Yesterday I was forwarded a discussion concerning my “blog” as a self-help resource from a site called redit. I often forget that I am primarily used as a self-help writer, probably because I have no such ambition, but have often fallen into the trap of writing for others.

Both of these readers were positive about the style and content of my writing. However, the more expressive reader has felt—in various posts—that I had been beating him down. He had apparently fallen on hard times and was seeing himself in a negative light to begin with and some of my irony was too depressing for him to get past. He still recommended my writing for readers looking to improve themselves with the caveat that they should wait sometime and get over their own negative feelings about themselves before delving into my well of irony.

Let me be clear here, I write self-help for those areas I coach in: boxing, stick-fighting, knife-fighting and machete dueling and also in response to various questions concerning writing and dating for those masochists with the poor judgment to ask.

I’m not a cheerleader.

I’m not writing to help anyone, but express my odd view of the world which is utterly unwelcome amongst those I am in day-to-day contact with.

Please, if you are kind enough with your time to spend some of it reading my doomed opinion, don’t let me get you down. Just laugh and say, “Only seventy-one out of eight-billion people agree with him—and he’s an asshole! Crowds of black men used to part and make way as he prowled through their hood. Now the local hoodrats think he’s Santa Claus. I might have it bad, but at least I’m not James LaFond!”