My ideal for Seneca.

My theory about parenting is that it is training: train their mind, train their physical body, train their musical interest, etc.

In praise of Dropbox. The founders of Dropbox essentially said in their mission statement:

What we are striving to do is to promote flow, work ‘flow’, amongst individuals and teams.

Also one thing I like about working on a laptop vs an iPad or iPhone:

Working on a laptop promotes much more flow, as you can type 10000x faster than an iPad or iPhone.

Think less about “good”, think more about seamless and flow.

I like this idea of a free trial period, and no commitment in the beginning. And then you decide to pay for it later.

The good thing with Paramount+ (HALO).

After deep thinking and consideration, my thought is perhaps for Web 4.0 we’ll go back to basics, that is blogging.

Just like how I own (thank you Cindy) erickim.com

All my really smart friends seem to eventually work for Google and settle there.

Also note that if something is on Google, it is “truth”.

Let us also consider, people aren’t going to stop Googling stuff or searching for stuff on YouTube (owned by Google).

Our ethos to our photography:

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Assuming the future is up-market, or ultra high end … Amazon might fail. Amazon is racing to the bottom (just like Walmart) for low prices. Now that Jeff Bezos has peaced out of the company (perhaps focusing on getting to the moon or Mars or somewhere in space) — I am feeling bearish on the future of Amazon.

Even now, it seems that even though Amazon prime is so insanely convenient, people still like to go to the (high end) mall, like South Coast Plaza or outdoor malls like the Irvine Spectrum.

As opposed to the “real” world.

This is the world we are currently living in.

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Kill two birds with one stone.

We know that skate parks are good, also, lots of fun to bring your kid to a skate park.

Why not also invent photo parks?

If you’re a homebody, you’re a domesticated herd animal. If you prefer to be out in the real world and “fuck shit up”, consider yourself a wild predator.

As much as I love laptops, and my laptop, the big problem with laptops is this: you are forced to be static.

What are the alternatives? Walking around and being mobile with your iPhone, and just using Siri voice dictate to write out your thoughts.

As a photographer how you decide to divvy up and compose your frame — this is all a design decision.

Perhaps we photographers can gain more from studying design and designers, than photography?

Design rules everything around me.

If you ever leave the house, or decide to stay at home all day … everything about existence and embodied reality deals with design.

Perhaps it is good to not have a good memory — to not let the past actions and prejudices of others affect how you treat them.

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From a design perspective, perhaps what we’re looking for is a new silhouette. For example our joy on the silhouette of the new Cybertruck, and the silhouette of the Yeezy 350 sneakers.

My design ideal — to become more aggressive.

DESIGN THOUGHTS

1. COMPROMISE DESIGN.
   ‘WASTEFUL’?
2. Tight vs Loose
3. Thick vs Thin
4. Why Lamborghini is No Longer Interesting to Me
5. DESIGN PHILOSOPHY IS AN ETHOS.
6. LESS SURFACE AREA.
7. ANTI IN-BETWEEN
8. CLASSIC/TIMELESS IS BORING.
9. Photographers are Designers
10. Why Perfect?
11. Beautiful but Boring
12. AGGRESSIVE DESIGN.
13. DESIGN IS KING.
14. WHY DESIGN?
15. THE RAGING BULL.
16. BARE BONES.
17. The Best Car for Thinking
18. Zen Aesthetics
19. Why Minimalism?
20. SPARTAN DESIGN.
21. Generic Design
22. An Elite Aesthetic
23. Not Hateful Design
24. New Forward Facing Design vs Retrospective and Nostalgic Design
25. Depressing Design vs Uplifting Design
26. The Best Design Towards What Ends?
27. Exciting or Boring Design?
28. On Design & Photography
29. A Designer Desires to Design and Create Things!
30. Delightful Technology and Design
31. Dynamic Aesthetics
32. Design vs Brand Prestige
33. Classic Proportions, Modern Design
34. Why Does Design Matter?
35. The Best Design
36. MUSCULAR DESIGN.
37. Camera Design
38. Watch Design

What we eat or how we eat might be the most important thing.

My parenting mantra and approach. Simple thought — charge your phone in a separate room when you’re engaging and playing with your kid.

Black as a dominating aesthetic.

Towards the ultimate non-boring life.

Sickness (every once in a while) is good unto our health.

Seneca loves doorways. Not being inside or outside, but in-between.

Further mediocrity. Boringness. Further passivity from media. Further dumbing down and standardization for our kids.

We can create photos faster than we can think?

“Be greedy when others are fearful” -Warren Buffet

Or in other words, this is your chance and opportunity to buy and hoard more Bitcoin.

I’ve been blogging ever since I was 15 years old. I consider myself the blogging GOAT, the greatest blogger of all time.

In fact, I even started blogging before I started pursuing photography. Therefore in someways, blogging was my first love, even before photography.

I actually see blogging as the future. More robust than social media, which is in the hands of the social media sharecroppers.

Some practical blogging strategies:

1. Education

For example, the crypto Chain.Link blog does this very well. In order for people to start adopting your technology or product, you must educate them, give them ideas, and teach them how to actually use it.

Applied to my photography, I see my blog as mostly an educational blog on photography and street photography, me sharing knowledge and information as I go.

2. Benefit

After someone reads your blog, or blog post, think to yourself: how has my reader benefited from this?

3. Go deep

Something else that is essential with blog posts, go deep. Do not be superficial.

For example how the Chainlink blog has this very deep and insightful notion on crypto really being about trust.

4. Blogging as story telling

“Richard Millie cost a Lambo” – Meek Mill

Very interesting to read the history and ethos behind Richard Mille— the notion of an “ultra high end” segment within the already high-end segment.

Nota Bene: Lamborghini Urus as becoming quite standard in SoCal, even the Rolls Royce Cullinan SUV.

Might be a smart move for Apple to keep going more high-end, like a $2000 titanium iPhone Pro.

Even for Leica camera to continuously make more epic lenses— more APO (ultra high luxury end lenses).

I would never want anyone to pity my son. Therefore, do not pity others.

Pity is actually an emotion in which you look down on others, and see them as helpless weaklings.

We often talk about social media, media, media as films and television, etc. But how come we never think about photography as another form of media?

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PODCAST

Some thing I find very interesting: how crypto.com has been killing it, especially with all their media sponsorships and co-branding.

For example, the fact that they bought the naming rights to the staple center, at around $700 million, is hugely fascinating. Whenever I drive by it, I think about crypto.

Also, I keep getting crypto.com advertisements in my iPhone App Store search bar, and it seems that they are really pushing for bitcoin and ether.

Think about it: in the next 20-30 years, do you think people will be consuming more media, or less media? I say more media.

Don’t just be trapped in “playgrounds”, thinking that a playground is the only place to play.

Perhaps in order to do more and achieve more in life, reduce your given compass in life.

Don’t commute. Don’t spend any time in a car. Only walking, thinking, working out, garage entrepreneurship, thinking locally, no travel.

Our blogging ethos.

Mando shouldn’t have shown his face, Boba Fett shouldn’t have shown his face, Darth Vader wouldn’t have shown his face, the STIG should never show his face, and Master Chief should never show his face.

With models, don’t show faces. Why not? We want to put ourselves behind the mask or helmet of others, to become them.

The darkness and mystery is what most intrigues us?

Similarly speaking when it comes to advertising, never show the face of the model. Ideally just highlight and focus on the product, not the human behind it.

It’s impossible to know how you will feel tomorrow— whether you wake up sick, having slept horribly, or your mood or outlook is different tomorrow.

Every night go to sleep like a mini death; the next day you’re reborn, freshly new.

It’s just a dosage thing.

Why thank people, and if you thank them, and they hear you, but don’t acknowledge your thanks … why does this ignite inner-indignation?

Perhaps when we thank people, we are just subjugating them under us. In other words, to thank someone is a power play.

Doing photography is good for your health!

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When Seneca tries to go from point A to point B, some clutter and obstacles are good.

Instead of just clearing the clutter for him, letting him use the obstacles in real life like an obstacle course. He learns to better navigate, balance, and move around it.

Then obstacles actually help exercise our skills, develop our muscles, and make us more advanced.

More bitter herbs and greens and spices.

Not a matter of better or worse, but different.

In praise of the new Lexus IS 500: a small compact sport sedan body, with a beefy V8 engine.

The worst type of design is that which is a compromise. For example a lot of the low-end Mercedes cars seems like a compromise, moving Mercedes away from the luxury segment, into the mass market, like BMW.

Also, iPhone SE is a compromise. As much as I love the ethos of it, the old hardware of the phone does not play well with the new software iOS.

This is where Leica is actually very intelligent: increasing the functionality of their Leica M camera, and making it more expensive, and thus more exclusive. Leica camera will do well, as long as it belongs in that elite segment.

Thus the takeaway is that one should never compromise one’s ethos of design.

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The poison in my lens
I photograph where I begin
The birth of my child, my life with Cindy
Projecting my hopes and dreams into my photos
I know though that my resources are tight
But I must shoot on, the dark and bright.

ERIC

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In my short tenure and life, I have seen very interesting things:

1. JAY Z turn into a billionaire
2. Apple to become the first 1+ trillion dollar market cap company
3. Kanye West to become a (multi multi) billionaire
4. Elon Musk making electric cars (TESLA) a reality

Then my takeaway:

At one point or another, these men of great courage had this insanely audacious life plans. And were called ‘delusional’ at many points of their career/life.

But … what happens when their ‘delusions’ become a reality?

Then thinking about it:

Perhaps it is a good idea for us to be ‘delusional’ and ignore ‘conventional reality’, if we truly desire to become something insanely great and something totally new.

Also note:

Bitcoin starting at just a few cents, then a few dollars, then a few hundred dollars, then a few thousand dollars … and who knows what the limit can be? Millions? Billions? Trillions?

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