Art's famous on the Internet

I thought his face looked familiar when I saw a post on BoingBoing about this video.  Watching the video, I realized who it was; that cool/funny dude who teaches Yoga over at my gym!  The first class at the gym that my mother-in-law and I went to was his class - yoga for regular guys and gals.  Art is funny as hell, cracking jokes, making comments, "SEVENTEEN!!!" he'd have the class holler.  "Seventeen years since I killed someone!"  This Gulf War veteran has his own way of coping with those memories.  Congrats Art for becoming Internet famous and making the front page of BoingBoing.

Life-Changing books you should read & why they are life-changing

Interesting thread on Reddit so far.

The Bible.
Not for any religious reason, but because it underpins so much of Western art, culture, and literature.  If you have not read it, you will miss out an awful lot.


1984.
Not necessarily because I believe it will happen (in that exact way), but more because it rings to attention many problems that are appearing/being revealed in modern society.  Specifically, the many ills, laws and other regulations inserted by states in many parts of the Western world.


The Republic by Plato.

It lays down so many of the reasons we have now for why we do things. You just have to read it if you're in anyway interested in any sort of academic pursuit.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. 

Brilliant, unsettling and impossible to put down.

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut and The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. 

Both are war related (WWII and Vietnam, respectively) but they are so beautiful, deep, touching and really give a deeper look into war and it's effects on people, especially the soldiers fighting it.

The prose is enthralling, compelling and if you don't cry in at least one part of either book, or at least have it make you contemplate life and humanity, then I don't know what to tell you.

Siddhartha. 

Each time I read it I learn something new or gain a new vantage point. I grew up catholic and before this book, I had NO exposure to the concept of no-self. I literally never had anyone in my life ever even hint about such a concept. Looking back on how much change has entered my life since then, I consider reading that book to be my "opening the wardrobe to Narnia" moment.

How to Win Friends and Influence People.

The reason why this different than your standard fare of self-help book and why it has withstood the test of time is that unlike other self help books, it isn't a simple "read this and it will change your life instantly."

Rather it is a book delineating a regimen for slow, incremental change that requires time to implement, and constant review (the author encourages constant re-reading of chapters.)

But once it is implemented, your life will change, and your social interactions and career will literally change, just not overnight.

Read the full thread here.

Redditor words to live by

The real trick is learning to push yourself. My guess is you could slide by in school, and your parents didn't push you, so now is when you've got to push yourself.

First, take out a piece of paper. No seriously stop reading and get a piece of paper. It's a fucking piece of paper, trust me on this get one out.

Got one, great. Split it in three. I don't care how.

Write "What I want to do" in one section.

Write "What I can do well" in another.

Write "What I enjoy doing" in a third.

Got that?

What I want to do Leave this alone for now

What I can do well these are things you did well in school, at church, at home. I don't care if it is "Beat level 32 on Mario Bros", write down whatever you can do well. Keep going. Once you think you are done, think of five more things.

What I enjoy doing again, I don't care if it is "Masturbate in the corner while quietly weeping" write what you love to do down. After you've written everything down, write fiver more things. Remember we're learning how to push ourselves here.

ok, now go through and circle, match up, draw a line between (or whatever) things that you do well, that match with things that enjoy doing. If you have nothing, you didn't really try. Start over with a new piece of paper (i.e. If I enjoy watching porn, and I'm good at masturbating, that's something I'd tie together... so you should have SOMETHING that matches)

Ok, now start looking for jobs where what you ENJOY doing matches something you are GOOD at. Not jobs you could get right now... no you're making a list of DREAM jobs.

Got that. Things that would be awesome.

Put the list of potential jobs under What I want to do

Now prioritize them: 1. Hugh Heffner 2. IBM Engineer 3. Playboy bunny (Sex change required) 4. Muppeteer etc.

I don't care how outlandish they are, just do it.

Then research how someone actually got to do that kind of job. What college classes did they take? What did they do as hobbies?

If what they did makes you feel alive inside, like really an energy, start planning your path. You'll know not just "I'll take engineering courses" but you'll take Bridge building 302, and know what you want out of the course. Everything they say will have 1000 times more meaning.

If it doesn't make you feel alive inside, then pick the next priority and read about someone who did that. Eventually you'll find courses and small jobs that lead you to your chosen career, and you'll enjoy not only that end dream job, but the journey that go you there.

What's more, people will see you as "Driven". It'll make you more attractive to women, and your parents won't be able to nag that tithing or other church things are making you miserable.

This is the great secret they suppress in school. This is what is taught in thousand dollar job seminars. And you just got it for free.

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