363 mile rear wheel drive new Model 3… for only $29,990… wow!!

Changes in human needs

changes in the knowledge men have of the importance of goods for their lives and welfare.

Changes in the knowledge that we have about the importance of certain goods in our lives in our welfare?

Knowledge gap, gaining knowledge

.

value of the services of capital

What are the values, or what is the value of the services of capital?

Expected economic character

Expected value

Our expected value of goods?

When you purchase things or buy things or want to purchase advisor to things… We expect that they have a certain amount of value for us, but we are often wrong?

The prospective value

the prospective value of their product at the end of the production period.

Before you purchase something, very difficult to ascertain what the hidden annoyances will be

Morale of the story — know that with any new purchase of any so called desirable thing,,, there will be hidden annoyances!

the mag- nitude of importance of those satisfactions with respect to which we are conscious of being dependent on command of the good.

Magnitude of importance of those satisfactions

–> how conscious we are in terms of how dependent we are on it, and the command of it?

.

Principle of value determination

Magnitude of importance

Human economy

The importance of a satisfaction

Stupid men and defective knowledge

Rational economic activity

Subject to error

Error is inseparable from all human knowl- edge.

.

Men are especially prone to let themselves be misled into over- estimating the importance of satisfactions that give intense momentary pleasure but contribute only fleetingly to their well- being, and so into underestimating the importance of satisfactions on which a less intensive but longer enduring well-being depends. In other words, men often esteem passing, intense enjoyments more highly than their permanent welfare, and sometimes even more than their lives.

“I’m over it–“

Permanent welfare

.

Once you get a kid, paradigm shift –> everything changes

–> who do you desire to be your mate?

.

The subjective factor of value determination

Appraising your own state of mind

their per- ception of the objective factor of value determination

.

You don’t have to maintain bitcoin like real property

Sexy dad

Even owning an electric car,,, $1,000 USD for 4 new tires?

The best car is the car with the *LEAST* amount of maintenance costs (Prius)

People hark at digital and don’t understand it,,, but Bitcoin as the first true digital money,,, paradigm shift?

Keep stacking that digital money!

The problem ,,, people cannot understand the notion of a digital scarcity — digital stuff is seen as free and costs $0 to reproduce.

But if you truly understand Bitcoin, and the amount of work, electricity, human ingenuity that goes into “mining” and creating a single Bitcoin then you will understand that a single Bitcoin may in fact be the most valuable thing a human can own?

Do you “own” stocks?

You can’t reproduce a Picasso nor Bitcoin

The measure of value is entirely subjective in nature,

Nature and the measure of value

Value is determined by individuals

His command of the good

*

Comparing your kids is a virtue?

Reproduction

.

The first true digital scarcity?

With digital things and files you can copy them ad infinitum,,, but with Bitcoin, hard cap of 21 Million Bitcoins

Doing yoga with a 60 pound weight vest on?

Tesla as a technology company —

Even though the Lexus may be the superior car,,, all of the LA baby mama’s would prefer to drive the Tesla Model X

Leg Thoughts

Perhaps the true sign or signal as somebody’s health is in their legs?

Also, with weightlifters, bodybuilders, etc.… both men and women in general, the number one and only thing to do is look at their legs.

Strong legs, strong soul?

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“Check out the legs on that one!”

It’s interesting because I think when it comes down to it… one of the great ways that men rate the attractiveness of a woman is based on her legs. How long they are, how healthy it looks like their skin is, their overall gait and shape etc.

Also, when it comes to age, people getting into older age etc.… as long as people have strong sturdy tree trunk like legs, full of muscle strength and vigor, they will be fine. Even my mom who is now 69 years old, she has very strong legs, and is still doing a lot of world traveling hiking backpacking mountaineering with her friends etc.

Looking at their legs

You could tell easily; if you look at somebody’s bare legs, assuming that they’re wearing shorts, short shorts, a bikini, whatever… you could look at their legs and judge their legs. 

I think the big issue with leggings is that it is difficult to ascertain the health as somebody’s legs, their skin quality.

For example, if you look at women, just their legs, you could actually tell how old they are. Younger women, their skin and their youth in their legs has a different tone than a woman in her 60s, however fit she may be. 

Yoga leggings vs biking shorts?

A new trend I saw for a minute, especially in Orange County was that a lot of women were trading in their yoga leggings, their Lululemon leggings for what looks like these biker shorts, or booty shorts? Kind of like a very very shortcut tight for women, or imagine like a woman wearing very short boxer briefs?

In fact, why don’t you come to yoga, I’m not 100% sure why people wear leggings in general. Maybe to give them more friction when it comes to doing certain yoga poses? Because actually in fact, if you’re doing hot yoga or if you’re in a heated room, Having leggings are bad because it gets really really insanely hot. The ideal outfit is to just do hot yoga wearing a speedo, whether you are a woman or a man.

The happiest people are the ones doing beach volleyball?

Now that it is forever summer here in LA, I’ve been having a natural propensity to hit the beach! I think when the weather is good, there’s nothing better than the beach.

Looking at all the people, it seems that the happiest people are the ones who are playing beach volleyball! They all have the best hands, or having the most fun, and I have some theories:

1. First, the social element! Beach volleyball is in the great outdoors, at the beach, with the beautiful water, the lovely sanded between your toes, and I think it is one of the few sports in which the de facto thing is to do it barefoot? I don’t think there is even any Olympians who have special beach volleyball shoes?
2. Second, the fund of just running around and jumping around, and being physically active.
3. Third, sun exposure, the joy and delight of the sun! it looks like professional beach volleyball players, even kids, actually saw some kids doing some sort of beach volleyball camp in front of the Annenberg Beach House in Santa Monica, they all have a great tan! I think typically speaking, when you see people with a nice tan, it is a very good sign of their health! Very rarely do you see somebody with a gray tan being in a depressed mood, and typically speak you when you are at the beach, everyone is an insanely phenomenal mood! Theory and idea — let us see that you do email or computer stuff for a living, or zoom calls whatever… Why not just take your iPhone Pro and AirPods Pro’s to the beach? to just have Verizon, the best 5G connection, and just be happy at the beach? And do work there? I think the only reason you would not do this is because your coworkers might feel envious or jealous of you? This is where it is good to be a bad person. Imagine how terrible of a life it would be if you just lived your whole life in such a manner which prevented others from being jealous or envious of you? Typically my advice for any individual working for any company, or a person or whatever… just do the minimum amount of work necessary to not get fired.

Economy car

Currently reading Carl Menger’s the principles of economics, the father of the school of Austrian economics. 

It’s funny because in today’s world, their condiments, or you talk about the economy in general, is seen as the Apex field of study. Why? To study business and or economics, as soon as the ultimate pragmatic major introduce world to make money.

Making money, conserving money, and growing it; the trifecta.

Some people are very good at making money, but terrible at conserving it or investing it! For example, MC Hammer, 99.99% of rappers etc.

Growing your money

Double your money and make it stack!

I think this is still the strange aided in money economics wealth etc.;

In theory, the ideals to take 99% of the money you earn or make, and invested into something like bitcoin, and see your numbers forever go up. 

For example, the poor my mistake that a lot of young rappers do is that they get their first check for $1 million, $10 million whatever… And instantly the first thing they will do is buy a Rolls-Royce ghost or Phantom or Bentley… But it would actually be better to have use that money to just buy bitcoin, Which is essentially wealth on wheels, and just smile to see the numbers keep going up!

Don’t blow your load 


One of my friends who used to be at Ferrari collector, told me that after collecting all these Ferraris, rare cars and exotics etc.… Essentially he just got fed up with all of it, sold them all, and just now just drives around in a Lexus RX in Minnesota.  And also, very very interesting advice that I’ve got from really really truly rich people that I know is to just buy a Lexus. Why? 

First, if you are really really rich, actually ideally… You don’t want people to know that you’re rich! You don’t want to be held by hostage, or for ransom etc. I’m starting to also discover, being low-key poor, when in fact you’re really rich is very very good, the second that people know that you’re really rich, you actually start to concern yourself a little bit with security.  

Nowadays Lexus cars are so common place, it doesn’t really mean much in terms of prestige. However, if you want the ultimate in terms of comfort, the Apex quality of materials inside the car, and the ultimate and drive comfort, and also the highest in reliability (a Lexus is a Toyota after all), and also other benefits like having a hybrid engine which means that you don’t have to fill up the tank as often… All very good things.

Even when I went to Alexis experience center at fashion Island, I jumped into one of the new Lexus cars, I was shocked how high-quality the materials were, compared to Tesla cars, which feel very cheap.

I think at the end of the day, certainly Tesla is the more sexy and interesting car, but in fact if you think about real real real real quality and the best… Lexus is better.

***

Work from home or work from beach?

***

Legs

Leg Leverage

Your Legs Run the World

Everyday is Leg Day

Instead of buying the loser Lamborghini, the loser Porsche, the loser Ferrari… better to instead to juice up your legs?

***

Your legs are the ultimate lever and leverage

There is a funny meme in the world of fitness, life etc.; which is the notion of “skipping leg day“– the idea that we men are so obsessed about getting massive biceps, a massive chest, deltoids or shoulders etc.… that we instead of exercising our legs, we only focus on upper body movements which will show up on camera? 

My theory is that perhaps this meme has only created itself because of the camera, social media, etc. I think before cameras were invented, maybe before the ancient Greeks even had mirrors… muscles, show muscles weren’t really a thing. 

For example, imagine the Iliad, ancient Greece etc.,  ultimate question is who killed who? In terms of ultimate PVP, person versus person, player versus player combat… Who would kill who?

For example, on the battlefield… The question was who could kill Achilles? Nobody.

I’m sure certainly these ancient Greek heroes, king Leonidas, the Spartan 300 had insanely epic muscles. Yet, assuming that when you’re in battle, and you have battle armor on, certainly nobody is looking at your muscles, in fact, your muscles are only your metaphorical horsepower for your body and your lethality.

Chest?

A funny thing; ever since I got my 60 pound weight vest, and I strap it on, I instantly gained about five or 6 inches in my chest. The funny thought; a lot of weightlifters and bodybuilders obsessed over having a big and a massive chest. Isn’t it easier to just drop on a 60 pound weight vest instead?

Also, when it comes to combat, does ones chest muscles actually do anything in terms of making one more imposing fighter? I don’t think so.

Posture

Becoming sexier —

First, I think what we men seek is to become sexier. Also the same thing goes with women.

In fact, talking about revealed preferences or whatever; the reason I don’t like talk, is that people have all this fake talk about blah blah blah, but revealed preferences show what is truly critical:

For example, if you go to a wedding, and everyone is dressing up to the 10’s– how is it that everyone wants to dress? The women want to look sexy and beautiful, the men want to look handsome, confident, sexy as well.

As a random sidenote, there is a common outage in the world of marketing that sex sells. This is true.

Even the reason why I like to study marketing for women is that I think it shows revealed preferences; even the female clothing brand Reformation has a delivery car with the motto “On our way to make you look sexy.”

Even the reason why the clothing brand ALO yoga is killing Lululemon, especially in Los Angeles is that it seems that aloe has become the sexier brand, and sexier women wear ALO yoga, even though ALO YOGA clothing materials (Bella + Canvas) is inferior to Lululemon materials; but the big issue Lululemon here has that it seems that only older, middle-age women are starting to wear Lululemon, and younger women are starting to flock to ALO yoga instead –

No more focus on sexiness?

Also, I think the problem is in today’s world, sexiness, is no longer sexy. Rather, the new fashion trend is ugliness?

Why I prefer Los Angeles

“I’m sexy and I know it”

I think the reason why I still leave LA to be the Apex place is that this is where all the sexy women are! Even as undergraduate at UCLA; I know that going to UCLA was super then going to UC Berkeley because LA, UCLA were all the pretty and sexy girls went! UC Berkeley has a reputation for being grungy, dark, overcast, ugly, etc. And I think it is true.

Why does sexiness matter?

If you think about it, ultimately, sex might be the most important human virtue. Why? If you don’t have sex, you cannot produce children! And if you do not produce children, there would be no longer a human race! 

Are kids recession-proof?

I met the founder of this local child’s clothing brand and store, Sean Macklemore; and he told me that the reason he got into the business was that babies are recession proof! 

At first, I was a bit skeptical; wasn’t the reality that when there was a recession, people stop having kids? But it seems that the truth is actually, whether we like it or not, we will always prefer to have children!

For example the current trend of having a dog, reducing your carbon footprint not having kids or whatever… I think this is just a weird degenerate trend. I think it will die out. In fact if you look at more product cities in the future like Irvine, Still very encouraged for people to have at least 2.2 kids, a single-family home, etc.

I think they really really families, at least the smart ones, we always prefer to have children! Why? The really intelligent families with much power, they realize that the true Legacy is three generations from now, imagine trying to give your inheritance to your dog will die before you.

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Why the Privilege is Your Legs

There’s this quote from Archimedes that says “Give me a place to stand, and I shall move the world!”

Note, he says a place to stand, not a place to sit. 

Taiko drumming?

The other day at the LA public library, the Mar vista branch, we saw this epic Taiko drumming show, and what was very interesting is that the Taiko drummers, when they were drumming at full force, would actually spread their legs and it looks like a lot of the power of the leg drive to hit the drums actually came from the legs?

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Weightlifting for your upper body that also uses leg drive?

Could we invent an innovate new styles of weightlifting that worked out your upper body that also encouraged you to use your legs? 

Don’t be the cripple in the Rolls Royce

Questions; if I told you that you had to be a cripple, that you could not stand, use your legs, and you had to permanently be bound to a wheelchair for the rest of your life… But I would give you an unlimited collection of Rolls-Royce cars, Lamborghinis Ferrari Porsches whatever… McLarens ,,, name it… would you do the trade? Of course not!

Consumerism is all about sacrificing your legs?

 what are things are products which are marketed to us? It seems anything that has to deal with sitting, our butts.

For example, sofas couches, chairs?

The Herman Miller chair, lounging, sitting, first class… The strange sacrifice of your legs?

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The best fitness

The ultimate exercise is just movement? Like walking around and moving around?

I’ve been thinking a lot about outside your type of exercise, movement, etc., and I think the first thought that I have is that the ideal movement has to deal with walking, movement, your legs?

Even taking things up a notch; I’ve mastered the 60 pound weight vest, could I do 100 pound and beyond? 

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Generate new things

Where does your wisdom come from? Your innovation… your legs! 

For thinker, mathematician, scientist, innovator etc.… If you want to come out with new ideas, the best strategy is first start walking, a lot, an hour or two, and then the thoughts will naturally arise?

Also, for more productive presentations, conversations, interviews… Ideally the people would be outdoors walking together? Ideally in nature? 

Rather than having two individuals being stocked in a cramped podcasting interview room, better instead to have them both wearing Lavalier mics, Walking wall interviewing one other in the great outdoors? 

In fact, ultimately the quality of voices is not as important as the quality of the ideas. 

Better to have worse audio quality, but more unique creative ideas?

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Why your legs?

When it comes to life, health, existence etc.; what is the ultimate privilege? Your legs, being able to walk, etc.

For example, as a photographer and a street photographer, what is our ultimate passion? To travel, travel the world, to hit the streets, and to shoot street photography, ideally all day every day, with great gusto, and no fatigue.

Let us consider, mobility, which means walking with your legs, is the most critical elements when it comes to travel.

For example, a lot of Americans work really really hard, hoping to retire at the age of 65 with a fat pension fund, and then travel the world, whatever… but what if by the time you are 65 years old, you are so fat, fat and obese, type two diabetes, that even though you have a huge pension fund, you can no longer stand nor walk? 

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Legs

With health, you don’t really appreciate it until you lose it.

The other day I went to a friends wedding, tons of fun, tore up the dance floor etc.… And I’m just chatting with the ballet guys, about the richest guy, the richest car etc.… And the guy wisely asked me–

“Are you healthy?”

And I responded– “I am extremely healthy!” Then he gave me a grin and said “Then you are the wealthiest one!”

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“Who has the most expensive car in the valet at the wedding?” 

Don’t be the cripple in the Rolls Royce:

I almost wonder if we could use this cripple, crippled metaphor for just modern day reality, philosophy, ethics etc.

Example, there are some people who are emotionally crippled, maybe has some sort of personal PTSD as a kid? Or people who lack empathy emotional social skills– social cripples? 

For example, I had the realization that in fact anyone who wears dark tinted sunglasses, all the time, even when they don’t need to… It is because they are extremely shy?

And it doesn’t really make sense for us to disdain people because they are shy?

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Bitcoin & emotions

Like most humans, I am very emotional, especially when it comes to numbers, money, finances, gains and losses. This is why I never look at prices, too much noise and emotions.

I think my strategy of via negativa never checking prices is wise — why? Essentially when I got to bitcoin at around $6000, $7000 a Bitcoin … around 2017, 2018… I essentially “Set it and forget it!” After making my initial investment, I just switched my attention and focused to other random stuff like working out, weightlifting, one rep Max powerlifting, philosophy, etc. So hilariously enough when the whole FTX thing happened, Sam Bankman Fried… I was actually oblivious to it all. The only reason I even found out about it because there was a random guy at the gym who told me about it?

The signal and the noise

I am definitely on the Michael Saylor camp, — trying to think about the next 100, 200, 300 years… and also thinking about what NASSIM TALEB talks about signal and noise… 99.9999% of things is just noise. 

For example, if you think about bitcoin, which might be the ultimate volatile asset, maybe second after micro strategy stock…  checking prices even on a daily basis is bad. And let us consider that most people are checking prices literally mid to minute, not good.

Instead let us imagine checking the prices only every four years. When bitcoin first hit my radar, when I was in Vietnam in Saigon in 2017, I recall bitcoin being only about $300 a bitcoin, and people would comment that it would never hit 1000. Then fast forward a bit, bitcoin hitting $20,000 a bitcoin… Big deal. Then it hitting $60,000 of bitcoin, $66,000 of bitcoin… Big deal. Then crashing down to sub 10,000, then back up to over $70,000.. I think the all-time high thus far has been made around $77,000 a bitcoin?

Anyways, assuming that the bitcoin having cycle is every four years, the truly empirical way to assess prices is to look at prices only every 4 years. 

I think my general ethos of quitting the news, never looking at any news, has been wise… I’ve been able to dodge all this fake news about bitcoin being bad for the environment etc.… Which I think was essentially an insider lobbing scammed by Sam Bankman Fried and paying billions of dollars of promotion sponsorships and marketing to a bunch of random celebrities crypto influencers, green piece etc.… To try to spew this propaganda that bitcoin was bad for environment, and that somehow, their “green“ token was much better … like Luna token, FTT token whatever… Which all essentially went to zero.

I think one of the most clarifying things of having a child is that once you got a kid, your horizon expand. You no longer just think about your own personal short-lived existence… You start to intelligently think long-term.

For example, the next 30 years. I am currently 36 years old, Seneca is three years, three months old… So in 30 years Seneca will be 33, almost in his prime. I suppose for men, I think we hit our prime in our 40s 50s 60s, maybe even 70s? I think physiologically things start to go downhill maybe when we hit our late 80s, but I suppose my great gratitude of being born a man is that as time goes on, my potency increases overtime.

Day to day?

Some of their random thoughts: the wisdom of not thinking too far into the future:

First, every single day you wake up, you’re going to feel a little bit different, and also the things you’re going to care about is going to be different day to day. 

I suppose what I am grateful about leaving the loser Bay area is that I am starting to slowly “de-techify” myself. Saying goodbye to loser Patagonia down jackets, insecure nerds with AirPods on, complaining about rent and property prices etc.

In fact, I am 1 trillion times happier here in LA than I ever was anywhere anywhere else. Why? Certainly there is always a learning curve to moving to a new neighborhood or a new city or a new local, but LA, Culver City is perfect. Literally the only place I’ve ever lived where I can walk… super well?

In fact, the currently sweet apartment that I got, I’m gonna hold onto that, forever. The ultimate squatter who actually pays his rent.

---

Who skips leg day? Not Batman!

I think a general shift, a general shift I want to see is for us to become more gay, more jolly, grander, bigger, happier, louder, more joyful! Just go to a wedding, soak up all the good endorphins, and hit the dance floor!

Also don’t forget, it doesn’t cost anything to smile!

ERIC

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How to judge a weightlifter or a bodybuilder or a power lifter 

Very simple… first look at the legs, then look at everything else! 

And also, if you really want to judge yourself according to any other man, ask them how much they could squat, deadlift, etc. 

We real men glorify our legs!

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Clothes

Just a simple thought, let us assume that you could load up the squat rack at your local gym with 11 (45 pound) plates on each side. And as a simple challenge, all you had to do was lift it off the rack with your shoulders and your legs in your back for a centimeter. If this were the case… physics don’t lie. Could you do it or not?

Why rent control is good for us

A wise economic thought –rent control, rent control for us is a very good thing. 

Why? I can hypothesize that we are going through a low-key hyper inflationary environment.  for example, right before my very eyes, I saw the price of a single burger patty go from $1.49 all the way up to $2.50! Literally … I saw the price of a single burger patty almost double, nearly an 80% increase in price overnight!

$20 an hour to work at McDonald’s?

Anyways, this upcoming election cycle would be good for bitcoin. Why?

First, there seems to be about an 80% certainty that Donald Trump is going to win. And I think Donald Trump said he was actually pro bitcoin.

The issues here is that first, nobody likes Joe Biden, not even the liberals or the Democrats, not even myself, and I voted for him because he was the non-Trump candidate. 

I don’t even know who’s running against Donald Trump.

Anyways, in a world of uncertainty and chaos, bitcoin gains.

For example it looks like the big trend here is that irregardless of whoever the presidential candidate is… Over along enough time span, I think the value of the US dollar will keep inflating. Already now I see a single-family homes in Culver City, super basic going for $2.1 million?

Also, the new iPad Pro. I think it’s wise that apple increase the price of the iPad Pro to $999, instead of the customary $799.

And also, certainly whether we like it or not, the price is the iPhones also must keep going up. I’m sure in the next five iPhone Pro cycles, we will see the iPhone pro being above $1000.

So who will win?

Ultimately I think the big winners here will be the people who maximally frugal, Spartan frugal, and direct almost all of their economic energy towards purchasing and gaining bitcoin?

Paying your taxes in Bitcoin?

I wonder, if in the next 20 or 30 years, there will be an option that you could pay your US taxes with bitcoin? And this might be a good idea for the American government because she could start to store some of her wealth backed by bitcoin, not the typical gold standard.

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What next?

1. Download the Coinbase app for your phone, link it with your traditional bank account, and start buying bitcoin! I think if you link it with the plaid integration to your JP Morgan Chase or Wells Fargo or whatever… You could buy up to $50,000 a day Without any wire transfers.
2. Once you bought the bitcoin, delete the Coinbase app from your phone. Refuse to look at any crypto news bitcoin news or whatever… And instead use that time to just watch Michael sailor interviews, and for literature, start to tap into the school of Austrian economics, Karl Manger. “The Bitcoin standard” book was also a good read.
3. Start to think more about peer to peer; for example, I’m starting to think that now even with photos and sharing photos, instead just publicly posting it to Instagram or Facebook, better instead to directly message it to your friends or family members, for them to enjoy! This is peer to peer photo sharing.
4. If you exercise go to the gym or workout, make every day like day! There is 10x testosterone production in your legs than your upper body; so if you think about it, if you hit legs every single day, your upper body will also benefit. I recommend heavy one rep max “rack pulls” (partial deadlifts off the squat power rack) or just the atlas lift (Google and YouTube ERIC KIM 1,000 pound atlas lift).
5. In terms of photography, still the best camera to have is a Ricoh GR III or a Ricoh GR IIIX, the new Ricoh GR 3 and 3XHDF is coming out soon, I’ll probably get one. My simple suggestion is if you have a growing kid, who likes to go rock climbing and play at the park etc., get the Ricoh GR III HDF (28mm equivalent), otherwise get the other one.

The future of media?

I just recently discovered that Apple podcasts automatically transcribes podcasts, and it is actually very very good! I’m doing this when I am taking a nap with kind of car, and I could just read the transcripts of the podcast interviews with Michael Saylor, because I don’t want to listen to the audio and wake up Seneca!

I still think that the future of media is still probably textbased. For example, the famous Lex Fridman Michael sailor interview which I think was three or four hours long, I just read the transcript of it, and therefore was able to download the information to my brain at least 1000 times faster.

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What next?

Travel! Some good places I recommend:

1. Mexico City, stay in the Roma Norton neighborhood
2. Bangkok, Thailand
3. Phnom Penh Cambodia, Angkor wat / siem reap
4. Hanoi and Saigon in Vietnam
5. Seoul South Korea, Gangnam and all the cute hipster neighborhoods — Hongdae, Itaewon, Garosgil
6. Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto in Japan
7. New Orleans
8. Downtown LA, the fashion District
9. San Francisco Mission district, 24th street …
10. Dubai, London, Paris, Prague, all the big cities in Europe. Amsterdam etc.

Still… Traveling is the best thing for the buck for your photography! 

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EK WORKSHOPS

Work your legs, your mind.,, your soul:

1. SF BAY AREA, MISSION DISTRICT
2. DOWNTOWN LA
3. ANGKOR WAT, CAMBODIA

EK WORKSHOPS

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Leg exercise ideas?

1. Buy a 60 pound weight vest — Titan.fitness, and just walk around town with it every single morning? Or go on a hike and just hike with it on?
2. If you have a gym membership, never do any exercises in which you are sitting, or lying on your back.
3. Think leverages; stop doing squats, rather do standing exercises. Atlas lift, atlas stand,,, rack pulls, partial deadlifts, “block pulls” etc.
4. When optimizing your life, minimal sitting lifestyle — better to go on a walk, use your legs. This goes with yourself and your kids

Anti bikes?

I think bicycles are seen as virtuous, but even bicycles have a downside that you have to sit? And often the issue with bicycles is that they are expensive, require a lot of maintenance, and dangerous if you live in a city. 

Even Seneca has been intelligence, he has a standing walking bike, the one without petals… But he has never once sat on it and wrote it like a bicycle; instead he uses it like a walker? He walks along side it?

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What else?

At the gym, everyone is trying to show off how strong they are. But it seems that the ultimate idea is maybe when it comes down to it… The ultimate display of strength is the yoke walk.

For example, let it say that you have the cold gym in Venice Beach or whatever… And my simple thought is just have a standing yoke, have a permanently bolted down with a 1000 pounds…  and there would be two goals:

1. Could you lift it off the floor?
2. If so,,, how far could you walk it out in one go?

Then for competition ,,, have two guys, with the same yoke, and the goal is to see who could do 100 yard dash with the yokes quicker? 

Competition fitness muscles without the steroids?

I think out of all of the exercise fitness trends, maybe the most productive one is the strongman ones. But even though, it is essentially a bunch of fat guys on steroids.

We got to make the yoke walk cool again.

In fact, there is this new scene in the Baywatch movie —  the one with the rock and Zac Efron, in which they are at the beach in Venice Beach I think, doing a yoke walk competition?

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The best shoes for photographers, travelers and street photographers

Zero drop, barefoot… Vibram 5 finger shoes.

Currently the vibram five finger ”EL-X” knit model.

We photographers spend so much money on our cameras lenses etc.… but how come so little money on our shoes, which is actually the most important element?

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How to improve your photography

I also believe that the best thing to optimize in terms of your clothing is your shorts. Currently I believe the best shorts for photographers and street photographers to be the 5’’ license to train black shorts — zippers in the front pockets. 

Also, the simple ethos is that when you are out shooting, do you want to lighten your load to the minimum. RICOH GR III/X camera still seems to be peak.

---

Now what?

Sun is out! Hit the beach, go to a wedding, soak up the endorphins!

As much as possible, don’t be in the loser indoors.

Don’t let your kids watch movies, media, films, DVDs etc.; also you yourself unsubscribe and cancel your membership for Netflix HBO, Disney+ whatever.

Go on a walk, go on a hike!

Lately I’ve been getting Seneca into climbing, baby rock climbing the center city one, sender city for kids; but even ultimately… Even Seneca says he prefers to walk!

WALK ON!

ERIC

---

Why prices are so useful is they signal and signify value, or the value people have in them.

For example, the reason why the price for Bitcoin is so high — people value it greatly?

Or the reason why people pay high rents in desirable locations and places — because it is desirable!

Price as a filter

Also price is also often a great filter; it simplifies life — typically things on sale make easier purchasing decisions, and makes us feel more satisfied with our decision making process.

Also a simple calculus — often things which are more expensive are better.

Prices as pure information?

A life without prices would be a terrible life — the tyranny of day to day living … and impossible societal living!

Prices don’t lie.

A life without prices is tyranny?

Revealed preferences: what people actually spend their own money on reveals what they truly value!

Prices as solidified values?

Maybe this is what real freedom is… The freedom to dictate what your values are, and only pursuit values which you care for and to eschew values you don’t care for? 

---

The best asset gets you 1000x

300T into Bitcoin

Demonetize

..

Utility is the capacity of a thing to serve for the satisfaction of human needs,

Utility –> capacity for a thing to satisfy a human need

The physical man

Practical activity of men

.

Value

What do you truly value?

Our wills, our habits

Imaginary value —

–> we think a thing will have a value for us, but in reality doesn’t?

Value only in the context of the minds of men 

Consciousness in mind of men

Objectification of the value of goods

–> this is subjective

.

Actual life

**

I Seek a Courageous Life, Not a “Productive” One

.

Subjective vs objective differences

Subjective vs objective factor

Set of magnitudes

Passing enjoyment or increase of comfort

Increase of our well being.

More or less complete satisfaction

.

Different satisfactions

Economizing

directed to the fullest possible satisfaction of their needs (economizing).

The fullest possible satisfaction of our needs

.

Satisfy as completely as possible

Concrete needs

Command of units

.

Just buy what is cheap

.

Do you want 10 pounds of biscuits or 10 pounds of ribeye steak ?

.

We impute value into goods

.

High value

.

I hate dark and wet rooms

Value determination

You determine your own value ***

Grade of seed

…grade of semen

Labor and value

Think the beach!

Black is the least resistant to boredom?

Think recreation

How to train like a real man —

Invest in religions

Ultimately the best will be the most powerful not the most comfortable

Power shall trump All

Health is Paramount

Never host anybody 

Embrace the ugliness

Good music bad music

 *

Capitalism is all about selling shame? 

Funny experience; I test drove the Tesla model Y long range and was not that impressed, I actually preferred my 2010 Prius in terms of drive comfort and overall driveability.

But a very interesting thing… Cindy‘s dad, Vietnamese immigrant, the owner and the purchaser of the car. He says all these downsides about it and these bad things… yet he still likes it?

Sexy wins

Ultimately, a Tesla model three, even a basic one is almost like the new BMW or Mercedes in LA? It is much cooler to pull up in a Tesla than a BMW three series or Mercedes A class car.

Power wins

Even though the drive comfort in the 2010 Prius is superior to the Tesla model Y dual motor, I think ultimately what wins is the pure power. The Tesla model wide dual motor, not even the performance one… Is like a rocketship on steroids. I haven’t even test driven a performance Tesla model three or Y… Nor a Tesla model S or X plaid.. or a cyberbeast, but I could sense and I could predict that the power will be intoxicating.

Audio

Legs are the ultimate lever and leverage

Irregardless of how “nice” or “good people” they are, or how they’ve helped you in the past, or your feeling of “returning a favor” or good will…

Become even more insanely staunch —

Just get the Tesla model three performance, not the loser Porsche 

What is money? Portable power? 

.

The best leg workouts for photographers and street photographers 

.

Women who no longer have an interest in having kids? Hedonism?

.

Don’t open up old wounds; 

Emotional PTSD 

Your Legs Run the World

Everyday is Leg Day

Instead of buying the loser Lamborghini, the loser Porsche, the loser Ferrari… better to instead to juice up your legs?

***

Your legs are the ultimate lever and leverage

There is a funny meme in the world of fitness, life etc.; which is the notion of “skipping leg day“– the idea that we men are so obsessed about getting massive biceps, a massive chest, deltoids or shoulders etc.… that we instead of exercising our legs, we only focus on upper body movements which will show up on camera? 

My theory is that perhaps this meme has only created itself because of the camera, social media, etc. I think before cameras were invented, maybe before the ancient Greeks even had mirrors… muscles, show muscles weren’t really a thing. 

For example, imagine the Iliad, ancient Greece etc.,  ultimate question is who killed who? In terms of ultimate PVP, person versus person, player versus player combat… Who would kill who?

For example, on the battlefield… The question was who could kill Achilles? Nobody.

I’m sure certainly these ancient Greek heroes, king Leonidas, the Spartan 300 had insanely epic muscles. Yet, assuming that when you’re in battle, and you have battle armor on, certainly nobody is looking at your muscles, in fact, your muscles are only your metaphorical horsepower for your body and your lethality.

Chest?

A funny thing; ever since I got my 60 pound weight vest, and I strap it on, I instantly gained about five or 6 inches in my chest. The funny thought; a lot of weightlifters and bodybuilders obsessed over having a big and a massive chest. Isn’t it easier to just drop on a 60 pound weight vest instead?

Also, when it comes to combat, does ones chest muscles actually do anything in terms of making one more imposing fighter? I don’t think so.

Posture

Becoming sexier —

First, I think what we men seek is to become sexier. Also the same thing goes with women.

In fact, talking about revealed preferences or whatever; the reason I don’t like talk, is that people have all this fake talk about blah blah blah, but revealed preferences show what is truly critical:

For example, if you go to a wedding, and everyone is dressing up to the 10’s– how is it that everyone wants to dress? The women want to look sexy and beautiful, the men want to look handsome, confident, sexy as well.

As a random sidenote, there is a common outage in the world of marketing that sex sells. This is true.

Even the reason why I like to study marketing for women is that I think it shows revealed preferences; even the female clothing brand Reformation has a delivery car with the motto “On our way to make you look sexy.”

Even the reason why the clothing brand ALO yoga is killing Lululemon, especially in Los Angeles is that it seems that aloe has become the sexier brand, and sexier women wear ALO yoga, even though ALO YOGA clothing materials (Bella + Canvas) is inferior to Lululemon materials; but the big issue Lululemon here has that it seems that only older, middle-age women are starting to wear Lululemon, and younger women are starting to flock to ALO yoga instead –

No more focus on sexiness?

Also, I think the problem is in today’s world, sexiness, is no longer sexy. Rather, the new fashion trend is ugliness?

Why I prefer Los Angeles

“I’m sexy and I know it”

I think the reason why I still leave LA to be the Apex place is that this is where all the sexy women are! Even as undergraduate at UCLA; I know that going to UCLA was super then going to UC Berkeley because LA, UCLA were all the pretty and sexy girls went! UC Berkeley has a reputation for being grungy, dark, overcast, ugly, etc. And I think it is true.

Why does sexiness matter?

If you think about it, ultimately, sex might be the most important human virtue. Why? If you don’t have sex, you cannot produce children! And if you do not produce children, there would be no longer a human race! 

Are kids recession-proof?

I met the founder of this local child’s clothing brand and store, Sean Macklemore; and he told me that the reason he got into the business was that babies are recession proof! 

At first, I was a bit skeptical; wasn’t the reality that when there was a recession, people stop having kids? But it seems that the truth is actually, whether we like it or not, we will always prefer to have children!

For example the current trend of having a dog, reducing your carbon footprint not having kids or whatever… I think this is just a weird degenerate trend. I think it will die out. In fact if you look at more product cities in the future like Irvine, Still very encouraged for people to have at least 2.2 kids, a single-family home, etc.

I think they really really families, at least the smart ones, we always prefer to have children! Why? The really intelligent families with much power, they realize that the true Legacy is three generations from now, imagine trying to give your inheritance to your dog will die before you.

---

Why the Privilege is Your Legs

There’s this quote from Archimedes that says “Give me a place to stand, and I shall move the world!”

Note, he says a place to stand, not a place to sit. 

Taiko drumming?

The other day at the LA public library, the Mar vista branch, we saw this epic Taiko drumming show, and what was very interesting is that the Taiko drummers, when they were drumming at full force, would actually spread their legs and it looks like a lot of the power of the leg drive to hit the drums actually came from the legs?

---

Weightlifting for your upper body that also uses leg drive?

Could we invent an innovate new styles of weightlifting that worked out your upper body that also encouraged you to use your legs? 

Don’t be the cripple in the Rolls Royce

Questions; if I told you that you had to be a cripple, that you could not stand, use your legs, and you had to permanently be bound to a wheelchair for the rest of your life… But I would give you an unlimited collection of Rolls-Royce cars, Lamborghinis Ferrari Porsches whatever… McLarens ,,, name it… would you do the trade? Of course not!

Consumerism is all about sacrificing your legs?

 what are things are products which are marketed to us? It seems anything that has to deal with sitting, our butts.

For example, sofas couches, chairs?

The Herman Miller chair, lounging, sitting, first class… The strange sacrifice of your legs?

---

The best fitness

The ultimate exercise is just movement? Like walking around and moving around?

I’ve been thinking a lot about outside your type of exercise, movement, etc., and I think the first thought that I have is that the ideal movement has to deal with walking, movement, your legs?

Even taking things up a notch; I’ve mastered the 60 pound weight vest, could I do 100 pound and beyond? 

---

Generate new things

Where does your wisdom come from? Your innovation… your legs! 

For thinker, mathematician, scientist, innovator etc.… If you want to come out with new ideas, the best strategy is first start walking, a lot, an hour or two, and then the thoughts will naturally arise?

Also, for more productive presentations, conversations, interviews… Ideally the people would be outdoors walking together? Ideally in nature? 

Rather than having two individuals being stocked in a cramped podcasting interview room, better instead to have them both wearing Lavalier mics, Walking wall interviewing one other in the great outdoors? 

In fact, ultimately the quality of voices is not as important as the quality of the ideas. 

Better to have worse audio quality, but more unique creative ideas?

---

Why your legs?

When it comes to life, health, existence etc.; what is the ultimate privilege? Your legs, being able to walk, etc.

For example, as a photographer and a street photographer, what is our ultimate passion? To travel, travel the world, to hit the streets, and to shoot street photography, ideally all day every day, with great gusto, and no fatigue.

Let us consider, mobility, which means walking with your legs, is the most critical elements when it comes to travel.

For example, a lot of Americans work really really hard, hoping to retire at the age of 65 with a fat pension fund, and then travel the world, whatever… but what if by the time you are 65 years old, you are so fat, fat and obese, type two diabetes, that even though you have a huge pension fund, you can no longer stand nor walk? 

---

Legs

With health, you don’t really appreciate it until you lose it.

The other day I went to a friends wedding, tons of fun, tore up the dance floor etc.… And I’m just chatting with the ballet guys, about the richest guy, the richest car etc.… And the guy wisely asked me–

“Are you healthy?”

And I responded– “I am extremely healthy!” Then he gave me a grin and said “Then you are the wealthiest one!”

---

“Who has the most expensive car in the valet at the wedding?” 

Don’t be the cripple in the Rolls Royce:

I almost wonder if we could use this cripple, crippled metaphor for just modern day reality, philosophy, ethics etc.

Example, there are some people who are emotionally crippled, maybe has some sort of personal PTSD as a kid? Or people who lack empathy emotional social skills– social cripples? 

For example, I had the realization that in fact anyone who wears dark tinted sunglasses, all the time, even when they don’t need to… It is because they are extremely shy?

And it doesn’t really make sense for us to disdain people because they are shy?

---

Bitcoin & emotions

Like most humans, I am very emotional, especially when it comes to numbers, money, finances, gains and losses. This is why I never look at prices, too much noise and emotions.

I think my strategy of via negativa never checking prices is wise — why? Essentially when I got to bitcoin at around $6000, $7000 a Bitcoin … around 2017, 2018… I essentially “Set it and forget it!” After making my initial investment, I just switched my attention and focused to other random stuff like working out, weightlifting, one rep Max powerlifting, philosophy, etc. So hilariously enough when the whole FTX thing happened, Sam Bankman Fried… I was actually oblivious to it all. The only reason I even found out about it because there was a random guy at the gym who told me about it?

The signal and the noise

I am definitely on the Michael Saylor camp, — trying to think about the next 100, 200, 300 years… and also thinking about what NASSIM TALEB talks about signal and noise… 99.9999% of things is just noise. 

For example, if you think about bitcoin, which might be the ultimate volatile asset, maybe second after micro strategy stock…  checking prices even on a daily basis is bad. And let us consider that most people are checking prices literally mid to minute, not good.

Instead let us imagine checking the prices only every four years. When bitcoin first hit my radar, when I was in Vietnam in Saigon in 2017, I recall bitcoin being only about $300 a bitcoin, and people would comment that it would never hit 1000. Then fast forward a bit, bitcoin hitting $20,000 a bitcoin… Big deal. Then it hitting $60,000 of bitcoin, $66,000 of bitcoin… Big deal. Then crashing down to sub 10,000, then back up to over $70,000.. I think the all-time high thus far has been made around $77,000 a bitcoin?

Anyways, assuming that the bitcoin having cycle is every four years, the truly empirical way to assess prices is to look at prices only every 4 years. 

I think my general ethos of quitting the news, never looking at any news, has been wise… I’ve been able to dodge all this fake news about bitcoin being bad for the environment etc.… Which I think was essentially an insider lobbing scammed by Sam Bankman Fried and paying billions of dollars of promotion sponsorships and marketing to a bunch of random celebrities crypto influencers, green piece etc.… To try to spew this propaganda that bitcoin was bad for environment, and that somehow, their “green“ token was much better … like Luna token, FTT token whatever… Which all essentially went to zero.

I think one of the most clarifying things of having a child is that once you got a kid, your horizon expand. You no longer just think about your own personal short-lived existence… You start to intelligently think long-term.

For example, the next 30 years. I am currently 36 years old, Seneca is three years, three months old… So in 30 years Seneca will be 33, almost in his prime. I suppose for men, I think we hit our prime in our 40s 50s 60s, maybe even 70s? I think physiologically things start to go downhill maybe when we hit our late 80s, but I suppose my great gratitude of being born a man is that as time goes on, my potency increases overtime.

Day to day?

Some of their random thoughts: the wisdom of not thinking too far into the future:

First, every single day you wake up, you’re going to feel a little bit different, and also the things you’re going to care about is going to be different day to day. 

I suppose what I am grateful about leaving the loser Bay area is that I am starting to slowly “de-techify” myself. Saying goodbye to loser Patagonia down jackets, insecure nerds with AirPods on, complaining about rent and property prices etc.

In fact, I am 1 trillion times happier here in LA than I ever was anywhere anywhere else. Why? Certainly there is always a learning curve to moving to a new neighborhood or a new city or a new local, but LA, Culver City is perfect. Literally the only place I’ve ever lived where I can walk… super well?

In fact, the currently sweet apartment that I got, I’m gonna hold onto that, forever. The ultimate squatter who actually pays his rent.

---

Who skips leg day? Not Batman!

I think a general shift, a general shift I want to see is for us to become more gay, more jolly, grander, bigger, happier, louder, more joyful! Just go to a wedding, soak up all the good endorphins, and hit the dance floor!

Also don’t forget, it doesn’t cost anything to smile!

ERIC

---

How to judge a weightlifter or a bodybuilder or a power lifter 

Very simple… first look at the legs, then look at everything else! 

And also, if you really want to judge yourself according to any other man, ask them how much they could squat, deadlift, etc. 

We real men glorify our legs!

---

Clothes

Just a simple thought, let us assume that you could load up the squat rack at your local gym with 11 (45 pound) plates on each side. And as a simple challenge, all you had to do was lift it off the rack with your shoulders and your legs in your back for a centimeter. If this were the case… physics don’t lie. Could you do it or not?

Why rent control is good for us

A wise economic thought –rent control, rent control for us is a very good thing. 

Why? I can hypothesize that we are going through a low-key hyper inflationary environment.  for example, right before my very eyes, I saw the price of a single burger patty go from $1.49 all the way up to $2.50! Literally … I saw the price of a single burger patty almost double, nearly an 80% increase in price overnight!

$20 an hour to work at McDonald’s?

Anyways, this upcoming election cycle would be good for bitcoin. Why?

First, there seems to be about an 80% certainty that Donald Trump is going to win. And I think Donald Trump said he was actually pro bitcoin.

The issues here is that first, nobody likes Joe Biden, not even the liberals or the Democrats, not even myself, and I voted for him because he was the non-Trump candidate. 

I don’t even know who’s running against Donald Trump.

Anyways, in a world of uncertainty and chaos, bitcoin gains.

For example it looks like the big trend here is that irregardless of whoever the presidential candidate is… Over along enough time span, I think the value of the US dollar will keep inflating. Already now I see a single-family homes in Culver City, super basic going for $2.1 million?

Also, the new iPad Pro. I think it’s wise that apple increase the price of the iPad Pro to $999, instead of the customary $799.

And also, certainly whether we like it or not, the price is the iPhones also must keep going up. I’m sure in the next five iPhone Pro cycles, we will see the iPhone pro being above $1000.

So who will win?

Ultimately I think the big winners here will be the people who maximally frugal, Spartan frugal, and direct almost all of their economic energy towards purchasing and gaining bitcoin?

Paying your taxes in Bitcoin?

I wonder, if in the next 20 or 30 years, there will be an option that you could pay your US taxes with bitcoin? And this might be a good idea for the American government because she could start to store some of her wealth backed by bitcoin, not the typical gold standard.

---

What next?

1. Download the Coinbase app for your phone, link it with your traditional bank account, and start buying bitcoin! I think if you link it with the plaid integration to your JP Morgan Chase or Wells Fargo or whatever… You could buy up to $50,000 a day Without any wire transfers.
2. Once you bought the bitcoin, delete the Coinbase app from your phone. Refuse to look at any crypto news bitcoin news or whatever… And instead use that time to just watch Michael sailor interviews, and for literature, start to tap into the school of Austrian economics, Karl Manger. “The Bitcoin standard” book was also a good read.
3. Start to think more about peer to peer; for example, I’m starting to think that now even with photos and sharing photos, instead just publicly posting it to Instagram or Facebook, better instead to directly message it to your friends or family members, for them to enjoy! This is peer to peer photo sharing.
4. If you exercise go to the gym or workout, make every day like day! There is 10x testosterone production in your legs than your upper body; so if you think about it, if you hit legs every single day, your upper body will also benefit. I recommend heavy one rep max “rack pulls” (partial deadlifts off the squat power rack) or just the atlas lift (Google and YouTube ERIC KIM 1,000 pound atlas lift).
5. In terms of photography, still the best camera to have is a Ricoh GR III or a Ricoh GR IIIX, the new Ricoh GR 3 and 3XHDF is coming out soon, I’ll probably get one. My simple suggestion is if you have a growing kid, who likes to go rock climbing and play at the park etc., get the Ricoh GR III HDF (28mm equivalent), otherwise get the other one.

The future of media?

I just recently discovered that Apple podcasts automatically transcribes podcasts, and it is actually very very good! I’m doing this when I am taking a nap with kind of car, and I could just read the transcripts of the podcast interviews with Michael Saylor, because I don’t want to listen to the audio and wake up Seneca!

I still think that the future of media is still probably textbased. For example, the famous Lex Fridman Michael sailor interview which I think was three or four hours long, I just read the transcript of it, and therefore was able to download the information to my brain at least 1000 times faster.

---

What next?

Travel! Some good places I recommend:

1. Mexico City, stay in the Roma Norton neighborhood
2. Bangkok, Thailand
3. Phnom Penh Cambodia, Angkor wat / siem reap
4. Hanoi and Saigon in Vietnam
5. Seoul South Korea, Gangnam and all the cute hipster neighborhoods — Hongdae, Itaewon, Garosgil
6. Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto in Japan
7. New Orleans
8. Downtown LA, the fashion District
9. San Francisco Mission district, 24th street …
10. Dubai, London, Paris, Prague, all the big cities in Europe. Amsterdam etc.

Still… Traveling is the best thing for the buck for your photography! 

---

EK WORKSHOPS

Work your legs, your mind.,, your soul:

1. SF BAY AREA, MISSION DISTRICT
2. DOWNTOWN LA
3. ANGKOR WAT, CAMBODIA

EK WORKSHOPS

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Leg exercise ideas?

1. Buy a 60 pound weight vest — Titan.fitness, and just walk around town with it every single morning? Or go on a hike and just hike with it on?
2. If you have a gym membership, never do any exercises in which you are sitting, or lying on your back.
3. Think leverages; stop doing squats, rather do standing exercises. Atlas lift, atlas stand,,, rack pulls, partial deadlifts, “block pulls” etc.
4. When optimizing your life, minimal sitting lifestyle — better to go on a walk, use your legs. This goes with yourself and your kids

Anti bikes?

I think bicycles are seen as virtuous, but even bicycles have a downside that you have to sit? And often the issue with bicycles is that they are expensive, require a lot of maintenance, and dangerous if you live in a city. 

Even Seneca has been intelligence, he has a standing walking bike, the one without petals… But he has never once sat on it and wrote it like a bicycle; instead he uses it like a walker? He walks along side it?

---

What else?

At the gym, everyone is trying to show off how strong they are. But it seems that the ultimate idea is maybe when it comes down to it… The ultimate display of strength is the yoke walk.

For example, let it say that you have the cold gym in Venice Beach or whatever… And my simple thought is just have a standing yoke, have a permanently bolted down with a 1000 pounds…  and there would be two goals:

1. Could you lift it off the floor?
2. If so,,, how far could you walk it out in one go?

Then for competition ,,, have two guys, with the same yoke, and the goal is to see who could do 100 yard dash with the yokes quicker? 

Competition fitness muscles without the steroids?

I think out of all of the exercise fitness trends, maybe the most productive one is the strongman ones. But even though, it is essentially a bunch of fat guys on steroids.

We got to make the yoke walk cool again.

In fact, there is this new scene in the Baywatch movie —  the one with the rock and Zac Efron, in which they are at the beach in Venice Beach I think, doing a yoke walk competition?

---

The best shoes for photographers, travelers and street photographers

Zero drop, barefoot… Vibram 5 finger shoes.

Currently the vibram five finger ”EL-X” knit model.

We photographers spend so much money on our cameras lenses etc.… but how come so little money on our shoes, which is actually the most important element?

---

How to improve your photography

I also believe that the best thing to optimize in terms of your clothing is your shorts. Currently I believe the best shorts for photographers and street photographers to be the 5’’ license to train black shorts — zippers in the front pockets. 

Also, the simple ethos is that when you are out shooting, do you want to lighten your load to the minimum. RICOH GR III/X camera still seems to be peak.

---

Now what?

Sun is out! Hit the beach, go to a wedding, soak up the endorphins!

As much as possible, don’t be in the loser indoors.

Don’t let your kids watch movies, media, films, DVDs etc.; also you yourself unsubscribe and cancel your membership for Netflix HBO, Disney+ whatever.

Go on a walk, go on a hike!

Lately I’ve been getting Seneca into climbing, baby rock climbing the center city one, sender city for kids; but even ultimately… Even Seneca says he prefers to walk!

WALK ON!

ERIC

---

Ultimately, what is the most important thing? The beauty of the face.

For example with women… It seems that everything could be modified and adjusted in terms of fitness exercise etc., but you cannot really change the overall proportion of someone’s face; the face size, the face shape, size of the eyes, distance in between the eyes etc.

Even when it comes to design in cars; let us not forget that the front of a car is essentially a phase. The new Tesla model 3 has an extremely beautiful face, even better yet the cyber truck.  I still think why for men the cyber trucks Apex vehicle is that the singular cyclops light bar in the front, is like the most intimidating pair of eyes for a masculine face?

How to make your face prettier or sexier

Simple things; getting enough sleep, 8 to 12 hours a day. Lot of people, you could see the stress hormones in their face, especially when they don’t sleep enough.

Second, lower your stress in your cortisol. Delete everything from your phone besides FaceTime. Disable all your notifications especially the text ones.

Also, a very simple one you could do is charge your phone in a room that is outside of your bedroom where you sleep. Or just shut off your phone totally off when you go to sleep, and charge it in the living room or the kitchen and keep your bed Pristine space. If you need an alarm clock, maybe just buy a standalone alarm clock not your phone. In fact, I wonder if in today’s world, the iPhone is actually the worlds most inducing device exist?; If you want to get rid of, Get rid of your phone.

Also no loser Apple Watch.

---

Fitness first

When I observe Cindy, it seems that the day she misses exercise or her daily yoga sessions… It totally ruins the rest of her day. As a consequence, it seems that the optimal strategy is to always focus on health and fitness above all!

Exercise fitness working out whatever… Is 1 trillion times more important than your work and being “productive”. A life without health fitness exercise is not a life worth living!

---

How to become sexier

Model 3 new — much prettier face!

Toyota is the superior car to Tesla ,,, but still … the torque, power, and speed … potential power of Tesla is what still makes it king!

Also Tesla is sexier! Sex sells!

Lifting 8 plates easy—

Fulcrum, effort, load —

How effective a lever is —> the distance from the fulcrum to the effort and load?

Mechanical advantages

—> moving heavier load with a smaller effort

—> do you want to increase the effort or decrease the effort?

***

Increase effort, load?

Archimedes’ lever principle is a fundamental concept in physics and engineering that describes how leverage can be used to lift heavy objects with relatively little effort. Archimedes, an ancient Greek mathematician, physicist, and engineer, is credited with stating, “Give me a place to stand, and I shall move the Earth with a lever.”

The principle behind the lever is based on the idea that a lever amplifies an input force to provide a greater output force, making it easier to lift or move heavy objects. A lever consists of three main parts:

1. Fulcrum: The pivot point around which the lever rotates.
2. Effort: The input force applied to one end of the lever.
3. Load: The object or resistance that needs to be moved or lifted.

The effectiveness of a lever is determined by the distances from the fulcrum to the effort and the load. This relationship can be expressed using the principle of moments, where the moment (torque) on one side of the fulcrum must equal the moment on the other side for the system to be in equilibrium. Mathematically, this is represented as:

[ \text{Effort} \times \text{Distance from Fulcrum to Effort} = \text{Load} \times \text{Distance from Fulcrum to Load} ]

By adjusting the distances, one can increase the mechanical advantage, making it easier to move a heavier load with a smaller effort.

This principle has been applied in various tools and machines throughout history, such as seesaws, crowbars, and balance scales. Archimedes’ insight into the power of levers laid the groundwork for much of modern mechanics and engineering.

Technology is all about leverage?

The most beautiful car color is white?

Becoming less emotional –> stoicism

Don’t borrow or lend money … don’t borrow money nor lend it?

The Spartan motto

For example, certainly the Tesla is cooler than the Toyota by a factor of 1 billion. Yet, Toyota the better car. Yet people still desire to have the Tesla over the Toyota.

---

A 300 year camera?

.

Cooler or better?

The best is the longest duration

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Being home is nothing but bad vibes and mood?

The Ultimate Privilege is Your Legs

The ultimate exercise is just movement? Like walking around and moving around?

Generate new things

**

When it comes to life, health, existence etc.; what is the ultimate privilege? Your legs, being able to walk, etc.

For example, Cindy‘s dad who is otherwise a very healthy man, maybe in his early 60s, he looks like his in his 50s… Call handsome guy, currently has type two diabetes, and I’m not sure if this is related… But has develop some sort of scoliosis in his legs and his back? Which makes it extremely painful for him to stand walk etc.

Anyways, I think with health, you don’t really appreciate it until you lose it.

The other day I went to a friends wedding, tons of fun, tore up the dance floor etc.… And I’m just chatting with the ballet guys, about the richest guy, the richest car etc.… And the guy wisely asked me–

“Are you healthy?”

And I responded– “I am extremely healthy!” Then he gave me a grin and said “Then you are the wealthiest one!”

A cripple in a Rolls-Royce?

Almost wonder if we could use this cripple, crippled metaphor for just modern day reality, philosophy, ethics etc.

Example, there are some people who are emotionally crippled, maybe has some sort of personal PTSD as a kid? Or people who lack empathy emotional social skills– social cripples? 

For example, I had the realization that in fact anyone who wears dark tennis sunglasses, all the time, even when they don’t need to… It is because they are extremely shy?

And it doesn’t really make sense for us to disdain people because they are shy?

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Bitcoin & emotions

Like most humans, I am very emotional, especially when it comes to numbers, money, finances, gains and losses. This is why I never look at prices, too much noise and emotions.

I think my strategy of via negativa never checking prices is wise — why? Essentially when I got to bitcoin at around $6000, $7000 a Bitcoin … around 2017, 2018… I essentially “Set it and forget it!” After making my initial investment, I just switched my attention and focused to other random stuff like working out, weightlifting, one rep Max powerlifting, philosophy, etc. So hilariously enough when the whole FTX thing happened, Sam Bankman Fried… I was actually oblivious to it all. The only reason I even found out about it because there was a random guy at the gym who told me about it?

The signal and the noise

I am definitely on the Michael Saylor camp, — trying to think about the next 100, 200, 300 years… and also thinking about what NASSIM TALEB talks about signal and noise… 99.9999% of things is just noise. 

For example, if you think about bitcoin, which might be the ultimate volatile asset, maybe second after micro strategy stock…  checking prices even on a daily basis is bad. And let us consider that most people are checking prices literally mid to minute, not good.

Instead let us imagine checking the prices only every four years. When bitcoin first hit my radar, when I was in Vietnam in Saigon in 2017, I recall bitcoin being only about $300 a bitcoin, and people would comment that it would never hit 1000. Then fast forward a bit, bitcoin hitting $20,000 a bitcoin… Big deal. Then it hitting $60,000 of bitcoin, $66,000 of bitcoin… Big deal. Then crashing down to sub 10,000, then back up to over $70,000.. I think the all-time high thus far has been made around $77,000 a bitcoin?

Anyways, assuming that the bitcoin having cycle is every four years, the truly empirical way to assess prices is to look at prices only every 4 years. 

I think my general ethos of quitting the news, never looking at any news, has been wise… I’ve been able to dodge all this fake news about bitcoin being bad for the environment etc.… Which I think was essentially an insider lobbing scammed by Sam Bankman Fried and paying billions of dollars of promotion sponsorships and marketing to a bunch of random celebrities crypto influencers, green piece etc.… To try to spew this propaganda that bitcoin was bad for environment, and that somehow, their “green“ token was much better … like Luna token, FTT token whatever… Which all essentially went to zero.

I think one of the most clarifying things of having a child is that once you got a kid, your horizon expand. You no longer just think about your own personal short-lived existence… You start to intelligently think long-term.

For example, the next 30 years. I am currently 36 years old, Seneca is three years, three months old… So in 30 years Seneca will be 33, almost in his prime. I suppose for men, I think we hit our prime in our 40s 50s 60s, maybe even 70s? I think physiologically things start to go downhill maybe when we hit our late 80s, but I suppose my great gratitude of being born a man is that as time goes on, my potency increases overtime.

Day to day?

Some of their random thoughts: the wisdom of not thinking too far into the future:

First, every single day you wake up, you’re going to feel a little bit different, and also the things you’re going to care about is going to be different day to day. 

I suppose what I am grateful about leaving the loser Bay area is that I am starting to slowly “de-techify” myself. Saying goodbye to loser Patagonia down jackets, insecure nerds with AirPods on, complaining about rent and property prices etc.

In fact, I am 1 trillion times happier here in LA than I ever was anywhere anywhere else. Why? Certainly there is always a learning curve to moving to a new neighborhood or a new city or a new local, but LA, Culver City is perfect. Literally the only place I’ve ever lived where I can walk… super well?

In fact, the currently sweet apartment that I got, I’m gonna hold onto that, forever. The ultimate squatter who actually pays his rent.

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Who skips leg day? Not Batman!

I think a general shift, a general shift I want to see is for us to become more gay, more jolly, grander, bigger, happier, louder, more joyful! Just go to a wedding, soak up all the good endorphins, and hit the dance floor!

Also don’t forget, it doesn’t cost anything to smile!

ERIC

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How to judge a weightlifter or a bodybuilder or a power lifter 

Very simple… first look at the legs, then look at everything else! 

And also, if you really want to judge yourself according to any other man, ask them how much they could squat, deadlift, etc. 

We real men glorify our legs!

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Clothes

Just a simple thought, let us assume that you could load up the squat rack at your local gym with 11 (45 pound) plates on each side. And as a simple challenge, all you had to do was lift it off the rack with your shoulders and your legs in your back for a centimeter. If this were the case… physics don’t lie. Could you do it or not?

Why rent control is good for us

A wise economic thought –rent control, rent control for us is a very good thing. 

Why? I can hypothesize that we are going through a low-key hyper inflationary environment.  for example, right before my very eyes, I saw the price of a single burger patty go from $1.49 all the way up to $2.50! Literally … I saw the price of a single burger patty almost double, nearly an 80% increase in price overnight!

$20 an hour to work at McDonald’s?

Anyways, this upcoming election cycle would be good for bitcoin. Why?

First, there seems to be about an 80% certainty that Donald Trump is going to win. And I think Donald Trump said he was actually pro bitcoin.

The issues here is that first, nobody likes Joe Biden, not even the liberals or the Democrats, not even myself, and I voted for him because he was the non-Trump candidate. 

I don’t even know who’s running against Donald Trump.

Anyways, in a world of uncertainty and chaos, bitcoin gains.

For example it looks like the big trend here is that irregardless of whoever the presidential candidate is… Over along enough time span, I think the value of the US dollar will keep inflating. Already now I see a single-family homes in Culver City, super basic going for $2.1 million?

Also, the new iPad Pro. I think it’s wise that apple increase the price of the iPad Pro to $999, instead of the customary $799.

And also, certainly whether we like it or not, the price is the iPhones also must keep going up. I’m sure in the next five iPhone Pro cycles, we will see the iPhone pro being above $1000.

So who will win?

Ultimately I think the big winners here will be the people who maximally frugal, Spartan frugal, and direct almost all of their economic energy towards purchasing and gaining bitcoin?

Paying your taxes in Bitcoin?

I wonder, if in the next 20 or 30 years, there will be an option that you could pay your US taxes with bitcoin? And this might be a good idea for the American government because she could start to store some of her wealth backed by bitcoin, not the typical gold standard.

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What next?

1. Download the Coinbase app for your phone, link it with your traditional bank account, and start buying bitcoin! I think if you link it with the plaid integration to your JP Morgan Chase or Wells Fargo or whatever… You could buy up to $50,000 a day Without any wire transfers.
2. Once you bought the bitcoin, delete the Coinbase app from your phone. Refuse to look at any crypto news bitcoin news or whatever… And instead use that time to just watch Michael sailor interviews, and for literature, start to tap into the school of Austrian economics, Karl Manger. “The Bitcoin standard” book was also a good read.
3. Start to think more about peer to peer; for example, I’m starting to think that now even with photos and sharing photos, instead just publicly posting it to Instagram or Facebook, better instead to directly message it to your friends or family members, for them to enjoy! This is peer to peer photo sharing.
4. If you exercise go to the gym or workout, make every day like day! There is 10x testosterone production in your legs than your upper body; so if you think about it, if you hit legs every single day, your upper body will also benefit. I recommend heavy one rep max “rack pulls” (partial deadlifts off the squat power rack) or just the atlas lift (Google and YouTube ERIC KIM 1,000 pound atlas lift).
5. In terms of photography, still the best camera to have is a Ricoh GR III or a Ricoh GR IIIX, the new Ricoh GR 3 and 3XHDF is coming out soon, I’ll probably get one. My simple suggestion is if you have a growing kid, who likes to go rock climbing and play at the park etc., get the Ricoh GR III HDF (28mm equivalent), otherwise get the other one.

The future of media?

I just recently discovered that Apple podcasts automatically transcribes podcasts, and it is actually very very good! I’m doing this when I am taking a nap with kind of car, and I could just read the transcripts of the podcast interviews with Michael Saylor, because I don’t want to listen to the audio and wake up Seneca!

I still think that the future of media is still probably textbased. For example, the famous Lex Fridman Michael sailor interview which I think was three or four hours long, I just read the transcript of it, and therefore was able to download the information to my brain at least 1000 times faster.

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What next?

Travel! Some good places I recommend:

1. Mexico City, stay in the Roma Norton neighborhood
2. Bangkok, Thailand
3. Phnom Penh Cambodia, Angkor wat / siem reap
4. Hanoi and Saigon in Vietnam
5. Seoul South Korea, Gangnam and all the cute hipster neighborhoods — Hongdae, Itaewon, Garosgil
6. Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto in Japan
7. New Orleans
8. Downtown LA, the fashion District
9. San Francisco Mission district, 24th street …
10. Dubai, London, Paris, Prague, all the big cities in Europe. Amsterdam etc.

Still… Traveling is the best thing for the buck for your photography! 

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Bitcoin for artists and creators?

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Own yourself

Google and Apple getting all the money?

Do you believe in freedom?

If you believe in freedom, you don’t use social media

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Issue stock?

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Bitcoin … virtuous

Virtuous Religions

Bitcoin is a religion

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Bumpy path

Wealth as a mental thing?

Opaque

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Save your wealth

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“Right, like a plus, but they’re not… It’s kind of like if I was supporting a language that’s spoken by 1% of the world and I said, I’m going to create an album, but it’s only in that language. And you have to learn that language in order to listen to my music.

The problem is you’re going to lose your audience. And so we need strategies that get everybody to adopt and embrace Bitcoin. If we’re back to the subject of what’s good for Bitcoin, what you want, you want to make it easy for people to embrace Bitcoin.”

From Once Bitten! A Bitcoin Podcast.: @Saylor – The Year In Review 2022 In #bitcoin. #309, Dec 20, 2022
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/once-bitten-a-bitcoin-podcast/id1497540130?i=1000590791675
This material may be protected by copyright.

Pay your fees in bitcoin

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Be insanely suspicious …

Beauty is subtracting ugliness

Rid ugliness from your eyes 

Ugly people?

A half-life of forever 

First, the speed and power is quite phenomenal. You can eaaaaasily outspeed and overtake anyone on the freeway. The power is good, when merging or just driving around the freeway, when it is easy to be eaten alive.

Some honest thoughts—

First, ride quality is a bit poor. My 2010 Prius funny enough feels far more comfortable. Tesla Model Y Dual Motor Long Range — a bit too stiff, you can kind of feel every bump on the road. And I also suppose because you’re a bit higher off the ground, you don’t feel as stable and planted to the road (downside of these micro SUV compact car segments, or just SUV’s in general)— I’d imagine it feels similar in a Model X. In terms of driving, I hate SUV’s or cars which are too high off the floor.

Also as a driver, the A pillar on the top far left is a bit too obstrusive — it blocks too much of the left side.

The overall quality of the car feels pretty cheap. The back rear passenger seat door and window integration … it is like the window and the glass is falling off it?

Autopilot

The auto steer (beta)— dangerous. Doesn’t really work on steep curves, can and maybe kill your family or cause your car to flip over.

The auto pilot basic keep safe distance between front car,,, this is very good! But it does make me feel a bit carsick when using it ,,, I think in super extreme stop and go traffic it is a godsend, but for mild traffic it makes me more uneasy than anything.