Momentum is growing for the “Dark Horse Duo Plan”
Is #YangMcraven2020 really a thing?
The “Dark Horse Duo Plan” — not much of a movement until as recently as last week — has gained rapid momentum since the airing of episode #1494 of the Joe Rogan podcast with special guest Bret Weinstein, an evolutionary biologist and self-professed “professor in exile,” famous for his role in the Evergreen State College Scandal.
During the interview, Weinstein proposed a third party candidate (actually two candidates) to run against Trump and Biden for the 2020 presidential election.
And while Rogan didn’t immediately sign a check to fund the movement, he was openly receptive to the idea, having this…
How the prospect of marriage got way more exciting once I changed my perspective
I got married
Is it just me, or does that statement strike you as negative? Unfavorable? Unfortunate?
“I got married” sounds like marriage happened to me, like I didn’t necessarily want it to happen, but it happened anyway. It sounds like I’m saying, “Marriage comes for us all, and today it finally got me.” It reminds me of a few other phrases.
“I got the flu.”
“I got fired.”
“I got a parking ticket.”
I used to think that marriage was a ridiculous notion. I was a clever 20-something with lots of ideas about the world. “It’s just a legal contract, man, a…
How chasing goals can grow your confidence and increase your happiness (small goals are fine — the goal doesn’t matter so much as the going)
A few days after graduation, still high from the fumes of acrylic paint on graduation caps, I tried pitching my resume to an online publishing house.
Surely they’ll like my English Degree. They’ll see I’m neat with words. They’ll appreciate my 3.72 GPA (or whatever it was). These were my thoughts at the time. Imagine my surprise when the online application didn’t even ask for my resume.
This is the first thing they asked.
What life accomplishment are you most proud of?
I was a little unnerved, like a hunter when the wise old moose suddenly turns and looks him…
How to bridge the gap between your work and your expectations
Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan once compared the life of a writer to the life of a student.
Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life.
Aspiring writers might envision any number of futures for themselves, from beach hammocks to press tours to photo shoots on the red carpet, but they’d probably be better off envisioning the life of a college student.
When I think back to my college days, I don’t remember relaxing in a beach chair with a mai-tai in one hand and a moleskin journal in the other. I remember early mornings…
And Santa Claus isn’t real
I’m a cynical sally when it comes to writing advice
I swear I used to be more optimistic. I used to worship the mythical symbols of the typewriter and the cigarette. I used to believe in the muse.
But these days I feel more like Miss Tick in Terry Pratchett’s novel, The Wee Free Man.
If you trust in yourself…and believe in your dreams…and follow your star…you’ll get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren’t so lazy.
I appreciate writing advice as much as the next writer, but in the end it all boils down to the same formula. Do you want to…
“Get out while you still can, mate.” A cautionary tale about losing control of your life
“British people are like cats: quiet, polite, reserved, sometimes arrogant. American people are like dogs: noisy, rude, fun-loving, sometimes dumb.”
A British guy named James told me that once. I choked on my beer.
Like all stereotypes, it contains a small portion of the truth, nowhere close to the whole pie. You don’t have to look very far in order to undermine the stereotype. For example, I’m an American but I’m usually pretty quiet and reserved. My friend David is from the U.K., but he doesn’t have an ounce of politeness or stateliness in his blood.
I say that David…
Writing and life advice from author Ken Kesey
Ken Kesey marched to the beat of his own drum
As a college student in California in the early 60's, Kesey earned his pocket money by participating in government-run experiments that tested the effects of drugs like mescaline and LSD. Then he turned around and used those experiences to write the ground-breaking novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
For some people that might be enough: literary fame, fortune and notoriety. You did it, man! You’re the next great American novelist! But Kesey was just getting started.
From his farm in the hills south of San Fransisco, Kesey began hosting the wild events that would later be known as the…
Lessons on self-reliance from Ralph Waldo Emerson
My third novel clocked in at 72,000 words. It took me 4 months to write the first draft, 6 months for three more drafts and three rounds of editing, 10 months total.
It was a fantasy novel, complete with daemons and dimensional portals and giant talking turtles. A fun story: friendship, betrayal, old wars, young love, action on every page. My 30th birthday was just around the corner and I should have been excited. I deserved the satisfaction of clicking that “publish” button on Amazon and casting my story off into the world… But I couldn’t hit the publish button…
Need a job? A change of pace? A break from the States? You’ve got options
I graduated college in 2009, the last time the economy was “down.”
A lot of my friends stayed near the university after they graduated, and understandably so. They found jobs using local connections and recommendations from professors, but I was itching to get out of Oklahoma (the elbow of America, they call it) after 4 years.
I found a job through a website called backdoor jobs and ended up spending the next two summers in Southeast Alaska. It was a win-win for me. I got to travel, have new experiences, and see the world, and at the same time, make…
My goal in life was “to be happy.”
“But what does that mean?”
“Being happy means to love, to laugh, to be free. To escape the rat race and the 9 to 5, to live intentionally, to value experience over possessions. It means to travel and be present and always stay true to myself.”
That’s how I would have answered in my 20’s. And I think I meant well. I was a pretty good kid. I got A’s in High School and College, never fathered any accidental children, and mostly stuck to over-the-counter drugs like alcohol.
But looking back now…
Jackson Mark Tandy
American expat, writer, podcaster, living in South Korea. “The Migooks” and “Head Trip with Jackson Tandy” are my podcasts. @jacksonmarktandy on Instagram.
