Category Archives: Other Columns

Columns concerning any and everything. Enjoy!

James Altucher on Self-Publishing (Again)

22 Wednesday Mar 2017

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James, as usual, has some excellent points, ideas, and examples. He talks about getting out that best seller.

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I’ve self-published many of my books, including my three best-selling books: “Choose Yourself“; “Reinvent Yourself“, and the “Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth“.

One person once wrote me, “Do you only self-publish because no publisher wants your books.”

I didn’t write back. He was mean! But I’ll answer here: No.

Maybe back in 2011 I didn’t want to go through the process (AGAIN) of begging a publisher to publish my 7th or 8th book.

I love self-publishing. I will tell you why. I hope you do it as well.

Why do I hope you do it? I don’t really know. Maybe you feel you need “permission” from editors, agents, peers, publishers, marketers, bookstores.

Maybe this is a love letter to my dear friend: you don’t need permission. You are special and worthy of love without it.

I’m going to list the reasons why I like to self-publish, how to get started on writing, and whether or not there is any negatives.

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James’s encouragement and insight led me to the world of publishing after a decade or indecisiveness and procrastination. His ideas also reinvigorated this blog. (So, blame him…)

Speaking of blogging, etc. – does anyone of you have any experience with Patreon? I’m thinking about launching a page there. Any ideas? Comment here, FB, or email me. (And I’m looking for actual experience; if you have to Google the term, you know less than I do). Thanks!

Ivan Throne, The Dark Triad Man, on Self Defense Training

22 Wednesday Mar 2017

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Ivan, an expert’s expert, gives excellent pointers:

Practical dojo selection reminders for the common man.

Once the correct nature of the Way is understood, the inherent profit of strength and fitness are valued, and the foundations of sacred purpose and meaning are entrenched – how does one select a dojo or choose a martial tradition to study and absorb, practice and perhaps ultimately master?

This is often something that those who are young in experience needlessly obsess over.

Should you select a Japanese, Chinese or Korean tradition? Is hard or soft kung fu better? Is one ryū -ha more officially authentic? Which teacher is the “real” teacher of any particular method?

Return to the basics. Recall your purpose, remember what you face in the dark world.

You do not face arts or traditions.

You face men.

Thus it is men you must train to accommodate or overthrow, to avoid or smash, as dictated by the circumstances and environment and in accordance with your purpose.

So much of the training does and does not really matter. Much of what is offered out there, today, is utterly useless. Still, even with the good stuff, one has to find the right balance and what meets individual expectations.

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Read any account from any crime or terror attack – like that in London earlier today – the survivors (almost to a man or woman) will explain they had no idea what to do. That’s the majority herd way. Break away from it as fast as possible. Ivan has some great suggestions.

More Rankings and Reports, Happy and Hardscrabble

20 Monday Mar 2017

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One blogger to another, I have to give it to Carlos Slim. His blog did a great job compiling three study reports.

World Happiness

A UN (eh, shoe fits) outfit surveyed the happiest countries on Earth. Norway was number one. The U.S. is the 14th happiest country – not bad out of 155. The Central African Republic came in dead last. Original survey info. HERE.

Hard Living, USA

The Times created a cool interactive map of most U.S. counties and a rating system based on good to bad conditions. Those conditions: income, education, employment, disability, life expectancy, and obesity. Even in the better counties one will notice the obesity factor is a little high. And that’s “obesity” which is beyond merely overweight and out of shape.

Best (and Worst) Places to Grow Up (U.S.)

Finally, they have another actionable map based on possibility of upward mobility within the assorted counties (where data was available). And I love how they initially center it on the center of the known universe, NYC.

Anyway, one can measure the disparity of earning power over most of the country, by percentile groups. “50th” should approximate the middle class; “75th” the upper-middle, and; “99th” the very wealthy or well off. Location seems to mean something.

Fascinating stuff, all of it. I do wish someone would interpret the cigar shop/gun shop/pretty girls/fitness center/lack of government metrics a little better. Utopia is out there somewhere, even if somewhere is in a novel or something.

Food for thought if you’re thinking of moving, raising a family, retiring, etc. Or, think of this as an intellectual break from the squeaking shoe ball (which, I suppose, does combat obesity to a degree).

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Zazzle.

 

Top 10 Places to Girl Watch in Tampa in the Spring

19 Sunday Mar 2017

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Spring is about to spring. And that means the young lovelies will be out in force. If you’re in the big Gulf Coast Mecca of fun, I have a few places to check out for the checking out. These are presented in no particular order. And, yes, this is a “bad” Perrin posting…

Ten. Davidoff Super Store

Boy Scout Road, across from International. The best times for watching (and playing) are Thursday, Friday, and Saturdays after 11 PM. They eat at the foo foo places in the vicinity and then saunter over. ALWAYS a good time! Even if it’s not prime time, 2 million+ cigars in stock are worth the trip. *Note: the bar and wait staff, after 11 AM, are awesome. Sometimes there are special events with special ladies. The nights are girl-friendly happy hours. **Note: In the days, at the bar, enjoy yourselves, but know that if you rub the hostesses the wrong way, Ed, Mark, Yours Truly, and 15 other dedicated “regulars’ will stomp your a$$.

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Anytime really…

Nine. Publix

Seriously. Publix supermarkets. Any one. I especially like the ones on Dale Mabry. Any time is good though after 4 PM seems to be prime time. Fresh Market on Henderson has also been known to attract a bevy…

Eight. Bayshore

Any day of the year. Any time of day. A week or so back I attempted to bike from Downtown to Ballast Point. I remember little aside from the bouncing happiness…

Seven. Gandy Bridge Beach

I have never stopped on the route – a few miles across the Bay. Glancing from side to side I see nothing but bikinis between the mangroves and 4X4s. A microcosmic “Redneck Riviera”. And the Gandy-686-688 corridor leads too…

Six. Indian Rocks Beach

All the beaches are great; I just love this one. I recommend the area from 12th Ave. to the big, public parking … park, north of 688 on 699. Again, it’s any day, any time, any time of year. Lulu’s and Crabby Bill’s also provide a good experience (with excellent food and drinks).

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Yeah. A covert “selfie” works sometimes…

Five. LA Fitness

I really hate the place. They “want me back” and I don’t care. Bad service, Guidos, and assorted trash – not working out but loudly taking up space. Of course, there are an abundance of gym bunnies hopping around. And, of course, I speak of the Signature Club on S. D.M. Hwy.

Four. Downtown

I especially hate downtown. Not just in this city. Any downtown, other than Boston or NYC after midnight, sucks. Still, if one ventures into one of the many crowded bars in the area between the canal/little Bay and Ybor, expect to be entertained. This also applies to Channelside and SOHO (which, IMHO, really sucks)…

Three. Da Clubs

Okay. If you’re desperate, lazy, bored, or low “game”, then there is always the consistency of Mons or THEE Doll House, etc. There’s a system of how these places work; don’t be a fool, unless you have money to burn and loads of time to waste. *Note: Tarot cards, shiny objects, and other trivial BS go a long way towards attracting the native working girls.

Two. International Mall

All the malls really… Westshore, and especially the International, bring them out. 24/7 – as long as the place is open – it’s wall-to-wall women. Seriously, it is nothing but (90%) hotties, (9.9%) dandy fags, and men like me (usually being led around by a woman or a gaggle of spend-happy teenage girls). Best area is the food court, the tables by the restaurants, perhaps centered up around the Japanese place.

One. Everywhere else

Anywhere else. It’s all good territory. I just learned that Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties have ordinances against fat and/or unattractive women.

Happy hunting. You can thank me later. The political madness and cigar mania will resume tomorrow.

Fred on Family (His) and Society (Ours)

17 Friday Mar 2017

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This is a must read for the Anglophiles.

Fred Reed, in one essay, explains both his family tree and the precipitous decline of a civilization.

We were part of a thing brief but of immense value. The literacy, the attention to language, was of one cloth with that of the English, whose mastery has never been equaled and seldom approached. It has lasted in the family. In evenings with my grandfather at Hampden-Sydney, a parlor game was to call out three numbers–“746, 2, 7”–page 746, column 2, seventh entry of a huge dictionary on onion-skin paper–whereupon the caller-out had to spell the word, define it, pronounce it correctly, and give the etymology.

Tidewater was in the current of the English stretching from at least Sir Philip Sydney through Lewis Carol, Milne, Galsworthy, Kipling, Tolkien, Churchill and a hundred others. A thousand others. This virtuosity is now lost beyond redemption as American society, once determined from the top down, has come to be determined from the bottom up. Can you imagine an American politician writing—well, anything literate, but especially the equal of Churchill’s A History of the English Speaking People?

But we were speaking of the curious continuity of families. Come the war, Charles Scott Venable served on Lee’s staff, and Andrew Reid Venable on Jeb Stuart’s. This was a continuation of the aristocratic sense of duty. Their country was being invaded by alien people and they, like Lee, like Jackson, determined to defend it. Both were graduates of Hampden-Sydney, as am I, as were my father and uncle.

After the war Charles Venable was an astronomer and professor of mathematics at the University of Virginia. My grandfather processed mathematics at Hampden-Sydney and served as dean. My paternal uncle passed the bar but chose journalism, my father being a mathematician. I am whatever I am–for years I worked my way through math texts because I liked them–and my daughters are, aside from being smart, a musician and an artist. One of them popped ninety-ninth percentile in math on some standardized test and was invited to attend a math camp. A weird continuity.

America is not, or was not, ever, a “nation of immigrants”, a “proposition nation”. Ronald Reagan and a thousand shrieking loony liberals and cuck apologists aside, this country was an extension of Old England. Until the early 1800s, this was a land of the English. For another 100 years or so it was a land of the English and those of European descent who closely approximated the English tradition and experience. It is only since 1966 that the character has changed. And the change is noticeable.

I have seen, firsthand, the change and decline. The Lovetts came to America in two waves. One assigned to New England and the Puritan settlements. The other, my closest kin, like Fred’s people, settled in Virginia. Unlike his folks, mine departed South for the Carolinas and Georgia.

My family history (much of it) strangely tracks that path Fred lays out, from at least 1066 and on-wards.  It ends with me and my daughter in the 21st Century. My little girl was born into a society which somewhat resembled the one I witnessed in the 70’s and 80’s – a little.

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I saw the changes as they unfolded. I would like to go back. Whether that is possible remains to be seen. If it is not, then damn it. All of it.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day 2017!

17 Friday Mar 2017

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I sincerely hope you’ll all be down by the river swilling that green beer today. Go ahead. I can manage the traffic-free roads in the hinterland.

Saint Patrick was born a Roman citizen in Britain. At age 16 he was kidnapped and enslaved in Ireland. He suffered his bondage for six years before escaping back to his home. Later, as a priest and a bishop, he returned to Ireland as a missionary of the Church. This in itself is a miracle I think.

Have a great, greenish day!

The Benefit of the Doubt in Tesla City

13 Monday Mar 2017

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Somewhere in here, maybe more than once, I’ve knocked self-driving autos, computers, and technology. I’ve noted Telsa’s reliability in their current Crash-mobiles.

Still, I’ve noticed an inordinate number of Teslas buzzing around Tampa. There’s something like 1 in every 40 cars or a whole lot, whichever is more. That, and there’s quite a few Maseratis down here.

Anyway, I have observed these electro-cars in action and I read the local news. For all that daily operation I’ve yet to see or hear of a crash. Maybe, just maybe, it’s a sound concept. I feel generous today. (Could be the coffee talking).

And the things seem peppy. Direct electric drive does offer superior torque to the average gas engine. The thing that holds them back is the range. I suppose commuting around SOHO, Palma Ceia, and downtown is well within the capability.

As far as the power thing goes, the largest and heaviest off-road trucks utilize a dual diesel-electric system (yes, giant 400-ton hybrids) with an electric motor mounted behind each wheel(s).

There’s all that to ponder. And this lovely picture:

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Morning.

Surprises on the Road

09 Thursday Mar 2017

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Wow. What a day! Took the show on the road again today around 4 AM.

1) The traffic report:

I-20, I-95, I-10, I-75, all U.S. Highways, and all side roads are all in terrible shape. Every single mile is under construction, blocked with clover wrecks, and prowled by the Po-Po. Abandon all hope. Stay home.

2) “Check Engine”. On a 500-mile trip! Awesome. I did, she looked fine – if a little dusty.

3) Got into the Southern Command and discovered my auto-post selections from last night did not work. Thanks, Word Press! Now I look as drunk as the Russian with the magic nuclear moles….

All better now.

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The Davidoff Effect makes everything okay!