Of picking up the wrong fork.

A gentleman's perfume shop. The oldest in the world.

The main difference between men and women is that women focus upon their own bodies while men focus upon the bodies of women. When a heterosexual woman watches a porn film she watches the woman almost exclusively and wonders what it would feel like to be her. Women actually become excited by their own beauty and sexuality as they walk or dance. Men, on the other hand have this peculiar blindness to their own appearance. The ugliest of men can believe themselves good looking and sometimes women even believe the mans self image over the evidence of her eyes.

Some gay men have an affinity with women based upon the fact they have the same basic orientation. They can see the beauty of their own bodies in a way that is closed to most straight men and this is reflected in the care they take over their dress.

There are many things that are supposed to be the preserve of women and yet are open to men. Intuition is one of these things and awareness of ones appearance is another. It is quite possible for a straight man to access this mode of being given the right environment. My way of doing this is to visit Jermyn street in London. This is a slice of old England where one may try on fitted shirts and discuss fabrics with people who care about these things. This is not as expensive as one would think because the shirts are not truly hand made. Measurements are taken and stored in a computer so that the garments can be produced to your specification in some far east sweatshop. I suspect more is spent on shop fittings than on the product.

Visiting Jermyn street is escapism but it is also strangely sexual. They employ some stunning girls who have a delightful way of measuring an inside leg. This involves kneeling gracefully while maintaining eye contact like a porn girl giving a BJ. The smell of walnut and leather evokes nostalgia for an age when being English meant you had bought the winning lottery ticket of life.

So what did I buy? I bought some white poplin shirts and calf leather English shoes. Calf leather is less ostentatious than some but it is hard wearing and comfortable. A good compromise. The shirts have a crisp and starched quality about them that is strangely erotic as well as being non iron. The shoes are even better- They are of traditional wooden block construction and give every step an authoritative click like the boots of a dominatrix. My collar holds my head erect and a hand stitched tie shimmers with subtle colours directing attention from my neck to my groin. (Ties should stop just short of the belt buckle). It is pure red blooded Alpha- but with perfect manners. Delicious.

None of this stuff is cheap but all of it will pay me in the longer term. I will buy a set of Rhino rubber sole protectors. These are guaranteed for the life of the shoe (which is practically forever thanks to the sole protector). Each time they wear out they will be replaced free of charge so that my actual sole never comes in contact with the pavement. Aybrook shoes are made from a single sheet of leather with almost no stitching and I can expect to be wearing them when I collect my pension. This is rather a chilling thought.

Sometimes I wear this stuff for the pleasure of just walking in it. I smile to the pretty girls and they all smile back. What do they think? Most attractive girls in London are foreign so maybe they smile because they have just seen their first Englishman.

This is a MGTOW sort of sexuality. I am like the girl at the nightclub who knows she is hot but who feels no need to sleep with chodes to prove it.

What if it is all an illusion? What if I have merely transformed myself from a fat has been to a fat try hard has been? What then?

If I looked ridiculous in all this stuff then it would still be worth doing because of the confidence it gives me. Mystery in his furry hat looks ridiculous and yet it still works for him. It is the attitude behind the look that matters.

Next month I will invite a Lithuanian or a Pole for coffee. It is always easier to date women from former colonies or those who have been defeated on the battlefield- a sort of colossal global neg I suppose. FSU girls were never defeated in battle but they grew up with stories of Britain and its wealth and cruelty and terrible menace. Little did the propaganda boys at the CPSU know that they DHV'ing the English Gentleman the whole time.

Why do I have to wait a month? It is because I have spent every penny I own on fancy clothes. I cannot even buy a coffee at Starbucks now!

The Proper English Gentleman

The Proper English Gentleman

He's a proper English Gentleman who never spills his beer.
He dines with all the ladies and never shows his fear
Of picking up the wrong fork or swearing at the soup
When it's hot enough to burn him, or jumping through the hoop
Of English Society, and all it represents.

But he's a damned good soldier in front of all the troops
And marches like a gentleman in his fine leather boots
And eats in the reg'lar mess and calls the men by name
And shares the dirty work with 'em, what's called the killing game
Of English Imperialism and all it represents.

But by his own hearthside he's a different sort
And he beats his tenants quarterly and no one dares retort,
He takes their wives and daughters, and never stops to think
That a man might someday shoot him when he's had enough to drink!
Of English duplicity, and all it represents.

He's the finest of examples, and there's others of his kind
Who keep their secrets closely and never seem to mind
That the man who sits at table and his their deepest trust
Might carry in his bosom the foulest kind of lust,
Not English respectability, and all it represents.

So watch you step, my laddies, keep your distance, ladies dear,
Watch out for English gentlemen and don't ever let them near.
Their faces won't betray them, their deeds are fine and true,
But put them near temptation and it really will not do --
For certain English gentlemen and all they represent.

Status simplified.

A gentleman is a lion and not a pussycat.

The pick up community make status a very complicated thing that involves talking a woman half to death. In my own experience there is no need to work that hard.

What follows is a list of things that have given me status in the past. I measure this chiefly by the way women react to me. They amount to a door opener and allow authentic communication but they will not get you laid by themselves. They involve expense but are easy.

CLOTHING.
Dress as well as you are able and create a consistent image for yourself.

TRAVEL AND HOBBIES.
Travel used to have status because it was expensive. Now it has status because it is adventurous. You may explore a foreign city for less than a hundred pounds but you must have your wits about you.

BE THE FOREIGNER.
Have you ever noticed the interest you receive while travelling?

These three things are quite miraculous in combination. My own image (English Gentleman) works even better overseas than it does here.

Suicide.

Suicide is not commonly assumed to be a survival threat even though it is the leading cause of death to men between 18 and 34. This may be because suicide is voluntary and therefore completely under the control of the individual- but is this really true? If one becomes severely depressed then life becomes an agony that can no longer be withstood. Suicide is not really a choice in these circumstances. It is something that the individual is compelled to do.

Another common belief is that there are depressed people and 'normal' people. Depressed people are ill (or weak) and 'normal' people are not. Take a look at the commuters on any grey morning train. You will see a line of men and women with grey putty faces and dead eyes. No joy or life animates their bodies and yet these people live 'normal lives. It is not surprising there is so much depression and self harm if this is the most that one can expect from a normal life.

It may be that the real problem is not that a minority of people are acutely depressed. It may be that the majority of the population suffer a chronic and lifelong depression. One does not have to fall very far from this state before one is dead.

The way 'normal' people deal with this is to accept that life is meant to be miserable and then to take pills when they develop the symptoms of clinical depression. They do not find it strange that they are unhappy as long as they are not suicidal. I submit that this is the wrong approach.

I believe that the struggle against depression starts with what people call 'normal'. When a 'normal' person receives a blow there is nowhere to fall but into depression. When a happy person receives the same blow they are likely to become normal for a while. This sucks, but 'normal' people are capable of change and so there is hope.

Most experts on depression seem to agree with me about normal life being a mild state of depression because the recommended remedies for recovering depressives is remarkably effective at curing 'normality'.

BE SOCIAL. Get out, interact with people even if it is only at the supermarket.

GET EXERCISE. A walk in the park does wonders. I personally suspect that green living things have a mood boosting effect.

GET SUNSHINE. If there is no natural sunlight invest in a daylight spectrum lightbox. Air ionisers are alleged to help too.

DO SOMETHING. Have an achievement to look back upon every day even it is as simple as getting up at the agreed time.

Prepping index. 140

Probability 2
Severity 10
Action ability 7

The Prepping Index

How do we decide which threats to prep for when there are so many to choose from? One approach is to go for the dramatic and the exciting- the classic Zombie apocalypse.

I prefer a more scientific approach. Indeed, I have reduced it to a formula.

P x S x A= Prepping index.

P = Probability. In other words we should prep for likely events.
S = Severity. It is better to be prepared for severe events than trivial misfortune.
A= Action ability. There is no point in preparing for events that cannot be prepared for.


I will give an example of the formula in action.

HEART ATTACK.

Probability = 7 (heart attack is the most common cause of death among men in rich countries).
Severity = 8 (not always fatal but always unpleasant).
Action ability= 6 (there are many simple heart attack remedies such as eating oily fish or carrying aspirin)

This results in a prepping value of 336 (7x8x6)

In contrast we see a much lower figure from the 2012 Mayan nonsense.

2012 END OF THE WORLD!

Probability = 1 (I am being very generous here).
Severity = 10 (what could be worse than the end of the world?)
Action ability = 0 (if the world ends then it does not matter what we do.)

This results in a prepping value of 0 (1x10x0)

Most other eventualities fall between these two extremes. This is an interesting way of looking at things and a useful one. It may also be used to asses events that are merely unpleasant or expensive such as the common cold or losing ones car keys. This means that one spends time on what is important and avoids worrying about things that either do not matter or cannot be changed.

THE COMMON COLD.

Probability= 9
Severity= 1
Action ability= 4 (there is no cure for the cold but you are far less likely to get one if you eat well).

This results in a prepping index of 36.

What is the point of Alpha?

What is the point of Alpha if you are a man going his own way? Surely Beta will do if you are seeking solitude?

I do not seek Alpha for a girlfriend. I seek it primarily to feel good. It is quite delicious to walk down the street and enjoy the experience of being you. A side effect of this is that women tend to become much more interesting and fun and life simply becomes easier. Women tend to be the gatekeepers of organisations (receptionists, nurses, government agents of all kinds). If these gatekeepers like you they will want to help you. Every Alpha has a network of female secret agents who work for him unpaid. They let him know how bureaucracy really works and they let him know where the power really lies within an organization. Very often it is with themselves.

There is no need to rush into a sexual relationship with any of these spys. It is not really about sex. Just walk as an Alpha- try it. You will never want anything else.

I swam with sharks.

I swam with sharks and lived to tell the tale.

I attended the World Money show in London which is an event for financial traders. Where is the pleasure in associating with people who spend their entire lives in the pursuit of unearned riches? Trading is a zero sum game. It is not economically productive in the way that investing in a company may be. The only way to make money trading is to take it from another trader and in this way it resembles a roulette table as much as anything else. The difference is that the market is not random. It contains pattens hidden within it and if you are the first guy to see the patten you may sweep the winnings from the table.

One problem is that the human brain is a machine for seeing pattens- even when they do not exist. Think of gazing at passing clouds as a child. Each of the clouds resembled something to you- a face, a duck, a cow and yet they were all entirely random. Another child may look upon the same cloud and see something entirely different. There is one school of economics (the efficient market hypothesis) that states that ALL market activity is random in one sense. This means all attempts to read the market (as opposed to the economy) is futile and amounts to no more than projecting meaning on to chaos.

Why then is this such an exciting world? Firstly there is the possibility of escape from my present situation. A man without capital cannot invest his way out of poverty as the returns are so low. He can on the other hand trade his way to freedom because it is possible to double his money in a few hours.

More importantly the world of trading offers escape from everyday worries. As a trader I worry about the dollar and the euro. I do not worry about my own petty problems.

The world of trading is rather like the world of pickup in that there are some superstar traders who never in fact trade. How could they when they spend their entire lives going from one conference to the next and writing books?  The main difference is that it is possible to see the trading charlatans for free at the money show while it costs a great deal of money to go to a boot camp.

The money show is all about selling the dream- and the 'pick up artists' of the trading world are willing to spend their own money in order to do this.

I soon understood the rules of the game. The event was set up to part wealthy dreamers from their money. If a man is to be relieved of his money his judgement must first be clouded by greed. This means that the mark must be made to feel like a winner. To this end he is showered with gifts. I won wine, chocolate and an iPod Nano. In addition to this I had the pleasure of drinking much free wine and beer that was provided by people who wished to ruin me. This is always the sweetest kind. The whole game resembled the trickery of the card sharp. The card trickster will always allow the mark to win the first hand of any card game because this is an investment for him. It makes the mark feel like a winner even though he has the word 'loser' written across his face. The only way to win this game is to leave the table after the first round.

The final event resembled some dreadful parody of the last night on the Titanic. Latin American waitresses came bearing pieces of fish and spiced meat on sticks. I am sure they were used to more polite gatherings where guests would take a single stick and move on. I saw the shock of one waitress as another woman took ten sticks with each hand to clear her entire tray in a single swoop. There was no shame as she did this- she was simply entering into the spirit of the event. Predator or prey I wondered? Which was I?

All of this was quite amusing as long as the wine flowed and the waitresses continued to return with fresh food. Outside the trade unions were planning their general strike. Anonymous were occupying 83 cities across the globe and maybe the waitresses talk of revolution amongst themselves when they are not smiling.

I left the party when the cocktails ran out. I was pleasantly drunk and had two carrier bags of free gifts to take home with me. I had been one of the fortunate ones. I had left the table after the first game and had taken my winnings with me.

First know yourself.

The first thing one should do when planning to lose weight is to know oneself. There is simply no point in adopting a style that does not suit us. Nearly all diets have this obsessive compulsive quality to them. Calorie counting reminds the dieter of everything they cannot eat and is a form of self torture. We all crave what we cannot have.

I know myself sufficiently well to know that any food I have in my home will be eaten. I accept this about myself and allow for it. I also know that I will not stick to an fitness regime although I am naturally fairly active in life.

My answer is to eat all of the fattening foods I already have and to buy no more. I will also do more walking as this is the one form of exercise that I enjoy.

I cannot be bothered with portion control and therefore intend to have nothing but fruit and smoothies. I expect this to even save me a little money as well as improving my general well being.

I will post my weight on my blog as an added incentive to myself.

How I became a niceguy.

When I was a kid I was something of a natural among children. Adult women would dote on me and I had an army of girls in my class who wished to look after me. It was all rather a bother to tell you the truth. There things always come at the wrong time.

I transformed myself into a creepy niceguy by the time I was eighteen and so began my long sexual famine. How did this happen? At the age of six I was a jerk to girls, always telling them to find their own games to play and not to follow me around but by the time I was eighteen I was the nicest guy- and so repellent women could hardly remain in the same room.

This is not the usual story of abused niceguys. This trope has been done to death already. I am considering how a man becomes a niceguy in the first place when it is so clearly a losing game.

I can trace my own downfall to the day my mother installed a telephone in the home. This attracted the usual cold calls that my mother would answer quite politely and then shake with rage for hours afterwards. I never quite understood the depth of this rage or why it was sometimes directed to me but thankfully the telephone was removed after a month or so and the atmosphere cleared a little in the home.

What I did not realise until much later is that these incidents had installed a fear in me that would mess me up well into middle age. This was the fear that women would react to me in the same way that my mother did to the cold callers- being polite to my face and then damming me to everyone else for hours on end. Nobody likes to upset other people.

Unconsciously I developed two strategies to deal with this. Firstly, I would only talk to hostile, rude or feminist women because at least they would abuse me to my face and not behind my back. Secondly I became very cautious when talking to any decent women who could possibly make me happy. This involved speaking gently (as if to a child) and picking my words very, very carefully. In short, I became a creepy guy who seemed to have a hidden agenda because I was never quite myself- I was a nicguy.

Niceguy behaviour comes with its own set of distorting lenses. He cannot 'think' his way out. He can only 'feel' his way out when the pain of remaining a niceguy is to great to stand any longer.

If you believe of feel the following then you probably are a niceguy.

1) You think that women go for jerks and that you should be appreciated more.

2) You feel emotionally exhausted in your dealings with women. You get angry sometimes and are ashamed because you do not know the true cause.

3) You alternate between worshiping women with gifts and compliments and ignoring them.

4) You suffer bouts of self hatred and depression.

If you are no longer a niceguy you will experience the following.

1) You enjoy contact with women. You tease them and they tease you back. Men think you are a jerk but women think you are fun..

2) Women are a source of emotional energy. This is not to say that you rely upon them for good feelings in a vampire like way. It is more that you generate fun with the women around you.

3) By treating women as normal people (not goddesses) you put them at their ease. You find that women are far nicer than you believed possible. Women are also more sexual than you would believe.

4) You feel good about yourself most of the time- regardless of relationship status.

The great injustice at the heart of this is that many niceguys are actually genuinely good people. By learning Game you give women the opportunity to know the real- fun- you. This is a great service to the world.

I am going the the World Money Show in London.

This two day event (11th and 12th) is free to the public and it would be good to meet a Ghost or two there.

This is where financiers and bankers go to be loved. Here we see Jim Rogers 'The Adventure Capitalist' doing his rock star bit.

Hard to stomach? Last year they gave us all free drinks at the end. Details may be found HERE

Is Ghost Nation still a MGTOW blog?

I hope that it is.

I hope that I have simply moved from the theory to more practical matters. We need to be free- and there is no freedom without money.

Everything I have previously said remains true.

Small economies.

Oh! How dull life can become when one is saving for financial freedom!! If one cannot combine this with some pleasure we will surely never make it!!!

I am creating a new area of this website to do just this. Many of us have been told that buying quality is the cheaper option in the long run. I intend to test this theory by treating myself to a small luxury each month. This is a convenient excuse to buy things that give me pleasure. The hope is that I can somehow find a way to make my pleasures pay. If you feel like doing the same just click on the picture- you will go directly to Amazon!

This month I rather fancied a D.A.B radio from Pure. This will be my second radio from the company. I have previously owned a rather splendid wooden unit that I broke after repeatedly dropping it. If you have never owned a DAB you probably have no idea why you need one. DAB stands for Digital Audio Broadcasting which is a high quality terrestrial radio signal not subject to distortion or interference. This does not mean that you will receive a perfect signal in all places because the coverage of some stations is patchy. You can expect to receive around twenty stations in a highly populated area and around five out in the sticks. I expect this situation to slowly improve.

How is it possible to save money by owning a radio? Four ways.

1. It is one of the very few radios approved by the Energy Saving Trust. This will save me a few pennies on electricity a month.

2. The radio will fit in a pocket and can used with earphones rather like an iPod. This means that I do not need to walk around with my iPad on display for anyone who might feel like taking it.

3. Purchasing this unit will mean I use less bandwidth on my wireless broadband. I plan to reduce my monthly usage once I am out of contract and thus save £15 a month.

4. There are minor security benefits to owning a radio and playing it so that it appears there is someone at home.

First impressions were of a quality product that somehow lacked the usual Pure Audio beauty and stylishness. Sound quality is good through the speakers and even better through the headphones (not supplied). I was a little worried about volume when I first bought the unit. but need not have been. It can comfortably fill a room with sound but will not annoy the neighbours. Interestingly the manufacturer claims a battery life of 24 hours while online retailers only quote 18. I think this is because 18 hours is closer to the real life number. I doubt I will ever make my money back on this product but I am sure I will receivce value from it in other levels.

Talk is cheap.

Talk is cheap and none more so than in the financial markets. Everyone wants to be a guru and the more they fear their positions will wipe them out the more certain they like to appear.

Amongst all the guff there are useful sources of information.

The Economist Information Unit (owned by the Economist magazine) produces a number of useful bulletins. All of these are free of charge and generally of a cautious fence sitting kind. They are based upon real economic analysis and not hopeful thinking. This is an establishment publication, well researched and cautious. You will not receive share tips but rather you will receive the data from which to make your own decisions.

You may also like to visit the Alphaville blog which is run by the Financial Times in London. It is a traders blog and very authoritative. Again, this is the establishment view which may be good or bad.

For something completely different try The Market Oracle. This gives the impression of being edited from some survivalist dugout somewhere and seems permanently bearish on everything but gold. It presents itself as a serious economic publication (600 analysts they say) but you should do your own research before acting on anything they say. Nevertheless it is an interesting counterpoint to the establishment view and entertaining in a doom laden sort of way. They seem largely to be made up of Elliot Wave Theorists.