Month: August 2023

Only humans and women can be sublime beauty.

Cindy as sublime beauty:

How to strengthen your hips

Walk more in order to get more done!

Also, maximum sunlight and sun exposure.

Perhaps the only time we should repent in life is when we didn’t go hard or extreme enough.

Invest in brightness!

Are you ready for a one rep max?

Perhaps the only time we should go to the gym is if we are feeling powerful and strong enough to achieve or attempt a new personal record in our one rep max lifts! Otherwise just rest up?

Only go to the gym if you’re ready for the ten plates +!

I love power!

The cult of strength:

After spending two months in Asia, this time about two weeks in Hadong South Korea, and about a month and a half in Vietnam, and coming back home to the states, I feel like a transformed man. How and why? The findings:

1. American thoughts

Lots of discoveries about America, coming back here with fresh new eyes. First and foremost, there seems to be this trend towards fear of other people, or strange antisocial behavior. This fear averse modern-day society of Americans is bad.

My simple suggestion is be the change. Instead be insanely friendly, and say hi to everybody you see.

One of the great things about being in Vietnam is the culture is great. People are insanely friendly, happy, social, and jokesey. Coming back to the states, Americans tend to be reserved, brittle, strangely curmudgeonly.

Don’t act like the typical antisocial American. Instead, be insanely friendly and happy.

2. Car thoughts

I some new thoughts in regards to cars; the great thing about being in Asia, Vietnam, is that having a car is a bad thing. Better to not own a car and just ride a Grab taxi anywhere.

Therefore the general thought is this; put less care and attention in your car.

What is the best car? I think a used white Prius; I recently re-inherited our old 2010 Prius, and white, and I love it! Cindy‘s younger sister Jennifer was driving the car for a while, but unfortunately in the middle of the night they stole the catalytic converter, and she no longer wanted to deal with the car. She initially was just going to sell the whole Prius to the mechanic for only $2700, but I thought this was a great opportunity, so Cindy and I offered to pay for the new catalytic converter, around $3000, and we just took it to the shop to replace the ABS brake sensor, another $2700 USD, and $350 for a catalytic converter shield, to prevent or discourage a future theft.

So all in all, around $5000-$6000 for a brand new (used) and insanely great reliable Prius!

Interestingly enough, chatting with the owner Vallentine (he is the owner of Hybrid 911, which is specialized in fixing Priuses and hybrids), and he told me that he used to have the P100D Tesla MODEL S 2017 model, the refreshed model, but ultimately ended up selling it because the charging was annoying, especially with long road trips.

I still love cars from a metaphorical and design and aesthetic perspective; but, my new ambition is to drive this Prius to at least 350,000, 450,000 or 500,000 miles. And instead use and invest my money into myself, my body, my entrepreneurial ventures, And beyond.

The easiest way to become rich is not to waste money on a car.

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The Ultimate stimulant is the sun.

ERIC KIM PHOTOGRAPHY, VISUAL ARTIST:

The genius of Disney and Marvel; making $1 billion, several billions of dollars with the avengers marvel movies, and reinvesting that money into all of these new Star Wars series.

Then, purely from a media perspective, perhaps the purpose of profits from movies and films is in order to reinvest that money and producing even greater, grander, more epic films!

Review your photos without your glasses on.

The Greatest tragedy; being forced to stay indoors all day?

What do you want to use your power for and towards?

Transformer.

Off center composition:

Joy:

What do you want your kid to become?

Currently in Southern California, it is insanely bright outside. I am quite resistant to brightness, but it is starting to get even too bright for myself.

I suppose the intelligence of iPad Pro, iPhone pro is that when you are in the direct sun, your devices can get brighter, and don’t get so dim.

A big problem that I’ve discovered with my iPhone SE, I’m not sure if this happens with other iPhones as well is that when it is too bright or hot outside, the device overheats, and dim the display as a result.

Assuming you live in Southern California, Arizona, Las Vegas, anywhere which is insanely hot and bright, maybe getting an iPhone Pro or iPad Pro to combat the sun is a good idea.

The goal: maximum brightness.

Life without coffee is not a life worth living:

Specifically, a life without insanely great coffee, ERIC KIM OMAKASE COFFEE is not a life worth living.

Podcast

Just recently got in from flying direct from Saigon to SFO, back in Southern California, and still crazy jetlagged.

Some very simple suggestions on how to best adjust to jet lag:

1. First and foremost, fast before going on the flight, and don’t eat anything on the flight. Intermittent fasting from 24 hours to 48 hours before you leave your destination and before you arrive, is one of the best strategies to minimize jet lag. For example, before you leave to the airport, don’t eat anything. Don’t eat anything at the airport, don’t eat anything on the flight, and simply fast and don’t eat anything until dinner time at your target destination. Sure you may be a little bit hungry on the flight, but trust me, the short term pain of 1 to 2 days is far superior than weeks or even a month of misery.
2. Walking is the way: When you get back home, try to walk as much as humanly possible outdoors.
3. ERIC KIM COFFEE:

What are you made of? ERIC KIM COFFEE

EK OMAKASE LIFE

Nobody as antagonist. The collective thriving of all human beings is my goal.

Niggas playing for power — JAY Z

Think carte blanche:

THINK & DRINK DIFFERENT:

Think more >

Real men drive Priuses:

Pain is good!

The other day, woke up pretty early, got some good writing done (Man on a Mission), was feeling high strength, and decided that it may be a good opportunity and chance for me to go househunting and apartment hunting in LA with Cindy. We loaded up our car, and drove down to LA, spent the whole day there and came back, and after the whole day there coming back, this was the most fatigued I felt in a very long time.

Thoughts on my mind:

Why was I so tired? Is it still the jet lag, or is it the fact of being stuck in the car all day, or driving all day?

---

Commuting?

Commute — to change, alter (con muto).

meytH— to change, to exchange, to move.

What does it mean to commute, what is a commute?

I suppose after studying the etymology, to commute means to simply exchange places. For example, typically you sleep in your home, wake up, and then you commute to work, whether it be walking driving etc.

In modern day times, or if you live in LA or southern California, the notion of a commute is generally speaking being stuck in traffic or being stuck in a car or being stuck driving for several hours a day.

For example, in my case, starting off in Orange County and driving to LA, even with Cindy and carpool, it still took us about an hour and five minutes to get to LA. And the tricky thing about driving to LA especially coming from Orange County is that the closer you get to LA, the more ratchet it gets. People drive more aggressively, the freeways become more condensed, interchanges become a little bit more unpredictable and confusing.

Concrete Islands

I call it “concrete archipelago hopping” to quote my friend Evyn Le Espiritu.

Basically the issue in LA, and a lot of southern California is that all of these different neighborhoods are like concrete islands, which instead of being separated by water is separated by traffic.

For example, Cindy and I toured several neighborhoods which included Marina del Rey, some outskirts of Santa Monica, Culver City, Westwood, etc. Even though they are all in close proximity to UCLA, during rush hour, trying to go from the east side to the west side is all local and you’re stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Would a Tesla solve this issue?

Another thing that I’ve learned which is intelligent in Asia, Southeast Asia, is that rich people don’t drive themselves; either have private drivers, or just ride grab taxi or an Uber anywhere. In Asia, only servants drive.

In America we have this funny strange thing in which we want to be the driver. We want to be the man at the helm, the cockpit, inside the fuselage.

Even the notion of a modern-day sports car or a hyper car, I think the general analogy is that it is almost like having your own private jet fighter. I think this is what Lamborghini is going for, you may not be able to buy a jet fighter, and be like Tom Cruise, but, you can have your own land based jet fighter which is a modern day Lamborghini.

However, even if you have the worlds best Lamborghini or car or hyper car whatever, during peak rush-hour in LA, you’re stuck. I don’t know anybody who likes to drive during bumper-to-bumper rush-hour.

The curiosity on my mind is this:

If I had a Tesla, either with basic auto pilot, the one which does the “smart cruise control“ on the freeway, auto staying in the lane and keeping distance in front of the other car, or even full auto pilot, would this solve the issue?

For example, let me assume that in the morning, before leaving to LA at 10 AM, I was at 100% energy, honestly I think it would have just been better for me to go to the gym and try to hit over 10 plates for my atlas lift. After driving commuting going to LA coming back, I felt like my battery went down to a critical low of 2%.

Thus my curiosity:

If I had a Tesla, either with basic auto pilot or full auto pilot, would having to commute and drive deplete me of less energy?

For example, if I had auto pilot, would my energy levels still be at close to 100%? At 90%? At 80%? At 60%? 50%? 40%? 30%? Or about the same?

I know that when I’m stuck in traffic, but someone else is driving me, like during peak rush-hour in Saigon, it didn’t really bother me too much to be stuck in traffic. I just used that time to review my photos on my iPhone, or even publish some ideas to my blog, using my iPhone.

Jet lag?

Was I so tired yesterday because I was still jetlagged? Still a little bit uncertain, but the general takeaway point:

Conserve your energy and strength.

I think some certainties:

1. Driving drains your battery

Having to actively drive yourself saps you of your strength and energy: for example, typically I am able to easily atlas lift over nine plates at the gym, but yesterday after driving all day, and hitting the gym, I was so fatigued that I barely had energy and chutzpah to do seven plates. Being cognizant of my body, I still had the muscular strength to lift more, but, my overall feeling and just was I didn’t have the chutzpah to do it. Therefore purely speaking from a productivity energy perspective, if you want to maximize your energy, and to minimally deplete your energy, drive as little as humanly possible.

Chutzpah vlog >

I like this analogy of thinking of your human energy like a battery or a smart phone battery. That is, when you wake up first thing in the morning, and during the day, you got 100% battery life, but as the day goes on, your battery life gets drained. Things you could do to recharge your battery include drinking more ERIC KIM COFFEE, taking a nap, or sleeping. Sometimes also good way to recharge your battery is ironically hitting the gym, lifting weights, doing the hot sauna, or even going out in the direct sun, catching some sun.

2. I don’t like tint

For the 2010 Prius that we recently inherited, it has pretty much full tint. Close to limo tint in the back and the back windshield, the front is quite dark, and I think there’s even a little bit of tint on the front windshield.

For myself, I get maximum physiological energy when I am in the direct sun, or I have the privilege and opportunity to get more direct light. Therefore, I don’t like tint or tint in cars because it makes things darker, and I feel like this saps me of some of my energy. Maximum sunlight and brightness is key for me to maximize my physical energy.

Therefore being stuck in the car all day, the downside is it because you are stuck in the car all day with tint, you have less energy and power.

3. Gravity on your legs and joints

Another big downside of being stuck in a car, or being seated in either the front seat or the backseat of a car is that when you are in a sitting position, and gravity doesn’t have an opportunity to work on your legs. I have a theory that when you do not have the privilege to stand, walk, or have the opportunity for gravity to work on your legs, your lower body, your back, your spine, your hips, your knees, your ligaments and joints etc., Your metabolism and physiological energy shuts down.

Therefore, even if you had a 100% private driver, or even the $15,000 self 100% self driving tesla, still being forced to be in a seated position is positively bad for you.

Lesson: optimize your life such a manner in which you are never sitting.

4. How to watch a movie, or TV show series?

One of the things I hate about flying is that you are forced to sit the whole time. Whenever possible, Seneca included, I prefer to stand, kill time by walking around the cabin, etc.

Was it Virgin Airlines, or some sort of other airlines which had some sort of club lounge in which you were able to stand and hang out? I think this is a really good idea for airplanes.

Anyways, another simple thought I have is if there is a TV show, a series, or a movie you want to watch, it seems that the best idea is to watch it while standing, while walking outdoors, just download it to your iPad Pro, and walk around while watching it outside. This is far superior of a watching experience; I believe the greatest benefit of movies films and cinema is that motivates you to move, literally. Any sort of movie or action film which inspires you to move your legs walk around, is good.

For example, when I first watched the Foundation series on Apple TV+, I would just download it all to my iPhone or iPad Pro, and watch it while walking around the block with an umbrella during the summertime in the blazing Southern California sun.

Therefore as a fun experiment, avoid sitting.

5. Anti inferior coffee?

During our house and Tim trip in LA, Cindy and I briefly stopped by a Trader Joe’s and Cindy picked up some snacks and one of those cold brew Trader Joe’s coffees. Apparently 100% arabica. However, the coffee was insanely terrible. Immediately I felt my throat act up, and actually gave me a bad feeling. I actually felt more tired than I did before having it.

Therefore, my personal passion with ERIC KIM Coffee, to truly bring you the most superior and supreme coffee to help you thrive.

What makes ERIC KIM COFFEE different? 100% fine robusta, the most healthy coffee and the most supreme for your physiology.

My personal commitment to myself; I will only ever drink EK COFFEE ever again.

6. Trading your health, your well-being, and your physiological energy for money?

Assuming that driving and sitting as positively bad for you and your health, let us consider how most people make their money and living, nowadays taxi drivers and Uber drivers, Amazon prime delivery people, or the traditional office worker who sits in front of a computer and sits on a chair at a desk all day.

Even the traditional Silicon Valley worker with standing desk isn’t much better. I think there’s something positively bad about your health when we are forced to stay indoors, not moving, and just staring at a screen all day.

Therefore the traditional way that a lot of people make money nowadays is simply trading their health for money. Also, having to fly internationally or even domestically for a living is positively bad for your health.

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7. Voluntary versus involuntary commuting

I think having a small commute is positively good. To drive 15 or 20 minutes somewhere is often good to just get out of the house, change of scenery etc.

Also to drive a little bit a day I think is also good for us.

But the dosage is in the poison. this means, maybe driving 15 minutes somewhere and then driving 15 minutes back is good for us, but having to drive an hour or an hour and 30 minutes somewhere and two hours back is really bad for us.

Therefore my suggestion is in regards to your life and lifestyle, work etc., I don’t think we should ever be forced to commute anywhere, we should only commute optionally if we want to.

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Now what?

I think the general takeaway point is we actually like to be in person to do things. Nobody wants to be on zoom all day.

Therefore my simple suggestion; perhaps the best life is a life in which you do a short voluntary commute, to do things in person.

We prefer in person. But then we don’t like to be stuck in the car.

For example, a short 10 to 15 minute commute somewhere, to do something in person, whether if you work, creative work, going to the gym or yoga, going to a coffee shop, eating out etc.

Just limit your commute.

---

EXPERIENCE EK

Become the photographer and visual artist you desire:

• CONQUER THE STREETS OF PHILLY (OCTOBER 14, 2023)
• ACHIEVE SUBLIME CREATIVITY IN SEATTLE (FEB 10, 2024)

Incoming Workshops:

• Downtown LA MASTER STREET PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP 2023
• NEW YORK CITY VISUAL ARTIST WORKSHOP 2023
• SOUTH KOREA WORKSHOP Summer 2024 (September 2-6th)

ERIC KIM OMAKASE COFFEE

The trifecta of coffee >

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More lifestyle thoughts >

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Photo assignments

1. Photograph more artistic selfies of yourself
2. Photograph your kids and loved ones
3. Shoot photos when stuck in traffic

Upload your best photos to arsbeta.com

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The best, the most supreme life?

Our number one consideration.

Think more with WHY APP?

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For example, if you have two types of meat, one which is better, always eat the better meat first. It seems that some people do the opposite; eating the worst meat which is older, simply because of the fear that it may “go bad“ first.

Our antithesis; living basic.

I think having a small commute is positively good. To drive 15 or 20 minutes somewhere is often good to just get out of the house, change of scenery etc.

Also to drive a little bit a day I think is also good for us.

But the dosage is in the poison. this means, maybe driving 15 minutes somewhere and then driving 15 minutes back is good for us, but having to drive an hour or an hour and 30 minutes somewhere and two hours back is really bad for us.

Therefore my suggestion is in regards to your life and lifestyle, work etc., I don’t think we should ever be forced to commute anywhere, we should only commute optionally if we want to.

LA THOUGHTS

The other day, woke up pretty early, got some good writing done (Man on a Mission), was feeling high strength, and decided that it may be a good opportunity and chance for me to go househunting and apartment hunting in LA with Cindy. We loaded up our car, and drove down to LA, spent the whole day there and came back, and after the whole day there coming back, this was the most fatigued I felt in a very long time.

Thoughts on my mind:

Why was I so tired? Is it still the jet lag, or is it the fact of being stuck in the car all day, or driving all day?

---

Commuting?

Commute — to change, alter (con muto).

meytH— to change, to exchange, to move.

What does it mean to commute, what is a commute?

I suppose after studying the etymology, to commute means to simply exchange places. For example, typically you sleep in your home, wake up, and then you commute to work, whether it be walking driving etc.

In modern day times, or if you live in LA or southern California, the notion of a commute is generally speaking being stuck in traffic or being stuck in a car or being stuck driving for several hours a day.

For example, in my case, starting off in Orange County and driving to LA, even with Cindy and carpool, it still took us about an hour and five minutes to get to LA. And the tricky thing about driving to LA especially coming from Orange County is that the closer you get to LA, the more ratchet it gets. People drive more aggressively, the freeways become more condensed, interchanges become a little bit more unpredictable and confusing.

Concrete Islands

I call it “concrete archipelago hopping” to quote my friend Evyn Le Espiritu.

Basically the issue in LA, and a lot of southern California is that all of these different neighborhoods are like concrete islands, which instead of being separated by water is separated by traffic.

For example, Cindy and I toured several neighborhoods which included Marina del Rey, some outskirts of Santa Monica, Culver City, Westwood, etc. Even though they are all in close proximity to UCLA, during rush hour, trying to go from the east side to the west side is all local and you’re stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Would a Tesla solve this issue?

Another thing that I’ve learned which is intelligent in Asia, Southeast Asia, is that rich people don’t drive themselves; either have private drivers, or just ride grab taxi or an Uber anywhere. In Asia, only servants drive.

In America we have this funny strange thing in which we want to be the driver. We want to be the man at the helm, the cockpit, inside the fuselage.

Even the notion of a modern-day sports car or a hyper car, I think the general analogy is that it is almost like having your own private jet fighter. I think this is what Lamborghini is going for, you may not be able to buy a jet fighter, and be like Tom Cruise, but, you can have your own land based jet fighter which is a modern day Lamborghini.

However, even if you have the worlds best Lamborghini or car or hyper car whatever, during peak rush-hour in LA, you’re stuck. I don’t know anybody who likes to drive during bumper-to-bumper rush-hour.

The curiosity on my mind is this:

If I had a Tesla, either with basic auto pilot, the one which does the “smart cruise control“ on the freeway, auto staying in the lane and keeping distance in front of the other car, or even full auto pilot, would this solve the issue?

For example, let me assume that in the morning, before leaving to LA at 10 AM, I was at 100% energy, honestly I think it would have just been better for me to go to the gym and try to hit over 10 plates for my atlas lift. After driving commuting going to LA coming back, I felt like my battery went down to a critical low of 2%.

Thus my curiosity:

If I had a Tesla, either with basic auto pilot or full auto pilot, would having to commute and drive deplete me of less energy?

For example, if I had auto pilot, would my energy levels still be at close to 100%? At 90%? At 80%? At 60%? 50%? 40%? 30%? Or about the same?

I know that when I’m stuck in traffic, but someone else is driving me, like during peak rush-hour in Saigon, it didn’t really bother me too much to be stuck in traffic. I just used that time to review my photos on my iPhone, or even publish some ideas to my blog, using my iPhone.

Jet lag?

Was I so tired yesterday because I was still jetlagged? Still a little bit uncertain, but the general takeaway point:

Conserve your energy and strength.

I think some certainties:

1. Driving drains your battery

Having to actively drive yourself saps you of your strength and energy: for example, typically I am able to easily atlas lift over nine plates at the gym, but yesterday after driving all day, and hitting the gym, I was so fatigued that I barely had energy and chutzpah to do seven plates. Being cognizant of my body, I still had the muscular strength to lift more, but, my overall feeling and just was I didn’t have the chutzpah to do it. Therefore purely speaking from a productivity energy perspective, if you want to maximize your energy, and to minimally deplete your energy, drive as little as humanly possible.

Chutzpah vlog >

I like this analogy of thinking of your human energy like a battery or a smart phone battery. That is, when you wake up first thing in the morning, and during the day, you got 100% battery life, but as the day goes on, your battery life gets drained. Things you could do to recharge your battery include drinking more ERIC KIM COFFEE, taking a nap, or sleeping. Sometimes also good way to recharge your battery is ironically hitting the gym, lifting weights, doing the hot sauna, or even going out in the direct sun, catching some sun.

2. I don’t like tint

For the 2010 Prius that we recently inherited, it has pretty much full tint. Close to limo tint in the back and the back windshield, the front is quite dark, and I think there’s even a little bit of tint on the front windshield.

For myself, I get maximum physiological energy when I am in the direct sun, or I have the privilege and opportunity to get more direct light. Therefore, I don’t like tint or tint in cars because it makes things darker, and I feel like this saps me of some of my energy. Maximum sunlight and brightness is key for me to maximize my physical energy.

Therefore being stuck in the car all day, the downside is it because you are stuck in the car all day with tint, you have less energy and power.

3. Gravity on your legs and joints

Another big downside of being stuck in a car, or being seated in either the front seat or the backseat of a car is that when you are in a sitting position, and gravity doesn’t have an opportunity to work on your legs. I have a theory that when you do not have the privilege to stand, walk, or have the opportunity for gravity to work on your legs, your lower body, your back, your spine, your hips, your knees, your ligaments and joints etc., Your metabolism and physiological energy shuts down.

Therefore, even if you had a 100% private driver, or even the $15,000 self 100% self driving tesla, still being forced to be in a seated position is positively bad for you.

Lesson: optimize your life such a manner in which you are never sitting.

4. How to watch a movie, or TV show series?

One of the things I hate about flying is that you are forced to sit the whole time. Whenever possible, Seneca included, I prefer to stand, kill time by walking around the cabin, etc.

Was it Virgin Airlines, or some sort of other airlines which had some sort of club lounge in which you were able to stand and hang out? I think this is a really good idea for airplanes.

Anyways, another simple thought I have is if there is a TV show, a series, or a movie you want to watch, it seems that the best idea is to watch it while standing, while walking outdoors, just download it to your iPad Pro, and walk around while watching it outside. This is far superior of a watching experience; I believe the greatest benefit of movies films and cinema is that motivates you to move, literally. Any sort of movie or action film which inspires you to move your legs walk around, is good.

For example, when I first watched the Foundation series on Apple TV+, I would just download it all to my iPhone or iPad Pro, and watch it while walking around the block with an umbrella during the summertime in the blazing Southern California sun.

Therefore as a fun experiment, avoid sitting.

5. Anti inferior coffee?

During our house and Tim trip in LA, Cindy and I briefly stopped by a Trader Joe’s and Cindy picked up some snacks and one of those cold brew Trader Joe’s coffees. Apparently 100% arabica. However, the coffee was insanely terrible. Immediately I felt my throat act up, and actually gave me a bad feeling. I actually felt more tired than I did before having it.

Therefore, my personal passion with ERIC KIM Coffee, to truly bring you the most superior and supreme coffee to help you thrive.

What makes ERIC KIM COFFEE different? 100% fine robusta, the most healthy coffee and the most supreme for your physiology.

My personal commitment to myself; I will only ever drink EK COFFEE ever again.

6. Trading your health, your well-being, and your physiological energy for money?

Assuming that driving and sitting as positively bad for you and your health, let us consider how most people make their money and living, nowadays taxi drivers and Uber drivers, Amazon prime delivery people, or the traditional office worker who sits in front of a computer and sits on a chair at a desk all day.

Even the traditional Silicon Valley worker with standing desk isn’t much better. I think there’s something positively bad about your health when we are forced to stay indoors, not moving, and just staring at a screen all day.

Therefore the traditional way that a lot of people make money nowadays is simply trading their health for money. Also, having to fly internationally or even domestically for a living is positively bad for your health.

ERIC KIM OMAKASE COFFEE >

Vlog

Often it may be faster that you do it yourself that have someone else do it! Even if you got the money.