People Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck

Today's rant, I believe, is going to be about how society seems to enjoy building morons up to the point of fame, but doesn't seem to care, by and large, about real talent. While I do understand this at some dim level, it's mostly a mystery to me and I'm not sure I'll ever fully process or accept this phenomenon.

Example One: Kimbo Slice
I mean, right? I guess I have an iron in this fire because I was watching his backyard brawls long before most people knew who he was. Years and years before. My buddies and I would gather round the monitor and watch this massive man go knuckles with some real, real tough-looking guys -- some of whom were much bigger than he was -- and just pulverize them, more often than not in a matter of seconds. He'd collect his money and get the fuck out.


Wikipedia.

Then he rose to fame when he decided to enter the MMA world. No, he didn't do so hot, but this guy was a largely untrained backyard brawler. Then he began taking lessons for the groundwork that would compliment his standup game, and so on. He was never taken very seriously, but that isn't the point; the point is that he had talent, worked hard, and achieved his goals.

Then in 2016, he just up and died. He was found to have heart and liver trouble. His 15 minutes of fame was over, he was a blip on the radar. Most probably don't even know he's dead. Hell, most might not know he ever lived. But what if the same thing had happened to a POS Kardashian, or Paris Hilton? Uproar. Panic in the streets. Twitter would break due to all the morons posting about how we'd lost a great.

What.

Example Two: Aman Hambleton
I won't bore you with the details of this kid's chess career, but suffice it to say that he's worked very, very hard, is extremely smart and talented, and has changed lives along the way for the better. He went from master to International Master and now, finally, just a day or two ago, Grandmaster, in a very short period of time. We're talking about a monster at chess here, not a guy who signs onto a chess server now and again and is pretty damned good. Monster.

His current rating is 2501 -- 2500 is mandatory for the GM title. To put that into some perspective, I've been playing for 20 years and am around 1800-1900 strength. The average USCF rating is sub-1400. A lot of nerds are really proud of his real accomplishment, something that will change his life forever. Now he can make some respectable cash giving lessons and the like, on top of tourney purses that are surely coming his way in the near future.



Chessbrah.tv

Point is, who the hell besides chess nerds knows his name? Nobody, that's who. And that's fine, I'm not griping about that, per se. The trouble, for me, comes when a no-talent hack reality TV star gets pregnant or President Donald Trump says something, anything, that can be remotely taken as offensive, and literally millions of people go fuckin' nuts over the news. If this doesn't prove that the average person is an idiot, I don't know what would.

I could slap examples down all day, but I won't. I don't need to. Know why? Only three motherfuckers read my blog, and they all agree with me in the first place. Preaching to the choir ran its course for me a few years ago. Now I just don't care enough about any of it. I'm not changing minds, I'm not shedding light on something a total mouth breather is going to finally see and understand, and I'm not affecting change by being angry in front of my laptop.

Fuck you very much, society. I'd send a message to the average person here, but they don't read online, anyhow. Happy holidays, bitches.

Lightening the Load...

My favorite word lately is "half," as in, "I want half this crap gone." 

I am going through a lightening process, like a snake shedding its skin. Oh, who am I kidding? It's more like a competition weightlifter throwing the bar to the ground just before it makes dust of every bone in his straining body.

I have had some of this stuff for far too long. Years. I'm not a hoarder, thankfully, but I'm still reluctant to throw a lot of stuff away. At least, I have been in the past. It's go time.

I bet this will come in handy someday! We all do it, and we all keep shit we shouldn't. The problem is that if we keep enough, the thing that will come in handy becomes buried under a hundred other things that will come in handy.

Now, after putting up with such nonsense for longer than I'm comfortable admitting, I'm going gung-ho with the trash bags. I've thrown more out in the last two weeks than I have in my lifetime.

And it feels good. Great, in fact.

I live in a small house. I do not have space to be a storage unit for crap I don’t need, don’t use, and won't need. Ever. It's one thing to actually keep a few things around that will come in handy, but some of the stuff I have held onto for years makes me question my sanity. Really.

Anyhow, I've big plans for my office, big plans for the garage (BIG!), big plans for the yard. And, unlike the old me, these plans are already in full force, happening now. Remember that old CCR song "Someday Never Comes"? 

Yeah, it doesn't. Someday is today. And today, I'd like some damned room, thanks.

#proudofmystrength

#minimalistlifestyle