard time picking my favorite anything so here is a potential favorite of mine
Two fine books about hiking the PCT are The Cactus Eaters, by Dan White, and Wild, by Cheryl Strayed.
Wild by Cheryl Stayed (http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Found-Pacific-Crest-Trail/dp/0307476073) and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Found-Pacific-Crest-Trail/dp/0307476073) come to mind. Sorry for the long links, I'm on mobile.
Most recently, Wild by Cheryl Strayed. I really expected it to be overwrought, a cliche "how I found myself" story, right out of the genre of Eat, Pray, Love. It was so much more. I would recommend it to anyone, but especially to young women.
[Wild, by Cheryl Strayed] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0307476073?pc_redir=1406193150&amp;amp;robot_redir=1)
I Am Nujood, Age Ten and Divorced.
I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced
>Note I specified "rape" not "child rape." And from the information in this thread, it is disputed as to whether she was under 10 or not when the marriage was consummated.
The generally accepted understanding of Aisha’s age at consummation is 9.
>Not exactly the same because that is currently occurring. Not only is it currently occurring, it is currently occurring in a globally interconnected world, with international laws in place that all generally agree no, that is not acceptable.
Child rape is also currently occurring all over the world. Child marriages are not uncommon in Muslim countries (such as Yemen) even today.
You'd probably benefit from reading this book written by a 10-year-old girl who was forced into marriage at age 9 in 2008. She details the horrors, how the adults around her had no problems with it. Child marriage, rape, and abuse was a custom in her province. She details her abuse. But according to you, we shouldn't judge her adult rapist because he lived in a small town isolated from the outside world, where child rape and marriage (as well as physical beatings) are the norm.
Do things only start being unacceptable when international laws are put into place? If I raped a kid 2 hours before the international law was put into effect, am I still a great guy? That's ridiculous.
>Umm...not even close. By my logic, human trafficking was legal back then. With no statement as to whether that was good or bad (spoiler: it was effing terrible). Try not to read to hard into what you want to/don't want to see...
I was referring to human trafficking as a legal definition. You said you cannot be sure that a rape occurred, despite the fact that general consensus is that the adult Mohammed had sex with a 9-year-old girl, due to the laws against child rape not existing at the time.
>Looking at things in context is not the same as looking at things through rose colored glasses. Looking at things in context provides insights for why a historical figure may have acted the way they did or not. It gives you an idea of how you might have acted if you were raised in the same time and found yourself in a similar situation as the historical figure. It does not make the action excusable by today's standards, but changes the way you can really judge the actions.
Saying that people who did awful things to other human beings were possibly decent because that's just how people were back then, is looking at it with rose colored glasses. You should absolutely judge historical child rapists. "That's just how things were," is an excuse. It's absurd. Morality is independent of legal definitions.
Some cultures are shitty and breed shitty people. Historical cultures were especially shitty, and as a result we have a lot of shitty historical figures. Culture isn't an excuse. We should judge those who committed atrocities in the past, especially if their environments enabled them.
>To give a slightly different example, would you say all judges who ordered a thieves hand cut off for stealing were bad people because that was the normal punishment back then? Or would you say the normal punishment was cruel and unjust? If you were stripped of everything you know of today's world, and were instead raised in that time period, always being taught that to get caught stealing meant to lose a hand, became a judge, and then administered a sentence to a thief you would not have ordered his hand cut off? That is the difference between looking with rose-colored glass and considering a situation in its context.
You could use the same argument for any criminals alive today. The Sandy Hook shooter wasn't born and raised in a vacuum, he was molded by his genetics and his environment. That doesn't make his behaviors any less despicable, it doesn't make him not a bad person. If your environment turns you into a bad person you're still a bad person.
Look deep enough and you'll find an excuse for everyone.
You keep saying, "if you were raised in that time period, etc". It doesn't matter. If I were raised in that time period and committed crimes against kids, I'd be a shitty person. You would've been one too. Let's be thankful we weren't and attempt to correct the atrocities currently being committed so that the next generation is less shitty. Let's judge the people of the past to give past victims justice, and to reinforce to future generations that what was done to them was not right.
Sometimes tradition or religion are not good things to respect. Forced marriage is but one example. Should we respect Yemen's traditions in Canada? Some people would probably enjoy this but I don't suspect it's the 10 year old girls...
>Nujood Ali (نجود علي) (born 1998) is a central figure in Yemen's movement against forced marriage and child marriage. At the age of ten she obtained a divorce, breaking with the tribal tradition.
https://www.amazon.ca/Am-Nujood-Age-10-Divorced/dp/0307589676
I just bought a book by a girl with a similar story: I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced, available on Amazon.com
Najood wrote a book about her experiences. It is very hard to read without shedding at least one tear. I highly recommend it.
http://www.amazon.com/Am-Nujood-Age-10-Divorced/dp/0307589676
Good that you could jump to a new job. Some cannot. You might find Barbara Ehrenreich's book Nickeled and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America of interest.
It would be nice if corporations did not exploit their workers, but most seem to eager to cut costs and increase profits, and frequently that comes out of the hide of employees. That's why unions arose and that's why so many laws and regulations are required. Most recently, we've seen many reports of wage theft by corporations.
You might want to look into it a little more.
> how can one live in a tiny, filthy, rundown apartment with 3 kids and hardly have any food to eat and no disposable income?
I suppose it depends on what your options are. If your choices are between that & death, then that might not sound so bad.
> How much does upbringing have to do with it?
My guess is a lot. Though on the opposite end; Barbara Ehrenreich wrote a great book called Nickel and Dimed. She basically researched how the other half lived for a book. The terms were simple, she could use all of the intelligence, skills & mindset that she had developed over the years of excellent upbringing. However she couldn't use the status. She couldn't tell anyone that she went to college, call in favors from friends outside of her new life, use her savings, etc. It's pretty nauseating how far she didn't get in society.
Barbara Ehrenreich did a book about her experiences doing just this. It's called nickel and dimed. It is an eye-opening read, even though she complained a lot.
This book, Nickle and Dimed, presents a good account of American working-class poverty in the 90's.
http://www.amazon.com/Nickel-Dimed-Not-Getting-America/dp/0312626681
I can't help at all on the ancient slavery side but Nickel and Dimed is a really interesting look into modern day minimum wage labor.
If your mom likes books buy her this:
http://www.amazon.com/Nickel-Dimed-Not-Getting-America/dp/0312626681
The entire book is about how difficult it is to pay basic expenses while being on minimum wage.
Also, can she borrow the balance from her parents (your grandparents)? If that was the case she could pay "rent" to pay them back. You are right to be concerned. She is on a path to potentially lose it all. It's a story of many Americans.
You're almost correct on that statement but because I'm actually focusing on the rich, it doesn't exactly work.
The SJW term is a pejorative used by the Right, but I embrace it as Social Justice Worker. Since the very wealthy 1% tend to work against any social safety nets (the social part), if we all worked to even the scales more (that's the justice part) so the average joe on the poor end of the scale had a better shot at achieving the American Dream (instead of being nickeled and dimed to death), then we'd have a strong middle class and a much more robust economy.
But you're right about the fact that we're always pitted against each other. The difference is where you have your sights set.
If you have your sights set on crushing your Left or Right brother in the street, the the rich have won. If you have your sights set on the rich then that's what they don't want and you'll find yourself beset on all sides by the conservative poor that have been endlessly brainwashed by AM radio hate jockeys, right-wing bloggers and media pundits on Fox to hate Progressives, Democrats, Demonrats, The Left, Commie Pinko Socialists, SJWs, Obummers, feminazis, Ivory Tower/Limousine Liberals, etc, etc.
Easy, bumper sticker labels are essential propaganda tools to keep the masses fighting. The question that you alluded to is best put this way: How do 30 guards control 3,000 prisoners?
The answer: Race baiting and increased rations for the winners giving them a false sense of power. You can keep this up indefinitely by rigging the game to switch "power" between the two factions every few intervals.
I understand the game that's being played and I'm trying to explain it to you. It serves no purpose if some rich prick like Trump or Hillary gets in office and we scream "we won" to people in coffee shops. That's a false sense of power and about as useful as feeling elation because the Pittsburgh Steelers won the Superbowl. Does it help you? No.
Does the average conservative working joe "win" anything if a gay couple in another state is refused the right to marry? Nope.
Why would he then cheer when this happens? Is it some kind of moral victory even when he loses so much personally?
The more we can all agree what's worth fighting for, then we can all unite and demand our taxes and our efforts be put toward things that help all the working joes, right and left. First though, we have to get our brothers to see how they've been duped and direct their energies to making real progress.
This book if you have not already read on it, might give you some insight.
http://www.amazon.ca/Nickel-Dimed-Not-Getting-America/dp/0312626681
Check out Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America.
Centuries of impoverished citizens in western civilization proves you’re wrong. That “boot straps” myth is just that: a myth. Go read more books and sources you’re uncomfortable with. I’m not saying that repeatedly to be insulting. You are terribly insulated from the economic realities of the world.
https://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2018/03/never-ending-war
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0312626681/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1522847832&amp;sr=8-1&amp;pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&amp;keywords=nickled+and+dimed&amp;dpPl=1&amp;dpID=51QEgBHveyL&amp;ref=plSrch
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/24/opinion/poverty-united-states.html
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1558497250/ref=pd_aw_sim_14_3?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=QYDWWCF2WYSP63MCCD0C&amp;dpPl=1&amp;dpID=51eux6Du6SL
Ghost in the Wires - The story of famed hacker Kevin Mitnick
Any Mary Roach Book if you like Science
In the Heart of the Sea - The true story behind Moby Dick
The Omnivore's Dilemma - A great walk through our food landscape
Gang Leader for a Day - Behavioral Economist embeds with a Chicago Gang
Shadow Divers - My first audiobook. It's a thriller about a scuba discovery of a Nazi Submarine on the Eastern US coast.
The Devil In The White City - A story about a serial killer at the Chicago World's Fair of 1893
Much about this video reminds me of a book called "Ghost in the Wires". It's a firsthand account of Kevin Mitnick, one of the best hackers around.
Kevin details his entire life from the moment he discovered how to mess with a phone, to stealing all kinds of data from the biggest companies around via social engineering and hacking.
He is continuously chased by the FBI and has to assume new identities. The best part is that he does it all for the thrill of it, and continues to do it even after being arrested several times.
The book is actually quite humorous, very well written, and packed with tons of crazy true stories. Highly recommend!
EDIT: Amazon Link
A couple good recommendations I have (aside from Tom Clancy stuff which I read for recreation) are going to be
Guide to effective military writing
and
AF Officer's guide (Incredibly useful even as enlisted)
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I'm currently reading Ghost in the Wires, it's pretty neat. It's about this guy who hacked the FBI and then hacked their hack on him... pretty fun stuff. Talks a lot about the social engineering side of security.
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Well the best book I ever read was ghost in the wires that's what got me interested in programming
Technology related would for sure be The Cuckoo's Egg, and Ghost in the Wires
Not tech related, Junky, American Psycho, and Kitchen Confidential
Ghost in the Wires by Kevin Mitnick
Happy birthday! Hope it's going better now.
My Entry
Hi there! Would love this book by Kevin Mitnick. Thanks for the contest and happy payday.
Given that you liked The Social Network and Jobs, I recommend Ghost in the Wires, Kevin Mitnick's autobiography. It's been years since I read it, but I recall it being quite action-packed and very interesting if you're even vaguely into tech.
[Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316037729/) this book sounds so fascinating!!!
I just read the origins of Cloak & Dagger, which was a great story across 4 comics collected into a graphic book. It's out of the 80s but it's darker than most of the time. Would be similar to how Daredevil is portrayed currently.
Amazon Link
Persopolis: I'll be honest, I did not read this one - but saw the movie which was literally animated in the same style and I assume the story was identical because it was soon good.
Amazon Link
Another classic like this is Ghost World from Daniel Clowes. Maus would be another classic in this type of graphic novel. For the super heroes, Killing Joke and Dark Knight seem to be required reading.
There's a pretty good Batman trilogy: Haunted Knight, The Long Halloween, and Dark Victory. It has more of the Gotham crime families in two of them, which is interesting. Also, I liked Frank Miller's Batman: Year One a lot.
If you also like graphic novels that aren't really "comics", I recommend Asterios Polyp (a man examines his life and a failing relationship through architecture and design), Maus I and II (a story about a Jewish family in the holocaust depicted as mice) and Persepolis (a memoir of a woman who grew up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution).
And by all means, for sure, read the Sandman books.
Hey! We just finished reading out 2nd book which was The Complete Persepolis. If you're not familiar: http://amzn.to/auT99V I thought we'd read books that were turned into movies. And then watch the movie afterwards. I was thinking our next book would be The Kite Runner. If you're interested here's my email: [email protected]
I recommend reading this book. It's encouraged me to start facing who I am sooner rather than later. I'm 29 now and I have a long way to go, but start soon. I haven't started therapy or anything, yet, but I am going to. You should too.
Sure. Here's the link on Amazon.
Sure, susans.org is a huge forum with allies and partners and trans people of all stripes.
This website is part of the Silvia Rivera project who is a rather well known leader in the community, since Stonewall, who died of cancer.
https://srlp.org/resources/trans-101/
There’s tons of trans vloggers you can go to. Most but not all have a 101 video, and/or talk about their experiences being trans. Here’s a list:
https://blog.feedspot.com/transgender_youtube_channels/
There’s a number of authors you may look into as well, here’s some books:
https://www.amazon.com/Whipping-Girl-Transsexual-Scapegoating-Femininity/dp/1580056229
https://www.amazon.com/Redefining-Realness-Path-Womanhood-Identity/dp/1476709130/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1543615079&amp;sr=8-1&amp;pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&amp;keywords=janet+mock&amp;dpPl=1&amp;dpID=5179e6QMxzL&amp;ref=plSrch
https://www.amazon.com/Surpassing-Certainty-What-Twenties-Taught/dp/1501145797/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1543615079&amp;sr=8-2&amp;pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&amp;keywords=janet+mock&amp;dpPl=1&amp;dpID=511ZZslW8TL&amp;ref=plSrch
https://www.amazon.com/Transgender-History-second-Todays-Revolution/dp/158005689X/ref=pd_aw_sbs_14_3?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_i=158005689X&amp;pd_rd_r=0ddc8e87-f4eb-11e8-8ad5-2179f688e965&amp;pd_rd_w=dZYLz&amp;pd_rd_wg=l40fZ&amp;pf_rd_i=mobile-dp-sims&amp;pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&amp;pf_rd_p=926ebe02-3236-40c6-ac63-01ad178f498a&amp;pf_rd_r=7XK0K0TEGTZS8SNQ9YMP&amp;pf_rd_s=mobile-dp-sims&amp;pf_rd_t=40701&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=7XK0K0TEGTZS8SNQ9YMP
https://www.amazon.com/Trans-Bodies-Selves-Transgender-Community/dp/0199325359/ref=pd_aw_sim_14_of_15?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_i=0199325359&amp;pd_rd_r=0ddc8e87-f4eb-11e8-8ad5-2179f688e965&amp;pd_rd_w=mqDub&amp;pd_rd_wg=l40fZ&amp;pf_rd_i=mobile-dp-sims&amp;pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&amp;pf_rd_p=57b46099-d750-4d74-83ee-63ad64b310a4&amp;pf_rd_r=7XK0K0TEGTZS8SNQ9YMP&amp;pf_rd_s=mobile-dp-sims&amp;pf_rd_t=40701&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=7T7APJ7MA85RWVJHJW5T
https://www.amazon.com/Shes-Not-There-Life-Genders/dp/0385346972/ref=pd_aw_sim_14_of_17?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_i=0385346972&amp;pd_rd_r=0ddc8e87-f4eb-11e8-8ad5-2179f688e965&amp;pd_rd_w=mqDub&amp;pd_rd_wg=l40fZ&amp;pf_rd_i=mobile-dp-sims&amp;pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&amp;pf_rd_p=57b46099-d750-4d74-83ee-63ad64b310a4&amp;pf_rd_r=7XK0K0TEGTZS8SNQ9YMP&amp;pf_rd_s=mobile-dp-sims&amp;pf_rd_t=40701&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=BNNAHM1QDG52M4D25XX2
https://www.amazon.com/Gender-Outlaw-Men-Women-Rest/dp/1101973242/ref=pd_aw_sim_14_of_20?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_i=1101973242&amp;pd_rd_r=0ddc8e87-f4eb-11e8-8ad5-2179f688e965&amp;pd_rd_w=mqDub&amp;pd_rd_wg=l40fZ&amp;pf_rd_i=mobile-dp-sims&amp;pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&amp;pf_rd_p=57b46099-d750-4d74-83ee-63ad64b310a4&amp;pf_rd_r=7XK0K0TEGTZS8SNQ9YMP&amp;pf_rd_s=mobile-dp-sims&amp;pf_rd_t=40701&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=WC57YE4ZTSS8XPR20CRY
If there is such a thing as evil, it wants nothing more than to have us believe that feeling joy is wrong. ~ Andrew W.K.
We we are at birth is less important to us than who we will become. We are expected -- indeed, obligated -- not just to be, but to become. This, in a nutshell, is the American dream. ~ Richard Russo in the Afterward for She's Not There
But we were born of risen apes, not fallen angels, and the apes were armed killers besides. And so what shall we wonder at? Our murders and massacres and missiles, and our irreconcilable regiments. Or our treaties whatever they may be worth; our symphonies however seldom they may be played; our peaceful acres, however frequently they may be converted into battlefields; our dreams however rarely they may be accomplished. The miracle of man is not how far he has sunk but how magnificently he has risen. We are known among the stars by our poems, not our corpses. ~Robert Ardrey
I'm a collector myself and have a whole book of them. These are just a few favs that I printed and laminated for my own room.
Literally my parents irl, at least at first. At least they're trying and have gotten better over time. My mom actually read She's Not There of her own volition and really liked it and thought it was helpful, so we're making progress.
No problem, one last piece of advice. Go buy this book: http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/0385346972
I consider it a must read for adult trans people in relationships. Its just one story, but its a worth reading. Also she is long time, successful comic writer, so you will have trouble putting it down.
Are you familiar with Jennifer Finney Boylan? She was an English Professor when she transitioned. She has written a memoir about her experience (https://www.amazon.com/Shes-Not-There-Life-Genders/dp/0385346972)
The market for English profs. isn't great, but it is absolutely a realistic goal. Just because something isn't easy doesn't mean that it is impossible or unrealistic! Don't let anyone dissuade you from following your dream career.
Its a shame that you are too cautious about what other people might think of you instead of forming your own opinions. It's a disease. It takes a lot of courage to overcome. I have a great book recommendation for you https://www.amazon.com/What-Care-Other-People-Think/dp/0393320928 if you like reading so much.
I just don't like the fact that you are apologizing for being part of academia as if its some kind of a limitation. You just did not standup for yourself and your academia connection. I am not so proud of you as a fellow academia person.
Yikes. I reference you to Richard Feynman's great book: "What Do You Care What Other People Think?" in regards to your family. You don't have to ignore them, but it's important to understand that in the end you make your own decisions.
I would just focus on him. And take him to go see some art or something.
EDIT: Haha, just realized I started my comment with "Yikes" too. Weird!
http://www.amazon.com/What-Care-Other-People-Think/dp/0393320928
Feynman opened my eyes more than just about any other author.
I'll just leave this here, because it is probably the most relavent thing it could possibly be.
Half of this book by physicist Richard Feynman is about when he was part of the congressional investigation into cause of the challenger disaster.
http://www.amazon.com/What-Care-Other-People-Think/dp/0393320928
*lot's of edits due to wine.
Just fyi, you're talking about the people that crashed a probe into mars because one guy was using metric and another was using imperial system.
You should read Richard Feynman's What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Adventures of a Curious Character and then come back and say what you think of NASA
Predictably Irrational - Dan Ariely
The Tao of Pooh - Benjamin Hoff
Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman! and What Do You Care What Other People Think? - both wonderful collections of Richard Feynman talking about his life, the way he thinks about things, and lessons he learned.
Those are really the first four that come to mind that have had a noticeable effect on the way I think. Might do the same for you, as well.
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
The Book: On The Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are - Alan Watts
Working - Studs Terkel
Things to Buy
http://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Years-Hanna-Schissler/dp/0691058202
http://www.amazon.com/Redneck-Manifesto-Hillbillies-Americas-Scapegoats/dp/0684838648
http://www.amazon.com/review/product/039332169X/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?%5Fencoding=UTF8&amp;showViewpoints=1
http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Everyone-Darwins-Theory-Change/dp/0385340214
http://www.amazon.com/Andromeda-Strain-Michael-Crichton/dp/006170315X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1225932164&amp;sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Primates-Classroom-Evolutionary-Perspective-Childrens/dp/0870236113/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1261589323&amp;sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Paleolithic-Prescription-Program-Exercise-Design/dp/0060916354/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1261589224&amp;sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Exiles-Eden-Psychotherapy-Evolutionary-Perspective/dp/0393700739/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1261589294&amp;sr=1-2
http://www.amazon.com/Chimpanzee-Politics-Power-among-Apes/dp/0801886562/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1261589183&amp;sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/YOU-Updated-Expanded-Insiders-Healthier/dp/0061473677/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1263303625&amp;sr=1-5
http://www.amazon.com/YOU-Updated-Expanded-Insiders-Healthier/dp/0061473677/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1263303625&amp;sr=1-5
http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Controversial-Science/dp/1400033462/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1297305735&amp;sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/New-Sugar-Busters-Cut-Trim/dp/0345469585/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1297305615&amp;sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Omnivores-Dilemma-Natural-History-Meals/dp/0143038583/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1297305420&amp;sr=8-2
http://www.amazon.com/Skinny-Bastard-Kick-Ass-Getting/product-reviews/0762435402/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_helpful?ie=UTF8&amp;showViewpoints=1&amp;sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Everyone-Darwins-Theory-Change/dp/0385340214
http://www.amazon.com/Food-Rules-Eaters-Michael-Pollan/dp/014311638X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1297305420&amp;sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Primates-Classroom-Evolutionary-Perspective-Childrens/dp/0870236113/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1261589323&amp;sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Exiles-Eden-Psychotherapy-Evolutionary-Perspective/dp/0393700739/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1261589294&amp;sr=1-2
http://www.amazon.com/Paleolithic-Prescription-Program-Exercise-Design/dp/0060916354/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1261589224&amp;sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Chimpanzee-Politics-Power-among-Apes/dp/0801886562/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1261589183&amp;sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Strange-Land-Robert-Heinlein/dp/0441788386/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1258348123&amp;sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Full-Plate-Diet-Great-Healthy/dp/1885167717/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1266199288&amp;sr=1-13
http://www.amazon.com/Religion-War-Scott-Adams/dp/0740747886/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_9
http://www.amazon.com/Full-Plate-Diet-Great-Healthy/dp/1885167717/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1266199288&amp;sr=1-13
http://www.amazon.com/Blindsight-Peter-Watts/dp/0765319640/
http://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Years-Hanna-Schissler/dp/0691058202
http://www.amazon.com/Redneck-Manifesto-Hillbillies-Americas-Scapegoats/dp/0684838648
http://www.amazon.com/review/product/039332169X/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?%5Fencoding=UTF8&amp;showViewpoints=1
http://www.amazon.com/Andromeda-Strain-Michael-Crichton/dp/006170315X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1225932164&amp;sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Atheist-Manifesto-Against-Christianity-Judaism/dp/1559708204
http://www.amazon.com/Mayo-Clinic-Family-Health-Book/dp/1603200770/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1267299889&amp;sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Body-Sculpting-Bible-Men-Revised/dp/1578262380/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1298573232&amp;sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Mens-Health-Big-Book-Exercises/dp/1605295507
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1594866279/ref=asc_df_15948662791442125?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&amp;tag=pg-1583-01-20&amp;linkCode=asn&amp;creative=395093&amp;creativeASIN=1594866279
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0345498461/ref=asc_df_03454984611442018?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&amp;tag=pg-1583-01-20&amp;linkCode=asn&amp;creative=395093&amp;creativeASIN=0345498461
http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Runners-Handbook-13-Week-Walk-Run/dp/1553650875/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1298575384&amp;sr=8-1
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703558004574581891694514228.html
http://www.amazon.com/Edible-Wild-Plants-Foods-Adventure/dp/1423601505
http://www.amazon.com/Shoppers-Guide-Organic-Food/dp/1857028406/ref=sr_1_16?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1308213453&amp;sr=1-16
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Portrait_of_the_Artist_as_a_Young_Man
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stream_of_consciousness_writing
http://entertainment.time.com/2011/08/30/all-time-100-best-nonfiction-books/#fast-food-nation-by-eric-schlosser
http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Strange-Land-Robert-Heinlein/dp/0441788386/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1258348123&amp;sr=8-1
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/sleep-apnea/continuous-positive-airway-pressure-cpap-for-obstructive-sleep-apnea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Catcher_in_the_Rye
http://www.amazon.com/Catch-22-Joseph-Heller/dp/0684833395
http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-2nd-Mark-Rippetoe/dp/0976805421/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1253993543&amp;sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Aero-Speed-Hyperformance-Jump-Rope/dp/B00017XHO8
http://www.invisibleshoe.com/#ecwid:category=135066&amp;mode=product&amp;product=278983
http://view.exacttarget.com/?j=fe621670756c0575741d&amp;m=fe7215707561047d7315&amp;ls=fde817797d6d037977177974&amp;l=fe9215717260007a70&amp;s=fe2d13707d600478751c72&amp;jb=ffcf14&amp;ju=fe2e167375640d75711576&amp;r=0
http://www.amazon.com/Element-Surprise-Navy-Seals-Vietnam/dp/0804105812/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1304634342&amp;sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Lone-Survivor-Eyewitness-Account-Operation/dp/0316067598
http://www.amazon.com/Diving-Bell-Butterfly-Memoir-Death/dp/0375701214/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1312848167&amp;sr=8-1
Political
Iraq Research
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Tawhid_Wal-Jihad
http://www.ontheissues.org/Drugs.htm#Barack_Obama
Congress Related
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/r110query.html
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/vote_menu_110_1.htm
http://www.usdoj.gov/
http://www.issuedictionary.com/Barack_Obama.cgi
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r110:75:./temp/~r110y7HfAa::
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists
/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=2&vote=00237
http://allafrica.com/
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/??
Health & Exercise
Green Tea
http://www.teatrekker.com/store/tea/green/green+-+japan.php
http://www.o-cha.com/brew.htm
http://www.ehow.com/how_2080066_steep-loose-leaf-tea.html
http://cooksshophere.com/products/tea/green_tea.htm
http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&amp;dbid=146
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tea
http://blackdragonteabar.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html
http://blackdragonteabar.blogspot.com/
https://www.itoen.com/leaf/index.cfm
http://www.maiko.ne.jp/english/
http://www.mellowmonk.com/buyGreenTea.htm
http://www.o-cha.com/home.php
http://www.denstea.com/
http://www.theteaavenue.com/chgrtea.html
http://www.teafrog.com/teas/finum-tea-brewing-basket.html
Yeah I read a lot of Fantasy and Sci-fi. Umm, if he likes more Military Scifi I would recommend:
If he likes "high fantasy" (elves, wizards, knights, etc) then let me know and I throw out a few of those too.
EDIT: Also I'll plug Audbile.com here because these all also have great Audiobooks with GREAT narrators and I love listening to my books on my Android phone all the time. And of course Amazon owns Audible! discounts for buying the audiobook and the kindle book (often cheaper than outright buying the audiobook!)
If you know the basics of how markets work, read "Reminiscences of a Stock Operator". If you still want to pursue trading, when finished, you will have a great base of knowledge and can delve into the more technical and academic readings that are mentioned.
If you decide that your mental make-up is not suited for trading, you will save yourself a lot of time and money. Here is the best part...it reads like a brilliant work of fiction, yet many traders consider it the most influential book they have read. Don't take my word for it
https://www.amazon.com/Reminiscences-Stock-Operator-Edwin-Lef%C3%A8vre/dp/0471770884#productDescription_secondary_view_div_1518440446692
If you read the original "Market Wizards", the book is recommended more than any other.
I had a modest portfolio that was guided by a traditional broker. He lost money for me every year. So finally I figured out that if he could lose my money, so could I and I started picking my own investments. I've never looked back.
The trick to making good investments is to make small investments at first. Get used to losing a little money. It's important that you don't get spooked after your fist 10% loss... or even your first 50% loss. I usually buy a small amount of a stock that I like and I'll buy more if I still like it later. Especially if the price goes down and I still believe in the company. The best time to buy is usually when everyone is selling.
A great way to get started "buying stocks" is to buy them with no money - Sign up for a free portfolio tracker at Yahoo finance or Marketwatch. It's free. You can add stocks with phantom purchases and "buy and sell" to your hearts content. After a couple weeks, you can see if you like it. Spend a few months doing this, you'll eventually get the hang of it. Use real investment amounts that you might make.
When you do finally decide to invest, make sure to only invest what you can afford to lose and you'll be ok.
Oh... BTW. These are great books. I'd buy and them before you start. They won't teach you how to invest, but they will show you the psychology behind investing, which I think is more important.
http://www.amazon.com/Reminiscences-Stock-Operator-Investment-Classics/dp/0471770884
http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Street-Addict-James-Cramer/dp/0743224884/ref=pd_sim_b_4
Here is a book written by a girl who was raped by a man she was forced to marry. One of the reasons this man raped her was because muhammad did the same.
muhammad was a rapists and he inspires rapists today to rape young girls. Your argument fails completely.
I just finished this book: Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream. It's worth reading. The kid did pretty well for himself, and he did so because he was strict with himself. The same way Robinson Crusoe was.
I bring up Crusoe because the article mentions this fictional character:
> If you're Robinson Crusoe you don't think ahead to what you'll build in two months, just to what you'll eat today. It's not a question of character [...]
Has the author read Robinson Crusoe? The whole point is that he worked on that island to secure his immediate needs while adding to his store of capital so that he could improve his conditions. The whole point of that book is moral instruction, making it very much a question of character.
I've read much of Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, and I mean to read the whole thing. But from what I've already read, what keeps the people in that book down are things like having babies when they shouldn't. No one in this age of reliable contraception and safe and legal abortions should be having babies when they ought not to. It's the quickest way to poverty.
I think the article makes a very good point about stress and the precarious situation poor people are in, and about how poverty is (often) a matter of psychology, but an article like that is a veiled attempt at arguing that capitalism is wrong because people aren't rational: meaning, people don't deserve to be free. I'm sorry, but I don't buy it.
> I on't know about him but I personally can't commit to longer storylines because I think life is too short to stick with a single story for weeks or months, when you can come up with something new every other day.
I appreciate your honest comment, but I can't help but think that some - of - the - best - stories simply need a longer effort to be narrated, or you're stuck in a much more shallow world of storytelling
You seem to misunderstand my point. I am not dissing engineers or rocket scientists. To understand where I'm coming from, ask yourself, how is it that a space shuttle blew up in 2003, 15 years after the Challenger incident? Then, read this.
It takes practice, but it's a very important skill so worth cultivating. This is one way to look at it, from the logical side:
https://www.amazon.com/What-Care-Other-People-Think/dp/0393320928
relevant book? :)
Reminds me of This book.
Homogeneous countries win.
If you backed-out the heavily democrat districts, which have a population of more than 9/10 combined in your list, the US would easily climb from 11th. But to what end?
The fact is we have millions of kids that do not care and will not put in effort because they are culturally programmed so. Voting Democrat allows their generational servitude to continue.
Read this: Hillbilly Elegy if you want to know what's going on in the US.
Trust me, if I could send all the Baltimore City Public School kids to any of those top-10 nations, those nations would drop out of the top 40 so fast your head would spin. In fact, given the handicap with which the US operates, it is amazing we are #11.
There is a book that has had a lot of success in the bourgeois circles recently, to explain the Trump success: The Hillbilly Elegy https://www.amazon.fr/Hillbilly-Elegy-Memoir-Family-Culture/dp/0062300547
It's about the way polite bourgeois love to hate the dirty proles while doing a lot of virtue signalling to say that they love the Diversity.
You can find many interview on Youtube about it.
Also, take a look at a previous post of mine on the ideological denial of the inconvenient science.
I compare climate denial among the right and intelligence denial among the left.
https://www.reddit.com/r/energy/comments/68zuum/trump_puts_critic_of_renewable_energy_in_charge/dh4ddpw/?context=3
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EDIT: I made another answer with more details if you are interested https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueReddit/comments/6du6wb/leaked_documents_reveal_counterterrorism_tactics/di5r7m5/
> caused by systematic patriarchy
Pardon me for saying this but this is 100% pure bullshit. You can't even define what patriarchy is. It's just a feminist code word for 'men'. Patriarchy - in the original sense of the word - means fathers ruling their families. Nowadays fathers don't rule anything, in fact mothers have tons more rights while fathers only have responsibilities. Feminists started using the word 'patriarchy' referring to an invisible male conspiracy oppressing women, which is one of the silliest notions of all time. So, saying "men have problems too but patriarchy" is just a lame excuse to sweep them and their problems under the rug as something that is caused by their own sillyness. I have never seen a feminist actually addressing a male-specific problem in a constructive and helpful way. Yay for equality!
> Regarding the M&M ad specifically. It was made in response to the whole "Not All Men" stuff following the killings of women in California, I believe.
Regardless of what it responds to it's pure hatred. Try saying that 10% of blacks, jews or women are "poisonous" and see what'll happen. But feminists demonizing men is a-okay...
> The M&M Ad is trying to bring attention to the fact that yeah, not all men are sexist assholes, but some are. The same goes with feminists. Not all are sexist assholes, but some are.
This logic means that if you take offence at people saying feminists hate men you should also take offence at the M&M bullshit. Or is it ok if I start an international campaign about how 10% of feminists are poisonous and people are justified in hating all feminists because it is impossible to know who belongs to the 10%?
> this man who has grown up in Egypt, went undercover as a woman and discovered the unrelenting harassment that women endure in his country
This women lived as a man for 18 months and had a serious mental breakdown because of it. IN THE EFFIN' UNITED STATES. Read about it, it's educational.
> Catcalling is uncomfortable, and scary for the person it is happening to.
And you know this because you know every woman on the planet personally. Oh wait, no, you contradict yourself in the very next sentence:
> For some women, they don't care, or they take pride in being catcalled
How is a man supposed to know how'll you react until trying? If it's uncomfortable for you just don't answer, instead of trying to demonize men (and other women who have no problem with it).
> an example of society objectifying people being catcalled
Objectification is bullshit. A man who finds a woman beautiful does not view her as an object. It takes twisted feminist logic to say that the more people find you desirable the more oppressed you are. But of course if you happen to be overweight and men don't find you desirable it's also men's fault, so, damned if you do and damned if you don't. Feminism in a nutshell.
> I've never met or come across a radical, man-hating feminist unless I've specifically gone out to seek it
Turn on the TV or open a newspaper and you're bound to see one in less than a minute. Anyone who keeps on spewing factually disproven anti-male lies is a radical. Just to name a few: Hillary Clinton, Harriet Harman, Julia Gillard, Jessica Valenti, Amanda Marcotte. They all feed people misandrist bullshit about the non-existent wage gap, the invisible patriarchy, rape culture and whatnot. Tell me what any of that has to do with equal rights...
> has said that it happens in 100% of games
What I'm saying is that, out of thousands of games, I've seen it happen so near-zero that I'm not saying it "isn't 100%" -- it isn't even 50%. It isn't even 10%. It isn't even 1%. Unless the woman starts being toxic, I don't see her getting harrassed any more than a man in the same exact situation.
> and you are lucky to be a male–the expected default–in your hobby.
I've seen enough women carried that I disagree. I've seen enough diamond-level women streaming successfully while you need to be a GM+ level male streaming successfully that I disagree. I've read [Self-Made Man] (https://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Womans-Year-Disguised/dp/0143038702) enough to know that the perceived advantages of Tumblr Patriarchy are only perceived.
If you are being harrassed for "being normal" (which I assume you mean "being toxic" since toxicity is pretty normal), then you may want to try no longer being toxic.
I'd wager that if I queued with you and we played 10 games and you talked in every single game, saying "Hey guys" and making reasonable callouts, that you would not get a "fucking bitch" just for talking in even a single game. Guarantee it. I'd put money down on it. I suspect about 40-60% of the games someone will go "OMG A GIRL" and start beta-orbitting, but that's it.
But I'm also willing to wager that you'll be too busy constantly making passive-aggressive suggestions to others explaining to them how to play their character in order to keep the games untainted.
As they say, if everyone smells like shit, maybe you should check your shoes.
http://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Womans-Year-Disguised/dp/0143038702
Yep women are totally attracted to feminine men, to men that are open with their emotions, that are not stoic, that have jobs like being a teacher.
With my fraternity brothers, we don't care if one of us cries, we give him support, we talk about our feelings and our problems. But guess who finds that behavior unattractive, guess who looks upon a crying man emotional man with disdain.
to quote an anonymous, "My wife and daughters would rather see me die on my horse than fall off of it."
The only reason my friends and I do 1/2 the shit we do is because women find it attractive, it was up to me i would get a history and education degree and teach highschool history, but guess who doesn't get laid. So I'm going economics and finance, LOOK at the JOBS men go into.
Hard STRESSFUL >>>high paying<<< take a gander why. Most of my friends dislike their majors but guess what's sexier an account executive or a teacher TO THE MAJORITY OF ATTRACTIVE WOMEN.
I women just starting going buckwild after a teacher, GUESS WHAT HAPPENS, more men go into teaching. If the education major pulled more than the econ major frat star football player then guess what ---> more men will go into education.
If you are truly curious why not read this book? https://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Womans-Year-Disguised/dp/0143038702
Finding women with similar net worth is ridiculously restrictive. And as any male already knows, the odds are already stacked against us, from a dating perspective, as a woman who spent a year dressed as a man will attest.
What kind of therapy have you had? It's hard to find a therapist and therapy philosophy that works with who you are.
May I say that the word "confront" is perhaps troubling. There's generally no reason to "confront" someone, from my understanding of the word. If you don't want to be confrontational, I'll suggest that there's no reason to be. Maybe one of us misunderstands the word.
If someone says something that you agree with, how do you deal with it? I'd suggest the same approach when you disagree. There's no reason to analyze what others do or say, whether it bothers you or not. My suggestion is to suggest that different people have different ideas and behaviors; instead of "assessing" it, instead of seeing it as a problem, you might consider accepting differences as a given.
Abruptly withdrawing from all interaction is not a social behavior, for example. It's a behavior that bothers others, do you see? I don't know you, so I can only guess, but my guess is that you're somewhere on the Asperger's scale. I'd recommend a visit to someone who can evaluate you and come up with some ideas.
I wish you the best. You can improve. Whether you are diagnosed with Asperger's or not, let me recommend "Look Me in the Eye" by John Elder Robison as an example of someone who seems similar to you and who figured out how to have conversations and other social interactions.
Yes the karma system was invented to protect crypto traders from getting idle hands from evil rumor spreaders like me.
What a fucking self aggrendizing and delusional thought.
If you were interested in real financial advice you wouldn't be reading this subreddit, the dumbest place have found yet on the internet for cryptonews. Even 4chan/biz is better because they don't downvote bad news and signals.
If you wan't to get out of the fomo/fud mill go read a book ( you should thank me for this advice ):
https://www.amazon.com/Reminiscences-Stock-Operator-Edwin-Lefèvre/dp/0471770884
Also go help your local community or pledge a percentage of your income. Jesus you guys are fucking navel gazing.
Go look at the charts we are heading downwards and selling and buying in again is NOT BAD ADVICE right now.
We just passed the 128 MA that we have been ABOVE SINCE 2016 for gods sake. Over 2 years ago and at that time we entered long term bear market.
Just giving you guys free advice and you get all sad and angry and vengeful.
As long as you put your desire and hope in the act of writing itself, as opposed to the desire of wanting to have written something, you will do well.
I would suggest a few pieces of light reading, a few pieces of heavy reading, and some listening for you too.
Light reading:
Stephen King's "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft" This book is not meant as a book of lessons so much as the formula that assembled one writer. It's short, it's heartfelt, and it has some wisdom in it.
The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White. - This is a short book, it gives a good starter set of rules that we accept for communicating with one another in the English language.
Heavy Reading:
Hero with a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell. - This is a short book but it is very thick with information and esoteric names from all cultures. Why is that? Because it deals with, very succinctly, the fundamental core of nearly all human storytelling, Campbell's "Monomyth" premise can inform you all the way from the Epic of Gilgamesh to Star Wars a New Hope
Writing Excuses This is a Podcast about writing by Brandon Sanderson, of "Mistborn," "Way of Kings," and "Wheel of Time" fame, Howard Taylor, the writer and artist of Schlock Mercenary, a webcomic that hasn't missed a day for a long while, Mary Robinette Kowol, a Puppeteer and Author of "Shades of Milk and Honey" and Dan Wells, from the "I am not a Serial Killer" series It has been going on for more than a decade, and nearly every episode is a wonderful bit of knowledge.
I use to live in France. Life sucked until I learned to speak it with little accent. The French are pretty strict about prononciation. But once I learned it well, I loved it. The French were crazy about me. I go back to France on vacation and they ask why I don't live there. When you think you want to leave and life sucks then welcome to living abroad. It gets better. Study the language. Job market in France has always sucked, your husband knows that. He's a jerk.
Just be thankful you don't live in Poland, where I live now. This language is way way way more difficult to learn. French is relatively similar to English compared to Polish.
You will like this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Bringing-Up-B%C3%A9b%C3%A9-Discovers-Parenting/dp/1594203334
Many swear by French preschools.
You have to put in some work but it'll be fine.
The original hacker Kevin Mitnick (the first anti-hacker law was written due to his activity) wrote a pretty gripping book called "Ghost in the Wire" and it's pretty good in audiobook format too. I've listened to it more than once. You learn how a hacker thinks and attacks and realize that social engineering is almost always where experienced/competent hackers start (when trying to penetrate a "valued" target, not so much with broad scraping).
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https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wires-Adventures-Worlds-Wanted/dp/0316037729
If you want to know what it's like to be a man from a female perspective read this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0143038702?pc_redir=1408373321&amp;robot_redir=1
If you want to pretend like you care, continue arguing for arguing.
Absolutely. You're probably just concerned about scale. You may think earning 3% is small when investing $1,000 ($30 ROI), but scale that up to say $25,000 and you get an ROI of $750. Still not a great deal of money, but way more than the smaller investment.
The problem becomes getting your foot in the door to earn those higher returns. You could take out a loan and make your bet on the market to build your bankroll (Buying on Margin), but if your first bet goes bust, you could easily be in trouble/debt for a very long time. This is Risk and how much you're willing to take on.
A great book you should read is Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre. It doesn't outline any trading strategies (that are useful today), but gives you a good idea on the philosophy of trading. Good luck to you if you decide to start trading.
Uh, dude...I read a lot. I like to write. I've taken a class in creative writing. It was rude and unnecessary of you to imply that I'm uneducated. You'll note that I steered clear of personal insults in my original critique.
If you'd like to have a look at some books on the craft of writing, you'll find that using shit-tons of purple prose synonyms for "said" is constantly described as an amateur's mistake. Same with using tons of adverbs. Vivid writing derives most of its punch from strong, well-placed verbs.
A well-written book full of "he said, she said" would not be boring because we don't actually register the "saids" on a conscious level. And we shouldn't. The dialogue is what matters, or the actions that people perform while speaking the dialogue. Again, don't draw attention away from the content, to the text.
Recommended reading: http://www.amazon.com/On-Writing-Anniversary-Edition-Memoir/dp/1439156816
The TV Tropes entry for Said Bookism: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SaidBookism
This one includes a great Twilight spoof that also demonstrates why Said Bookism is terrible: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0425238989
This is more to do with plot/characterization than sentence structure, but is also useful for writing in general: http://www.writingclasses.com/InformationPages/index.php/PageID/538
Buy her book
Not only it contains that depression series, it has new content that can't be found elsewhere. It's hilarious!
Be sure to read all the things from her site too.
To help her create, balance, and contextualize all the new relationships she'll be forming in college: Sex God by Rob Bell and The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman (Both of these books will affect how a person approaches relationships with family, friends, and lovers. Can't recommend these enough.)
To encourage some introspection: Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Guilty pleasure: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn or The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson or The Secret History by Donna Tartt
And to promote the journey of becoming her own person: The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand and On the Road by Jack Kerouac
If Muhammad was the recipient of the perfect moral code (the Qur'an) then he should have known sex with children was wrong.
If not then either the Qur'an is incomplete or Allah thinks it is OK for middle-aged men to have sex with children.
Child marriages still occur in the Arabian peninsula because men there are unwilling to accept that the Qur'an is incomplete and therefore resort to the conclusion that Allah sanctions marriage and sex with children.
If you've already read Persepolis, what more of an AMA do you need?
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Persepolis-Marjane-Satrapi/dp/0375714839/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1269287074&amp;sr=1-1
> A shift to community-based policing and more accountability for cops. An end to discriminatory practices like stop-and-frisk and the uneven enforcement and sentencing of marijuana and other drug laws. Legalization or decriminalization of marijuana. An increase to the minimum wage. More money to public infrastructure, like housing developments and mass transit.
How exactly would any of this help? I lived in Phila. Mass transit there was already great. Most of the people in inner-city communities are unemployed - and haven't had a job for generations, so minimum wage does nothing. Marijuana is actually a source of income - if you legalize it, you cut a money stream and actually hurting the community. Stop and frisk does nothing to economic well-being.
Source: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/O/bo18039324.html
> Roll-out of high speed internet to rural communities at affordable prices. Stricter regulation and anti-monopoly moves on large, predatory agricultural companies like Monsanto or industry financiers like Agstar. Worker protections, rather than corporate protections. Federal job retraining grants for dead and dying industries that will not return, like coal, to help workers transition to up-and-coming industries that don't need to be in big cities, like wind. Bringing back rescinded environmental protections (and creating new ones) to protect the game and wildlife of rural areas, keep those communities clean, and to ensure the health and viability of deteriorating farmland for the future.
So I happen to live in Seattle, and I also have a farm in Eastern Washington. So I get exposed to both a super-liberal and super-conservative part of the state.
> Roll-out of high speed internet to rural communities at affordable prices.
My internet access on the farm is better than my internet access in Seattle.
> Stricter regulation and anti-monopoly moves on large, predatory agricultural companies like Monsanto or industry financiers like Agstar.
That does absolutely nothing to a normal person working around here. Farmers are a very small percentage of the population, and they are relatively rich. What you think is a farmer is to a regular "peasant" what a city medium enterprise is to a regular worker. Monsanto is as relevant to a regular person in E-WA as Glass Steagal Act to a McD employee in Seattle.
> Worker protections, rather than corporate protections.
What does this mean for rural areas specifically? A large percentage of the population is unemployed or underemployed. Worker protections are about as relevant to them as caviar inspection to an urban African American - it's pointless to protect something you don't have.
> Federal job retraining grants for dead and dying industries that will not return, like coal, to help workers transition to up-and-coming industries that don't need to be in big cities, like wind.
If you think that wind can replace jobs 1:1 or even remotely that for coal, you need to move out of marijuana legal state. This is laughable. The fact is, ALL industries are dying and are replaced with automation. Some more, some less. Are you going to retrain everyone as a software engineer?
> Bringing back rescinded environmental protections (and creating new ones) to protect the game and wildlife of rural areas, keep those communities clean, and to ensure the health and viability of deteriorating farmland for the future.
How does this help economic well-being of people who live here? Oh yeah, it doesn't.
Source: https://www.amazon.com/Hillbilly-Elegy-Memoir-Family-Culture/dp/0062300547
> Time and time again, Democrats have been the party of the rural worker, pursuing policies that will improve their lives.
You people don't even understand how much you don't know. Really. Read the books above, you will sound less like a Hillary campaign worker and more like someone who can at least appreciate the reality a little bit.
> But because they also pursue policies that improve the lives of immigrants, or gays, or non-Christians,
They pursue these policies because their urban electorate is familiar with these issues. These policies do absolutely nothing to working class or rural people. That is what is called "identity politics".
> But if you're voting for a politician because he's "upholding the sanctity of marriage"
I am sorry to break your bubble, but that's not why people are voting for politicians. That's why SOME people vote for politicians, and it is convenient to push their quotes to dehumanize the enemy. How many rural people - actual, real rural people, not on reddit - did you ever speak politics with?
Source: http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-reasons-trumps-rise-that-no-one-talks-about/