I am constitutionally incapable of many things that normal people experience such as self-pity, jealousy and depression, among others.

So for that reason I am often puzzled by the things that people do, actions that just seem so counter-productive and avoidable from my perspective.

I realized when I was in the army that most people could make themselves many times more attractive with these few things: losing weight, being more confident, and dressing nicely.

It won’t turn you into Tricia Helfer or George Clooney, but it will take you from The Dude to Mads Mikkelsen on most days. Or for a woman from that little girl who crawls out of the TV in The Ring to Amy Poehler.

People don’t want to hear those hard truths, though. People want to be told, You are perfect just like you are, you special, special snowflake.

No one today wants to be told – and there are whole industries and enclaves of society who stupidly promote avoiding this – that, yeah, you’d be better if you changed everything.

Goddamn, glad I didn’t get that message, or at least did not listen to it. I can’t think of how ghastly and dreadful my life would be if I’d taken that Tumblr SJW bullshit to heart.

One of the things that most surprised me when I learned about it was just how fantastically difficult to produce and how expensive was most clothing before the industrial age.

That even well-off people might have hade only two – or at the most, three – outfits was a bit of a shock.

Most people have no idea that a decent outfit (including shoes) might have cost $5,000 in today’s dollars in 1700. It is just hard to imagine, I’ll grant. All for an ensemble that today might run $150 or less, if one finds a good sale.

That you can still find places that will sell you 5 t-shirts for $10 would absolutely amaze your ancestor from 1800. More than just about anything, I’d wager.