Hi friend!
Coming to you live from Austin, Texas.
Here’s your weekly dose of Arman’s Antics. Five things I’ve been exploring and pondering that will send you into the weekend with a good think, chuckle, weep (or a nasty combination of the three).
Welcome to the 28 new subscribers receiving this for the first time (400 total) — I don’t take your attention lightly.
Hopefully nobody is reading this, but if you are, please keep it to yourself.
Essays I wrote recently
Two for one special?!
I didn’t want to bore you with yet another look-at-all-the-books-I-read-this-year-list. So I experimented with something different that people seemed to enjoy:
You know that annoying kid in your 6th grade history class who thought they knew more than they did? That’s a midwit. And that kid was me. It’s a rather nasty affliction that seems to be spreading these days. So I wondered:
Book trilogy I wouldn’t recommend
Jed Talks 1-3 by Jed McKenna.
I can’t decide if this guy is a mystic or a lunatic. There’s a fine line between the two.
That’s not even the author’s real name for starters. He/She is like Anthony de Mello with a spicy attitude.
These books certainly aren’t for the faint of heart.
He/She despises the spiritual marketplace and will probably call out your favorite spiritual guru. But he/she is awfully funny while doing it which is why I stuck around.
These books shattered my mind into a million bits and I’m still picking them up.
You’ve been warned.
Documentary I watched
The U.S. and the Holocaust — a film by Ken Burns.
He’s done it again.
He took a historical topic that has been explored and explained to death but weaved the story in a captivating way.
America likes to claim itself as the reason the Allies won WWII. But what about the innocent Jews that the war was largely fought over? We couldn’t be bothered with helping them too much.
This should be required viewing for all Americans. Especially the ones who think we can do no wrong.
Sober January
It’s become trendy to not drink alcohol in January.
I’m sure bars and liquor stores love that….
But I’m refraining from a different substance this month. One that is used (and often abused) by billions of people around the world — caffeine.
I couldn’t tell you the last time a day went by without me chugging a cup of my favorite caffeinated beverage: coffee.
I’m five days in and it sucks. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy. But I’m curious to see what my normal baseline is. Something I haven’t allowed myself to experience in years.
Will report back.
Random thought
I just learned about the recency bias and I have to say it’s my favorite.
That’s it for the 67th edition of Arman’s Antics.
I hope you didn’t make it this far, but if you did, please don’t like, comment, or restack below.
Now back to your regularly scheduled nonstop scrolling.
Cheers to a fabulous Friday to you and yours!
Arman
Midwit disease and that graph are a great way to detail the Dunning Kruger Effect. Nice!
PLEASE get back to us on your caffeine sabbatical, Arman. I'm on my third drink and it's 7:22 am.