My (now) 5 year old niece Amelia is now great at making photos. I encouraged her from a young age (around 2-3) and the secret is this:

Just give them a camera, teach them how to hit the shutter, how to view photos, and let them go crazy!

Thinking about virtual reality — virtual reality is just computing and computers 3.0.

Which makes me think —

What are computers good for?

And do computers really improve our life that much? If so, how so?

The more things you own, the more things own you.

Virtual reality — a great philosophical tool.

What is no longer necessary after VR?

1. No need for physical things and objects as vanity objects or toys
2. No need for a fancy home
3. No need for a Lamborghini

What is necessary, or to be desired:

1. Physical strength, vigor, muscle, and physiological thriving
2. Fresh air
3. Ability to walk outdoors
4. Dynamic environments

In almost everything in life, dynamic is better, more fun, more interesting, and more playful than the static!

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A VR thought:

It seems we humans prefer a *DYNAMIC* environment, not a simple static one.

I am convinced; the best way to sell real estate, or to sell rentals, AirBnb or whatever is good photos (and now videos). Some thoughts:

1. Kettlebell is possibly the best single workout tool you can get. For fit men, get at least a 70 pound one. Benefit of kettlebell; you only need one (compared to dumbbells)
2. Chinup bar setup of some sorts. I prefer a neutral grip.

For workout ideas:

1. Planche
2. One arm pushup or dive bomber
3. Pistol squats: either bodyweight or with dumbell/kettlebell.

‘Fitness’ — literally comes from ‘fit‘. A theory on the origin of the word ‘fit’ comes from the Middle English ‘fit’ which means ‘an adversary of equal power’.

Thus perhaps in some ways for us men who are trying to become more ‘fit’ — what we are actually trying to *really* do is to become more physically dominant than the other man, in order to exert our strength and dominance over them.

But anyways in the modern sense in terms of ‘physical fitness’ (a modern notion which only comes from around the 1920s onwards) — why fitness?

What is the significance of the ‘real’ (physical) thing and object and the virtual object and thing?

Well, like Ryan Haliday says (Ready Player One), it is hard to get a good meal in VR. Thus certainly sleep, food, shelter, fresh air, and all that jazz is far superior in embodied (‘real’) reality (also a nice cup of coffee).

But when it comes to ‘possessions’ or physical spaces … do we have a *preference* between the ‘real’ and the virtual?

First step: relieve yourself of all physiological pain. This means:

1. Optimize for sleep (8+ hours a night). Get into bed by 8pm. Get up around 6am. Optimize for our real human circadian rhythms (our wake/sleep cycle dictated by our metabolism and the rising and setting of the sun) rather than trying to *overcome* our human physiology. More faith in our natural human physiological system than the trappings of modern society and modern desiderata (things to be desired).
2. Freedom from back, neck, hip, ankle, hand, carpal tunnel pain, etc. Start first from human physiology. Unnatural to sit; thus stand (in praise of standing desks). If you gotta ‘sit’, just do the ‘Asian squat’ (ass to grass squatting). Perhaps do some form of daily yoga, weight lifting, or some cross-fit-esque or powerlifting styled workout. Uber-optimize and uber-ergonomize your computing setup (Kinesis keyboard, trackball mouse, standing desk, etc).
3. Figure out what substances you can tolerate and what you cannot. More faith in your stomach than your ‘rationality’. As an East Asian (I am Korean) I cannot tolerate alcohol, or lactose/milk/cheese/butter products well. Rather than trying to ‘force’ my genetics to adapt to these modern and exotic food-substances, why not optimize for my own DNA?

Why have a ‘real’ desktop when you can have a virtual one?

Why real estate and towards what ends?

Just document your life!

What is the best way to extract the maximum from existence? Striving to reach a state of “supreme repose” in which you’re calm, strong, focused … no fear or doubts or thoughts about the future. Stable and flourishing in your own creative bubble. Excited to see what new creations you shall make.

What makes photography so fun? Unexpected compositions which you discover *AFTER THE FACT*!

In modern society, it all comes down to the visual:

Let us pursue all photo everything — all photography everything:

Philosophical insight:

One of the greatest joys of being alive and one of the greatest joys of existence is the joy of thinking!

The joy of thinking of great and lofty ideas, to flesh out ideas, and to share ideas with others!

Virtual reality (Sketchbook app) in Oculus Rift as effective to shoot photos while in virtual reality!!!

You are your own master:

Often when we try to ‘improve’ or ‘optimize’ things (which already work quite well), we either break it, or make things (or make our lives) *WORSE*!

So:

1. Be very hesitant to ‘upgrade’ your car, devices, lifestyle, etc.
2. Never buy into the first generation of … anything. Always stick with the second-generation or beyond.
3. Be very wary and skeptical of the new, ‘improved’, or ‘optimized’!
4. Typically speaking, stick with what works! Innovate with your final artwork approach, not the process.

Whether we like it or not, quarantine is the new way of life:

This is what we should be optimizing towards. Via negativa approach to achieve this:

Get rid of, uninstall, don’t use, or avoid anything which interrupts or impedes your creative flow.

Kill and prune all distractions (or potential distractions) with courage, vigor, and might.

How do you know whether certain things in life are worth pursuing or not? Simple:

If you’re not personally interested or curious about it, it isn’t worth for you to pursue.

If your personal interest or enthusiasm in something is just “meh”, don’t do it.

Perhaps the most efficient workout:

Virtual reality is only good insofar much as it makes us appreciate “real” (embodied reality) more than the virtual.

VR is the future and is already prime time and is already here.

What interests me about VR isn’t the silly video games and stuff — it is more artistic, creative… using VR and VR tools to CREATE, MAKE, and imagine new things!

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In praise of being self made. Also, better to be self made, to buy things with your own hard worked money than to simply be given things on a silver platter.

One of my greatest joys:

Having the freedom to photograph.

To photograph without bounds, to photograph as innocently as a child, without fear of being reprimanded or told what to photograph or what *NOT* to photograph.

Then perhaps the greatest joy of being a photographer isn’t to be a ‘good’ photographer, but to be an *unbounded* photographer!

Virtual reality — good if we can use it as a philosophical tool to better understand and *AUGMENT* our humanity!

What greater joy is there besides our fellow human beings?

My lesson about virtual reality:

Ironically enough, the more I use Virtual Reality the more I actually appreciate *real* (embodied) reality!

When youre in the VR zone and having fun and you get out of VR, real life is sooooo much more refreshing! The ultimate open world concept, ability to explore, engage with other real flesh based humans, best graphics and best refresh and frame rates! No lag!!!

HOW I VR:

Playing around with the 3D virtual reality sketching and tooling app by Adobe (Medium), and find it highly fascinating, especially for us photographers with all the camera angles possible!

An epiphany while swimming around in Oculus:

To passively consume is boring, to actively create is fun and interesting!

Holy shit this is insane!

How to see composition:

HDR: high dynamic range. I just discovered RICOH GR III has a very good HDR JPEG setting on the camera, which is actually quite awesome.

Brave new world of future of creativity:

How to see and shoot layers in photography and street photography demonstrated on Tilt Brush by Google and Oculus Rift S:

If you really desire to be more productive, get more stuff done, and also explore more creative outlets (let us say boot camp x Oculus Rift S for virtual reality in Windows 10), having two laptops (more than one) seems best.

Why? Some thoughts:

Why I love photography so much:

The ultimate infinite form of creativity that is the perfect mix of both embodied reality (you gotta be there ‘in person’ in order to make photos) as well as the ‘virtual reality’ (digital photos on a computer screen).

If you’re stuck at home, bored and want to practice composition, give selfies a go:

A cool photography project you can pursue:

Go to a loyal junkyard or a “Pick and Pull”, take along your camera, and shoot what you see!

What are we hungry for and searching for as photographers and visual artists? The sublime.

Been on the Facebook research page (good stuff) and I’ve been musing on the future of life, and living:

The most robust form of ownership: self ownership. Far more important than owning a home, owning a fancy car, owning a lot of money, etc.

How to understand three dimensionality in photography composition:

Virtual reality is finally here, and it is damn good:

The miracle of fish:

MY LIFE:

The future is already here:

What is money good for? Food glorious food!

How to become more creatively productive:

Certainly we must consume (some) stuff in order to live. We must consume energy, food, resources, coffee, wifi and the such.

But the problem is when we derive our self-worth and our self-esteem based on what we consume or purchase.

Vain meaning not ‘self-centered’ and ‘self-pompous’ but vain meaning VANUS in Latin (empty). This is the problem with vain consumerism, or vain things:

It leaves us feeling empty.

Isn’t the goal to feel whole and full, and over-flowing and over-abundant? Perhaps we can only feel truly thriving when we are actively creating, making, and building!

“The maximum — searching for the maximum is what has always interested me.” (Josef Koudelka)

Thought:

Modern times is all about minimalism — why not maximalism?

In search of the sublime in composition and beyond:

A thought:

Individuals often like to complain about x, y, z. But instead of complaining about these things, perhaps we should rather embrace new ideas for change. Or in other words, become the change which we desire to see manifested in the world!

The key to wealth building: construction; either physical or metaphorical.

The new leisure class: no more working for an income or for a self identity. Extremely abundant leisure. Time to think, create, produce and pursue entrepreneurship out of genuine personal interest, not just base money.

A thought:

Our desire for beautiful homes, neighborhoods and environments is perhaps the desire to have beautiful thoughts and to feel beautiful ourselves?

The other day I just test drove my friend Kevin’s Tesla Model 3 (Dual Motor) with the semi-autonomous driving function enabled. Some quick thoughts:

1. Very fast: The torque and pickup on this thing is pretty insane. I do not envision actually needing or desiring a car any faster in terms of acceleration. When I gunned the gas pedal (or the “acceleration pedal”, considering it is an electric car), it went into hyper drive, and every time gave me a small heart attack from the speed.
2. The semi autonomous driving function works very well: Just keep one hand on the steering wheel, and it knows how to drive very well! No hiccups here.
3. Styling is great. Front of the car looks like a Porsche 911, the flush handles are cool, and the interior is fantastic. The “faux” (fake) black leather is actually very comfortable and feels premium. The minimalist spartan interior is very well designed — feels super spacious, the comfort of sitting in the driver seat is like you’re the captain of your own spaceship.
4. The only thing I didn’t really like were the turn signals: When you activate the left or right turn signal (the handle on the left), it doesn’t really give you a satisfying clicking sound and feeling before you’re turning like you’d get on a Japanese car, a Toyota or Nissan/Honda, etc. Something as subtle as my unfamiliarity or dislike of the Tesla turning signal mechanism is probably enough to discourage me (or convincing myself) to *NOT* desire a Tesla vehicle for myself.