#Fit4RTX Final Check In

Transferring this from my other blog location because I like this one because I’m a braggart sometimes 🙂

Well folks, I made it. It’s the last normal day before RTX. So this morning I checked myself to see if I hit my goals. And they went like this:

Goal 1: Get ro 185 pounds. Status: Success! So much so I shifted it to 180, which is also a success! So goal one was passed with flying colors.

Goal 2: Ten conventional pullups. Status: Success! I have to tell you I wasn’t as sure about this one, I needed it set pretty high on the assistance machine to get even five. Even then, this morning at first I could only do five conventional but I could do ten chinups. Then, at the end of my workout with my back slammed I gave it one last try.

My form wasn’t perfect, I need to get a more complete range of motion, but I did unmistakably do ten conventional grip pullups after exhausting my back with it’s full routine.

So #Fit4RTX was 100% successful after all. When RTX is done I’ll do a post about next steps but for now it’s time to enjoy the summer!

Happy RTX everyone!

Ah, Crap, Missed it

Still doing an entry but yeah, I missed it last night. I had a fun weekend since my friend of 20+ years was down here for some shenanigans which meant I was a bit too tired to brain. Sorry about that!

Why Aggressive People Give Bad Advice

First off, on behalf of my fellow aggressive people, yeah sorry about that. It’s not that we don’t try, shy friends, but it’s that we’re not thinking through what we’re saying in the way we should.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one.

You’re at a bar, Shy Friend, and you see someone who seems cool or attractive. Your aggressive friend, such as myself, might come up to you and say “Go on, head on over and just say something, it’ll be fine!”

You’re at work, my dear Shy Friend, and your boss is across your place of business. You want a raise, and I or someone like me come up to you and say “just go over there and ask them for a raise!”

I’m reminded of the proverbial bow tie tutorial. “Pick it up, cross it and tie a bow tie.” Basically, we’re just saying “Oh, you’re feeling shy and timid? Just don’t!”

Obviously, that’s useless. So again, sorry. Now, let me try to help. I’m an aggressive person. To us, these are just intrinsic things, as instinctive as breathing.

Or, well, to most of us. But some of us started off shy.

I did.

So here are some things I think I can impart as someone who learned how to be aggressive and assertive instead of being born that way that go into more detail than “just do it.”

Starting off with personal stuff, like being out socializing. A lot of my own shyness stemmed from fear of rejection (or rather, the assumption I would be rejected). So one thing I’ve learned is that in a social setting the average person will at least give you a chance when you approach them. And I don’t mean romantically, necessarily. Even just making friends can be hard for shy people. So to do that try to go to things related to your interests. I have a lot of shy friends I met at punk shows, for example. And you can use things from these events as an “in,” such as asking which bands they are there to see, or some other equivalent.

Also, remember that if someone brushes you off for no reason that’s on them, it doesn’t reflect on you. And if they’re douchey about it then that is also on them for being a douche. But every time you are rejected socially the more easy it gets, the less harsh it feels and after a while you may start to realize it isn’t because you have some kind of flaw that pushes people away.

I hope that helps, next week we’ll do tips for being more aggressive in a professional setting, where you also have to act with a specific etiquette.

Aerys Targaryen for President: My Thoughts on the Election

So against Donald Trump, I’d dig up my building’s septic tank and vote for my own turds before that monster. I don’t like Goldman-Sa, er, sorry, Time Warn- damn, I mean Clinton (Sorry, I tend to blur things together when they only difference is semantic) but not as badly as I hate Trump. Oh sure, she can give a completely hollow speech about income inequality wearing a jacket more valuable than the total money I will ever own in my life or send Bill to polling places or claim to she’ll be tough on the banks that paid for her campaign, but that hypocrisy and rulebreaking is nothing compared to “Muslims should be tracked in a database and monitored” or “Mexicans are rapists.”

This election cycle has basically proven every negative stereotype of both parties true – big-corporation limousine liberals who are out of touch with the common people using their money and influence to flood the social consciousness with their image or shift debates to times that help them (Clinton and CNN are both at least partly owned by Time Warner, for example, so CNN had a good reason not to cover Sanders unless they absolutely had to therefore keeping him out of the running for people who still use obsolete means of getting news like TV) and racist, sexist Republican fascists. Seriously, look up what either side says about the other. Both candidates are basically a caricature of what the other side believes.

I hate both candidates. A lot. Along with all currently active politicians at this point. I hated Sanders the least but never thought he could win. No outcome of this election is good for poor people. I will always have student debt, I exist to be a profit center for people who piss away my entire life’s worth in an hour of boat-cocaine-hooker parties. Clinton may represent that more than Trump thanks to her banking, hedge fund and big corporate connections, which is why a good deal of Sanders supporters were vocally against Clinton even more than being against Trump. I acknowledge that because facts aren’t there to make me happy.

Another thing that doesn’t make me happy is a schoolyard bully like Trump will plow right over Clinton, because while facts aren’t there to make me happy in Trumpland they may as well not exist. “Oh those e-mails! Benghazi! $12k Armani jacket at a speech about income inequality by someone whose campaign is funded by those same billionaires that stand to gain by preserving income inequality! Superdelegates! Big business ties! Political dynasties! The banks that murdered your future then got bailed out on your money support her!” Against someone less awful than Trump there’s a laundry list of reasons, legitimate and otherwise, to not vote Clinton. A laundry list Trump and the GOP can and will use to get swing voters and angry progressives who are sick of limousine liberals to vote Trump just to not be voting for Clinton. Also, unlike in the primaries where Sanders had no chance and the media had no reason to allow him any real screentime in order to make sure Clinton got the most attention the media isn’t going to be 100% on her side. She’ll have an actual fight instead of a walk this time and, like against Obama, I don’t think she’s got it in her to win. Basically, I assume Donald Trump is already the victor.

I’ll vote either for Clinton or for Ron White (because an alcoholic, pothead, womanizing comedian is atually a legitimately better choice than both main party monsters) when the time comes. My state is single-color enough my individual vote doesn’t matter so I might be able to save my conscience by doing that. Or maybe I’ll write in “my literal feces.” Because that’s also better than them or any other active politician.

But like I’ve been saying on Twitter because it’s better to laugh than cry: “Aerys Targaryen for President, #BurnThemAll2016.” As a poor guy I’m fucked either way, so the only reason I care is because not all my friends are straight white Christian cis males and I’d like for their lives to NOT suck, please, which means a hard no on Donald Trump.

Still Not Missing It

I am super tired after a bit of an unusual and chaotic few days. That said, I refuse to miss a day here, even if all I’m doing is saying I have nothing for the evening but still want to put something here.