The Reformed Stoic Daily

 Workout: 1-2 mile jog jump rope workout 11 min shadow box/heavy bag ddr 20-50 min stationary bike abs weightlifting/calisthenics (different focus daily)

 30 year old boomer in the making. Feels good.

 Current drumming goals Want to learn a ton of songs from the following bands: Van Halen, Badlands, Ozzy, Whitesnake, Alice in Chains, Rainbow, Alcatraz then lots of up tempo swing practice and improvising in various feels and styles (samba, waltz, odd times, afro cuban) If I ever have a signature stick, it will be something between a 5a and a 2b, because I switch between them for rock and jazz. Maybe something in the middle would be perfect. 

 What it's like to be woke. You were a normie once, and you remember it quite well. Excited for new movies and games to come out, eagerly awaiting them, and often being satisfied with them when you finally played the games or watched the movies. One day things were different. Your parents still say "Wow, that looks really good! Can't wait to see it" whenever an ad for a movie plays, and you are now less than enthusiastic.  Things you once loved aren't as great as they use to seem. It's not depression, it's being woke.

 Small victories Running a mile, a 5k. Finishing a workout. Beating a game. Getting the high score. Finishing a book. Cleaning the house. It's all about the small victories.

 I'm hopeful for the past not the future. The past was dark, but the future is also dark. Observing the great moments of recent history in film, and studying the great moments of greater western history in books. Learning the great times of greater time periods. What's left in the present and for the future? Rot. Decay. Disappoint. The sooner you leave it behind, the better.

Pretend  Pretend for a child is something we all know. Play time, games, fun. Kids being kids. But what if an adult could pretend? Pretend that you are where you want to be, pretend you lived in a better place than this one. You could create fake people that are better than the ones you know in real life. What stops adults from pretending? Why can't we live in the creative world anymore? I'm starting to think that a select few can. The ones who have the most colorful fictional worlds tend to share them with others for money and notoriety, though stories of perfect places don't tend to sell as well. What if you had the creativity of a novelist, but you only wanted to create a world of your own? A world that would stay unknown to the rest. I imagine it's a thing, but it seems to be seldom discussed. One might imagine an unhinged manchild rotting away with his delusions, but I imagine a misunderstood caterpillar morphing into a butterfly.  It just might be what the most de...

 Watching Hey Arnold I find it funny how these scenarios are so relatable to people my age. The "kids" in Hey Arnold don't really even seem like kids at all. Adults are boomers, the kids are millennials, and the 5th and 6th graders are gen X. It all starts to make sense when you look at it that way. Boomers got to be adults, and gen X at least seem older than we do.  The millennials are trapped in childhood. Some more optimistic than others, but at the end of the day, the "kids" in this show are trying to have relationships and live complex social lives. They just never get anywhere.

 How to find the right show to watch The right movie, the right clip, the right video. The best books, and the best albums. How to find the best of the best? The most interesting, the most worthwhile. The time rushes by, and you feel maybe the wrong choice has been made. Life is short. Close the bad books, and ditch the lame shows. No need to finish the disappointing and over rated. You feel an obligation, why? Someday it will all become clear. Your time was limited. Find what's worth while.