1.Q&A

1. What does Charles Bukowski's success try to prove?

His success proves that self-improvement and success are not the same thing. His success stems from the fack that he knew he was a loser and was unflinchingly honest about it.

2. What is wrong with the conventional life advice that is fixating on what u lack?

The conventional life advice emphasizes your shortcomings and failures for u by reinforcing what u perceive them to already be, since the desire for more positive experience is itself a negative experience.

3. Can u use your own words explaining what the Feedback Loop from Hell is?

It is a vicious circle where one gives too much fuck about the negative experience in life and that realization makes one feel even worse and experience more negative experience. For example, u feel sad and lonly and u want to cheer up and wonder why u feel sad, but the thought of it makes u feel more sad and lonly.

4. What are the subtleties of not giving a fuck?

The subtleties of not giving a fuck refer to the secret lesson of "i don't care" that are easily unnoticed and unaware of.

5. What's wrong with being "perpetually entitled to be confortable and happy at all times"? Can u think of an example to support your answer?

In this way, u will be gnawed by everything that doesn't go like the way u want it to be. Every adversity u experience, every challenge u face, every disagreement u encounter can easily piss u off and finally knock u out. The result is that u will be trapped and arrive nowhere. For example, i have a roomate (there are only two people in the dorm)who cares little about the clean and tidy issue(no offence intended, it's just my own feeling)Although i'm not a neat freak, i really want a clean and well-organized room. At first, i would get angry whenever i saw her clothes lie on the ground and the clutter on her desk. i talked to her over this issue several times, but it seems to be her own style of living, very casual and carefree. She tried to change, to tidy up her desk and bed when i reminded her, but it was far from enough for me. I finally realized it was really impossible for her to change to be the one i want her to be. Now I just take her style as it is. Even though what's on her desk is way too messy for me, even though she seldom folds her clothes and throw them into her cupboard, it won't bother me anymore, as long as my part of space is comfortable. And she also has the right to be herself.

2.读书感悟

读完第一章，感觉自己就是文中描述的who gives too much fuck about all those trivial stuff,像最近总是因为一些小事生气，把精力耗费在不值得的事情上。追究到底还是因为自己最近太闲，就像那个因为coupon被拒而和cashier理论的老奶奶，coupon在她生活中占据了很大比例，她没有什么重大事情需要担心，coupon被拒就能让她erupt。可是明明我有更重要的事情去做，更有意义的事情去give a fuck，可我却总是被各种小事分心，我们总喜欢说我没有心思做×××,因为我们的心思被其他事情充满，如果我真的专注于重要的人与事，也不会总为各种小事分心了，也会少很多烦恼，焦虑，失败感。

3. Words and Phrases

1. beat-up

……on his beat-up old typewriter

adj. to describe sth old and in bad condition

想到run-down

2. self-loathing

a lifetime of failure and self-loathing

overly neurotic, and overly self-loathing

adj. to loathe oneself自我厌恶

想起loath 和loathe

to loathe sth/sb

be loath to do 不情愿做

3. against all odds

he persisted against all the odds and made sth of himself

if sth happens against all odds, it happens although it seems impossible at first

4. take inventory

It will teach u to take inventory of your life and scrub out all but the most important items.

make a list 列清单,这里指理清自己人生中重要与不重要的

5. acid

one time i tripped on acid and it felt like the more i walk toward a house, the farther away the house got from me.

acid不只有酸的意思，还可以指迷幻药