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The New Rules of Lifting, a book Avery released in paperback last week, is the product of a lifetime of mistakes.

I started lifting weights in 1970, to the best of my recollection, and it's entirely possible that I started off with the worst workout program ever designed.

I began lifting for the usual reason someone took up exercise back before it was fashionable, at a time when the cool kids started smoking at 12 and the first faint whiffs of second-hand cannabis smoke occasionally drifted over to our postage-stamp suburban outpost. Something was wrong with my physiology, and I wanted to set it right.

I was a skinny kid - painfully, remarkably skinny. And when I say "remarkable," I mean that literally; total strangers would feel compelled to comment on my extraordinary lack of contractile tissue. The weights were my path to normalcy, the tool that would help me become big enough, strong enough, and fast enough to play sports without embarrassment and remove my shirt at the pool without shame.

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I am an attack dog when it comes to stupid behavior.  After all, I have trademarked, The Pitbull of Personal Development®.  I even encourage others to become pitbulls in their own way and to attack when confronted by rude, absurd, stupid behavior.  I find that people often are confused by my confrontational style and sometimes miss my intent.  Based on that, some people consider my attacks to be either rude, condescending, or personal.  I can assure you that is not the case.  I never attack another human being on a personal level.  I do, however, feel I have the right to attack the behavior of an individual or an organization.

I recently watched a segment of 60 Minutes with Supreme Court Justice Scalia.  Justice Scalia was talking about his very close friend, Justice Ginsberg and how they have such an unlikely friendship.  After all, you have Scalia, a right wing conservative and Ginsberg, a left wing liberal.  Scalia said, "I attack ideas, not people, and there are very good people with very bad ideas."  I like that line.  I hope I do the same.  At least that is my intent: I want the ability to rise above behavior and enjoy people while still being able to consider that their actions are stupid, detrimental, idiotic, rude and sometimes seemingly insane.

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Over this week, we have celebrated the flavors of many teas. I hope that you have done it over a pot of good tea. Now, how do you go about this exploration? In my book: Harney & Sons Guide to Tea, I discuss how to taste teas. It is a simple pleasure. A good start is to de-construct a common tea: Earl Grey Supreme. It is a blend of black teas from Sri Lanka, China, and India, oolong from Taiwan, and white tea from China. So you can try a tea from each of those regions. Then you can try other teas from those countries. Before you know it you will be enjoying a tea that you had never heard of.

Also in Appendix of my book, I offer Tea Tasting Menus. These are suggestions of complimentary or contrasting teas. This allows you to focus on a particular tea flavor and soon it will be apparent. Scientists assure us that almost all of us can learn flavors and tastes quickly, so do not be daunted. An example is Tippy Teas. The tip (or bud) makes all teas better. I recommend three teas that will showcase wonderful tippy teas.

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Lou Schuler is one of our guest bloggers during the week of January 5th. If you have any questions for Lou Schuler, add a comment to any of his posts. Here is some more information about The New Rules of Lifting and The New Rules of Lifting for Women.

The New Rules of Lifting, Six Basic Moves for Maximum Muscle:

Ten unique programs for fat loss, muscle gain, and strength improvement for beginners and elite lifters.

Want to get more out of your workout and spend less time in the gym? Many guys devote so many hours to lifting weight yet end up with so little to show for it. In many cases, the problem is simple: They aren't doing exercises based on the movements their bodies were designed to do. Six basic movements-the squat, deadlift, lunge, push, pull, and twist-use all of the body's major muscles. And, more important, they use those muscles in coordinated action, the way they were designed to work.

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Larry Winget is one of our guest bloggers during the week of January 5th. If you have any questions for Larry Winget, add a comment to any of his posts. Here is some more information about People are Idiots and I Can Prove It!:

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Darjeeling was always different.

With its mountains and cool winters, it could never compete with Assam as producer of low cost simple teas. It worked out that there was an established base of high quality "china" tea plants. So the teas were always more aromatic than those from Assam. However, the British consumers drank their Darjeeling with milk, so the teas were dark and thick. By the late 1960's, the British influence was waning in those mountains. The new Indian garden owners were ready to rethink. At that time, a unique partnership happened between an Indian tea man: Ranabir Sen and German tea buyer: Bernd Wulf. Germany represented a new market for the Indians and one that was willing to pay more money for good tea. They felt that underneath all the darkness in traditional Darjeelings, was a great tea full of wonderful aromas. It just needed to be released. So the teas had to be lighten up. As mentioned, plucking standards were tightened up so just the two leaves and a bud were harvested. Withering time was lengthened so that aromas could develop during the chemical wither. Rolling was done easier (less pressure), with a special attention to avoiding heat buildup. Oxidation time was cut back.

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A note from Craig Johnson:

All right, so I got enough responses not only to this year's short story but also to the intro, in which I mentioned the skunks, that I'm relaying that story as a New Year bonus. There seemed to be an unkindly curiosity, and I'm beginning to wonder about my readership and what Abraham Lincoln referred to as ‘the kinder angels of our natures' . . . .

Bonus Story:

 I was getting grain out of the bins in my tack shed just last week when I discerned a familiar noxious smell wafting up from under the floor. Never having dealt with skunks before, I called up game and fish and asked the nice lady on the phone what, other than a double-ought dose of lead, my options were. "We've got a trap we can loan you."