We live better than kings

It's six thirty AM. The wife and kids are sleeping peacefully. I find myself on a sea-facing, eighth floor balcony of a Best Western in Okinawa, Japan, Kouki beach, drinking a pourover coffee I just made from single origin Ethiopian Yirgacheffe beans, whilst eating a perfectly paired Sunny Hills pineapple cake from Taiwan, listening to the ocean lap the sandy beach whilst accompanied by the patter of soft morning rain. The sun is beginning its ascent.

The morning started at four AM, with close to an hour of meditation, reading Die Leiden des jungen Werther, in Chinese, and thinking about possible jazz improvisations on three standards I've learned in class this semester.

Burning Man Principle of Gifting VS. Rule of Reciprocity

More and more people are coming to understand how unique and amazing Burning Man is. If you haven't been, the Badass Gentleman strongly recommends you give it a shot. A question that always stuck with me after attending was, "why can't real life be this awesome?" Today, I've got a real, concrete answer that not only explains why it's awesome, but also shows why it doesn't work in the real world.

Burning Man 2013 was Hot!

Why $400 matters to a Badass Gentleman

Financial independence is a basic tenet of being a Badass Gentleman. Mastering your finances, and being beholden to no one, engenders a freedom that is immeasurably valuable. But for a large number of American families, this is a pipe dream. Turns out, the reality is even worse than I imagined. In a survey of US households by the Federal Reserve, 47% of respondents would have trouble paying for a $400 emergency. To do so, they would need to borrow or sell possessions. Put another way, $400 is enough to stress the finances of almost half of American households! How can America, one of the most prosperous nations in the world, have so many households that are so economically vulnerable?

Can you spare 4 of those Benjamins?

Leveling up through Failure

On February 22nd, I had my debut boxing match, on the heels of my 36th birthday. Despite having high hopes, I lost. The ref called a TKO in the second round. I won't lie; losing like that was disappointing. But if I'm going to represent an educational philosophy that redefines failures as rich learning experiences, I sure as hell better walk the walk and check the bruised ego at the door. Let's see how it looked, shall we?

Thanks for checking my ribs!

Anti-Badass Child Rearing: Smothering children with "love"

Imagine this scene at the ski resort:

A very well-to-do, venture capitalist, Chinese mother and her child are preparing for a day out on the mountain. The child, almost five years old, is feeling itchy. So he asks his mother to help him scratch. She obliges, cooing and soothing the child, while scratching him all over. He tells her that she's not scratching in the right place, and points to his groin. So she gets on her knees, unzips his bib, reaches into his pants, and starts scratching his balls. This satisfies him for a few moments, but soon after, he continues to complain about other itchy areas. After about 5 minutes of this, he gets distracted by other things. The Badass Gentleman observed all of this, silently astounded.

How to supercharge progress, no matter what you're learning

That's a mighty big supercharger you have there...

It's been a longish hiatus. My sincere apologies. Quite a few things have been happening lately, both very good and pretty bad, but let's start off with a bit of good.

Badasses come in all shapes and sizes

Inspiration for your weekend. Ben Jackson serves as a shining example that the path to truly remarkable achievement is taken one step at a time, day by day, with unfailing determination. A tribute to all of those who make the choice to never give up in the pursuit of their goals, no matter the obstacles that lie in their path. Thank you Ben.