Tony Hollowell's blog

“The Liege psychologists propose that, because money allows us to enjoy the best things in life – we can stay at expensive hotels and eat exquisite sushi and buy the nicest gadgets – we actually decrease our ability to enjoy the mundane joys of everyday life. (Their list of such pleasures includes ”sunny days, cold beers, and chocolate bars”.) And since most of our joys are mundane – we can’t sleep at the Ritz every night – our ability to splurge actually backfires. We try to treat ourselves, but we end up spoiling ourselves.”

The quote above comes from an article inWired magazine, and it is about a group of scientists who are trying to understand why people who have more money and are very wealthy seem to be less happy. I was going to read the whole article, but I read that first sentence, and I immediately began to pen this blog post, because the article’s foundation is so utterly and reprehensibly wrong.

It is wrong because of it’s fundamental premise, revealed in the opening statement: “money allows us to enjoy the best things in life”. Thus, the scientists' fundamental premise is that money (LOTS of money) allows you to enjoy the best things in life. Thus, sleeping at the Ritz is a superior and more joyful experience than “mundane” joys (like cold beers) and if you have these “superior” experiences in excess, then you will no longer enjoy the “lesser” joys in life.

I wanted to punch the screen because this is a lie. continue reading this post

Listen. I get it. I like things that are on sale. I buy things that are on sale. But truth be told, I have a great distrust for things that are "on sale". This is because I spent most of my life buying things that are on sale, only to watch these items crash and burn to a fantastic death. Eventually, I realized that there is a cost to almost everything that is “on sale”.

Everybody loves a sale because everybody thinks that a sale is a deal, but everybody is wrong. continue reading this post

I promise it was an accident. It wasn’t an elaborate plan. It just started with a need. I needed a test-prep book for my students to prepare them for a state math exam. I probably put in 4-5 different searches on Google over the span of 3 months, and I could not find what I wanted. Every time I would type in the specifics of what I wanted, Google would pop up with “No results found.”

Finally, one day it just hit me: why don’t I make what I want? Why don’t I just write this book myself? I had already conducted extensive research into the exam, I had spent 5 years in a classroom teaching remediation classes, and I have an irreversible tendency to do things before realizing how hard they will be. I was sitting in a rocking chair on a Saturday morning, and for five hours, I stared out the window and thought about what this book would look like and whether or not I would make the commitment. Suddenly, I made a decision: I decided to write the book. I arose from the rocking chair, went to my computer, bought the domain name for the business, and then I opened a Microsoft Word document and started writing.

It is important to note that I had never started a business and I had never written a book. I have no business background. I studied environmental science and theology in college, which means that I memorized the periodic table, played in streams, and studied ancient texts. This is not your standard foundation for business. I was just a crazy math teacher.

As it turns out, being “crazy” helped immensely. Starting a business is crazy. I am crazy. It was a good match. continue reading this post

I have been working away in my laboratory for the last few weeks, cooking up a new book about what I have learned in my short tenure as an entrepreneur. As is the case with almost everything I start, I just woke up one morning and thought to myself, "I think I want to write a book about running a business like a Ninja." This book is the culmination of that thought.

I am stoked about the book for three reasons:

A. It meets my first Fundamental Law of Literature: keep it short.

2. I was able to provide illustrations throughout the book. I am sure you will be amazed at how much my artistic hand has developed since 4th grade.

D. When it was finished, I read through it, and I smiled at my work. If it makes me smile, then it has a chance of making you smile.

I hope you enjoy it!

Yesterday, while getting the results of my psychological evaluation (I had to have a psych exam for an application), I was told a piece of news that I have known for a long time: I am not normal. As a culmination of hours of multiple choice tests, the Minnessota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (a 380 question survey), Rorschach testing, and an hour of consultation, it has been scientifically confirmed that I am not normal (it must be comforting to all of my family, friends, former students, former teachers, co-workers, and employers to have this confirmed in such an empirical way.) Actually, to put it the way the Psychologist described it, “You have elevated levels of PD.”

“What is PD?” I asked.

“Psychopathic Deviate.”

Yes, I have elevated levels of psychopathic deviant behavior.

I am quite shocked that it took such an extensive battery of tests to reach that conclusion. When driving into the clinic, I was sitting at a stoplight waiting to turn left. The sign said, “Turn on green arrow only.” The light was green in the lanes next to me, but I didn't have a green arrow. It was still red, but I turned anyways. Always have. Always will. As long as it is safe. I think this observation could have saved 4 hours of testing and a slightly boring interview. Oh well. continue reading this post

We live in a culture that is excessively focused on the body. We try to find ways to manipulate the body, to make it strong and “healthy”, and we are told that if we have a strong and healthy body, we can do almost anything.

This is stupid. I have seen weak minds and unhealthy bodies do amazing things that no full-time gym member could ever accomplish. They conquered their challenges, not with a perfect body, but by having a strong heart. continue reading this post

My roommate in college was named Tom Fisher. He was tall, an "uber nerd" (his words, not mine), and annoying. He also became one of my best friends.

He was annoying because of the following reasons:

1. He cheered for the Denver Broncos.
2. He studied philosophy.
3. He talked about philosophy when all I wanted to do was play Super Mario Brothers 3.
4. He wore Transformers T-Shirts BEFORE they were cool.
5. He used a Mac.

I ridiculed my roommate for all of these characteristics, as any good friend would do. Today, however, I am making an official apology to Tom Fisher for one of those criteria. I publicly apologize to Tom Fisher for ridiculing his use of a Mac. continue reading this post

When someone gets told to do something that they do not want to do, they usually complain. In the complaining, the stories get changed. How do I know this? Two reasons. One, because I have done it before. Two, because it happens almost every time I correct a student.

It happens something like this. I tell a student to stay after school for twenty minutes because they were continually disruptive in class. The student mumbles under their breath and gets mad. Later that day, they go home and tell their friends, “Mr. Hollowell was so rude and inconsiderate. I got up to go use the bathroom, and then he yelled at me and told me to sit down and he gave me a detention. Can you believe he made me stay after school for twenty minutes just because I needed to use the restroom?” Actually, Billy, you have to stay after school for 20 minutes because you were a complete train wreck in class, and your final disaster was getting out of your chair in a disruptive manner and pushing two students on your way out of my room. You do not have a detention for going to the restroom. You have a detention for being a moron. continue reading this post

Recently, I was given an option: go work out in an open space with plenty of leg room, ventilated air, and easy access to what I needed, or I could go work in a small closet that offered none of these amenities. I picked the closet.

Several factors converged to inspire this decision. continue reading this post

Music By Danielle Rose

There is so much to tell you, but I can't. The video is my best attempt to describe how awesome it was to be in Haiti. The people are beautiful, the land is beautiful, and the trip was awesome.

We visited a few schools. When asked what is the biggest challenge that a school faces, the answer was always the same: feeding the children and paying the teachers.

There are miracle workers at some of these schools. I saw a teacher with nothing but chairs in her room (and hungry children sitting in the chairs), but the students were more disciplined and more learning was occurring than in any of my best days as a teacher.

The people love soccer. It is in their blood. Soccer truly is the universal sport. The clip at the beginning of the video is from a "senior vs. sophomore" soccer game, and the little kids are cheering for the sophomores after they just scored a goal. Let's just say that I went crazier than I ever had for a touchdown at Notre Dame stadium. It was bananas.

They need help to feed their kids and pay their teachers. If you want to help out, you can send money to our fund that we started. Our goal is to raise $50,000. The money goes straight to the kids and families you see in this video, and many are refugees of the recent earthquake. There is no middle man. This is not the Red Cross. The money gets wired directly to the school to help the kids and to support their learning. Shoot me an email if you want more information at tony@tonysclassroom.com

The head of the school told us: "You can't develop a country without education."

The world is my classroom, and I learned so much from the people of Haiti.