Powerlifting and the gym, more of a zen aesthetic ethos training thing.
The mental training and the, time to charge up my focus before I attempt a one rep max lift is what I find most interesting. The actual outcome of the lift is less interesting to me.
Towards a 90% physical culture. Like the ancient Spartans, let us hugely favor physical culture over mental culture.
The joy of timing.
Do you have a connection with it or not? Only engage with things you have a personal connection with.
For example of traveling, only travel to places that you feel some sort of spiritual or soul connection with, you don’t have to be blood related, but I must mean something deeper to you. For example, my love will Vietnam, considering that my wife Cindy is Vietnamese. Also my love with Japan, as I have a deep connection with Japanese culture and aesthetics.
Learning about human nature from my son Seneca: perhaps we adults also hate the notion of closed doors, or things which are locked and and inaccessible to us.
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My theory about parenting is that it is training: train their mind, train their physical body, train their musical interest, etc.
In praise of Dropbox. The founders of Dropbox essentially said in their mission statement:
What we are striving to do is to promote flow, work ‘flow’, amongst individuals and teams.
Also one thing I like about working on a laptop vs an iPad or iPhone:
Working on a laptop promotes much more flow, as you can type 10000x faster than an iPad or iPhone.
Think less about “goodâ€, think more about seamless and flow.
I like this idea of a free trial period, and no commitment in the beginning. And then you decide to pay for it later.
The good thing with Paramount+ (HALO).
After deep thinking and consideration, my thought is perhaps for Web 4.0 we’ll go back to basics, that is blogging.
All my really smart friends seem to eventually work for Google and settle there.
Also note that if something is on Google, it is “truthâ€.
Let us also consider, people aren’t going to stop Googling stuff or searching for stuff on YouTube (owned by Google).
Assuming the future is up-market, or ultra high end … Amazon might fail. Amazon is racing to the bottom (just like Walmart) for low prices. Now that Jeff Bezos has peaced out of the company (perhaps focusing on getting to the moon or Mars or somewhere in space) — I am feeling bearish on the future of Amazon.
Even now, it seems that even though Amazon prime is so insanely convenient, people still like to go to the (high end) mall, like South Coast Plaza or outdoor malls like the Irvine Spectrum.
We know that skate parks are good, also, lots of fun to bring your kid to a skate park.
Why not also invent photo parks?
If you’re a homebody, you’re a domesticated herd animal. If you prefer to be out in the real world and “fuck shit upâ€, consider yourself a wild predator.
As much as I love laptops, and my laptop, the big problem with laptops is this: you are forced to be static.
What are the alternatives? Walking around and being mobile with your iPhone, and just using Siri voice dictate to write out your thoughts.
As a photographer how you decide to divvy up and compose your frame — this is all a design decision.
Perhaps we photographers can gain more from studying design and designers, than photography?
Design rules everything around me.
If you ever leave the house, or decide to stay at home all day … everything about existence and embodied reality deals with design.
Perhaps it is good to not have a good memory — to not let the past actions and prejudices of others affect how you treat them.
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From a design perspective, perhaps what we’re looking for is a new silhouette. For example our joy on the silhouette of the new Cybertruck, and the silhouette of the Yeezy 350 sneakers.
My design ideal — to become more aggressive.
My parenting mantra and approach. Simple thought — charge your phone in a separate room when you’re engaging and playing with your kid.
Further mediocrity. Boringness. Further passivity from media. Further dumbing down and standardization for our kids.
“Be greedy when others are fearful†-Warren Buffet
Or in other words, this is your chance and opportunity to buy and hoard more Bitcoin.
I’ve been blogging ever since I was 15 years old. I consider myself the blogging GOAT, the greatest blogger of all time.
In fact, I even started blogging before I started pursuing photography. Therefore in someways, blogging was my first love, even before photography.
I actually see blogging as the future. More robust than social media, which is in the hands of the social media sharecroppers.
Some practical blogging strategies:
For example, the crypto Chain.Link blog does this very well. In order for people to start adopting your technology or product, you must educate them, give them ideas, and teach them how to actually use it.
Applied to my photography, I see my blog as mostly an educational blog on photography and street photography, me sharing knowledge and information as I go.
After someone reads your blog, or blog post, think to yourself: how has my reader benefited from this?
Something else that is essential with blog posts, go deep. Do not be superficial.
For example how the Chainlink blog has this very deep and insightful notion on crypto really being about trust.
“Richard Millie cost a Lambo†– Meek Mill
Very interesting to read the history and ethos behind Richard Mille— the notion of an “ultra high end†segment within the already high-end segment.
Nota Bene: Lamborghini Urus as becoming quite standard in SoCal, even the Rolls Royce Cullinan SUV.
Might be a smart move for Apple to keep going more high-end, like a $2000 titanium iPhone Pro.
Even for Leica camera to continuously make more epic lenses— more APO (ultra high luxury end lenses).
I would never want anyone to pity my son. Therefore, do not pity others.
Pity is actually an emotion in which you look down on others, and see them as helpless weaklings.
We often talk about social media, media, media as films and television, etc. But how come we never think about photography as another form of media?
Some thing I find very interesting: how crypto.com has been killing it, especially with all their media sponsorships and co-branding.
For example, the fact that they bought the naming rights to the staple center, at around $700 million, is hugely fascinating. Whenever I drive by it, I think about crypto.
Also, I keep getting crypto.com advertisements in my iPhone App Store search bar, and it seems that they are really pushing for bitcoin and ether.
Think about it: in the next 20-30 years, do you think people will be consuming more media, or less media? I say more media.
Don’t just be trapped in “playgroundsâ€, thinking that a playground is the only place to play.
Perhaps in order to do more and achieve more in life, reduce your given compass in life.
Don’t commute. Don’t spend any time in a car. Only walking, thinking, working out, garage entrepreneurship, thinking locally, no travel.
Mando shouldn’t have shown his face, Boba Fett shouldn’t have shown his face, Darth Vader wouldn’t have shown his face, the STIG should never show his face, and Master Chief should never show his face.
With models, don’t show faces. Why not? We want to put ourselves behind the mask or helmet of others, to become them.
The darkness and mystery is what most intrigues us?
Similarly speaking when it comes to advertising, never show the face of the model. Ideally just highlight and focus on the product, not the human behind it.
It’s impossible to know how you will feel tomorrow— whether you wake up sick, having slept horribly, or your mood or outlook is different tomorrow.
Every night go to sleep like a mini death; the next day you’re reborn, freshly new.
Why thank people, and if you thank them, and they hear you, but don’t acknowledge your thanks … why does this ignite inner-indignation?
Perhaps when we thank people, we are just subjugating them under us. In other words, to thank someone is a power play.
