Wondering

...if I should buy this book: "Correctly English in 100 Days(Shanghai Correctly English Society, 1934)". The publishers blurb is frightfully compelling: "This book is prepared for the Chinese young man who wishes to served for the foreign firms. It divided nealy hundred and ninety pages. It contains full of ordinary speak and write language....." So tempting.

I consider my prose and general English usage to be at the high end of competent, but I do enjoy books that promise to be full of linguistical insights, and frankly I've never encountered English used in quite this fashion.

I didn't buy another book that I really wanted. It has a stellar reputation. All five-stars on Amazon and various websites of interest. Dinosaur Training. I found it online in PDF form. Far out. It's not easy to get. One copy on Amazon, for a hundred bucks. I would have paid fifty for it, based on the enthusiasm. I crave excellent information. And I found it free online! Very lucky, cuz the book, so far, is sort of a waste of time.

Half way through it and there's been no real information. It's a long pep talk from coach. About lifting HARD with HEAVY weight!!! The author is a lawyer, and absolutely in love with saying the same thing eight slightly different ways in the same paragraph. Cuz, like, that makes it better. Two possibilities. Either he is a writer, and so he writes a lot; or he's not a writer, and so he writes a lot. Alas, he needed an editor. The book would have been a fifth of its current length. Chapters are about 6 pages long. What does that tell us? He's collected his rants, and shared them. A good thing, if you need to be motivated, or if the philosophy is new to you, of lifting HARD with HEAVY weight like the oldtime REAL MEN used to do. Neither is the case with me -- I motivate myself, and I know the philosophy.

If you want a good book on the topic, get Brawn. Flawed, of course, but the only perfect book you ever would find on the topic is the one that I have not written.

Just finished another book on fitness training. Infinite Intensity! Groovy name. All you need is a catchy title, and you're set. Infinite Dinosaurs! That's gonna be my new catch phrase. But why is it that these writers all have such porous prose? I want density. The author gives a quote from some contemporary athlete: "You may be bigger and stronger, but I have more will." They do love these sorts of sayings. Sounds good, doesn't it. As if virtue will prevail.

But did it take no will to become bigger and stronger? Is the presumption always that such attributes are gifts, unearned and undeserved? The reasoning doesn't track. The variables correlate randomly. Some are big and strong with will, some without. Some have will, and are big and strong, and some are not. As for will, perhaps it will be the deciding factor, and perhaps not. Your will is insignificant, no matter how great, if my size and power dominate it regardless of my will. Will comes into play only in extremis. If it never gets to that point, it is incidental.

I seem to be starting with static holds again. Just holding a lot of weight, for, say, ten seconds. Did that 8 or so years ago, got up to something over 800 pounds, just holding the barbell at my hips for fifteen seconds. Took it up again last night. Did it again a little tonight. Only 430 or so. Sounds like a lot, but it's half of what I could do, so even after nearly a decade, my bones remember. It's nice to be good at something. I expect I could hold something well over 600 right now, without training. But I'll go slow. Finding enough weight is going to be a problem. Home gym. Need a few 100 pound plates, and maybe chains. We shall see.

Point is, it's good to have a goal again. CF is amorphous -- do this a lot and you'll get better. The goal is "better", which is just too vague for me. The gains are real, but of a different order than pure strength. Both are good. I will be good at both.

And here's my own inspirational quote: "Failure just means you've found your next goal." (wise saying by Jack H, famous internet philosopher) Subscribe to my weekly newsletter at the low low cost of only a one-time joining fee of $49.95 and a low low monthly payment of 17.23 Euros automatically deducted from checking account to receive very many similarely insightful and witty origigal wordings for young chinees man in firms wishes correctly to workout extra ordinarily fitness.


J