Arman's Antics (#044)
The latest from curious contrarian Arman Khodadoost
Hey everyone!
Coming to you live from Austin, Texas. Here’s your weekly dose of Arman’s Antics. A choose your own adventure newsletter that aims to make you think, laugh, cry (or a nasty combination of the three).
Welcome to the three new subscribers receiving this for the first time (287 total). I don’t take your time or attention lightly.
Essay I wrote last week
Have you ever noticed how much harder you push yourself when working out with a gym buddy? Luckily there’s an abundance of weightlifting gyms for that. But where are we supposed to get our mental lifts in?
I’m tired of having flabby mind abs.
If you can relate, then it sounds like we both could use some:
Cerebral sparring partners
I despise small talk, but relish good banter. Drop me in a networking event and watch me clam up like an oyster. But try to convince me that ham and pineapple belong on pizza (good luck) and watch me light up. I struggle to think of a more enjoyable experience than this: sitting across the table from a cerebral sparring partner accompanied by two (strong)…
Treat great podcasts with some respect
According to Spotify, I listen to 10 hours of podcasts per week. I’m always hungry for new episodes like a great white shark on a feeding frenzy.
But then it hit me.
I’m lucky to remember 1% of what was said on a great podcast a few days later. So why not re-listen to episodes I already know are worth their weight in gold?
A great podcast should be treated like a great book.
Revisited often.
Friends help you discover your own home
My fiance and I had an old friend visit us last weekend.
She was only with us for 72 hours. But we did so much new stuff to where it felt like we were on vacation ourselves.
I’m embarrassed to admit, but we’ve lived in Austin for over a year and had never been to Barton Springs.
It’s so easy to fall into the grooves of your routine that you stop venturing out to do anything new.
So I want more friends to come visit. It’ll give me a reason to better explore my own home.
Anxious reading
I realized something that I’m not quite sure how to feel about yet.
I hop between books like gen z hops between apps. Ever been there?
There’s so many books that I want to read and it feels like I don’t have nearly enough time to get to them all.
My phone currently has 16 amazon tabs open with books lined up in my reading queue. And I’ve got 8 books sitting on my desk that I’m reading right now.
I’ll read a chapter then close it and read a few pages of another. But I struggle to stick with one book at a time. I’m becoming an anxious reader.
The second I notice my mind start to wander, I drop that book and pick up another.
Am I crazy?
Probably.
Random thought
If more information was the secret, we’d all be billionaires with 4% body fat.
That’s it for the 44th edition of Arman’s Antics. Thanks for stopping by while sipping that hot beverage. Now back to your regularly scheduled nonstop scrolling.
Have a terrific Tuesday!
Cheers,
Arman
Likes and comments below.
Still killing me that I was probably sitting alone in Book People, waiting for Monica to arrive, reading your wonderful essay on Sparring Partner. And it did not click.
According to Austin Kleon you shouldn’t worry about reading more than one book at a time: https://austinkleon.com/2020/02/13/on-reading-more-than-one-book-at-a-time/