Shantaram: A Novel is next up on the reading list.

Here are your new tax rates, U.S. citizens.

If I’m a billionaire, I’m hanging out with something better than this, ya know? Hell, I was doing better as a negative-hundredthousandaire.

After 8 years with Levono, I got my first Macbook, which was cheaper on Amazon than the Apple Store. My computer is a tax deduction. Find a way to run a side hustle so you can deduct computer purchases.

Starting your own business offers many tax advantages. Resolve to start your own business in 2013.

I’m addicted to the blog Million Mile Secrets. If you have good credit, you can basically fly for free. If you have bad credit, fix it.

Happy New Year!

A buddy of mine (who is black) writes in:

—–

“D&P told me once that I’m a young guy there’s no reason I shouldnt have some cougar taking care of me.

“About a month later I discover:

• Misty’s in Ontario, CA
• Foxfire in Anaheim Hills, CA
• This Jazz bar in SFV (name escapes me)
• Any health store (Whole Foods, Traders)

“If your 34+yr old wife gets a boob job and she lives in SoCal, particularly OC, I have a 87% chance of fucking her…WELL.

Funny part is that you’d think it’s the wives of dudes that neglect them. Nope. Usually the well taken care of ones with doting husbands that text them cute shit. Trust me the bitch will show proverbial black guy  the text and laugh about how corny or out of touch you are.

I’ve fucked so many wives/Fiances/etc that I developed trust issues as well. I’m barely working them out to be honest. I already know I’m never getting married, even if I have/want kids.

—–

That’s consistent with my own experience as well. It’s a myth that women cheat on bad husbands.

Incidentally, I encourage all of my younger readers to find a cougar/sugar mama.

She will buy you new clothing, help with your bills, take you out to nice dinners, and provide excellent sex.

In rich cities like L.A., chicks over 30 still look very good and even women in their 40s are attractive.

I joined the Army Reserves when I was 17. This meant my college was paid for.

I attended monthly military training exercises (called “Drill”) and spent two weeks away for Annual Training. In my home state, joining the military meant free public school tuition.

My Drill pay was around $150. My GI Bill pay was $300 or so. I always worked 20 or so hours a week at another job.

During my first two years of college, my schedule went:

M-W-F: work from 8:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

T-R: classes from 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

S-S: Drill, work 2 out of 3 free weekends, for 1 weekend off.

Throw in a Drill weekend and I was up early and at work or at school for 12 consecutive days without a day off. I got one full weekend off a month.

I waited tables during my last two years of college. Most of my Friday and Saturday nights (the biggest moneymakers of the week) were spent bringing bread sticks and unlimited soup and salad to inbreds and red necks.

Between GI Bill, Army bullshit, and work, I earned around $13,000/year. Since I didn’t pay tuition and lived at home my first two years, that was all money in my pocket. I had no student loan debt and even opened a Roth IRA and bought silver bullion when silver was around $5/ounce.

I studied hard (managed to get a 3.73), got a scholarship to graduate school, and took the same habits from college to succeed after school.

College is only a scam if you’re a petulant child who thinks “showing up” means something to anyone other than your mommy.

Robert Green’s latest book is Mastery.

Here Robert Green talks about his decision to write 48 Laws of Power. Green was broke, working shit jobs in Hollywood when he decided to make his Big Move. “I saw this one opportunity in life to get out of the rat hole I was in and to do what I really wanted to do.”

Green was basically a “kid” when he wrote 48 Laws of Power. He was only 36 years old when he conceived of the idea.

His story is inspirational to all.

American men today long for the golden age of the 1950s. “If only I hadn’t been born today,” men exclaim, “I would have made something out of my life!”

Wrong. The Strangest Secret was written in 1956. It’s message is timeless.

Some years ago, the late Nobel prize-winning Dr. Albert Schweitzer was asked by a reporter, “Doctor, what’s wrong with men today?” The great doctor was silent a moment, and then he said, “Men simply don’t think!”

It’s about this that I want to talk with you. We live today in a golden age. This is an era that humanity has looked forward to, dreamed of, and worked toward for thousands of years. We live in the richest era that ever existed on the face of the earth … a land of abundant opportunity for everyone.

However, if you take 100 individuals who start even at the age of 25, do you have any idea what will happen to those men and women by the time they’re 65? These 100 people believe they’re going to be successful. They are eager toward life, there is a certain sparkle in their eye, an erectness to their carriage, and life seems like a pretty interesting adventure to them.

But by the time they’re 65, only one will be rich, four will be financially independent, five will still be working, and 54 will be broke — depending on others for life’s necessities.

Only five out of 100 make the grade! Why do so many fail? What has happened to the sparkle that was there when they were 25? What has become of the dreams, the hopes, the plans … and why is there such a large disparity between what these people intended to do and what they actually accomplished?

The Strangest Secret is a book and also an audio recording. Both are worth returning to frequently.

Danger and Play has been around for nearly two years. Since my laptop is out of comish, enjoy the archives. You can find the archives by checking out the sidebar on the left-hand side of the screen.

Or, if this post from the Mac store works, click on the below links:

• • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • March 2011

It sounds abstract at best and cheesy at worst to say, “You are the average of your 5 closest friends.” Or, “If you hang around 9 broke people, prepare to be the tenth.” If you want to appreciate that wisdom in concrete terms, do what I just did.

Go to a public library without any smart phones or note pads or computers. Resolve to stay there for 2 hours. Eat your carbs or drink coffee before going into there so you don’t find an excuse to leave.

What are you going to do?

The answer seems obvious. “Derp le derp,” you might reply, “I’m going to read.”

As with all hidden wisdom, you need to consider the implications.

You might read magazines or you might read light books or you might read challenging material. But you will be doing something productive. More importantly is what you won’t be doing, namely, you won’t be wasting time on unproductive activities.

I often tell guys to just go to the gym for an hour. “What should I do?”  Just go to the gym. At the very least you won’t be wasting money, eating fried calamari, drinking alcohol, or watching TV.

Going into a positive environment without any aim or goal is often the single most productive thing you will do all day. Consider why that might be.

If you want to meditate, you have to learn to sit still, say nothing, and focus on simply existing. Meditation is extremely challenging, right?

If you’re in a bookstore, you’ll read books. If you’re at a shopping mall, you will spend money. If you’re at a bar, you will drink

If you’re with losers, you will lose. If you’re with winners, you will win.

Changing your life seems hard because you haven’t changed your environment.