Month: September 2020

My personal thoughts on the purpose of life:

Very strange bias for us liberal and left-leaning Americans: It is considered low class or unintelligent or unethical or “bad” to be patriotic or “proud to be an American”. Why this bias?

In life we often optimize for the wrong things. We optimize for wealth, money, power and influence. But why not optimize what *really* matters… life itself?

Simple: focus 90% of your energies on what you truly care for and you are passionate and good at, and invest the other 10% on other ‘side projects’ or ‘side interests’ which might become …

How I workout at the park (in praise of ghetto workouts):

It is true that certain things and modes of doing things make us more “productive”. But the better question: Let us say we become the uber-productive individual. Once we have achieved this state, what …

The iPad: the most under-rated creative and productive tool:

USB-C rules everything around me. All USB-C is best. USB-C phone (Android), USB-C laptop (MacBook Pro), and USB-C charging capable camera (RICOH GR III). USB-C as an ethos, approach, and aesthetic.

To not worry about being “efficient” in life as the ultimate luxury. For example, to have the luxury to cook and clean yourself (slowly); this is a luxury. It is the poor and enslaved …

Simple thought when it comes to decision making theory: The best decisions are no brainers. You don’t need to rack your brain to make a decision. If the decision isn’t a no brainer, it …

Fiat currency is faith based currency on the US Dollar which technically has zero intrinsic worth. But considering America has the US Dollar Hegemony on the planet this means: As long as America has …

RGB just died (rip). She will definitely have a great legacy and be remembered as a great individual. Which makes me wonder– how do we want to be remembered and for what? And why …

Street photography is good for the heart, soul, and beyond:

The best approach is the HACKER ETHOS: You can control, hack, edit, modify, and transfigure reality to your liking! Or simply said: Just hack it.

“Good” and “bad” don’t exist nor should they exist from a philosophical or pragmatic sense. Better to think of things, companies, people, and technologies as effective or ineffective.

Figure out what you are really really good at (your ‘archimedes lever‘) in life, and then focus all your energies and efforts on maximizing and exploiting it! For me, this is blogging, photography, and …

Let us not be fooled and suckered: Just because you’re wealthy and just because you’ve made a lot of money doing x, y, z doesn’t mean you’re wise. For example, we look at Bill …

Why make art?

I am convinced — there is no greater physiological joy than sleeping well. If you could give me a quadrillion dollars in the agreement that I would sleep shitty and poorly and only 2 …

What am I, ERIC KIM? Technically I am a photography blogger. What is a photography blogger? Many things: I blog about how to make better photos I blog on the theory and philosophy of …

Blogging was a mainstream thing when I was in middle school and high school. Programming and computer programming/coding yet wasn’t a “thing”. Computer Science (when I was in college) wasn’t really that popular as …

What is the purpose and end of life? Simple: arseudaimonia (ars =art, eudaimonia = good inner human soul thriving or “happiness”(Happiness 101):

How to maximize upside while clipping the downside? Hybrid. To hedge your approach: The upside of the new, and the upside of the old-school and classic. For example (unfortunately) a hybrid car (still dependent …

What I love most about street photography: how open and democratic it is… for all!

Simple thought: If you are on the market for a new laptop, I recommend getting a maxed-out (refurbished) 16” MacBook Pro (from the Apple Refurbished online store) instead of buying the 13” MacBook Pro …

As much as I hate to say, shooting street photography is (kind of) like shooting a gun. For example when I was a Boy Scout during Boy Scout summer camp, I got all three …

An interesting personal curiosity of mine: How does one create value out of “nothing”? My thoughts:

My life is my life. Your life is your life. The goal isn’t to imitate the life or lifestyle of any individual, but to pick and choose elements which you like from others, and …

The best portfolio is a digital one. Why digital? More flexibility, customization, and ability to add and remove photos at will! I will make the heretical statement: A digital portfolio is *superior* to a …

We are all obsessed with ‘building a brand’ and ‘branding’. But what if the best brand were no brand?

The notion of being a “master” comes from the Proto Indo European “meghs” which means “big, great” (same word as magnus, and “mega” in Latin). So how does one become “mgh” (mega, great, magnum?) …

When to be stubborn, when to be flexible? My thought: Be insanely stubborn for 1% of the insanely important things in your life. Then be uber-flexible with the other 99% petty things in your …

Kids are the ultimate creators. In some ways, a child playing is the apex of power and creativity. In this regard, we must play more with children and *become* more child-like. Some of my …

ZEN VIBES:

What Becomes MORE Valuable Over Time, What Becomes LESS Valuable Over Time?

The general gist: Don’t concern or worry too much about your own personal needs. Meet the bare minimum for your basic human needs, and devote the rest of your intellectual and creative metabolic energy …

I have zero qualms about investing any money that makes me more productive and focused. Also— monetary investments to gain new and interesting experiences, or towards education of any sort. Or using money to …

No regrets or sad feelings in life. Perhaps everything which happened had happened as it *should* have happened. This doesn’t mean that everything happens for a reason, but it is a good mental tool …

Then nothing? So why doubt yourself, be fearful, and why not not pursue what you’re truly passionate and enthusiastic for in life?

My simple approach to life. The general gist: My life purpose is to plumb the depths of human experience, knowledge, wisdom and art and by having unique human experiences I can learn. Then my …

Convenient comes from “convenio” in Latin (to come together): con (with) + venio (to meet). Typically when we think about convenience culture, we see it as a vice. To do what is convenient is …

My first blog post (Hello World) on June 21st, 2010. I suppose my 10 year anniversary has elapsed a bit, but some thoughts:

Surprisingly the RICOH GR III is really good for macro photography; shooting uber-close. The macro abilities of RICOH GR III are actually substantively closer than the ability of the RICOH GR II. The improved …

Lately one of my new fun hobbies and passions in photography and video: Shooting macro videos on my RICOH GR III of everyday stuff. For example:

Also notions on “true” entrepreneurship vs “vain” entrepreneurship.

Quick thoughts: Not as heavy as I thought it would be. Feels only marginally heavier than my 13” MacBook Pro Touch Bar. Perhaps in this new COVID world where we won’t be traveling as …

The more eggs, the better:

Fuck it you only got one life to live. Why waste any of it thinking small, doing small, being afraid, and taking no risks? Let us not be fooled my friends… the best life …

A realization: It isn’t money, power, fame, or notoriety I desire… but control. Control over myself, control over my decisions, control to do what I want to do, and control to *NOT* do what …

Don’t expect others to treat you the way you treat them. This then means: You are a magnanimous monster of great and highly virtue. If others act petty around you; don’t let it faze …

New thought: Life is too short. Let’s put ourselves in a robust (antifragile) stoic position that nothing any longer fazes us.

A thought and realization: With COVID and beyond, the car becomes an external skin (like the Iron Man armor). It becomes a second home and a new mobile work space. So perhaps when it …

A new thought and social innovation idea: We do home share (Airbnb) we do car share (Uber); why not life share?

Uber-simple approach to sharing your photos: Just share your own photos on your own blog!

A brief primer to digital photography:

In life if you approached it like it were all fun and games … wouldn’t you be happier, more productive, more creative and more passionate about living?

Photograph like a child!

Just read a bit of the book, ‘Aristotle’s Way‘ (published by Penguin/Random House) and really liked the section and chapter on leisure, as well as the conclusion. The gist:

In other words, the process and effort is the reward!

For the most part, I FAAAR prefer interacting and playing with kids than adults. Why? We have soooo much more to learn from children: Their phenomenal sense of creativity, disregard for rules and ‘social …

Why not rather instability? Consider … if an object is uber-stable and at rest, it is boring. No motivation to move, advance or do anything. Whereas instability means: Move, change, advancement forwards.

Do anything for 10 years with passion, enthusiasm and zest and you will master it. For me this includes photography, blogging, lifting weights, talking, traveling, and teaching.

I am convinced. RICOH GR III is the best camera of all time (thus far). Why? Reasons: The smallest size of all time, and the most premium. Smaller than even the great RICOH GR …

In photography and life, never stop curating your photos.

Some of my best photos (a dynamic, ongoing list):