Alright folks, I'm back. I promised a new blog last night but I lied. Deal with it.
I've been asked to write about a number of topics, including one that I'm pretty excited about but need to do a little more research on. So I've decided to dedicate this rant to bullying. A lot has been said about bullying in the past year or so, and I'm here to give you my opinion on the subject.
Let me start by saying that I was fortunate enough through high school to not really have to deal with bullying. I played football so I was just "in" enough to not be bullied. That being said, I did see it happen and would agree it is a serious problem in schools.
There's a lot of things that lead someone to be a bully. A very common shared trait is abuse or neglect at home, though it's not always the case. From my experiences around bullying, it's usually someone just feeling that they're better than another person, and the victim having some trait that's easy to pick on. (Goth, loner, handicap, speech impediment, etc.) Often, the bully has some aspect of themselves that they're not comfortable with and they project that onto a victim.
As far as victims, sadly, it's usually people that already feel a disassociation with society to some degree, and the bullying only furthers it. The little bit of trust the victim has in people is lessened because of the bullying. Which I think might be the saddest part about the whole thing. People that are already on the fringes of society further themselves even more because the bully verifies their opinion of how people are. They miss out on opportunities in life because they're afraid of other people. They stay secluded and don't get to experience a lot of things.
And that is only one possible effect of bullying. As we've seen, victims are also prone to committing suicide or even mass homicide because they were bullied. So what seems like a small ordeal to the bully ends up taking one or more lives, completely unnecessarily.
So what is the solution? I have a somewhat unconventional idea, but bear in mind it's nowhere near an overnight fix. A lot of people argue that the police should follow up every single threat of violence in schools, no matter how minimal it may seem. I don't believe this, nor do I think it's even possible. A lot of kids talk a lot of shit at one point or another, and I'd be willing to say 90% of the time, it's all bullshit. I think the first line of responsibility in that situation should be the teacher, provided of course that it happens in school. The teacher that best knows the student should be the one do make the call as to whether the comments should be investigated or not. Ideally, the teacher would have spent enough time with the student to be able to tell if they were serious. Also, ideally, teachers would legitimately give a shit enough about their students to actually care about whether it should be investigated. I think if the claims are unfounded, it should be dismissed; however, a second occurrence should be investigated, without question. If the teachers says it should be investigated, the student should have to see a school counselor or even a third-party psychiatrist who can spend time with the student and figure out if they're a danger. If it's found they are a danger, deal with it accordingly. Do they need to be detained? Put in jail? House arrest? Monitored? More counseling? Find the best solution for that individual student and go with it. This puts responsibility foremost on the one person who should feel most responsible-the teacher. It also helps to identify the actual risk based on studying the person individually, rather than punishing them a certain way just because of precedence.
The second thing I think we need to help cull the problem is martial arts taught in school. It may seem counter-intuitive, but let's be honest-being able to defend yourself is an important part of being a man. You shouldn't go looking for fights by any means, but you should be able to physically defend yourself if necessary. A bug reason bullies pick on people is that they know the person can't defend themselves. If a person hits a bully back, chances are the bully will leave them alone. So if you're in a school where you know, absolutely, that every person there is fully capable of defending themselves, what reason would you have to pick on anyone? Common sense may dictate that everyone being able to fight equals more fighting, but anyone that's spent time training martial arts in an actual gym will tell you that, as long as the gym leader is nice, it's a very relaxed, happy atmosphere. Nobody goes in trying to hurt anybody else. People that do get weeded out pretty quickly. I think that having some sort of martial art first thing in the morning would relax tensions throughout the rest of the day. If you work hard and get worn out and beat up in the morning, you're not going to have the energy to be a bully through the rest of the day, let alone the inclination. Now, at first, there will most certainly be douches who think they're better at it than other people and there will be some bullying. Kick them out of the class. Let the other students that aren't being fuckheads get better at defending themselves and let the bully stop learning how to fight. Pretty simple fix. It may not seem like it, but I think this would go a long way towards fixing the bullying problem.
So those are my ideas. Until they happen, REPORT bullying, eve if it seems like a small thing. The potential consequences just aren't worth it. And I'm not often one to preach violence, but if you're getting bullied, and you've reported it and nothing's been done, hit that motherfucker in the face. I'll show you how to throw a punch if you need it. You land a good shit and I guarantee they'll leave you alone. Make it a last resort though.
Owls are the only birds in the world that can see the color blue. Take care of yourselves, you fucks.
And follow me on Twitter: BryanOnAWire
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Get your shit together!
Alright fuckos, after a somewhat extended hiatus, I'm back to drop some more knowledge. Or conjecture, whichever makes this shit sound more legit. So let's dive in. You lazy assclowns out there will like this one.
I'm gonna babble today about something you all know, but don't all practice. I'm gonna tell you about why it's important to work out, exercise, take care of your vehicle. But, I'm also going to tell you about why it's okay to be lazy and not work out if you don't want to. I'm catering to everybody today.
Anybody that knows me knows that I can be a lazy shit and Skyrim it for hours upon hours, but they also know I do a pretty good job at keeping myself in shape. And I think that's important. I think it's perfectly okay to get your lazy on, but it's equally, if not more, important to take care of yourself. And that doesn't mean get a gym membership and become a god damn bodybuilder. Of course, you can definitely go that route, and kudos if you do, but it can be just as simple as going for a walk around the block. Put your headphones in and just go for a walk. It's easy to do, not intensely physically demanding, and it's super good for you.
As for my workout routine, honestly, I have some days I don't work out at all. But generally, at least four days a week, I do some sort of workout, even if it's just body weight stuff; pushups, situps, etc. On my real "workout" days, here's my routine, 15-20 minutes of real good stretching, 100-200 body weight squats, 2x20 on 4 different kettlebell exercises at 20 lbs, 2 minutes of 4 different routines with a jump rope (regular jumps, right leg jumps, left leg jumps, and what we called in high school "IUs") with a 1-minute rest in between each, and 3 5-minute rounds on the heavy bag. Then at night, I load up my ruck with at least 40 lbs and take the kids on about a 2-mile walk. It pretty well kicks my ass. Now, as I said, I don't do the full workout every day, probably once, maybe twice a week, but most days I do at least some part of it.
So why exactly is it important to work out? Well, here's the way I look at it. Your body is your vehicle through this existence. And just as your car is your vehicle through roads and such, it's important to take care of it. You can ignore problems that your car is having; you can decide to not change your oil, keep air in your tires, etc., but your vehicle isn't going to work the way you need it to when you need it. But if you take care of it, it will last as long as it's supposed to. And the same can be said for your body. If you don't take care of it, if you just out junk food and soda into it and sit in front of a computer all day, it's not going to work very efficiently. However, if you take care of it properly, it will last a long time and work great.
I think that the benefits of working out aren't just physical, but mental too. If I'm feeling down, feeling a bit depressed, I've found working out helps. I carry a positive attitude throughout the day because I feel like I've accomplished something. I've had friends that have dealt with depression, and I always tell them to try working out a little bit. For me, it makes a big difference. If I haven't worked out in a while, I really start to feel the difference.
Now, as I alluded to earlier, I think it's equally okay to not exercise at all, if that's what you want. It's not healthy, and has definitively been linked to a shorter life span, but I think you shouldn't have to force yourself to work out. I think you should WANT to do it. If you're not enjoying it, I don't think you get the same benefits as if you were. (Note: This isn't based on any science, just opinion.) I enjoy working out, and I feel like I get plenty of benefits from it. But I think that if you're not into it, you're more likely to skip workouts, not go at it fully, and give it up altogether.
For those that want to workout, but don't want or can't afford a gym membership, there are numerous websites that show workouts you can do at home that require little to no equipment. Don't underestimate the good that just body weight workouts can do! And I think it's important to note that if you're really looking to get into shape, you really should combine exercise with a good diet. Drink more water. Eat a salad.
Lastly, set goals. What is your reason for working out? Do you want to get bigger? Lose weight? Just maintain? Figure out what you want from working out and do the research. There are plenty of resources that will give you advice on how to get what you want from working out. And learn how your body works. Everybody's different, so you have to tailor your routine to you. Example- I work out so I can gain some weight. I've tailored my workouts towards that. But what I've found is that while I'm working out, even when I'm eating 3000+ calories a day, I don't gain much weight. But I've found that if I work out consistently for 3 weeks and then take a week off, that week off is when I actually gain weight. So learn how your own body works and figure out how to customize your exercise and diet to suit it.
Alright y'all, I could go on and on about this one, but I'm gonna cut it short here. The wifey and I are watchin the last few episodes of Orange is the New Black. And I just might like that better than blogging. Stay safe. Go for a walk. Eat a salad. (Especially from Phoshiki, with the ginger salad dressing. Like buttah.) Every one of the 50 tallest mountains is in Asia.
Follow me on Twitter: BryanOnAWire
And we're planning some changes regarding our podcast. We're looking into different places to host it but for now download and follow here: Bryan On A Wire
I'm gonna babble today about something you all know, but don't all practice. I'm gonna tell you about why it's important to work out, exercise, take care of your vehicle. But, I'm also going to tell you about why it's okay to be lazy and not work out if you don't want to. I'm catering to everybody today.
Anybody that knows me knows that I can be a lazy shit and Skyrim it for hours upon hours, but they also know I do a pretty good job at keeping myself in shape. And I think that's important. I think it's perfectly okay to get your lazy on, but it's equally, if not more, important to take care of yourself. And that doesn't mean get a gym membership and become a god damn bodybuilder. Of course, you can definitely go that route, and kudos if you do, but it can be just as simple as going for a walk around the block. Put your headphones in and just go for a walk. It's easy to do, not intensely physically demanding, and it's super good for you.
As for my workout routine, honestly, I have some days I don't work out at all. But generally, at least four days a week, I do some sort of workout, even if it's just body weight stuff; pushups, situps, etc. On my real "workout" days, here's my routine, 15-20 minutes of real good stretching, 100-200 body weight squats, 2x20 on 4 different kettlebell exercises at 20 lbs, 2 minutes of 4 different routines with a jump rope (regular jumps, right leg jumps, left leg jumps, and what we called in high school "IUs") with a 1-minute rest in between each, and 3 5-minute rounds on the heavy bag. Then at night, I load up my ruck with at least 40 lbs and take the kids on about a 2-mile walk. It pretty well kicks my ass. Now, as I said, I don't do the full workout every day, probably once, maybe twice a week, but most days I do at least some part of it.
So why exactly is it important to work out? Well, here's the way I look at it. Your body is your vehicle through this existence. And just as your car is your vehicle through roads and such, it's important to take care of it. You can ignore problems that your car is having; you can decide to not change your oil, keep air in your tires, etc., but your vehicle isn't going to work the way you need it to when you need it. But if you take care of it, it will last as long as it's supposed to. And the same can be said for your body. If you don't take care of it, if you just out junk food and soda into it and sit in front of a computer all day, it's not going to work very efficiently. However, if you take care of it properly, it will last a long time and work great.
I think that the benefits of working out aren't just physical, but mental too. If I'm feeling down, feeling a bit depressed, I've found working out helps. I carry a positive attitude throughout the day because I feel like I've accomplished something. I've had friends that have dealt with depression, and I always tell them to try working out a little bit. For me, it makes a big difference. If I haven't worked out in a while, I really start to feel the difference.
Now, as I alluded to earlier, I think it's equally okay to not exercise at all, if that's what you want. It's not healthy, and has definitively been linked to a shorter life span, but I think you shouldn't have to force yourself to work out. I think you should WANT to do it. If you're not enjoying it, I don't think you get the same benefits as if you were. (Note: This isn't based on any science, just opinion.) I enjoy working out, and I feel like I get plenty of benefits from it. But I think that if you're not into it, you're more likely to skip workouts, not go at it fully, and give it up altogether.
For those that want to workout, but don't want or can't afford a gym membership, there are numerous websites that show workouts you can do at home that require little to no equipment. Don't underestimate the good that just body weight workouts can do! And I think it's important to note that if you're really looking to get into shape, you really should combine exercise with a good diet. Drink more water. Eat a salad.
Lastly, set goals. What is your reason for working out? Do you want to get bigger? Lose weight? Just maintain? Figure out what you want from working out and do the research. There are plenty of resources that will give you advice on how to get what you want from working out. And learn how your body works. Everybody's different, so you have to tailor your routine to you. Example- I work out so I can gain some weight. I've tailored my workouts towards that. But what I've found is that while I'm working out, even when I'm eating 3000+ calories a day, I don't gain much weight. But I've found that if I work out consistently for 3 weeks and then take a week off, that week off is when I actually gain weight. So learn how your own body works and figure out how to customize your exercise and diet to suit it.
Alright y'all, I could go on and on about this one, but I'm gonna cut it short here. The wifey and I are watchin the last few episodes of Orange is the New Black. And I just might like that better than blogging. Stay safe. Go for a walk. Eat a salad. (Especially from Phoshiki, with the ginger salad dressing. Like buttah.) Every one of the 50 tallest mountains is in Asia.
Follow me on Twitter: BryanOnAWire
And we're planning some changes regarding our podcast. We're looking into different places to host it but for now download and follow here: Bryan On A Wire
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Marriage! Weddings, all that shit.
The beautiful thing about my life is that, while I don't live all too exciting of a life, I do just enough different things to get some material to do these blogs, which is the only hard part of having a blog, incidentally. I love sitting down and writing, I love the whole process that goes into writing a blog, but I have a hard time finding enough things to blog about sometimes. I have ideas for things to write about, but I talk myself out of them sometimes for any number of different reasons.
Anyways-my topic for this one. If you read the title, and I'm sure you did, you'll see it's about the ceremonious rite known as marriage. Just the day before writing this (May 31) I went to a cousin's wedding. As far as weddings go, it was a good time. The ceremony itself was short, only about 15 or 20 minutes, everybody was nice, free food, open bar, good music; it was a good time. And the bride, my cousin, gave me a very unexpected compliment on my podcast. And most importantly, she got even closer to a man that she absolutely adores and is completely in love with. Congrats to the two of them.
Of course, anybody that knows me knows that I could never dedicate a whole blog just to congratulating two people on getting married. I've got to put my twist on the topic. So here it goes. Let me first say that I have zero problem with anybody who buys into the concept of marriage. I actually think that the idea is absolutely beautiful for people who believe in what marriage is supposed to represent and enter into it with the best of intentions. That being said, I just don't think it's for me. There was a time when I dreamed of a wedding and really hoped for one, but what drove me away from the idea was twofold. One part was divorce. I've seen divorces go down firsthand, and it's amazing how much spite can come from what was once a loving relationship. I'm not sure where exactly it comes from. I don't know if it's that the relationship wasn't that great to begin with, or if it's something that comes out because of the divorce itself. But the spite that comes into play, especially when there's a lot of money involved, is amazing. I have heard a story of a man that was a comedian and actor and he went through a divorce while he was doing a hit show and making good money so he had to pay a shit-ton of money in alimony, even after he stopped doing the show. So he stopped doing the show, wasn't making that much money, but still had to pay the amount based on what he was making while doing the show. And mind you, this was with no kids involved. And it's common for one party to drag out the court proceedings and delay them as much as possible to drag more and more money out of the other person. It's fuckin crazy. Joe Rogan has described it as being like "going to war and having to pay for the other people's general."
The second thing that taints the idea of marriage for me is just having to have government involvement. I try to involve the government in as little of my affairs as necessary. And I think that in all actuality, the only difference between just being with somebody you love for a long time and marriage is a piece of paper. Now, of course, people with spiritual beliefs or other cultural views would disagree, but for me, that's the only difference. And I say I don't need a piece of paper to show that I actually love someone and am dedicated to them for life. I think, even if you are religious, if you can just be dedicated to somebody you love, then what's the difference? And that way, if things don't work out, you just leave each other and that's that. No lawyers, no crazy alimony, no drug out court cases of hate; just go your separate ways. Of course, things change when there are kids involved. I think, for example, if two people are married and have kids, and one of them chooses to stay at home with the kids rather than work, and they were to get divorced, I think it would be fair for the other person to pay that person some money just to help them get on their feet after the divorce. And I totally agree with child support. I think there are certain situations where child support is misused, but I know personally that there are people that use that money correctly and really need it to get by and raise their children.
So, summary-I don't think I'll ever get married. For me, I don't think that there's really any reason to. I'm happy with my girlfriend now and I consider her my wife; I don't think we need a piece of paper to show that. However, for certain people, marriage works out fine and they're happier because they made the decision, and good for them!
And congrats to my cousin Monica and her new husband Jim! I wish them the best of luck and a very happy future together!
The average home creates more pollution than the average car.
Follow me on Twitter: BryanOnAWire
And follow my podcast: Bryan On A Wire
And lastly, if you have any suggestions for improvements or, even better, if you have a topic you want to hear me rant about, please shoot me a Tweet or you can email me. Peace!
Anyways-my topic for this one. If you read the title, and I'm sure you did, you'll see it's about the ceremonious rite known as marriage. Just the day before writing this (May 31) I went to a cousin's wedding. As far as weddings go, it was a good time. The ceremony itself was short, only about 15 or 20 minutes, everybody was nice, free food, open bar, good music; it was a good time. And the bride, my cousin, gave me a very unexpected compliment on my podcast. And most importantly, she got even closer to a man that she absolutely adores and is completely in love with. Congrats to the two of them.
Of course, anybody that knows me knows that I could never dedicate a whole blog just to congratulating two people on getting married. I've got to put my twist on the topic. So here it goes. Let me first say that I have zero problem with anybody who buys into the concept of marriage. I actually think that the idea is absolutely beautiful for people who believe in what marriage is supposed to represent and enter into it with the best of intentions. That being said, I just don't think it's for me. There was a time when I dreamed of a wedding and really hoped for one, but what drove me away from the idea was twofold. One part was divorce. I've seen divorces go down firsthand, and it's amazing how much spite can come from what was once a loving relationship. I'm not sure where exactly it comes from. I don't know if it's that the relationship wasn't that great to begin with, or if it's something that comes out because of the divorce itself. But the spite that comes into play, especially when there's a lot of money involved, is amazing. I have heard a story of a man that was a comedian and actor and he went through a divorce while he was doing a hit show and making good money so he had to pay a shit-ton of money in alimony, even after he stopped doing the show. So he stopped doing the show, wasn't making that much money, but still had to pay the amount based on what he was making while doing the show. And mind you, this was with no kids involved. And it's common for one party to drag out the court proceedings and delay them as much as possible to drag more and more money out of the other person. It's fuckin crazy. Joe Rogan has described it as being like "going to war and having to pay for the other people's general."
The second thing that taints the idea of marriage for me is just having to have government involvement. I try to involve the government in as little of my affairs as necessary. And I think that in all actuality, the only difference between just being with somebody you love for a long time and marriage is a piece of paper. Now, of course, people with spiritual beliefs or other cultural views would disagree, but for me, that's the only difference. And I say I don't need a piece of paper to show that I actually love someone and am dedicated to them for life. I think, even if you are religious, if you can just be dedicated to somebody you love, then what's the difference? And that way, if things don't work out, you just leave each other and that's that. No lawyers, no crazy alimony, no drug out court cases of hate; just go your separate ways. Of course, things change when there are kids involved. I think, for example, if two people are married and have kids, and one of them chooses to stay at home with the kids rather than work, and they were to get divorced, I think it would be fair for the other person to pay that person some money just to help them get on their feet after the divorce. And I totally agree with child support. I think there are certain situations where child support is misused, but I know personally that there are people that use that money correctly and really need it to get by and raise their children.
So, summary-I don't think I'll ever get married. For me, I don't think that there's really any reason to. I'm happy with my girlfriend now and I consider her my wife; I don't think we need a piece of paper to show that. However, for certain people, marriage works out fine and they're happier because they made the decision, and good for them!
And congrats to my cousin Monica and her new husband Jim! I wish them the best of luck and a very happy future together!
The average home creates more pollution than the average car.
Follow me on Twitter: BryanOnAWire
And follow my podcast: Bryan On A Wire
And lastly, if you have any suggestions for improvements or, even better, if you have a topic you want to hear me rant about, please shoot me a Tweet or you can email me. Peace!
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