Why not be More Kickass?

     We live in a fucked but pretty kick ass day and age. With a little bit of work you can learn a whole slew of skills.  Either on your own (the internet or library) or depending on what you're looking for you could probably find a teacher.
    Remember when you were little and you would look at all these different things like martial arts, instrument playing, etc? and would tell everyone "I wanna do that!"  Then life and school happened and eventually those little dreams and desires were forgotten.  Take a look at yourself.  Let me guess you’re at least 20?  If you answered yes to the last question then you’re in luck!  It’s the perfect time to get knee-deep in some new shit!  (If you didn’t this still applies to you)
 
Now before you say anything let me say something.
YES you do have the time.

YES you are a bad ass enough dude (or dude-ette) to do whatever the hell you want

YES you have the resources to start whatever the hell you want

Here’s a whole list of awesome stuff to learn, and THINK how cool it would be to people when they ask you “Oh what do you do for fun?”  “I’m a guitar playing martial artist who moonlights as a bartender that makes his own fireworks.”  Come on you would be like the suburban superman or the 20-something Supernaut.

-Martial Arts: Dojos and schools are all around the US and I’m sure other parts of the world, and I’m pretty sure Dojo has a translation somewhere around the lines of “Kickass Person Academy.”  Keep in mind kickass should be taken literally.

-Guitar Playing/Bass/Trombone/Trumpet: Learn an instrument, and know what’s great?  There are instructors and shops EVERYWHERE (plus the internet).  Get a cheap instrument and a teacher, or maybe a few youtube vids and start playing! 

-Bartending:  Bartending academies are pretty hard to find but the payoff couldn’t be better.  Impress the ladies, men, business associates, or whomever.  Plus, if you are looking for a new part time gig or something you are legally licensed and professionally trained as a bartender (and bartenders can make good money on tips).  Seems like a win-win if you ask me.

Other kick ass skills:
-Beer Brewing
-Firearms (Shooting+Gun Maintenance)
-Lockpicking
-Fencing
-Knife Fighting
-Homemade fireworks
-Mechanical Repair and Maintenance

So I was thinking....

    On my drive home from school tonight I was thinking back on my first two posts.  I came to a conclusion:  I'm pretty damn preachy.  This isn't some admission to a fault in my blog I just figured I should take note of this and in the process form a solution to kill any naysayers (Plus, jump on the opportunity to talk about myself, I love doing that.)
     What's going to happen now is I am going to (on a semi-regular basis) give you guys a progress report on certain projects and pipe-dreams I've started.  That way you guys can get a little insight on what I'm doing and have some sort of affirmation that I practice what I preach.

Weekend Vegetarian:  (I will be attempting to not eat meat during the work/school week).  I was planning on starting today but seeing is how I accidentally ate a meatball...tomorrow is when that will start.

Motorcycle:  I bought the manual for my bike (a 1974 Honda CB550/4) and until my job gets going this one's on hold.

Go Somewhere Across the Ocean:  I wanna see a bit of Europe.  First thing first..Get a Passport!


Start Going to the Gym:  Need to get money for a gym membership

Take Martial Art Classes:  Same thing.. Need Cash

Learn Some Nifty New Song on the Guitar:  I need to find a song


That will be it for now.  I have more stuff I'm doing just didn't need to list it right now.

Learning

     Learning is that thing that thing High School probably completely and totally made you lose interest in.  I ask you, please give it another chance.  It really is fun, healthy, and one of the most satisfying things you can spend your time doing.  Other than cartoons or the occasional episode of House, the only TV I watch is documentaries or some sort of non-fiction.  I'd much rather watch a show that explains the progression of 70's punk than Dexter (not to be confused with "Dexter's Lab" I would definitely watch reruns of that).
   Now you're probably saying to yourself "Huh that paragraph made just enough sense for me to consider possibly maybe ever doing this sometime (read: eventually) in my life.  But Mr. Blog-man I hate homework and how would I go about learning?"  Well Mr. or Mrs. Blog-Reader do I have news for you!  Basically, High School learning is a bunch of crap.  Its really no wonder why kids drop out and don't do their homework.  High School "learning" is contrived, monotonous, and for the most part uninteresting.  What you got to do is just find something: be it a book, an instrument, project, etc. etc.  Start working with it.    Pick up the guitar and start learning some chords.  Pick up a book and really start digesting it.  Try to find some literature and understand the message behind the story.  Buy a junker motorcycle and find out what it would take to get it back together and running.
    Now what I said might sound a bit on the simple side and probably a bit "After-School Special" but honestly I'm just pleading for people to go out and give themselves some life experience and enrich their lives.  Seriously folks, go out and find something new and exciting and jump in.  There is an absolute fuck-ton of awesome stuff in this world and we barely see enough of it.
   I'll consider it a win if all I did was separate the world "Learning" from some of its negative High School bred connotations.  If you do decide to pick up a book or an instrument, or some new project.  Drop me a comment and tell me what you did.  I'd love to hear it.