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I was listening to an interview with the author of this book, who is ex-military himself, and he said something like "If you know anyone who is thinking about joining the military because they're looking for purpose, excitement, like being seen as tough, etc, etc, tell them to join the coastguard instead. You are still cool and in uniform and have a sense of brotherhood everything, and the training is intense, but instead of shooting Afghanistan's version of rednecks and participating in America's fucked up foreign policy, you're saving people's lives."

I thought it was good advice to pass on

My friend told me that he was going to end his life. I said man don't. I said you can't until you have read through Kurt Vonnegut's novels and short stories. Don't know why that came out. I said every American should read Kurt Vonnegut before they die. I still feel that way. I read textbooks when I was 19. Wanted to explore philosophy so I read A History of Western Philosophy. Should have been reading Vonnegut and Watts. Good luck to you. Oh and you are 19 don't look for things that resonate with how you see the world. How you gonna find things that shatter your world view if you looking for that?

Hey. I think you're overthinking it, which is a common problem among aspiring writers. My advice is to write now, think later. All that thinking about where you want to go, and how you want to get there can never replace just going. And in fact, all that planning only serves to delay (or totally cancel) the trip itself. You wanna write? Write. Don't worry about what's never been done before or has been. You'll do it differently because you've never done it before. Musing about "the writing process" is like reading about exercising. Totally misses the point.

Having said that, the two books about writing I'd recommend are Stephen King's (I think it's called On Writing) and The War of Art.

His answer:

Hi Hector,

Glad you liked it. It’s my brother-in-law, Greg Burk, who is based in Rome. The entire album of messing with Bach is something he never released formally, but on his album Nearly Lost there is a some of that material in a track called “I’ll Be Bach”:

http://www.allmusic.com/album/nearly-lost-mw0001893343

Best,

Ted

There’s lyrics from a Brother Ali tune that always ring in my head during times suicide comes back around (many in the last 5 years of family and friends)

“Granddad was in the twilight of his life When he closed his eyes tight and opened his wrists wide What make a tenth round fighter with the winning score Decide he need to throw the towel before the whistle blow Maybe I'll never know But I inherited his poetic soul so the symbolism's yet to show Was life so obscene that death's more serene? Or was an old author tryin' to write his own closing scene?” Rain Water-Brother Ali https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=wVHmEjy-lxA

Not directly related to finances or how to live outside the mainstream but very philosophically relevant, The Courage to Be Disliked: The Japanese Phenomenon That Shows You How to Change Your Life and Achieve Real Happiness https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1501197274/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_CFX2SKVS2W1HCAEHYA17

It has a nice inversion of the usual tropes too. A Japanese man finds enlightenment and happiness through western philosophy.

Also +1 to

• Mark Manson’s books
• Your Money or Your Life
• The Meditations

I'm just finishing Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. I'm pretty sure Chris or Duncan Trussell has mentioned it (or both) and it'll blow your mind. The first half is super easy to follow. The second half gets a bit jargony, but it's not too hard, in my opinion.

..but you never addressed why these "dinner table discussions" I mentioned above are bad?

If you can't see how people are frustrated with how the CDC handled this pandemic incredibly poorly and WHO's shady involvement with the Chinese or the government's complete joke of a response fully showing their incompetence and inefficiencies with handling something like what we have gone through (under Biden) I don't know what to tell you. Waiting 2 weeks for "free" instant test when they are available on Amazon for $17 with next-day delivery? and just now getting quality masks to people? (still haven't seen that) 2 Years into Covid? WTF is going on? I guess I can say what most of my other very liberal friends say, "better late than never!" We have democrats peeling back mask mandates solely based on how they are polling because people are sick of it. So much for "trust the science".

If you think these attacks on Joe are actually about racism, covid, etc, and not really about his reach to sway election votes you are out of your mind.

He needs to get himself (and us) into outer space which is the future of humanity. You know, the expanse. This will take a lot of money and Amazon Prime subscriptions (but the video end of that is a rather awesome oddball collection of this or that way more interesting than Netflix which does not have The Worm Eaters https://www.amazon.com/Worm-Eaters-Herb-Robins/dp/B00IKI1CJ2/ref=sr_1_1?crid=261SDTW2484TQ&dchild=1&keywords=the+worm+eaters&qid=1589577738&s=instant-video&sprefix=the+worm+%2Cinstant-video%2C151&sr=1-1)

This is apparently his notion and a primary motivation, space colonization.

(They also have X the Man With the Xray Eyes which is a no joke real Roger Corman masterpiece and rather psychedelic.)

Yeah, I forgot to cancel last December so I'm in for 6 more months or Prime so it's all my fault.

There are many who deny the CO2 based climate theory and that it's just because of the high level of political noise and a few documentaries that we all bought into the greenhouse gas theory of climate change.

I am definitely no expert in these things, however there is another side of the story that I think is plausible because as we all know, the "official story" is rarely ever the actual truth and is usually the complete opposite, used to create fear, guilt, confusion and ultimately control the population.

Here are a couple things linked below that I dug up that may be of interest.

Cheers!

https://principia-scientific.org/man-made-global-warming-fiction/

https://www.amazon.com/Slaying-Sky-Dragon-Greenhouse-Theory-ebook/dp/B004DNWJN6

In the Huichol society (indigenous peyote-worshipping folk of the Sierra Madres in NW Mexico) suicide is viewed as a "regrettable but respectable way of ending one's life." I'm reading Teachings of the Peyote Shamans: The Five Points of Attention and came across that passage last night.

I think a lot of TS listeners might enjoy Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. If you dig Chris’s anecdotes about traveling in India, this book will get under your skin.

The link below goes through Chris’s Amazon portal:

https://www.amazon.com/Shantaram-Novel-Gregory-David-Roberts-ebook/dp/B002U5HKZ6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1515261703&sr=8-1&keywords=shantaram+by+gregory+david+roberts

Yes, I'd love to see mass healthy appreciation for occasional discomfort... Nice change ditching sugar. Not having the option though, like you said, would make it immensely easier for people. A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy being required reading for high school graduation might help people realize what to value in life?

So the bottom line is : stfu and write.

Great Recommedations on the books. Thanks Chris. Linked below for reference with relevant quotes from them.

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft - Stephen King >https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10569.On_Writing

> "Can I be blunt on this subject? If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that."

The War of Art - Steven Press field >https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1319.The_War_of_Art

> "There never was a moment, and never will be, when we are without the power to alter our destiny. This second, we can turn the tables on Resistance. This second, we can sit down and do our work."

Thanks to @tears_of_ecstasy, good question.

I like playing with the idea that the universe doesn't exist without us observing it. Also like the idea that ambition is caused by ego. Just finished The War of Art so maybe that's why it's in my head. Love the quote too

Robert Sapolsky makes a pretty good case for multi-level selection in Behave. An excerpt.