9 Ways To Start a Fire Without Matches
April 29, 2008
There is a primal link between man and fire. Every man should know how to start one. A manly man knows how to start one without matches. It’s an essential survival skill. You never know when you’ll find yourself in a situation where you’ll need a fire, but you don’t have matches. Maybe your single engine plane goes down while you’re flying over the Alaskan wilderness, like the kid in Hatchet. Or perhaps you’re out camping and you lose your backpack in a tussle with a bear. It need not be something as dramatic at these situations-even extremely windy or wet conditions can render matches virtually uselessly. And whether or not you ever need to call upon these skills, it’s just damn cool to know you can start a fire, whenever and wherever you are.
The Manival #1
April 29, 2008
Welcome to first edition of the Manival! The Manival is a blog carnival that brings together the best posts by man bloggers written with men in mind. I’m really excited about the response we got for the first edition. We received 20 submissions for the first Manival. I hope it will continue to grow each week.
So if you’re ready to put some hair on your chest, let’s get started with the Manival.
The Virtuous Life: Moderation
April 27, 2008
This is the ninth post in a series about living the virtuous life like Benjamin Franklin.
Avoid extremes. Forebear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
Have you been in a relationship that started out with amazing passion? You got butterflies every time you saw the person and wanted to be with them every moment of every day. The connection was
electric. But after a few month things started to fizzle. You began to get bored and restless. The fire has faded to a spark.
Or have you ever moved to a new and breathtakingly beautiful place? The first few months you lived there you were awed each day by the scenery. Just going out to get the mail was an opportunity to gaze with wonder into the distance. But as the years go by those once breathtaking surroundings become just the ordinary background of your day to day life.
Remember the last time you bought a CD that you were completely blown away by? You listened to the songs over and over again; they stirred something inside you. But after a few months you could listen without really even noticing it was on. And eventually you got a bit tired of it and put a new CD in rotation.
What is the common thread in all of these situations? They all show the way in which our brains quickly become accustomed to stimulation. While at first our senses are acutely tuned in to the input they are receiving, they fast become acclimated to the stimuli. The stimuli lose the ability to wow us and give us pleasure. We become numb to it. At this point most people reach for something new to experience those fresh feelings anew.
This is certainly the answer society gives us for our restlessness, our boredom, our anxiousness, and unhappiness. The answer is always MORE. More stimulation. More sex, more movies, more music, more drinking, more money, more freedom, more food. More of anything is sold as the cure for everything. Yet paradoxically, the more stimulation we receive, the less joy and enjoyment we get out of it. The key to experiencing greater fulfillment and pleasure is actually moderation.
The Art of Manliness Weekly Roundup: Law School Finals Edition
April 26, 2008
This week finals start for me in law school. I’ll be cranking away for the next few days filling my mind with law and preparing myself for grueling three to four hour exams. I’ll be done with finals next Thursday, which means I’ll have more time to dedicate to writing on AoM. I can’t wait.
I also wanted to remind everyone about the first edition of the Manival that’s coming up this Tuesday. If you have a blog and have a post that would be of interest to men, please submit it. So far I’ve received about 13 great submisions. Deadline to submit is Monday, April 28 at 4PM.
Finally, if you haven’t already, make sure to stop by and register in the brand new Art of Manliness Forums. It’s only up been up for a few days now and we already over 190 users providing some great discussion.
Now for some links:
5 Ways Productivity Can Turn You Into a Real Nutjob (@ the growing life) I’m all for being productive, but it’s easy to get carried away it and turn yourself into a complete schmuck. Clay discusses five types of productivity d-bags. My favorite: Mr. Hyper Motivated Renaissance Man.
Shirts For Work (@ newly corporate) Newly Corporate blog has a series going on about dressing for work. They have an informative post about what you need to know when it comes to business casual shirts.
How to De-ruttify Yourself (@ ramoney) Every now and then we all get in ruts. Most of the time they work their way out of your system. Sometimes, however, you have to be proactive about it and get yourself out of the rut. I wrote about this same topic a while back ago in Shift Yourself Out of Neutral.
The Seven Deadly Sins of Relationship. (@ zen habits) Relationships take work. Leo at Zen Habits reminds of seven things we should avoid doing in a relationship if we want the relationship to be happy and successful.
There’s More to Life Than Six Pack Abs
April 24, 2008
Photo by Tanworkboots
Men’s magazines are filled with exercise and workout routines designed to give you a chiseled physique. The glossy ads in the magazine showcase the desired result of all this work: a chiseled and ripped body. But what is the end goal of the pursuit of all
this muscle? Some men work out for the health benefits, for pleasure, and to generally stay in shape. This is reasonable and desirable. Every man should want to be fit and healthy. But some men develop an unhealthy obsession with getting a ripped physique. Steroid use has become common, not just for athletes, but also for average joes who don’t want to be so average. But to what end? To attract the ladies? To meet some idealized image of the male body? Such a pursuit is a huge waste of time. Here are some reasons why:
How to Leave the Perfect Voicemail
April 22, 2008
Photo by roujo
I’m not a big fan of voicemail. I don’t mind leaving voicemail messages; I just hate having to listen to them. For some strange reason when people know their voice is being recorded, their brain short circuits. What normally would take 30 seconds to say, now takes 2 minutes.
I don’t mind it so much for people I know. I have to deal with them on a daily basis, so I can’t hold voicemail grudges against them. However, if someone cold calls me or it’s just an acquaintance that calls, a crappy voicemail annoys me and leaves a bad impression.
I know. It’s superficial, but I’m human. But a prospective employer or client is also human, so there’s a good chance that crappy, unclear, and long voicemails annoy them too.So, for your consideration, here are 10 tips to help you leave the perfect voicemail and, consequently, a good impression.
Introducing The Art of Manliness Discussion Forum
April 22, 2008
Today, I’m excited to announce the addition of a discussion forum to Art of Manliness. You’ll notice a link in the navigation bar to the forum. I encourage you all to sign up today and start engaging each other in a dialog about all things manly.
Accepting Submissions For Manival #1
April 21, 2008
I just wanted to remind everyone about the all new blog carnival for men, called the Manival, will be hosted here at AoM next Tuesday. The Manival will include links to some of the best posts in the blogosphere on all things man. So far, I’ve received a couple of great submissions and I’m looking forward to more.
If you blog and have written something that you think would be interesting/helpful for men, please submit it to the Manival with this handy-dandy submission form. (Update: the submission form is not working. Please use the contact form to send me your submission.)The more bloggers the merrier! It’s an easy way to promote your best content and introduce your blog to some new readers.
Deadline for submissions is Monday, April 28.
The Virtuous Life: Justice
April 20, 2008
This is the eighth post in a series on living the virtuous life like Benjamin Franklin.
“JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.”
Man is a social animal. Everyday we interact with people in different capacities and relationships. In order to ensure that these interactions go smoothly, human beings have developed rights and obligations that each individual and community must recognize. The virtue of justice guides men in their quest to respect these boundaries and responsibilities.
The Art of Manliness Weekly Roundup: The Manival Edition
April 19, 2008
Over the past few months, I’ve noticed a proliferation of man blogs and blog posts dedicated to men’s issues. Lots of these sites provide great content on being a better man. I think it’s high time we started a blog carnival for posts dedicated to man stuff. Therefore, I submit to the man blog community the creation of “The Manival.”
What’s a blog carnival?
A blog carnival is basically an aggregation of the best posts on a given topic. Each week, a different blog hosts the carnival, highlighting posts other bloggers have submitted. It’s a way bloggers can recognize each other’s efforts, spread the word about their blog, and create more conversation in their niche. Readers benefit because they’re introduced to new content from other blogs.
The Manival
I propose that The Manival be a weekly blog carnival, posted every Monday morning. I plan to host the first one on Monday, April 28, 2008. If you have a post that you would like to include in the first edition of the Manival, please use this handy submission form here. I’ll be taking submissions until April 27 at 4PM.
If you’re interested in hosting The Manival, please let me know. Hosting is a great way to bring new traffic and publicity to your site.
Now time for some links:
The 25 most difficult questions I found this while stumbling the other day. It offers suggested ways to answer some of the most difficult job interview questions you may encounter.
The 7 deadly sins of résumé design (@ life clever) Not only is the content of your resume important, but also the way it looks. Make a great first impression by avoiding these resume design mishaps.
The Cult of Abundance, Goal Autoimmune Disorder, & Abundance 2.0 (@ the growing life) This was a very thoughtful post from Clay at the Growing Life. I think he’s spot on with his critiques of the abundance cult that books like “The Secret” have created.
The Holy Trinity of Fitness (@ schaefer’s blog) Push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups. These three simple exercises can give you a quick and effective workout.
10 Ways to Be A Good Husband (@ a good husband) This is a solid list of ways you can be a better husband.
