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October 8, 2014

Using Less

When I was young, my dad seemed to abhor the idea of things. It was an abstract way to shape one’s worldview, so I never really understood it at the time.

“Stuff,” he would say, while standing at a garage sale or the toy aisle in Wal Mart, his lips turning up in disgust. “It’s all just stuff.”

I was a simple boy, and I was befuddled. Why this hatred for stuff? We needed stuff. Stuff was what made the world go round. Be it sports gear or video games or cookware or my GI Joe action figure…stuff was important, dammit! (Or dangit, in those days.)

I loved stuff as a kid, and to some extent – much like the majority of the American population – I still do. But the older I get, the more I start to believe that my dad might not’ve been insane.

This past summer, at the recommendation of my friend Megan, I read a book called Everything that Remains. Well, listened to it. I was driving across the country and needed something to keep me occupied and AUDIOBOOKS DO COUNT, PEOPLE! But I digress. The book is about the concept of minimalism, and I’d recommend checking it out, not because it made me want to convert to a new way of living and go nuts and throw away all my crap – it didn’t – but because I think the concept of simply using less can have a powerful, positive impact on anyone’s life, no matter how far you take things.

So I’ve been trying to use less shit. In brief, here’s a few reasons why I think it’s a good idea:

It’s good for the world.

As in, the earth itself, and the people that live on it. I’ve been on the recycling bandwagon for awhile, because of its positive effects on energy and natural resource consumption. (Plus they make it so damn easy now. I can literally throw everything that’s remotely recyclable in one huge bin and let the city deal with it. There’s even an adorable name for it: co-mingling. Do they do this everywhere or just the hippie commune where I live? Anywho, digression.)

But if recycling is a good thing, using less is even better. Recycling a plastic water bottle only uses a portion of the energy it takes to make a brand new one. But not using it at all uses none of the energy. It’s like twice as good.

And I assure you this isn’t liberal Boulder crap. Once upon a time, I voted McCain. Using less isn’t a political angle or social statement, it just makes sense. We routinely use more than we need, and not until we start cutting things out do we realize how little we need them.

It’s Cheaper

Seldom do I come across physical things that do not require me to trade money in order to own them (the glaring exceptions being pens and lanyards at trade conventions). In general: more stuff, more money. The more things we accumulate, the more we put ourselves in the hole of financial obligation (i.e. debt), the less flexibility we have in life. Can’t switch jobs, can’t go on vacation – gotta pay the bills.

Fewer things = fewer bills = fewer obligations = fewer worries.

It Makes You Happier

It’s been proven time and time again that people who spend their money on experiences are considerably happier than people who spend their money on material things. We all know that in the end, more shit isn’t gonna make us happier, but for some reason we keep hoping it suddenly will. It isn’t working.

(True, I’ve never seen someone frown on a jet ski, but you can only realistically own one or two of those before storage and maintenance begin to become an issue. Plus, how much of the year can you use jet skis in most regions? Half? A third? What do you do the rest of the time? Snowmobile? Snowmobiling and jet skiing are totally different experiences. If you think you’ll get a similar experience between those two activities, I have sour news for you, Jack. You won’t. And it’s going to piss you off.)

 

Bottom line? Even jet ski’s can cause heartache. Or something like that. All I know is that Jerry Neumann was on to something, and that’s why I’m trying to use less.

 

 

October 2, 2014

The Donut Eating Contest of 2014

Here at the Lodge, we try to give it our all on a daily basis. Whether that means waking up extra early, doing a few extra reps at the gym, or totally going to town on some day-old olde fashioned cake donuts and eclairs from the Safeway bakery, we believe man should strive to be his best at all times. And what do you know, we stumbled across two men doing the latter of those three things a few weeks ago. So naturally, we had to shoot and produce a video chronicling the affair.

Below you’ll see friends of the Lodge Christopher Sheckler and Donovan Rogers going toe to toe in a test of will and stomach. If this does not inspire you, you must not have a pulse. Reach for the stars, my friends.

September 23, 2014

Why You Should Do What You Love, Part 2 (Trombone Shorty Edition)

12691269-standardLast Saturday I attended a concert at Red Rocks. Yes, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals headlined, and yes, they are my everything. GPN were scintillating as usual, but something about the opening act stuck with me. It’s a guy named Trombone Shorty.

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue is a funky, jazz/rock outfit out of New Orleans. I’ve seen them live twice now, and both times they’ve put on an incredible show. Their frontman (Shorty himself, real name probably on Wikipedia), is entertaining, charismatic, and a hell of a performer, but here’s the main thing:

He plays the trombone.

And the trumpet. And sings. But mainly the trombone, hence the name. And it’s completely awesome. It’s a totally unique sound – at least for pop music – and it’s great stuff. I’m listening to it on Spotify as I type this. But as I watched him and his band tear through “Hurricane Season” and “Fire and Brimstone” in front of 10,000 dancing and swaying music lovers, it struck me how unlikely a story this was.

I don’t know much about Trombone Shorty’s background (again, Wikipedia), but I’d venture a guess that he got a lot of advice along the way, and that a good deal of it revolved around one idea:

That trombone thing ain’t gonna work.

Nope. You kidding me? Trombone? You see anyone on the Top 100 chart playing trombone? No sir. Trombone’s for geriatrics and high school dorks. You wanna make it in the music biz, you gotta do something else. You gotta rap. You gotta play guitar. You gotta write beats for talentless assclowns who yell into microphones, or something, because that’s how you make it. That’s what sells. Trombone don’t sell. Ditch it.

Just a guess, but I bet he heard that, in different permutations, quite a bit along the way. And he probably considered it. But in the end, he stuck with the trombone (and the trumpet, and arranging badass funk numbers), because that’s what he loved. That’s what burned inside him. That was his jam. And the industry assholes laughed and told him he was a fool, but he kept at it. And then one day he signed with a label and did national tours and collaborated with Lenny Kravitz and played to a sold-out Red Rocks.

Screw “the right way.” Do your thing.

September 17, 2014

Winner!

Ladies and gents, thanks a ton for participating in the little signed book giveaway last week. It was a great response and I really wish I could give one to everybody who entered, but unfortunately my carpal tunnel would flare up if I sat down to sign thousands of books. However, I have picked one winner from the random pile, and that winner is:

Eric John Schumacher

Eric is a man of the land, a new(ish) father, and one hell of a gamer when it comes to NFL 2K5 on Xbox (the original one). He’s earned this. Eric, I sent you a message.

For the rest, honestly, thanks a ton for entering. We’ll do this again, so keep an eye on the Lodge, as you wise people are wont to do.

Sam

September 11, 2014

Why You Should Write (Or Do) What Your Love

Just read this post from Chuck Wendig’s wonderfully NSFW blog, terribleminds. Chuck is an author and occasional giver of raw, unadulterated, and generally correct advice. The post discusses why you should follow your passion in writing, but I think it’s applicable to other areas of life as well. A few highlights:

BECAUSE IT’S WHAT YOU’RE GOOD AT

The things you write — that you choose to write, because you want to jolly well fucking write them — are likely things you’re better at writing because you chose to move in that direction. Writing things that don’t really speak to you? I can often feel it. It feels stilted, awkward, a story forced into an uncomfortable shape by an author wearing someone else’s skin. It’s itchy and weird.

BECAUSE LIFE ENDS IN DEATH

You’re gonna die.

Sorry!

But it’s true.

…

Do you really want someone to chisel the words MADE MEDIOCRE ART SHE DIDN’T MUCH LIKE BECAUSE SHE THOUGHT THAT’S WHAT SOMEONE ELSE WANTED HER TO DO on your gravestone? Or would you rather them carve in the words: ROCKED IT LIKE A MOTHERFUCKER, WROTE WHAT SHE DAMN WELL WANTED, BOO-YAH, MIC-DROP –?

Read the full post at terribleminds. 

September 10, 2014

GIVEAWAY

That’s right. Free stuff. Want to know more? Watch the video.

For those who can’t spare two minutes, here’s the gist: I’m giving away the first copy of my new book. And I’m signing it. For you. Possibly.

How to enter: subscribe to this blog.

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You want this, because a) it’s the first printed copy, which is kind of cool, and b) it’s the best thing I’ve ever written. Yes, better than Memoirs of a Gas Station, and we all know what happened with that one.

I’ll announce the winner next Wednesday. Much love.

September 8, 2014

Knowing When It’s Time to Quit (Your Job)

I started this blog almost entirely as a result of quitting my job in the corporate world. That was the topic of my first real post, and the inspiration for most of the ideas I try to push discuss here. And while I don’t think everyone should quit their corporate jobs, at least a few of those reading this probably should.

Why? Many reasons, some of which I’ll spell out here. Making a radical career change certainly isn’t for everyone – some people are happy where they are, perhaps having found the elusive good job, or maybe they just function better in a corporate environment – but I think there are some telltale signs that indicate it might be time to hang it up and try something else. A lot of these are things I ran in to in my line of work, and helped nudge me toward the ledge.

 

1. You hate it.

Like, loathe it. Despise it. Can’t stand the idea of going back to work on Monday. Want everyone and everything in your office to die a fiery death. (Okay, maybe not everyone. The receptionist is cute and pleasant). Nobody especially likes going back to work after a weekend, but if you have this sort of deep-rooted disdain for your job – the kind that even can ruin a perfectly good Sunday by distracting you with dread about what’s to come – something probably isn’t right. Surely there’s a better vocation for you, one that doesn’t induce violent vomiting at the mere thought of going to work.

2. You aren’t productive.

I’ve found that I’m much happier when I’m productive, and I’m also much more productive when I’m happy. Either of these things being out of whack could be a sign the other is missing. If we work at something we care about, and we’re appreciated by those who matter, we’re going to be more productive. We’re going to focus our efforts on serving the company/client/organization, and serve ourselves in the process. If we’re watching the clock, we’re doing neither.

A clock-watcher sure as hell isn’t good for the company, and it isn’t good for the employee either.

3. You’re good at other stuff that has earning potential.

And you enjoy this stuff far more than you enjoy maintaining the corporate intranet for Pentatrode, or whatever it is you do from 9 to 5 everyday. Is there something else you can do, that other people deem valuable, enough that they’ll (potentially) pay for it? Have you ever said to yourself, “man, if I just was able to focus more of my time on [thing], I could probably do that for a living”? That’s the thing I’m talking about.

The key here is “earning potential.” It’s great if you dig riding your bike every morning, but chances are, someone isn’t gonna pay you to do that. (Unless you’re really, really good, in which case, cheers to you). But what about that website you put together for your friend, just for fun? Didn’t that random acquaintance ask if you could do one for him/her as well? Once people start asking you to do something for them, that’s a pretty good indication there’s at least some earning potential.

4. You don’t have meaningful work relationships.

The relationships we develop and maintain can and do drastically affect the quality of our experiences, in every area of life. And work is no different. If you don’t like or care about your coworkers, the job itself has to be pretty good to make it enjoyable.

5. There is zero fulfillment.

You don’t give a shit about the things you do. They bring nothing positive to your life beyond the paycheck.

You will never be entirely fulfilled by your job – total fulfillment comes from a variety of places – but it should at least give you something. If it doesn’t, then you don’t care, and if you don’t care, you’re a bad employee and probably an unhappy person.

6. Any of these things, plus the money sucks.  

Here’s the truth: if you don’t particularly enjoy your job, but the money is great, it’s at least benefiting you in some way. Money definitely isn’t everything, but it’s something.

But if you hate the job and you’re underpaid? A sure sign you’re ready to take your talents elsewhere.

 

This is not an exhaustive list, but a place to start. And if any/all these apply to you…then what?  What’s the next step? We’ll talk about that soon.

September 2, 2014

Release Day

Emails-Cover-3D-webGood people of the world:

The day hath arrived. My third book and first fiction novel, Emails from Heaven, has been released in kindle and paperback formats.

I put everything I had into this one, gang, and I think you’ll like it. Or at the very least, find it interesting. One quick nugget about the process of putting this book together:

I did everything wrong. And I don’t care.

I don’t mean there are grammatical errors or I put ampersands where periods are supposed to be or anything. It just means that there is prevailing wisdom about the “right” way to do things when writing and publishing books, and I generally ignored all of it.

First, traditional publishing. The agent-brokered contract with a big New York publishing house, the monetary advance and print distribution in bookstores (those that are left, anyway). The long romanticized publishing dream and sure sign of literary status. Well, it doesn’t take more than a google search to learn that this dream is not in line with the reality of signing a deal with the Big 5 (4? 3? How many are we down to now?) book publishers, at least anymore. And for someone who watches the publishing industry as close as I do, it’s obvious that “traditional” publishing, at least as we know it today, is dying. A sad truth, but a truth nonetheless. This route isn’t a viable one anymore, at least not for someone like me, but luckily there are numerous other (better) options.

Second, genre-hopping. I wrote two nonfiction, anecdotal humor books, then switched to a quasi-thriller/suspense novel. This is considered a no-no; something about confusing your readers. But I’m out of short stories, at least for now, and I don’t plan on living in Alaska again anytime soon. This is the book I wanted to write.

I wrote a story with religious themes, but without a message of religious dogma. The characters use curse words. It doesn’t fit into one clear-cut genre. There’s no potential to turn it into a series. All these things are frowned upon, at least if you pay attention to conventional wisdom, but I don’t care.

I don’t care because, as I said before, I wrote the book I wanted to write, and told the story I wanted to tell, at least to the best of my ability. And on a base level, when all the marketing and window dressing is stripped away, we write because we love it. I loved writing this book, and now I want to share it with you. And if that’s as far as things go, I’m a happy man.