Not A Dumb Muscle Guy

TC,

Thanks for the great article. I am 6"6" and weigh 270 lbs.,and would guess my bodyfat is about 11-12%. For years I have been trying to dispel the misconception of the dumb muscle guy. I went to the University of Tennessee and have a degree in business, am currently pursuing my MBA. I also have minors in biology, chemistry, and philosophy, not because I had to but because I wanted to learn. I think a true "T-Man" is an educated man that has an unquenchable desire to learn about the things he loves and that drives him on the inside. Physiology, nutrition, philosophy, weight training, and sex. Though am not Rhodes Scholar like Wesley Clark, I wanted to write to let you know this reader is educated or at least I know anything French is from France, and a tie clip goes on a tie. Thanks TC!!

Brad

aka: Alphamale

Crazy Warrior Nerd?

I want to be a warrior nerd!!  I have all the needed traits.

I am fit as a fiddle - down right muscular and studly.  I can carry the garbage all the way to the dumpster without having to stop once for a rest. 

I am a genius and a true renaissance man.  I can sing the theme songs to almost every sitcom produced since 1957.  "Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip. It started from this tropic port aboard this tiny ship." you get the idea.  I read constantly - just this past year I finished a book that was over 250 pages.  I have read part of every issue of Cat Fancy magazine this year.

I am a connoisseur of fine wine and food.  I have tried every type of sausage / hot dog that they grill at the little hot dog stand in front of Home Depot.  I even eat Sushi and like it.

I am a very sharp dresser.  I have approximately 7 pairs of shoes / boots - I even have a pair of two-tone saddle shoes I wear on special occasions. All of my pants are tailored for my very nice butt - they are snug and fit just tight enough to show my underwear lines which I think is a real turn-on.

If you would like me to be President of this new club I would be honored.  I have considerable leadership experience.  I am the President of HOA where the residents love and adore me.

I look forward to hearing more from you.

Grant

Too Much TV

Dear TC,

I totally understand your crisis of faith. All it takes is for me to remember 'dubya' in his speech upon landing in Hawaii, "Thank you for welcoming me to your great nation of Hawaii."

Did we fight World War II so Hawaii could be it’s own national? Also, the sheer density of people today bothers me greatly(as it does you apparently). Most conversations today aren't about intelligent things, it's what's on the mind numbing device we call a television. And unfortunately, most these shows glorify things that don’t require intellect at all. I mean, I have a choice:either A. eat, work and go to school to make a living or, B. Risk my life by eating roaches and other things in the hopes of becoming rich temporarily because America is infatuated with dumb TV.

Anyways, keep faith TC. You and the T-mag guys (Berardi, Shugart, etc.) have been great influences for me and my warrior nerd friends. I am a full time (16 semester hours) student at the University of Georgia, studying for my bachelor in business administration. I got an award for 'best economics student' while pursuing a two-year degree. All this while working full time, working out, eating well and having a social life. My current GPA is 3.67, not shabby at all. I am active in helping my friends and community, and always strive to improve my life, and the lives of my friends. I am pursuing a graduate degree while maintaining a full time job. And the best part is, I've got friends just like myself, all pursuing high educations while working and just being great people overall. Who knows, maybe some of us will grow up and start a new political party, the "T party" where we petition Congress to require minimum IQ tests for gun holding and driving.

In conclusion, I manage to make B's or better, work full time and contribute to the community, and I weigh in at 172lbs. I can currently incline bench press 290 and bench 315, deadlift 460, squat 400.... Not too shabby, eh?

-chet plewacki

Nerdy Muscleheads

TC,

Just wanted to drop you a note that there are still nerdy T-Men out here. Shawn Walsh (hvywt78 on forums) and myself work at a DNA facility, we teamed up and redesigned our synthesizers to produce better oligos at a fraction of the cost. Number crunchers are saying we created a savings of $12,000 a day while increasing the coupling efficiency higher than anyone has ever seen! Not bad for a couple of gym rats. Walsh is a novice bodybuilder and I am a former bodybuilder (won a leather coat from you if you recall) now one of Coach Davies’ Renegades training in order to give strongman and powerlifting a shot.

Don't let the Forum Idiots get to you. It has gotten so bad, I hardly even check it anymore. A lot of intelligent people have come and gone, and that is too bad. I think the forumites think and type too much and train too little.

Anyway, just wanted to reassure you that the nerdy musclehead still exists, at least two of us do....

In faith,

Matt

Legal Warrior 

I am writing in response to your "Crisis of Faith" article.

I am a prosecutor with the Clark County District Attorney's Office in Las Vegas, Nevada. I am currently assigned to the Domestic Abuse and Stalking Unit. I picked my job from a desire to fight as an unconflicted gladiator for victims. My visceral reaction to my job is that it is combat; at the most basic of levels, that is what it feels like for me. Yet I suspect it probably also qualifies as "brain work."

I also teach Constitutional Law at the Metropolitan Police Department's Academy and Domestic Stalking classes to working police officers. In the past I have taught Basic Asset Forfeiture and Search and Seizure to working officers.

Before I came to work at the DA's office, I co-authored a book (on a land use planning specific subject), wrote an article published in a nationally distributed law journal, a non-fiction article about the Battle of Hannah's Cowpens published in Strategy and Tactics Journal, a short piece of historical fiction published in Chronique Magazine and 5 published poems.

I do not know if that qualifies me as a "nerd" or not.

In terms of the other side of the coin, I am a regular reader of Testosterone, lift often, can deadlift 435 ten times in ten minutes, bench 365 x 6 with good form, one-armed snatch 185 for a couple of reps, and do 9 weighted sit-ups with 270 on my chest; not anything to brag about, but not entirely embarrassing.

I used to box, wrestled varsity and also played varsity football at university, and have fiddled around with various martial arts, including Judo, where I won the State Games in my home state for a couple of years and mixed martial arts, where I ran a club and used to help teach a Tactical Groundfighting class to police officers.

A few years back I was doing a considerable amount of old style arnis and drifted from there into full force medieval combat re-enactment in a group called the SCA. I spend much of my free time nowadays re-enacting medieval sword fighting and training others to do so.

I do not know if that qualifies me as the sort you are soliciting comments from; but given how much I have enjoyed your writings I thought the least I could do would be to send you a response.

If your crisis is legitimate, I would have you know I do not in any way feel unique. Certainly many of my adult family members are better educated than I am (holding doctorates or working on them) and probably fit your profile better. My younger brother, who severely damaged his knee at a wrestling tournament, but who still works out regularly and practices Brazilian Jiujitsu, holds a PhD from Columbia in International Finance and works at a highbrow firm in San Francisco; he has written several published articles which are very much over my head.

My father, also holding a PhD, is one of the toughest men I know, a golden gloves boxer and the second best shot freehand with a rifle I have ever seen (his wife, my step-mother, is a little bit better shot than he is). He has slowed down considerably since being thrown by a horse he was breaking, but he is still a tough old bird. Last I counted he had written 4 technical books and over 20 published articles.

A good friend of mine, Jim Hirsoulas, is a black belt in several martial arts forms, did a tour in Vietnam with a special forces unit, and served as a DEA agent before being shot in the line of duty and retiring. He is now one of the foremost swordsmiths in the world, holds a PhD in Metalography, is a visting instructor at several universities, has written several books and numerous articles on technical subjects and speaks about a dozen languages, in addition to being an awesome cook (if given to somewhat exotic tastes). His swords and knives are works of art that are wondrous to behold; especially as everything he forges are painstakingly researched and based upon real historical blades.

The "warrior nerds" are out there, all over the place.

Conrad Claus

History Nerd

TC,

I read your Crisis of Faith plea and I was moved to action.  Biotest and T-Mag have given me so much over the last 2 years that I felt I owed it to you.  My name is Matt Spencer and I am a devoted member of the T-nation.  Outside of lifting, I am also a senior in college majoring in history with a minor in political science.  I am a member of two national honors societies and was awarded an academic scholarship last semester for my work in history.  I have never received a grade below a 4.0 in a history class in over 7 semesters and right now I am in the process of applying to graduate schools for history.  I plan on attaining my masters degree, and then proceeding to get my doctorate after that. 

Have faith, we are out there. 

Sincerely,

Matt Spencer

High GPA

TC,

I think I'm a "warrior nerd."  I spend quite a bit of my free time in the gym, while still maintaining a 3.7+ GPA as a second year MBA student at the University of Rochester.  Next year, I'll be pursuing a PhD in Consumer Behavior at a TBD academic institution.

Rest assured, there are a few of us out there who truly appreciate your candor and look forward to reading your razor-sharp columns.  Keep up the great work!

-Mark Ratchford

Works with the Governator

Do not worry; all is not lost.

There are those of us out there who enjoy a robust and muscular physique while still reaching peaks of academic and social achievement. I work for a political consulting firm in Sacramento and work closely with the new Governor's office, and, like just about everyone else I suppose, I have a blog (http://whohah.livejournal.com/). Also, you can look to Andrew Sullivan and his blog (http://www.andrewsullivan.com/) — the man's a conundrum wrapped in a oxymoron. Republican, gay, an outspoken journalist, and ripped beyond belief.

By the way, the reason Clark's campaign is de-emphasizing his intellectual achievements is not just due to American's disdain for being spoken down to, but that the campaign see's that the lone facet that can give him an edge over Bush and the other Dem. candidates is his military experience. With no political background to work with, the Clark campaign is (as your would say, over-)emphasizing his professional background. They are bringing up his academic history, but because the average voter — who the campaign is targeting — does not pay too much attention to politics, they are trying to engage in some serious message repetition in order to make "GENERAL" stick in their minds. As my boss is fond of saying, "When the political junkie hears a message for the millionth time, only then does the first average voter get it."

-Colin Sueyres

Fine Arts Student

After reading your Crisis of Faith article in this weeks issue I have debated on writing you or not. I am sitting hear sleepless, so I figured why the hell not, my little story might just be of some interest.

As far as accomplishments go, training and nutrition aside, I have recently been accepted into and completed my first semester of a Grad program that only accepted 7 people out of 100+ applicants. The reason this might stand out in the T-nation is due to the subject I am studying. I am currently in a Masters of Fine Arts Program.

I get some odd looks from people when they ask me what I am studying. I guess I just don't look the part. I weight train, I work construction to get funds to survive, I change my own oil, and I generally hang out with these same types of people. On the flip side you can also often find me at the latest art opening, or working on a painting in preparation for a showing of my own. I have also been caught at times reading lengthy writings on art theory.

Even my fellow grad. students find me a little on the odd side. I just don’t seem to totally fit in either crowd . I think I might be the only art grad. in history that when preparing for my move across the country for grad studies, packed a power rack, bench, and an entertainment center as my only pieces of furniture.

I guess I will also add that I have even had some minor success in the art world. I have had a couple showings, even selling a piece or two. My most notable sale coming from a Museum that bought one of my paintings to add to their permanent collection after I won a purchase award in an exhibition.

Well that’s about it. I just figured my situation might add a little variety to the responses you received from your article.

Many Thanks For The Great Articles,

Keep Em' Coming

Phil Stevens.

Learned Life’s Lessons

TC,

I have read your Atomic Dog religiously each Monday for about four years.

Sometimes I chuckle, sometimes I laugh. Sometimes I am moved to deeper thought. Sometimes I don't relate. In short, it is everything I look for in an opinion piece.

Professionally I am the Vice President and General Manager of a division of the world's largest printer. I have several hundred employees and am responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue.

My career could be characterized as a builder of businesses. In the 80's I was the finance guy on two spin-offs of wholly owned subsidiaries from Fortune 500 companies in aerospace in Colorado and electronics in New York.

In the 90's I did deals to merge, acquire and consolidate beer distributorships into the largest beverage distributor in the Pacific Northwest. I then went into the outsourced customer service industry and grew a $6 million start-up to an $80 million, multi-national corporation in six years.

In 2001 I joined an elite group of professionals at the world's third largest printer, which at that time was about one payroll cycle away from bankruptcy, cast caution to the wind and moved to Texas. We immediately reestablished profitability and today we have acquired and merged and evolved ourselves into the largest printer in the world. Our stock price has gone from $2 per share to over $17 in less than three years.

Weight training has always been a metaphor for my career. Whether a bicep or in business, growth always comes as result of sustained hard work, discipline, rigor, working from a detailed plan and sacrifice. I have experienced gains and losses. If a plan fails to work you change it, if you stay with one plan too long you encounter diminishing returns. I worked too much and lost my wife and kids. I balanced my approach and gained a new wife, another child and a far greater understanding of love and family. I have known the feeling of strength & invincibility and stared into the depths of illness. I have learned valuable lessons in humility from both Ian King and unemployment. Through it all, I am a better man.

The boardroom is my battlefield, the gym is my sanctuary and my family is my haven. If they keep score I want to play. I'll bust my ass for you if you ask for help. I'll bust your balls if you screw with my family or me. I like the way I look naked, and relish the process of looking better still.

And I love reading the Atomic Dog on Monday mornings.

In my profession the highest compliment you get is from a peer who says, "I respect your work." TC, from one Warrior Nerd to another, I respect your work. There is no empty cave. We're out here and we need you.

Jim Stofer

Put His Hands in Fate

TC,

You want some of your faith restored in man's intellectual abilities, then I have a personal story for you.  I call this story "A Leap of Faith."

It started in July of 2000, I was in a dead end job setting up machines for a powdered metal company.  Don't get me wrong not everyone can set up a compacting press; you’re working with thousands of dollars in tooling, one wrong move and there goes about 5 to 10 grand in one second. Let me tell you this is no cakewalk of a job.

I came home dirtier than a garage mechanic everyday. It was so bad the bottom of my shower at home looked like it was painted black from powdered metal.  Just in case you don't know about powdered metal, it is the consistency of dust and it will find its way into every pore on your body, literally.  Anyhow I was miserable thinking that this was what I was going to be doing for the rest of my life, then fate stepped in or a miracle happened which every way you look at it.  A friend of mine started his own machine shop and landed a contract with a small start-up company making some plastic parts for this guy.  The man that started this company was looking for help building Toxic gas detection equipment.  Detectors that sense gases such as Nitrogen Triflouride(NF3) or Hydrazine, N2H4(rocket fuel).  So this guy, now my mentor, asked my friend that started the machine shop if he knew anyone that might be able to comprehend this stuff, so he gave him my name because my friend knew I needed something different in my life. 

So I interviewed with this man and he said he saw a diamond in the rough and took me under his wing.  Things were tough for a while, which made me wonder had I done the right thing by taking this job or this leap of faith. I had to take a huge cut in pay, which forced me to get a part time job bouncing at a bar, which turned out to be a good thing.  My boss at the bar is a weight lifting fanatic, that in turn rubbed off on me.  So to make a long story short, my full time job now takes me all across the country installing toxic gas detection equipment in semi-conductor labs, rocket launching facilities, petro-chemical plants, not to mention having intellectual conversations with PhD scientists, and my part-time job bouncing at a bar got me into lifting weights and physically going from a scrawny 190lbs, 6 foot 7 inches tall to a now much more muscular 245lbs. and the ultimate fringe benefit of meeting a multitude of different women. 

Did  I mention I now make more money than I ever have before, with this job?  Things in my life have only gotten better since I took a leap of faith.  Sorry TC if some of my sentences in this story are kind of rambling, I'm telling you this story from work so I'm hurrying as I do this, but I thought this was a good story for the people that think life sucks. I used to think that myself.  Anyhow, keep up the good work at T-Mag, you guys have been a source of information and motivation, as well a big contributing factor in my muscle mass gains thru your products.

Best regards,

Aaron Matheson

Studies Anatomy

Hey TC,

My name is Mike Prewitt and I a student at the University of Kansas. I am

in your same shoes, astonished by the lack of intelligence everywhere and how smart people are somehow looked down upon. Now that I am at college I have seen more stupid people here than I have anywhere else. I think I am the exception to that. I am just finishing up my third semester and I am shooting for a 3.75 GPA for this semester. My GPA up to this point is 3.48. I am at least a semester ahead of schedule for graduation. I am majoring in Exercise Science and while I haven't gotten too in depth yet, I am rolling through the classes that pertain to my major.

I have an anatomy lecture and lab right now with 97% and 96% on my lecture tests, and 99%, 92%, 90% on my lab class. The 99% and 92% were the highest grades in my lab class. The lab is down on cadavers so it's not like the tests are just diagrams, they are all tagged on real human bodies.

Next semester I am going to try and volunteer in the Biomechanics Research Lab here to start getting myself acclimated to lab work. I plan on going on and getting a Masters Degree and Doctoral Degree and running my own research program at a university. I haven't accomplished a whole lot yet, but I plan on it in the future. Hopefully this will give you some faith not only in the intelligence of T-Men now, but also in T-Men of future.

Mike Prewitt

Botanist Nerd

Hey TC,

I can't help but write to you, given the remarkable coincidence of you writing this particular article today.  In fact, just this very day, in my graduate level class on forage crop management here at Texas A&M University, during my presentation dealing with forage management consideration regarding the Omega-3 content of forage (and therefore the animal products), I mentioned to the whole class that I first discovered the importance of these EFA's on "Testosterone.com, a website all about getting big and looking good naked."  Really.

Yeah, so...I'm getting a Masters Degree in Plant Breeding (cotton) and I doing my damnedest to strike a mighty blow against the hideous Corn Hegemony (and farm subsidies) by speaking out against them in casual conversation whenever I get a chance. Two words: "paleolithic diet."  And I've loved T-Mag for years.  Hope this helps to warm your heart in some way.

-Justin West

Einstein and Orwell

TC,

I can't tell you how personal your article 'crisis of faith' was. Last week, I watched "Street Smarts" for the first time as well, and similarly, was also a bit depressed after the stupidity displayed. As Einstein said "only 2 things are infinite: human stupidity and the universe. And I'm not so sure about the latter."

I didn't want to believe this, but sadly, it's true. I recently read an article by George Orwell, titled "politics in the English language" and it got me thinking... is stupidity an attribute of poor use of language? It was quite sad to see how much language is misused almost everywhere.

I think you'll like this article. You can find it at this link:

http://www.resort.com/~prime8/Orwell/patee.html

Enjoy,

Igor.

Quick Study

TC,

I am a long time reader and occasional forum participant.  I work in the insurance field.  I have my MBA.  I completed an insurance designation called the FLMI (Fellow, Life Management Institute) in 4 months.  It was 10 courses long, self-study followed by proctored exams, and for the potential stupid readers if this published, a proctored exam does not mean I took it with a finger up my ass.  Each FLMI course is equivalent to a bachelors’ level college course.  So I basically completed a "year of college" in 4 months while working and hitting the gym.  I am currently working on my CLU designation, which some readers will probably recognize that their insurance agent may have.  So I guess I consider myself fairly smart.

Yours Truly,

Jason T. Bangs, MBA, FLMI, ACS, AIAA, PCS, CES (all of these are silly insurance designations except the MBA)

All-But-Dissertation in Computer Science

TC,

Here are a few things that make me a warrior:

I lift weights religiously.

A friend and I once chased down and caught a burglar.

I once got hit by a car going 45 mph and was on my feet a few seconds later, a bit dizzy but not a scratch on me (lots of internal bruising though, as I found out the next morning).

When my chin got split open in a basketball game I kept playing until someone noticed all the blood.

When my lip got split open in a basketball game, I glued it together with super glue (it healed perfectly).

When the knuckle of my little finger got smashed to pieces in a basketball game, I kept playing.

And here are a few things that make me a nerd:

I am a research scientist.

I have degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and am ABD (all-but-dissertation for a PhD) in CS.

I got straight "A"s while pursuing those degrees (except for the first two years of undergrad, when I was a slacker).

I spend most of my waking hours writing computer software (unlike most researchers, it is software that people actually use).

I no longer play basketball.

-LB

"Imagine how stupid the average person is... now realize that half the people in the world are STUPIDER THAN THAT!"

— George Carlin

Velociraptor Smart

TC,

I know exactly where you are coming from. It seems the world around us is getting stupider by the second, and the government has to do everything in it's power to keep us from killing ourselves by taking away every right that the Constitution grants us. If we could get a president who would just let the idiots kill themselves off, then we would probably have half the laws we have now.

As for an intellectual accomplishment, I don't have many being I am only 17 but I did score a 1300 on my SAT's for whatever that's worth. And just to prove your point that being intelligent is badass, if you ever saw Jurassic Park, the Velociraptors were the most dangerous because they could think, not because they could bench 700lbs.

Brian

Mathematical Nerd

To Mr. Luoma:

I'm a senior in college here at Caltech in Pasadena, CA. Next year I'll go begin graduate work in mathematics. I'm also a powerlifter; over winter break I'm traveling to Omaha, NE to qualify for USAPL collegiate nationals.

I've seen that show, "Street Smarts" and I feel your pain. Boy, are some people clueless. I've watched that show maybe 5-6 times; one time they had people trying to identify pictures of political leaders. Well, nobody knew Donald Rumsfeld's picture, and only 1 in 5 could identify Colin Powell. There was also a lady who didn't recognize George W. Bush. How can you elect leaders if you don't know enough about them to even know what they look like? It's not like their pictures aren't all over the newspapers.

Anyway, I aspire to be one of your "warrior nerds." A couple of months ago I finally got my squat above 500 (at 181), and I'm looking for more.

Thanks for producing such a great publication. I've been reading the online articles every Friday since I heard about Testosterone (when I started training Westside a year ago). My computer desktop is the one that says "Testosterone" with the inferno background. That is the best desktop ever.

Sincerely,

James W. Hegeman

Programming his Food

TC,

Hi. I've never written you before but I read T-mag religiously. (Don't lose faith). I'm about to graduate with a degree in computer science w/ a minor in accounting.

Here is your nerd: I spent a couple days programming a "Berardi" program for myself. I just enter in my physical stats and my favorite (healthy)

foods and the program tells me the exact amount of each food I can eat along with the exact price of each portion. Also, as I make my selection, the list is updated so that only the foods I can eat remain, along

with their portion and price. Why should I have to rack my brain to figure out my meals? Let the computer do its job.

How's that?

Jonathan Cordell

Political Nerd

TC,

I was enjoying your latest Atomic Dog: 'Crisis of Faith' so much, I was considering writing to you even before you solicited e-mails from readers.

Like you, I am a political freak, and graduate on December 18 with Bachelor of Arts (with majors in Political Science and History) and Bachelor of Commerce (Finance, Accounting) degrees.

What annoys me more than anti-intellectualism, however, is apathy. No one seems to care about anything, and it is not just political apathy. A lecturer of mine threw a party after the final exam of a year-long class (American Politics) and about 20 of the 80 enrolled students bothered to turn up. Similarly, no one seems to read or contribute to our student magazine—the only upside of which is the drivel I write gets published without question.

Perhaps this apathy is just a product of the busier lifestyle which most of us lead, but I fail to see how 12 hours of class a week is too much for Arts students. Stuff matters. T-mag recognises this and I hope T-Nation members do too. Keep up the good work and stay passionate.

Chris Prunty

Canberra, Australia

P.S. Your article last week mentioned daytime TV, here in Australia they play "Jerry Springer" during the day. I was wondering, in terms of moronic TV, is that as bad as it gets?

Swedish Warrior Nerd

Hey! I live in Sweden so I'll hope you excuse my crappy English!

I want to answer you about the warrior-nerd article that is so fucking great!!

I'm 22 now, I've had a tough childhood and all that shit made me a T-man, but not the usual thug wannabe.... well maybe before when I did some stupid shit but now I've really managed to turn my life around I study one of the toughest educations in Europe and I've managed really good. No more smoking spliff. That's pretty good for a guy who didn't even finish high school.

There are warrior nerds out here—I'm one. It's the "intelligent macho" in T-mag that makes it so good! I feel like all your articles are about me! And guess what, I'm surrounded by these non-blue lizards all day that article was great.

T-mag and lifting weights got me through a lot of shit. Thank you sooo much! Maybe I'd still be fucking up if it wasn't for you guys. Now I know I'll get far, really far, a tornado with my own will. Thank you t-mag!

Keep shining into our lives and bring us motivation—not in the gym—but in life. T-mag has helped my lifting a lot, but when I think about it, it means much much more than that.

If you want to contact me just e-mail, so long!

Foodtime...

Michigan Math Whiz

Well, here's a brief list of the academic achievements I'm most proud of.

I participated in the Michigan Math Prize competition almost every year from seventh grade to senior year. I made it to round 2 off the MMP, beating around 9,900 students, my Sophomore year in high school (I missed round 2 by 1 bloody point every other year).

I did some peer tutoring in High School and managed to help at least 3 students go from D's to B's or better. I took almost every AP class my High School offered and attended summer school and night school at a local university while in High School.

I managed to build up enough credits to formally enroll in Michigan Technological University with junior standing after my first term. I finished off my Bachelor's of Computer Science by the time I was 20, no honors though. Taking 24 credits of 400-level classes is kinda rough.

I hope this helps,

Paul Balyeat

Wasting Away

I feel your pain TC, I truly do.  I could tell you about how I just graduated from university with first class honors in Computer Science, but that would warrant an explanation of why I am wasting away in a call center job, solving problems for the very same people your article laments.

Instead, I'll just let you know that you aren't alone, there are those of those that lift religiously and are smart, and we share your pain.

On a side note what ever happened to that smart kid that you did an Atomic Dog on awhile ago?

Duffy Angevine

(He’s doing well in an advanced student’s program. I just heard that for a Christmas school project, each of the students was to give away a "gently used" book to another student. Well, our young nerd became so distraught at the thought of giving away one of his cherished books that his parents had to buy a new one and give that one away!–TC)

Well-Read Nerd

TC —

Don't despair us warrior nerds are out there! I myself have been lifting for 12.5 years and in that time managed to go to college, graduate magna cum

laude, and get a job in the computer industry (which was completely unrelated to my history/education degree).

I take pride in both my muscle and brain development. I have recently read (or in most cases, re-read) books on investment, politics, political theory, philosophy, and science fiction. I highly recommend the following books: The Bible, The Prince by N. Machiavelli, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle

Maintenance by R. Pirsig, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, Art of War by Sun Tzu, and for a fluff read, Witches Abroad by T. Prachett (talk about funny!).

While I may snarl in the gym or turn into a football zombie on Sunday I do possess a modicum of intellect. To illustrate my point here was my IQ test

I used for the longest time on girls I dated: "If an astronaut is on the moon and takes a pencil out and lets go, will it A) stay there indefinitely, B) slowly float away, or C) eventually fall to the ground.

Of course the answer is C because the moon does have gravity, its just 1/6th of good ol’ Terra Firma. If a girl said float away because there was no gravity, I usually asked then how did the astronaut manage to stay on the moon? Many girls said "Heavy Boots" as if that would matter if there were no gravity!!

Needless to say the heavy boots gals were of the one night variety!

- C

"...the darkness and the light are both alike ...I will praise thee;

for I am fearfully and wonderfully made..."

Psalms 139:12-14

Philosophy is his Passion

TC,

Hey, my name is Corey Hill and I sympathize with your current A-dog.

If it comforts you, I am a huge fan of T-mag, have sent a couple reader mails, love your rantings, love masculinity, love physicality- have a second degree black belt in tang soo do, a blue belt in kempo, AND have just been nominated for the exercise science student of the year award at Georgia Southern University, a member of one of the school's honor societies (top 30% of the class), and love discussing philosophical/moral matters... I feel like I am writing a personal ad, but oh well...if it makes you feel better to know we are out there. If you have a great philosophical topic/question, send it my way.

T-mag is the best, we appreciate it.

Corey

High IQ Civil Engineer

Dear TC,

Take heart - I’m sure many T-mag readers have experienced similar allergic reactions to the stupidity that seems to abound in the world! Reality TV is a case in point. It has done one great service for all mankind — it’s graphically shown us that people are stupid, they’ll do anything for a buck and the public is stupid enough to waste their time watching other stupid people doing stupid things. Okay, granted, that’s three lessons we glean from the Reality TV — I can count. Let’s face it, Survivor has nothing to do with real survival skills, Big Brother has nothing to do with government intrusion into our lives, Fear Factor has more to do with gastrointestinal integrity than genuine danger and Street Smarts apparently has nothing to do with one’s education — street or otherwise. I guess these shows hold their position in the ratings because…well, I can’t figure that one out.

One friend claims it’s the intrigue of the "group dynamics." Well like the T-shirt says, "never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers!" Lest you think that I condemn all of the trendy TV programs there is one shining exception to the dirge of Reality TV stupidity and that is MXC (Most Extreme Elimination Competition).

Now the matter at hand — your plea for tales of knowledge and accomplishment — tales from a round table of T-knights so to speak. At 175 lbs., I’m not sure that I fill the bill as a properly "pumped up" T-man but hell, I work at it regardless. After all, isn’t being a T-anything, a matter of attitude?

Some background - I’m a regular reader of the on-line T-mag, my IQ falls in the 136-149 range depending upon which test is used to measure that value. I work in the water supply industry and I’m involved in Civil Engineering although I haven’t yet completed that particular degree program at night school. Night school was put on hold to build my house. Once I complete the house I’ll get back to the CE degree.

When I say I’m building a house — I’m not one of those folks who hires a general contractor and THEY build the house for you — my wife and I are really building the house! There are some aspects that we’ve hired a contractor to handle but for the most part this is our design and our work going into this house. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention all the hard work, help and support that our families have contributed in this endeavor. A positive "can do" attitude pervades both families. This house isn’t being slapped haphazardly together — it’s taken us two years so far and we’re finally approaching a point where we’ll be able to live there (roughing it). It’s a log sided, structural insulated panel home with a timber-framed interior. We’re pretty remotely located. A log home suits the area. The nearest paved road is about a mile away. The building inspector gave us our occupancy permit and told me to only call him when I absolutely needed to — he said that the quality of our construction was better than 99.9% of the homes he inspects and he had no concerns that we would do anything incorrectly. We’re doing a good job and we’ve never built a house before! It’s one strong house!

A book to read — Unintended Consequences. I’m hesitant to recommend this particular book to you for two reasons: 1. Although I agree with you 98% of the time you seem to have a particular distaste for firearms that leaves many of us out here scratch’in our heads wondering "how can TC be right about so many things and off key here?" You need to have some familiarity with firearms to fully appreciate this book and 2. IF you are inclined to read this book you’ll plod through your first two or three days of reading and then suddenly disappear completely off the radar until you’ve completed the book. Sorry to say but it’s happened every time one of my friends has read the book. Wives and girlfriend alike curse me for making them "widows" of Unintended Consequences. I bear the abuse and dagger-like stares since the vilification is short lived, even my slowest reading friends cruise through the book in a week. It is a riveting story that touches on the factual, historical, traditional and legal aspects of our (yours too) - right to bear arms rolled into a tale of government gone awry and the one man they should have never crossed. Really TC it’s a great read! Lots of intrigue and seemingly unrelated characters merge together into a book that you just can’t put down. Did I mention that it’s been banned in Canada, Australia, England and a host of other countries? That fact alone piqued my curiosity about this particular book.

TC even though there are times when we are shocked by the bottomless depths of stupidity that we see or hear about everyday don’t despair. There is a growing undercurrent of informed people out there thanks to the boom of talk radio, 24/7 news sources and of course the internet. All we have to do is share our knowledge and experiences and challenge things that just don’t seem right. We cannot hope to eliminate all stupidity but surely we can diminish their numbers. To that end — keep up the good work that you and all the folks at T-mag do in dispensing accurate and useful information!

Pete

Efficiency Expert

TC,

I'm a project manager for a health insurance company, with a

Bachelors Degree in Computer Information Systems. Though I don't think that in itself makes me smart, people here at work look to me to do smart stuff such as run database reports and solve problems.

I was recently presented with complaints that an account's claims were processing properly. I ran a couple of different reports to get some data to analyze. I then found and documented the specific problem and I sent in requests to the appropriate area to have this fixed. I am in communication with them in order to see it through to completion.

I enjoy reading t-mag.com occasionally during the day when I'm not solving problems and improving efficiency. Thanks.

Dave

Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4