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Henry Rollins: The One Decision that Changed My Life Forever

blazejowski

Panty Connoisseur
Dec 20, 2004
3,915
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I find Rollins utterly fascinating... don't really care for his music (except "Liar") or his poetry, but he's one of those people I could listen to for hours and not get bored...
 

johnniejetpack

come fly with Johnnie....
Feb 6, 2008
1,823
93
48
This guy is awesome. Check him out on Sons of Anarchy.... a good actor too. Black flag rocks!

I am glad he stopped serving ice cream.. he would scare the shit out of most kids
 

Unpossible

A.C.A.B.
Dec 26, 2008
908
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“I believe that the definition of definition is reinvention. To not be like your parents. To not be like your friends. To be yourself.
Completely.
When I was young I had no sense of myself. All I was, was a product of all the fear and humiliation I suffered. Fear of my parents. The humiliation of teachers calling me* “garbage can” and telling me I’d be mowing lawns for a living. And the very real terror of my fellow students. I was threatened and beaten up for the color of my skin and my size. I was skinny and clumsy, and when others would tease me I didn’t run home crying, wondering why.
I knew all too well. I was there to be antagonized. In sports I was laughed at. A spaz. I was pretty good at boxing but only because the rage that filled my every waking moment made me wild and unpredictable. I fought with some strange fury. The other boys thought I was crazy.
I hated myself all the time.
As stupid at it seems now, I wanted to talk like them, dress like them, carry myself with the ease of knowing that I wasn’t going to get pounded in the hallway between classes. Years passed and I learned to keep it all inside. I only talked to a few boys in my grade. Other losers. Some of them are to this day the greatest people I have ever known. Hang out with a guy who has had his head flushed down a toilet a few times, treat him with respect, and you’ll find a faithful friend forever. But even with friends, school sucked. Teachers gave me a hard time. I didn’t think much of them either.
Then came Mr. Pepperman, my advisor. He was a powerfully built Vietnam veteran, and he was scary. No one ever talked out of turn in his class. Once one kid did and Mr. P. lifted him off the ground and pinned him to the blackboard. Mr. P. could see that I was in bad shape, and one Friday in October he asked me if I had ever worked out with weights. I told him no. He told me that I was going to take some of the money that I had saved and buy a hundred-pound set of weights at Sears. As I left his office, I started to think of things I would say to him on Monday when he asked about the weights that I was not going to buy. Still, it made me feel special. My father never really got that close to caring. On Saturday I bought the weights, but I couldn’t even drag them to my mom’s car. An attendant laughed at me as he put them on a dolly.
Monday came and I was called into Mr. P.‘s office after school. He said that he was going to show me how to work out. He was going to put me on a program and start hitting me in the solar plexus in the hallway when I wasn’t looking. When I could take the punch we would know that we were getting somewhere. At no time was I to look at myself in the mirror or tell anyone at school what I was doing. In the gym he showed me ten basic exercises. I paid more attention than I ever did in any of my classes. I didn’t want to blow it. I went home that night and started right in.
Weeks passed, and every once in a while Mr. P. would give me a shot and drop me in the hallway, sending my books flying. The other students didn’t know what to think. More weeks passed, and I was steadily adding new weights to the bar. I could sense the power inside my body growing. I could feel it.
Right before Christmas break I was walking to class, and from out of nowhere Mr. Pepperman appeared and gave me a shot in the chest. I laughed and kept going. He said I could look at myself now. I got home and ran to the bathroom and pulled off my shirt. I saw a body, not just the shell that housed my stomach and my heart. My biceps bulged. My chest had definition. I felt strong. It was the first time I can remember having a sense of myself. I had done something and no one could ever take it away. You couldn’t say s—t to me.
It took me years to fully appreciate the value of the lessons I have learned from the Iron. I used to think that it was my adversary, that I was trying to lift that which does not want to be lifted. I was wrong. When the Iron doesn’t want to come off the mat, it’s the kindest thing it can do for you. If it flew up and went through the ceiling, it wouldn’t teach you anything. That’s the way the Iron talks to you. It tells you that the material you work with is that which you will come to resemble. That which you work against will always work against you.
It wasn’t until my late twenties that I learned that by working out I had given myself a great gift. I learned that nothing good comes without work and a certain amount of pain. When I finish a set that leaves me shaking, I know more about myself. When something gets bad, I know it can’t be as bad as that workout.

I used to fight the pain, but recently this became clear to me: pain is not my enemy; it is my call to greatness. But when dealing with the Iron, one must be careful to interpret the pain correctly. Most injuries involving the Iron come from ego. I once spent a few weeks lifting weight that my body wasn’t ready for and spent a few months not picking up anything heavier than a fork. Try to lift what you’re not prepared to and the Iron will teach you a little lesson in restraint and self-control.
I have never met a truly strong person who didn’t have self-respect. I think a lot of inwardly and outwardly directed contempt passes itself off as self-respect: the idea of raising yourself by stepping on someone’s shoulders instead of doing it yourself. When I see guys working out for cosmetic reasons, I see vanity exposing them in the worst way, as cartoon characters, billboards for imbalance and insecurity. Strength reveals itself through character. It is the difference between bouncers who get off strong-arming people and Mr. Pepperman.
Muscle mass does not always equal strength. Strength is kindness and sensitivity. Strength is understanding that your power is both physical and emotional. That it comes from the body and the mind. And the heart.
Yukio Mishima said that he could not entertain the idea of romance if he was not strong. Romance is such a strong and overwhelming passion, a weakened body cannot sustain it for long. I have some of my most romantic thoughts when I am with the Iron. Once I was in love with a woman. I thought about her the most when the pain from a workout was racing through my body.
Everything in me wanted her. So much so that sex was only a fraction of my total desire. It was the single most intense love I have ever felt, but she lived far away and I didn’t see her very often. Working out was a healthy way of dealing with the loneliness. To this day, when I work out I usually listen to ballads.
I prefer to work out alone.
It enables me to concentrate on the lessons that the Iron has for me. Learning about what you’re made of is always time well spent, and I have found no better teacher. The Iron had taught me how to live. Life is capable of driving you out of your mind. The way it all comes down these days, it’s some kind of miracle if you’re not insane. People have become separated from their bodies. They are no longer whole.
I see them move from their offices to their cars and on to their suburban homes. They stress out constantly, they lose sleep, they eat badly. And they behave badly. Their egos run wild; they become motivated by that which will eventually give them a massive stroke. They need the Iron Mind.
Through the years, I have combined meditation, action, and the Iron into a single strength. I believe that when the body is strong, the mind thinks strong thoughts. Time spent away from the Iron makes my mind degenerate. I wallow in a thick depression. My body shuts down my mind.
The Iron is the best antidepressant I have ever found. There is no better way to fight weakness than with strength. Once the mind and body have been awakened to their true potential, it’s impossible to turn back.
The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you’re a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs.
Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds.”
Henry Rollins
My favorite Rollins piece.
 

billfromyukon

New member
Feb 1, 2013
5
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0
If you get a chance to see his live spoken word show, do it. He walks on with some water, starts talking and doesn't stop for 2 hours. Never boring. Unbelievable.
 

Unpossible

A.C.A.B.
Dec 26, 2008
908
13
0
Was it by Henry himself? Cause that would be awesome....
Edit: I honestly can't think of an awesome reason to get kicked out of one his spoken word shows.
 
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sevenofnine

Active member
Nov 21, 2008
2,018
8
38
Not to poo poo any one,
But I don't get why you guys think he is so fantastic,
I mean he is a great speaker, but his is story so unusual or different.

I know guys who came from nothing never finished highschool but are millioniares. With no help just work. Hard work lots of hours.

My own life, white trash my father a very abuseive alcholic emotional physically sexually, he ended up in jail for sex crimes.
You should have seen me at a very young age and the house we lived in. I was messed up, I mean really messed up.
Never really attended school, couldn't even talk to anyone.

But some how got a job, and my first pay check some how focused me, I never really did anything, but work, all my life.

My point is, many guys have stories like that, but they stopped at a job and a wife and a kid., there just normal, and happy, so who wants to listen to him.
You listen to him because what he is a band member an actor, so I guess he is more important then a guy who gets up and goes to work every day for his entire life, raises a family,
Do you have to be famous before you have anything to say.
 

PlayfulAlex

Still Playing...
Jan 18, 2010
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www.playfulAlex.com
Not to poo poo any one,
But I don't get why you guys think he is so fantastic,
I mean he is a great speaker, but his is story so unusual or different.

I know guys who came from nothing never finished highschool but are millioniares. With no help just work. Hard work lots of hours.

My own life, white trash my father a very abuseive alcholic emotional physically sexually, he ended up in jail for sex crimes.
You should have seen me at a very young age and the house we lived in. I was messed up, I mean really messed up.
Never really attended school, couldn't even talk to anyone.

But some how got a job, and my first pay check some how focused me, I never really did anything, but work, all my life.

My point is, many guys have stories like that, but they stopped at a job and a wife and a kid., there just normal, and happy, so who wants to listen to him.
You listen to him because what he is a band member an actor, so I guess he is more important then a guy who gets up and goes to work every day for his entire life, raises a family,
Do you have to be famous before you have anything to say.
Sorry 7of9, some people are just way more interesting than others...

 

blazejowski

Panty Connoisseur
Dec 20, 2004
3,915
25
48
I made it this far and stopped, as usual.
You clearly have no idea who Henry Rollins is and have never listened to anything else he has to say except for the one video clip here. Maybe go and check out some of his opinions about politics and world issues. MAYBE then you'll get why people will pay handsomely to go listen to him speak.
Seven, Rollins could make even one of your posts sound interesting... ;)
 

sevenofnine

Active member
Nov 21, 2008
2,018
8
38
Sorry but I don't get it,
rather boring and unintersting.

Much like watching Oprah,
predictable.
Much like Oprah and her cheering section, you can do it, ra ra, All you need to be is be postive etc etc,
While she became I think the first female black billioniare.
She tells you all the postive good stuff people want to hear all the way to the bank.
And she sort of touched everyone,

Sort of like this guy touches everyone with his stories but so what,
everyone has a story.

My point is I guess I should be the star of my own life, not Oprah not Rollins,

But life is like that people need something to follow something to believe in.
 
Dec 7, 2010
362
1
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Went to see him last year, was disappointed. He sounded like someone on a coke rant to me...not a lot of substance.
Maybe caught him on an off night but would not go see him again.

God I miss George Carlin he is and will always be the best!
 

Unpossible

A.C.A.B.
Dec 26, 2008
908
13
0
Went to see him last year, was disappointed. He sounded like someone on a coke rant to me...not a lot of substance.
Maybe caught him on an off night but would not go see him again.
He admittedly doesn't script a performance. He has things that he wants to talk about and wings it.

God I miss George Carlin he is and will always be the best!
The best will always be Richard Pryor.

 

sevenofnine

Active member
Nov 21, 2008
2,018
8
38
Sorry don't get it,
I don't disagree with him,
But just don't get whats the big deal,

Why does some one speaking everyday common sense stuff, come across as such a revelation to some people.
Rather boring actually,
You really have to have some one tell you that marriage is a big step and that two people who are stupid enough to enter into should be allowed to, whether there two man a man and a women or whatever.
You have to be told that, if they want to be as stupid as the rest of the fucking world let them.

Seriously I am sorry don't get it boring,
Like I found Oprah boring and her followers loyaltiy and just stupid follow the leader mentality,
can you not think for your self you need some one to tell you how to think.
 

blazejowski

Panty Connoisseur
Dec 20, 2004
3,915
25
48
I don't need anyone to tell me what to think, or how to act, I just find the man fascinating to listen to...
 

sevenofnine

Active member
Nov 21, 2008
2,018
8
38
Not to offend any one,
And I mean that and I apologize before hand ok,

But there is much more interesting things to ponder, here, then that.
This gay marriage thing, it took me a heart beat about a decade ago, to realize that if two queers
wanted to get married and be as unhappy as every other married couple out there go ahead knock your self out.

There is way more interesting things to ponder here besides that, something so obvious and trivial.
And I apologize for coming across so arrgoant if i did, there i can't spell,
go knock your self out i can't spell.
 
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