SuperAdventurer

I'm out of the online dating game for the time being. I've tried Tinder, Plenty of Fish, Match.com at various times and it's been nearly impossible for me to meet anyone on all of them. The few women I have met through online dating, either I had no interest in a second date or they had no interest. So I'm pretty discouraged with the whole thing and even though I don't want to be single, based on my experience so far that really might be my best available option. If and when I do decide to give it another try, the first challenge is going to be getting over the negative attitude I've built up based on previous experience. I could meet someone who would be a good match and I might end up putting her off with my negativity.

Yeah kathryn makes a good point, you listed some hobbies and then she asked what your hobbies are. Almost as if she's clicking between you and 50 other matches and she can't keep straight who you are, and the hobbies question is getting sent to all of you. Meanwhile you're putting a lot of thought into trying to decode her motivations behind the (possibly copy/pasted to you and 50 other guys) texts she's sending you. You answered the hobbies question truthfully. So at that point the ball is in her court. She didn't respond back. Maybe she really didn't like your response. But maybe you were already 15th on her list of matches and the only way she was getting back to you was if she couldn't get anywhere with numbers 1 through 14, even if you had been able to read her mind and gave a list of the ideal hobbies she looks for in a man. I don't think trying to figure out why your hobby response failed to meet with her approval is a good use of your time and energy, and anyway you have no way of knowing, since she's not going to tell you why. All you really know is she lost interest for some reason. Nothing to do but move on. I too have tried Tinder, and I've gotten nowhere with it. You might eventually meet someone worthwhile, but it's a high volume, low probability of success approach. But if you can't think of any better options and you want to meet someone, you might as well keep at it. Just recognize the nature of what you're dealing with. It's important not to get too psychologically attached to any one particular match, because (at least in my experience) even after having what you think is a very promising chat sequence, there's always a pretty good chance that they won't be interested in meeting you, for whatever reason (usually they'll just stop texting and you won't know why - continuing to text them after that point is a waste of time and a loss of dignity, in my opinion). Keep Tindering if you still want to, maybe something will come up. If you get so discouraged that the app is making you depressed, deactivate your card and don't get back on Tinder, at least for a while. That's where I'm at with it now. At least it's a free app!

Accepting government funding isn't quite the same as picking up a $50 bill from the ground, because we know something about the source of those funds. In particular we know that the government acquires its money through non-voluntary means. In that sense it would be more like watching a mugging take place and then accepting money from the mugger. But lets say the witness / beneficiary did nothing to encourage the mugging, had no way to prevent the mugging from taking place, and by the time they received the money the victim was long gone from the scene so that returning the money to its rightful owner was not an option. Under those conditions (all of which hold in the case of taxation), would it be wrong to accept money from the mugger? The answer to that question isn't clear to me. About all I can say is that I would find it unsavory, but that's not any kind of a moral argument. Here's a thought though. If enough people made it known that they would only donate to charities that refuse government funding, at some point taking government funding would become counterproductive for the charities. Doing my very small part to push things in that direction sounds good to me.

"It seems like these people don't care." I hope they don't, and I wish politicians didn't care about Alzheimer's or any other cause, because this "caring" gets funded with other people's money. The distinction between voluntary donations to a charity to benefit a particular cause and directing tax dollars toward that cause is lost on most people. Organizing a charity, petitioning Congress, it's all for a good cause right? But by speaking before Congress like this he's no longer advocating for a charitable cause, he's advocating that people (taxpayers) be forced to support the cause whether they like it or not. I don't know the statistics on this but I wonder how many charities refuse to accept or advocate for government funding. Those are the only charities that might be worth giving to. In fact I hadn't really thought this through fully before but next time a charity asks for a donation, that's the first question I'm going to ask. "Oh you take tax dollars? Then I guess I've already donated, **** off."

According to a press release posted on his website: http://www.manchin.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=237cbd66-6a26-4870-9bcb-20177ae902b0 "Today, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) sent a letter to federal regulators seeking a ban on Bitcoin, the virtual currency that is unregulated and unstable, and has been used in illicit activity, including drug trafficking and money laundering." So apparently bitcoin is very dangerous and we should all be terrified of it, because: 1. It is unregulated. Because without government regulation, how would money work? 2. It can be used to fund illicit activities. Unlike cash, for example. 3. It is highly unstable. Look how much its value has increased over the past year alone! Runaway deflation, oh no! 4. It is "disruptive to our economy". The economy was running nicely until bitcoin came along, and it's something completely different that didn't exist before, so it must be stopped. Anyway it's predictably idiotic fear-mongering. The senator probably barely understands what bitcoin even is but the bankers who fund him don't like it. Toward the end is this gem: "The clear ends of Bitcoin for either transacting in illegal goods and services or speculative gambling make me weary of its use." Quit clinking around all those noisy bitcoins, the senator needs his sleep!

Ads are part of the free market (as Stef acknowledges), and donations are also part of the free market. As long as force isn't being used to compel payment, there's no hypocrisy here either way. Around the 43 minute mark Stef says: "If I talk about voluntarism as a way to help the poor... then I have to put my money where my mouth is and rely on donations." I fail to see how this follows.

A religious person praying for you is just an indication that they care about you. Them telling you they're praying for you might be something else. If they know where you stand as an atheist, they should also realize that their prayers won't have any significance to you and that you don't want to hear about it, so at the very least your mom is showing a lack of awareness here. But if you were religious and believed in the power of prayer, how could you not attempt to use that "power" for the benefit of loved ones? When my now deceased mother used to tell me she was praying for me (once she knew I was an atheist), I did find it annoying, but when I tried to see it from her perspective it was a little easier to shrug it off. The more troubling thought for me was that according to her beliefs, I was going to burn in hell for eternity. So if she really believed what she claimed to believe, that must have been awful for her. It's "shekels". After hearing Stef mention shekels a few times I had to look that one up. Turns out they're the basic monetary unit of Israel. Too bad the name is taken, because I think it would be a great name for a competing crypto-currency to bitcoins and based on the name they'd get instant traction among FDR listeners. No kids for me (yet!) but I had a similar experience with my cats. The immediate effect of the peaceful parenting message on me is that I don't hit my cats anymore. It was never necessary and everything is better now that I'm no longer giving them reasons to be afraid of me. Occasionally, but less and less frequently, I'll see what I interpret to be a look of fear in one of the cats when I catch them somewhere they're "not supposed to be". But the most that happens now is I'll say "down" in a somewhat stern tone (but without shouting, I had to tone that down too), or I'll pick the cat up and set it on the ground. That gets the message across, no need for abuse. I was a B student in public school too. Didn't do much homework or I'd do it late, never studied. The typical half-assed effort which seems to be the natural reaction to the way irrelevant assignments get thrown at unwilling students in public school. I'm still a horrible procrastinator, which Stefan in one of his youtube videos has described as part of the slave mentality, and I think that fits my experience in public school (and childhood in general). Still something I need to overcome because that attitude is something I've internalized quite deeply, even in regard to tasks I personally consider to be important. Speaking of Harry Browne, have you read "How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World"? Worth a read, in fact I should reread it myself. The main message I got from it has to do with living your life as freely as possible, in the here and now, without wasting your efforts on trying to change things you don't have the power to change (ie political action).

I watched this on Netflix streaming, which gives this summary. I'd never heard of Panzram before, but after hearing his account of the systematic brutality he was subjected to throughout childhood, boarding school, and in the medieval dungeons that served as "correctional facilities", his adult life as a serial killer and rapist seemed like an almost inevitable conclusion. This is a vivid example of what violence and abuse can create.

My handle comes from a South Park episode in which Chef joins a cult called the Super Adventure Club. It's not a very nice cult and I can assure you, the activities of which its members partake have absolutely nothing to do with any type of fulfillment I might be seeking! SuperAdventurer is also my xbox live gamertag although I haven't been online in quite a while. "What do you love to do?" The things I love to do generally involve being intellectually challenged on some level, but without being overwhelmed. So for example a few years ago I decided to make a serious effort to learn Spanish. I had taken some college classes in Spanish previously but my knowledge of the language had always been pretty rudimentary and anyway, by then I had forgotten much of what I had learned. I had no immediate need to learn Spanish, it just seemed like a fun thing to do. Then once I had gone as far as I could go with the Fluenz Spanish computer software, supplemented with podcasts like Notes in Spanish and Coffee Break Spanish, I decided to take a trip to Costa Rica. I plan to do more traveling in Latin America in the future as well, but the point here is that the language learning itself was my primary motivation, and the idea to take the trip only came later. Poker is another interest of mine, which led to me developing an interest in game theory. I have a background in computer science (along with a degree, even though I'm not making use of it in the job market and probably never will). This allowed me to study certain simplified poker scenarios on a computational level. I'm not sure how much of a difference any of the game theory stuff made to my actual poker playing strategy, but I think it was helpful, and in any event I was consistently profitable as an online poker player (for relatively low stakes though), back when it was possible for US residents to play on the major poker sites. I have plans to travel to Las Vegas this year to play in a few of the lower buy-in World Series of Poker events, and I'm considering moving there. Another interest is stand-up comedy, and this is something I definitely plan to pursue even though I have no way of knowing where it will lead. Years ago I did some open mics, with mixed results, but I never really put in a serious effort. There were a few times I went up with new material I had just written, and I hadn't taken the time to rehearse it, so of course that was a disaster. But I also did ok a few times (not great, just ok), and looking back I feel like I should have at least put in some effort and given myself a chance to succeed. For an overview of both my strengths and weaknesses, the description of the INTP personality type fits me to a tee: http://www.personalitypage.com/INTP.html

Google that phrase for a hilarious rant. So anyway I'm a man, I'm 40, and my life is about as much of a blank as it could possibly be at this stage. In terms of personal development I'm at least 20 years behind schedule. I've never been married, never been in a serious relationship, and I've never had any type of a job that I'd call a career. If you're familiar with the movie Greenberg, Ben Stiller's title character reminds me way too much of myself for comfort. As I write this I'm realizing just how depressing this sounds, and here's one more thing, I'm currently unemployed and living with my father. I have plenty of money (from my father) so from a financial perspective I don't need to have a job, and he's elderly so I'm helping him out while I'm living here, but still my situation obviously isn't what it should be. In fact there's no way around it, it's pretty bleak. But I still don't feel like it's hopeless, and lately I've been taking small steps in what I believe to be the right directions. This started back in February when I looked in the mirror and noticed my gut was about as fat as it had ever been, and I decided to start exercising and cut out the junk food (along with adopting a quasi-paleo / primal diet, so carbs had to go as well). I made the changes and gradually started noticing results, which by now are undeniable. I still have a bit of a gut but it's shrinking (the tape measure tells me so), and right now I'm in the best health I've been in for at least the past 5 years. Once I made the decision to stop neglecting my physical self, my general sense of despair and listlessness started to lift just enough for me to begin addressing other things I'd been neglecting. The main one being my tax situation. For no good reason I had allowed myself to fall behind on filing my taxes (investment income), and this is something that has been hanging over me for the past two years as my tax returns went unfiled. The entire time I had been trying to ignore the situation, but of course it can't really be ignored, and it would end up subtly (sometimes not so subtly) coloring my experience of everything else. So finally I got together what (I think) are the relevant tax documents and took them to an accounting firm. This was just before the April 15 tax deadline, so the accountants were swamped, but the extension for this year was filed and the tax returns should be ready for me to submit in a week or two. Getting this resolved and off my mind is going to be huge for me, pretty much regardless of however much I end up having to pay. So where do I go from here? First of all, I need to move out of my dad's house. As I mentioned he's elderly, and he would prefer that I stay, but it's impossible for me to imagine my life moving forward in any meaningful way as long as I'm still living here. It's a small town and there's nothing for me to do here, in fact I avoid going into town because I grew up here and I don't want to be recognized, because I don't want to answer questions about what I'm doing these days (ie nothing). I won't be leaving him completely alone when I move out, because my older sister who also never married lives in the house too. I don't think it's a psychologically healthy situation for her either, but in any case I've talked with her about it and she has no plans to leave (and she will be inheriting the house after he dies). Wow, that's quite a cautionary tale. For those of you in your 20s and in "failure to launch" mode... Hurry up and do something about it! You don't have forever to get a life. I still maintain that my spark hasn't quite been extinguished yet but I might be delusional. Here's a quote I read from an interview with Steve Jobs. "There's an old Hindu saying that comes into my mind occasionally: 'For the first 30 years of your life, you make your habits. For the last 30 years of your life, your habits make you.' As I'm going to be 30 in February, the thought has crossed my mind." Depending on where you're at in life, that message could run the gamut from encouraging (Steve Jobs at 30) to absolutely terrifying (me right now). Not that an old Hindu saying should be counted as an unalterable fate, but I do believe the force it characterizes is real.

I actually think being a libertarian / ancap is ideal for a comedian! Not so much from a business standpoint; most comedians and people in the entertainment business in general are lefties, so you'd definitely fit in better and have more networking opportunities if you rejoined the blue team. But from an artistic standpoint I think it's ideal. As a libertarian / ancap comic, when it comes to politics, you have no sacred cows. You get to expose the absurd political circus for what it is. A lot of great comedy comes from simply telling the unvarnished truth (with style), and loyal Democrats / Republicans don't get to do that. They have to pull their punches where their side is concerned. You don't have a side. Fire at will!