Arman's Antics (#033)

The latest from Twitter mob victim Arman Khodadoost

Hey everyone!

Coming to you live from Austin, Texas. Here’s your weekly dose of Arman’s Antics. A few things I’ve been exploring that I hope will make you laugh😆, think🧐, cry🥹 (or a nasty combination of the three).

Welcome to the three new subscribers receiving this for the first time (242 total). I don’t take your attention lightly.

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Essay I wrote last week

Why are painful lessons the only ones that stick with us?

Who knows…

Ah, the internet. What a beautiful/horrifying place to spend a majority of our existence.

There’s one thing we must internalize if we want to survive in this strange new world…

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New book I’m loving

I just counted and I’ve read 311 books. But lately I’ve been rereading my favorites instead of cracking open a new one. Because a bunch end up not being worth it.

But when the most interesting man in the world releases a new book, I gotta take a peek.

Which is why I’ve been slowly reading a few pages at a time of Kevin Kelly’s new book “Excellent Advice for Living”.

It’s a collection of hundreds of aphorisms that he wish he’d learned sooner.

I can already tell it’s going to be one of those books that is given to kids entering adulthood for years to come.

A few of my favorites so far:

1. Don’t measure your life with someone else’s ruler.

2. A vacation + a disaster = an adventure. (I can confirm this one after getting malaria in Cambodia back in 2019.)

3. Acquiring things will rarely bring you deep satisfaction. But acquiring experiences will.

Kevin has distilled 71 years of wisdom in a few hours.

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While we’re on the topic of books, I need your help!

I got introduced to David Senra’s “Founders” podcast last week after hearing his interview on the My First Million pod.

He’s read 302 biographies over the past six years on the most bad ass people who have ever lived. Then he distills the highlights into a one hour episode. From Elon Musk to Tiger Woods and plenty of other names that are recognized around the world.

Which got me to break a false belief I’ve been clinging to — biographies are stupid.

“No Arman, you are stupid for believing that!” I agree with you.

I thought they were a waste of time because they’re basically just a collection of someone’s winning lottery ticket numbers.

Not useful to me.

How could I have been so wrong?

I have completely reversed my belief and now want to start devouring some amazing biographies.

But I need your help.

Where the heck do I begin?

I want to learn about fascinating figures so hopefully a few specks of their magic dust may fall onto my head to replace the dandruff that currently resides there.

Please let me know.

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Best song I’ve heard all week

I guess this week is all about reading.

You may want to throw your headphones in for this one (NSFW).

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Random thought

Let’s replace “No justice, no peace!” with “No problems, no progress!”.

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That’s it for the 33rd edition of Arman’s Antics. Thank you for reading this while sipping that delicious cup of coffee. Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to pour myself a cup. Are you gonna check out Excellent Advice for Living? Can you recommend one must-read biography? Have you read a b-o-o-k lately?

It was Xena’s first birthday yesterday so she wanted to win a staring contest:

Have a terrific Tuesday!

Cheers,

Arman

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