GREAT PHOTOGRAPHER.

After a lot of thinking and philosophizing, this is what I have gathered:

I think the ultimate privilege is simply to strive to make great photos, become a great photographer, and become an ever greater photographer.

How?

The first thought to think and consider is this:

What does it mean to become a great photographer, and is it even a possible thing to become the “greatest“ photographer?

Being inspired to make photos until you die at the age of 120

OK so let us assume that I could predict with you with 100% certainty that you will live to be 120 years old, in phenomenal health. If that were the case, how can you structure your life in such a way which allows you to stay inspired and motivated to make photos until you die at 122?

First things first, don’t own a home. At worst, just own a condo. A lot of my successful friends, like my friends Don Dillon and Tim Flangan have done this; the upside of owning a condo is that you can just travel, and travel the world, and ultimately you will still have somewhere to keep your stuff, and go back home to. And at least when you’re on the road, you don’t have to worry about maintaining your home or the outside of your house.

Second, structuring your life which allows maximum movement and independence. This means a life in which you spend a good amount of time on the road, traveling, in other foreign places. It could be as simple as wing road trips in America, or more complex like traveling internationally. The world is a big ass place. And this is what gives me great hope.

For example, there are still 1 trillion places that have not yet been to, which I am interested in. I’m interested in going to Lagos Nigeria, Morocco, South America, Eastern Europe, Hungary, etc. And before all of this Ukraine Putin stuff, I was very interested in going to Russia Moscow.

Making great photos

I hate to say it, but certainly there is a hierarchy in terms of great photos compared to not as great photos. What is the differentiating factor?

For myself, when I study the work of Henri Cartier Bresson, and look at his more advanced works, he is really good at the arabesque composition. The squiggly line composition, which adds elegance to his photos.

Also, a Dionysian aesthetic. This means a dark, hard aesthetic. Extremely high contrast black and white, extremely high grain. For example, lately I’ve been shooting on my Lumix G9 camera, after my Ricoh GR 3X broke. I was able to use the in camera JPEG setting of dynamic monochrome, adjusting the contrast to the max, the grain to the max, and I think I have discovered a new aesthetic which I might even prefer over the Ricoh GR 3X in camera high contrast black and white.

In terms of longevity, I believe black and white is more durable than color. Why is this?

First and foremost, we don’t see the world in black-and-white. This alone is the massive differentiating factor between black-and-white photography and color photography.

Secondly, color, color science, digital cameras, sensors, sensor technology is always changing in terms of color. Also JPEG, RAW settings. CMOS vs CCD sensors for color, etc. this alone is a massive headache; and there is also a quadrillion different types of ways to print color, display color, and also view monitors with different color profiles etc. Black and white makes your life 1 trillion times easier.

The path to become a great photographer

How does one become a great photographer?

I think first of all, I think having an over stated ego, over inflated ego, over inflated self-confidence is a virtue and a good thing. First, I think you must have the desire, the audacity, and also the chutzpah to desire to become a great photographer.

I believe the 99.99% issue with modern day life is that it is considered immoral to desire to become great. That somehow, greatness, and striving to become great, is actually considered a vice.

Modern day life says one must be quiet, low-key, and ashamed of oneself. It is considered a vice to self promote, have self confidence in oneself etc.

I say, perhaps the best thing you could teach yourself, and also teach our kids is in fact to gain more self-confidence, to gain more audacity.

Great aesthetics?

In terms of making great photos, my simple thought is that making great photos is all about making photos which are strong, simple, and hard.

For example, some aesthetic thoughts:

  1. Extremely high contrast black-and-white
  2. Simple backgrounds
  3. Some sort of strong character, subject, or happening or mood behind the photo

Making “objectively” great photos?

Something which I believe which is very unorthodox:

Personally speaking, I do believe that it is actually possible to make an objectively great photo.

But the question is, who decides?

First of all, you decide. Then maybe EK or arsbeta.com can decide.

Whose opinion matters?

In terms of photography, and your photos, whose opinion truly matters?

For example, do you want everyone to universally call you a great photographer, and bow down before you?

This is what I have discovered after having attended a magnum workshop, meeting Magnum Photographers, etc:

Nobody is happy.

Becoming a happy photographer?

I had a funny idea, if I want to start a gym, I want to call it “happy gym”.

Why? Isn’t the point of going to the gym just be happy, become happier?

Even Joe Gold, the guy who started golds gym said “the point of going to the gym is to have fun!”

I think the same as in photography. Isn’t and shouldn’t the purpose of photography to be happy?

Resources to become a great photographer

  1. STREET PHOTO STARTER KIT // HAPTIC SHOPPE
  2. BOOKS
  3. MASTERS // How to get started

EK WORK

CONQUER:

  1. CONQUER PHOTOGRAPHY AND LIFE IN DOWNTOWN LA June 17th
  2. July 15-16th: SAIGON WORKSHOP (details to be announced)
  3. OCT 14th— PHILLY WORKSHOP DETAILS TBA

New directions

  1. iPad is a brick? I insanely love the iPad Pro, but I’m starting to realize it is a brick. Why? I keep hitting the 2 TB family limit, and irregardless of how many times I go back and delete all of my old photos and videos etc., I still keep hitting the max. Perhaps it is a good time to just transition back into Adobe Lightroom or Lightroom classic, and just do it on my laptop, off the cloud.
  2. Testosterone in photography? It is my personal theory that there is a connection between testosterone and photography. Perhaps when we see a beautiful woman, or we want to shoot a street photo, or we want to shoot a street portrait, this boosts and affects and influences our testosterone? As a consequence, perhaps the best thing you could do for your street photography and your photography and life in general is striving to naturally boost your testosterone, consuming more beef, organ meats, and hitting one rep maxes at the gym. 885 pounds atlas lift.
  3. I’m over Tesla? Me and Seneca just checked out the new Tesla model S in ultra red, and it looks great. I think Tesla and Elon really nailed it here; the previous red colors were not vibrant nor bold enough. Now, I think the Tesla model S plaid in ultra red is probably a perfect car. Especially with the all black interior and the new yoke steering wheel; there is literally no flaws I see. Yet once I have discovered perfect, I no longer feel a strong desire or need to own it anymore? Therefore, maybe the most intelligent strategy then is to just buy Tesla stock, or invest in anything Elon Musk does. Maybe I’ll be the first person to own $1 million worth of Tesla stock, yet not actually own a Tesla car myself.

Photo

  1. How can you gain critical feedback and constructive feedback to improve your photography? Upload your photos to arsbeta.com
  2. I still think there is a very good opportunity to be had when it comes to websites and blogs for your photography. What I am personally curious about is how to design a website which is very conducive to this.

LAST.

He or she who lasts the longest is the most “successful”.

LAST LONG(ER)

How to last (long)

Thoughts on Lasting. Lasting Long

I was randomly playing some songs from Jay Z‘s album 4:44 in my head today, and some thoughts:

Will this song, and this album last, or not?

Probably not. Why?

Jay Z‘s 444 album was kind of a strange album, part apology album for Jay Z continually cheating on Beyoncé, and also, I think Jay Z just wanted to put out an album for the sake of putting out an album, maybe in order to make money, etc.

Why last?

Nietzsche once said that durability was one of the highest human goods, or things on planet earth. Durability.

Merino wool?

I used to be a huge proponent of merino, especially for traveling, living in hot and humid climates like living in Vietnam, Cambodia, etc. I still think that merino wool is phenomenal, for example the outlier.nyc merino wool tshirt was insanely great (the ramie, ramielust t shirt is interesting to me for travel this summer to Korea and Vietnam). However, this is by far the biggest issue of merino wool:

It just doesn’t last.

For example, I have at least three or four outlier.nyc merino wool T-shirts, which have essentially been torn to shreds, through over-wear and tear over the years. They are all just sitting in a drawer now.

This is a tricky thing, because, the thought:

Does durability matter, if, your goal is to have the most apex thing?

For example, let us say that you are traveling in the hot and humid climate for the summer, and you want the best possible T-shirt, or material to travel with. You can only bring one or two. Then certainly you will choose the best thing, which is 100% merino wool, in lieu of knowing that it may only last a year or two tops.

Maybe the same analogy with road bikes, or racing bicycles, let us assume that the chassis is 100% carbon fiber. If you are doing a race, and you need every last advantage, certainly having a chassis which is 100% carbon fiber is best, although it is more prone to breaking, and it will not last as long as an aluminum or steel chassis.

Having to replace things is just annoying

Are currently speaking, I have a conundrum; I love the record your digital cameras, however they keep breaking on me. For example, my Rico GR 3X, which I might have only bought a year or two ago, has already went kaput, it doesn’t even charge or turn on anymore.

Or, my previous Ricoh GRIII, which has this perpetual lens error issue.

I contacted Ricoh to send me a new one, however, they just told me to repair it. To send it in, and pay around $340 to fix it. I can’t be fucked doing this.

Therefore, trying to think long, I was thinking:

What is a camera that I could purchase, which I know will be reliable, durable, and will last a very long time, and also is very compact, which won’t break on me?

Retractable lenses are bad

First note from a design perspective; cameras which have retractable lenses, seem like a good idea because it makes the camera more compact and slim, but are horrible because it leads to more parts which will lead to breaking.

Thus, the best camera in the best lens is a lens which is non-retractable. This means all Ricoh GR cameras are out.

Leica camera is interesting, because at least, their cameras either have fixed lenses, like on their Leica Q series cameras, or, interchangeable lenses, like on their Leica M cameras.

However a big downside of this is that the cameras are insanely big and bulky. Don’t be fooled, the Leica M digital rangefinder camera is still a very big and bulky camera, not that much lighter than turning around a DSLR camera.

From a design perspective, the Leica Q camera is very cool, I reviewed the Leica Q2 a few years ago and I liked it, but the big issue with the Leica Q camera:

I can’t stop help thinking that it is just a really expensive Panasonic Lumix camera.

Also, the big issue with the Leica Q camera is that it is also like having a very very expensive iPhone. Why? Can you imagine as if you spent $6000 on a iPhone 6s, do you imagine that you’ll still be using it today?

Likewise, even if you have the newest Leica camera, Leica Q2 camera, I think the longevity on it will be quite poor.

Also, I am sure there is already a Leica Q3 in the works — just hold out.

Just buy what is newest?

From a longevity perspective, it seems that a good strategy is to just buy what is the newest. That is, which was released in the current year.

For example, as I voice dictate these words on my iPad Pro M1 chip, only buy a new digital camera which has been released in the year 2023, or within the last few months.

Also the same thing goes with devices, smartphones, iPhones, etc.

Cars

For example, the good thing of lagging behind, and being a late adopter is many-fold:

For example, let us say that you were an unfortunate purchaser of an early model Tesla model S, or Tesla model 3. Very quickly, your car got outdated. For example, to my understanding the touchscreens of the older Tesla model S cars are very slow, unresponsive and laggy. Or, to my understanding the brand new Tesla model 3 has a different type of battery, battery architecture from the older Tessa model 3 with the chrome trimmings.

Or, now that the all black everything aesthetic is becoming more mainstream, even the misfortune of owning an older Tesla car, with chrome trim instead of just simple black trim.

The difficult and tricky thing with purchasing a new car, electric car, or a Tesla car is this:

The battery technology in cars and electric cars is evolving so quickly, it seems on wise to actually purchased or on a brand new electric car, because within a year or two, or two or three years, it will probably already get outdated.

Or let us consider how everyone is excited and waiting for the cybertruck to come out. Once the cyber truck comes out, everyone will want to get rid of their Tesla model three cars, their Tesla model Y cars, they’re a Tesla model X cars, and their Tesla model S cars.

Or, when the Tesla roadster finally comes out, everyone will want to get rid of their Tesla model S plaid cars.

iPhone Pro?

The reason why it seems wise to always delay and lag in regards to buying a new phone or iPhone is this:

There will always be a new new iPhone.

For example, it seems that the iPhone 11 Pro, 12 Pro, 13 Pro, and 14 Pro has evolved very quickly. As I write these words, iPhone 14 Pro is already dated. I’m sure that the iPhone 15 Pro is already in the works.

As a consequence, imagine that you bought an iPhone 14 pro just a few months ago, imagine your extreme dismay and frustration when the new iPhone 15 pro comes out.

So in regards to phones, or iPhones, what is the best strategy?

What I have personally discovered is just buy the cheapest, newest iPhone. Currently speaking that is the iPhone SE. Even though I don’t really like it that much, at least it is cheap, and the processor is actually quite new, and I don’t feel like I am married to it.

Invest in the new

It seems that the best strategy is to just buy what is new, newest. Why?

First of all, technology moves so quickly. By buying or investing in what is new, typically speaking there is a higher likelihood of longevity. Even buying a technological thing, whether phone, tablet, laptop, car, electric car, Tesla, digital camera etc … even something first released 1 year ago, or 2 years ago is too old.

How to have you last?

In regards to “dedication”, what does this really mean?

My personal thought is only work on that what you truly care for, no compromise here. You must really really really really really insanely care for it.

For example, my insane passion for weightlifting, powerlifting, hypelifting, and innovation in health diet and fitness. Why do I care for this so much? Because, I think it is critical onto human thriving.

Don’t force yourself to do it

A clear distinction here is things that you think you “should“ do, and things that you must do.

For example, I think the reason why it is so hard for people to start exercising and working out, going to the gym is this:

They don’t want to.

For many people, it feels like this strange duty that one must do, rather than something that one wants to do.

Maybe the same thing is with blogging, vlogging, starting a YouTube channel, etc.; nobody should feel like they must do something against their own will, a lot of people think they “should“ do it, for marketing, business purposes etc. However, I say if your soul is not really into it, don’t even bother.

100% passion or nothing.

How I write

For myself, I only write about things which I am personally curious about, and things which I personally care for.

Perhaps the writer that I have been inspired by the most is Nassim Taleb. He has broken all “proper“ rules of writing, and as a consequence, his writing is fun, personal, lively, wise, deep and strong.

Ironically enough, I kind of make my living as a “writer“, even though I do not consider myself a writer. I consider myself more of a blogger, but even that is something I don’t really think of myself as. I just think of myself as a curious individual, and my passion is to just share my thoughts, and whatever mode or media which best suits for it.

The downside with iPhone photos, even iPhone pro photos

I think that the iPhone, iPhone pro is a very great photo creation device. However the massive downside:

I don’t think it makes photos which last.

Certainly you can make great photos with it, but for truly truly great photos, photos which will last the test of time … no. For myself, the only photos that I’ve shot which have lasted were on my RICOH GR camera, Ricoh GRII, my Ricoh GR three, my Ricoh GR3X, as well as my Leica M9 camera, and also my film cameras (Ricoh GR1s film camera, Contax T3 film camera, Leica M6 camera, and Leica MP film camera).

Should we just keep buying Ricoh GR cameras ad infinitum?

My insane annoyance with RICOH GR cameras is that they don’t seem to last for longer than a year or two. What should we do about this?

Long thinking

The reason why I love Jeff Bezos as an entrepreneur is that his personal vision and forecasting the future was phenomenal. And I think Jeff is one of those few entrepreneurs who was able to think at the 30-40 year level.

Why think Long? My thought is when you try to think at the 30 or 40 year level, you don’t muck around with the inconsequential.

There are certain facts:

  1. You are currently alive
  2. One day you will die

Then the question is, in between those two facts, what do you want to do with your life? Assuming that your body is the bow and arrow, how do you want to use your body as a tool, an instrument, or even a weapon?

Long photo thoughts

I believe it is the goal and aspiration of every photographer to create photos which last.

LONG PHOTOS.

“Vita brevis, ars longa.” (Life is short, art is long — art will last a long time)

Your life is short, however, the artwork you create, however you define artwork, has a potential for lasting a very long time.

So, how can you make photos that will last a long time?

The first thought is design your life and your world and your existence in such a way which maximizes your opportunity and ability to make photos. The simple fact:

The more you travel, the more you go outside, the more adventures you go on, and the more time you click the shutter, the more likely you are to make some photos which last.

Happiness lasts

Another funny thought, photos that I’ve shot out of happiness and joy and exuberance have also lasted. Why? When I look at my photos which were shot during periods in which I was very happy, it re-instills in me that happiness.

HOW TO OUTLAST?

Over-lasting is good.

A simple thought is not to just outlast others, but to “over-last”. For example, Nietzsche will easily be remembered for over 300 years. The same goes with Elon Musk. Also probably Kanye West. I think Jay Z will be forgotten. For example, nowadays young kids know who Kanye West is, nobody knows who Jay Z or Eminem is.

Thinking insanely long

Elon Musk — whether he succeeds are not in taking us to Mars, the attempt is great and interesting. Certainly he is already scheduled with Tesla, despite all of the naysayers. Why does everyone they say Tesla, and Elon Musk?

People feel small compared to him.

Even Peter Thiel once said that Elon Musk is a bad role model, because it is too difficult to emulate him.

Becoming more “crazy” or “Asperger’s?

There is one theory, sort of outlined by Peter Thiel in 0 to 1 in which he says,

Many successful entrepreneurs are successful, because they have some sort of low level of “Asperger’s”.

Or disregard for social norms.

For example, if you played by traditional social rules, better to just become an accountant, or consultant, or some sort of boring middle management, or executive. These people are never remembered.

Do you want to be remembered?

I believe it was Heraclitus who once said:

Men should seek the greatest human good, which is immortal glory and fame amongst mortals, yet the majority of men just stuff themselves like cattle.

A first critical thing you must ask yourself:

Do I even care to be remembered?

Me?

For myself, I can go both ways. If I am forgotten, no biggie, when you’re dead, and after you die, you cannot reap the benefits of your fame or notoriety.

However, what I am interested in, and what I do have an interest and passion is this:

To create things which are useful to my fellow human beings who are alive right now, and maybe, being a benefit and an asset and turbocharger to future humans. After I’m dead.

Why do I care for this? Maybe there is some sort of intrinsic altruism here, or maybe it is just from my Catholic Christian upbringing.

Simply put, my thought is this:

I just want to create and share information and knowledge which I wish I had access when I was a kid, when I was 12, 16, 18 years old, 21 years old, etc.

For example, things like

  1. How to transform my passion into a living, and whether this was even possible or not.
  2. How to become famous, get a lot of likes and favorites, make my photos famous, make myself famous, travel the world, be distinguished, have solo exhibitions, print my own photo books, etc.
  3. The limits of human physical strength. This is towards my powerlifting 2.0 idea.

Go Long

Think 30, 40, 50 years beyond. I think this is the best way to think long.

ERIC

EK WORK

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EK TURBO THINKING

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New directions

What Do You *Really* Want in Photography and Life?

It seems in life, discovering what we want is critical. Once we discover what we want, then everything else falls neatly into place.

For example, let us say that our passion is photography, art, travel creativity, and other things. Then the question is, what is it that we want out of it?

What-Do-You-Really-Want-PDF TEXTDownload

First, I think we want to live a more interesting life. To not just stay in the same bubble or place, but to travel to different places, nomad around, explore new territories, etc.

Traveling is good for us. Why? Traveling forces us to re-challenge our typical way of approaching things, and allows us to innovate new approaches. For example, weightlifting, I discovered all these new techniques and approaches when I was living in Phnom Penh Cambodia, at a different type of gym. For example, I discovered the high handle trap bar, the open hex bar, and also, because the gym was empty and devoid of any other humans, I was able to just focus more and innovate and experiment with new types of lifts.

Also, I think there is some sort of deep connection between man and his environment in so far much as novel environments stimulate us. There is this funny bias and Zen and Buddhism, and maybe Puritan American Protestant ethic that says:

You should be grateful for what you have, instead of what you don’t have.

I am starting to realize that this is a weak and small way of thinking. Instead, to reach our apex of development, we must explore new territories new places etc.

The physical is underrated?

Physics, the physical, the real world. Our bodies are physical, the connections in our body is physical, the electricity and blood in our bodies are physical, the hormones in our body or physical, etc.

Our bodies are physical.

Why is it that in today’s world, there seems to be a bias against the physical? There is this overdevelopment of the “mental“ faculties, for example, the focus on studying, schooling, information, ”work” etc.

And where does this bias originate? My theory is that it is this general Quaker protestant American, western, Judaism, Christian, Islamic thought of an afterlife; the thought that is after we die, our soul and our mind remains, but the body dies.

As a consequence, the negative bias is that the body doesn’t really matter. The general gist that they try to propose is this:

Yeah yeah yeah, the body is kind of important. Just do the bare minimum to maintain it, in order to do more virtuous things, related to good works, the mind, spirituality, “the soul“, etc.

As a consequence, it seems that in today’s modern-day world, 99.9% of our efforts is around optimizing for our mind. In order to be more “productive“, to “work“ more, to make more money, to build more capital, to accumulate more, purchase and consume more, etc.

A more physical life?

What I love most about photography, street photography, traveling, etc. is this: the focus on the physical. This means our ability to walk, use our legs, explore new geospatial spaces, etc.

For example, when you’re traveling in on the world, what is the most essential in critical Tim? Your legs, your body. Your physicality.

This is why I believe that when it comes to traveling, some things which are really important include maximizing your mobility. Vibram five fingers shoes, some sort of athletic pants, shorts, and leggings (I like the lululemon vital Drive compression half short leggings, and the Lululemon license to train shorts, with zippers in the front and the back pocket.) And also, clothing that doesn’t get in your way, as simple as when you’re traveling, just wear a T-shirt, some sort of either merino wool T-shirt, I like the Outlier.nyc merino wool T-shirt, or even the Lululemon “metal vent” t shirt. Or a merino wool blend t shirt — clothing which does not restrict your mobility.

Also, the biggest benefit of traveling insanely light, and not bringing too much stuff is it usually practical one; don’t think of it like some sort of virtuous minimalistic thing, just think practically:

The less stuff you carry with you when you travel, the more mobility you have, the further you can venture without exhaustion and fatigue, the more you could conquer, etc.

Simple ways to travel light is when you are on the road, leave your laptop at home, just bring along your iPad Pro, the smaller one.

Also, with your camera, the most small camera viably possible, currently speaking, the Ricoh GR 3X digital camera. I still think it is a quadrillion times better than any other camera on the market, irregardless of price.

Now what?

Once you have become a bitcoin billionaire, once you have total life freedom, then what?

My personal thought and intervention is that then, you can use your stability and security to simply pursue things which are more interesting to you, and to go bigger.

New epic life goals?

I think the reason why Elon Musk and Kanye West are such a great inspiration and motivation to me is this; it is precisely their “craziness“, or their “detachment from reality“, which is fun and interesting to me.

For example, if a decade or two ago, Elon Musk said that he would start an electric car company, and a space company, people would think he is high on crack. But now that he has done did it, now other people, small people, find other things to criticize him about, simply because they hate that they are no match for him.

Become crazier and more audacious?

So then, the next step is this:

Given your insane uberabundance, what do you want to do?

My epic life goals

Another funny irony is that I have discovered that after achieving all of my life goals and dreams, I no longer really have any life goals or dreams anymore. Simply on a daily, weekly, or monthly level, I simply want to pursue things which are personal interesting to me. Whatever is interesting to me at the moment.

For example, what is currently interesting to me is thinking about the body, physique, powerlifting 2.0, and more strongman-style weight lifting and training.

For example, I just did an atlas lift of nine plates, and a 2.5 pound plate on each side, effectively maxing out the bar, assuming that I’m using clips on each side for “safety“. 865 pounds.

The reason why this is so interesting to me is that currently speaking, I don’t think anyone in the world has had as interesting thoughts and innovative thoughts on weight lifting, diet health and fitness, etc.

For example, I think I am the first and only person that I know, maybe even in the world who does powerlifting style lifts, one rep max while fasted. I never eat breakfast or lunch, only one massive dinner, I typically break my fast around 8 PM. And also for the most part, I am 100% carnivore. I also don’t take any supplements, not even protein powder!

My big innovations:

  1. Everyone says that you need to eat some sort of sugar or carbs, but I have proven that to be false. I consume no carbohydrates, no sugar and no starches, no “vegetables”, no “fruit”, or even “fiber“, And it is fine, I am still able to poop at least once or twice every day.
  2. People always say that you have to eat something before lifting really heavy weights, like a small snack, or even a way protein shake. I’ve also discovered this to be totally false; before I go to the gym, for the whole day I have consumed nothing, the only thing I drank was black coffee and water.
  3. I think I am the only person that I personally know who lifts so heavy, who does one rep max style lifting, who doesn’t use any sort of straps, hand or wrist straps, or weight lifting belt, knee wraps, knee sleeves, etc.

Theory —

The best way to distinguish yourself is on what you do NOT do, rather than what you do do.

Art photography

Recently, my Ricoh GR 3X went kaput, it doesn’t even charge or turn on anymore. Therefore for last month or so, I was just experimenting with my iPhone SE, the built-in camera app, the noir mode, and the photographic styles putting on rich contrast, and also the provoke app.

Typically speaking, I actually do believe that it is possible to make artistic and also beautiful photos on an iPhone, even an iPhone SE. Certainly you could also do it on the iPhone Pro. However, this is what I discovered:

To make artistic and beautiful photos, aesthetically pleasing photos on an iPhone, or a smartphone is more difficult, as it requires more “massaging“ of the images.

For example, when I’d shoot with a Ricoh GR 3 or 3X, in high contrast black-and-white monochrome mode, with the contrast to max, the JPEG images out of camera already look 1000 times better than the iPhone photos. You could make the iPhone photos look beautiful as well, but it requires more post processing, adjusting the contrast and black-and-white points, etc.

Also, third-party camera apps on the iPhone are not well integrated into the iOS. That is from the lock screen, it is very difficult to “quick draw“, the camera app. Even the built-in iPhone camera app, having to push and hold the camera icon on the bottom right corner is another layer of friction. My simple proposal is this:

iPhone “quick draw” camera mode: to have some sort of setting in the camera app that when you just take your phone out of your pocket it automatically opens the camera app.

Also something else I discovered; the benefit of having a standalone digital camera, like a pocketable digital RICOH GR camera in your front right pocket is that when you are using GPS on your iPhone to get somewhere, you can still take pictures.

For example, something that I was doing was when I am driving and I see something interesting while I am stuck at a stoplight, I will shoot a photo by taking my Ricoh GR out of my front right pocket, and just shooting it, or even turning around and shooting photos a Seneca or Cindy on my right.

Black and white

Certainly you can make very beautiful photos in color as well as black and white. But why is it that I prefer black and white? For myself, it is all about option Allotey. That means, I just see more photo opportunities in black-and-white than I do in color.

Color is tricky, especially in the context of high ISO photography. Aesthetically speaking, when you should color photos at a high ISO, the photos look pretty ugly. However if you shoot high ISO photos in black-and-white, the photos still look beautiful.

Also the big things that we do not see the world in black-and-white. Therefore, black-and-white photos are intrinsically interesting, as I did automatically looks different.

Then, perhaps art photography is this; transfigurating the world to look different.

Now what?

Some ideas:

  1. If you want honest feedback on your photos, upload them to arsbeta.com
  2. Start your own blog. Bluehost.com and install WordPress.org
  3. Zen of Eric WHY APP?

EK CONSULTANCY

To turbocharge your thinking, shoot me an email at eric@erickim.com

EK WORKSHOPS

Conquer with EK:

  • May 6th (Saturday): CREATIVE CONFIDENCE ONLINE WORKSHOP (9am-11:30am, Online via Zoom)
  • May 20th: DOWNTOWN LA ART WORKSHOP (Saturday, 11am-4pm) @ Verve Coffee
  • May 27th: Downtown LA turbo thinking workshop, details to be posted soon.
  • July 29-30th: SAIGON VIETNAM EPIC STREET PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP (Details to be announced).

Random thoughts and ideas on my mind

The new Lamborghini Revuelto is terrible.

First of all, it looks like a Corvette. It should be the other way around. Secondly, the design is really boring, it is not extreme enough. The reason why I hate the name so much is that because first of all, I think a scrambled eggs. Also, it is not audacious and bold enough.

Names are insanely important. For example, the Aventador is a great name, because it sounds like adventure, and bullfighter. Huracan is also a good name, because it sounds like hurricane. You want to become the hurricane.

Also, audacity and boldness. I think Lamborghini is no longer interesting to me.

Moral of the story:

You must go more extreme, more insanely bold, more crazy.

Linen is the future?

Linen is 1 trillion times better than cotton. One of my favorite new possessions which I have had for the last few months, even when traveling to Korea, was my new beloved outlier.NYC grid weave linen towel.

Why? At first it originated with this issue that because I take a shower about three or four times a day, my traditional cotton towels were perpetually wet, and smelly. One of the greatest benefits of using a grid weave linen towel is that first of all, it dries insanely quickly, and also doesn’t smell it. This might be my new possession.

Also, I have a linen plug in Korea. I might start producing some linen products. Stay updated.

Manual is the future?

Recently, my Rico GR 3x went kaput. It no longer charges, and doesn’t even turn on, even when I try swapping in and out new batteries.

This is insanely frustrating, because literally every single record your camera have owned, has either broken, or stopped becoming functional:

  1. Ricoh GR 1s film compact camera stops working
  2. I gift my friend Josh White my Ricoh GR1v film camera, and he tells me it eventually breaks and stops working
  3. The first Ricoh GR digital camera I buy, it stops working
  4. The second RICOH GR II digital camera I gift to my friend Mark, it stops working
  5. My Ricoh GR III camera has some sort of critical lens issue, and doesn’t really turn on anymore
  6. My Ricoh GR 3X no longer turns on anymore

Camera longevity?

So I am at kind of at a crossroads —

First, I do genuinely believe that for photography, the Ricoh GR3X is the best digital camera. However, do you really want to keep having to buy and replace it, because the longevity doesn’t last for longer than a year or two?

Secondly, and how important is longevity for a camera anyways? Truth be told, having over two Lamborghinis in the bank, I don’t really need to worry about money, I can technically afford anything. However, I just have to ask myself the question:

Do I value it, is it worth it to me?

What do we want to do with photography anyways?

Moving forward, perhaps what we must consider is this; what is it that we really want out of photography?

I think the answer is we desire to become more artistic, more creative, more motivated more inspired, less obstructed, and also more prolific.

One big thought is I think we want to become more artistic as photographers, and also make more artistic photos.

What is an “artistic” photo anyways? My simple thought is an artistic photo is a photo which does not really resemble reality, we know that it is from reality, but it looks different. Things are made more abstract, more disclear, more difficult to decipher.

Shooting in manual focus mode

I think one of the Achilles’ heel that we suffer as photographers is that we are always trying to nail the focus. However, what if the desired outcome were actually the opposite, in which we were trying to intentionally make things out of focus?

So one of the good benefits of my Ricoh GR 3X breaking is that I rummaged through my camera closet, and I re-discovered my old Ricoh GR3, which is still technically kind of broken, but at least it sometimes turns on.

So this is the big issue with my RICOH GR III: the auto focus no longer works. I turn on the camera, and press the shutter button, and then the camera attempts to focus and the lens starts making a weird retracting sound, and then the display says “lens error“, and turns off.

One funny workaround I have discovered which actually kind of sometimes works is setting it into manual focusing mode, And just keeping it pre-focused at around .3 m, 30 cm, and just not touching it. As a consequence, this is how my shooting behavior has changed:

When I see something I want to photograph, whether it be Seneca or Cindy, or something else, I just instantly turn on my camera, and just start shooting at rapid gunfire, machine gun style, thinking at the back of my head, “Oh if I shoot a lot of photos, a lot, one of these photos are bound to be in focus.”

As a consequence, the interesting advancement is that in a single given day, I was able to shoot around 850 photos. Mostly of Seneca, Cindy, and some other random stuff in the suburbs.

Upon reviewing the photos, I was surprisingly delighted. Why? It was in fact the out of focus and blurry and unclear photos which I actually loved the most. So maybe my Ricoh GR3X breaking was actually a blessing in disguise.

Therefore, as a simple photo assignment, just take your camera, and pre-focus it, then manual focusing mode to the minimum focusing distance, and just shoot everything at that distance.

For example if you have a manual focusing camera, let’s say a Leica M camera, typically most of the lenses have a minimum focusing distance at around .7 m. Spend a whole month only shooting photos at .7 meters.

For RICOH GR camera, put it into “snap focus” mode at 1meter, or manual focusing mode at .3, .5, whatever distance you like.

EK SHOPPE

Become the best photographer:

  1. HENRI SHOULDER STRAP: For the heavyweights
  2. HENRI NECK STRAP MARK IV: Perfected design
  3. HENRI WRIST STRAP PRO: For the pros.

ALL EK EQUIPMENT >

Books for the bold

Good books:

  1. 100 lessons from the masters of street photography // Dropbox // Direct Download
  2. Street photography contact sheets // PDF DOWNLOAD

More books.

What’s on my mind

  1. Jesus as Philosopher?
  2. Getting more people into strongman style lifting, the Eric Kim method of weight lifting, also women?
  3. Really into minivans now, super dad mode. Apparently the Kia carnival fits eight passengers!
  4. Very happy to be back in Southern California, walking around topless all the time.

More thoughts to come

EK BLOG >

John Wick 4?

Really want to watch John Wick 4.

The Philosophy of John Wick

Stoic thoughts

  1. Just leave other people alone. Especially with unpleasant people. And also don’t try to be “nice” to them.
  2. Utilize every single downside and disadvantage to your benefit, as a form of strengthening and becoming more powerful.

Stoicism

Fortune favors the crazy

EK

Share the thoughts!

If there is even one funny thing here which gave birth to new thoughts or wings, feel free to forward this to a friend!

EK TURBO NEWS >

HOW TO CREATE NEW VALUE

It seems that in today’s modern day society and world, we are currently suffering some sort of economic malaise.

What is the solution? Create new value.

How do we create new value?

There are different approaches and strategies. In the context of information technology, you could just create new information and knowledge, for example, blog posts, videos, blogs, books, articles, podcast, audio or video, etc.

What is value anyways?

Valere — hwelh— to be strong, to be of worth, to rule, to be powerful. Also the same notion of being “well”, “wellness”— it means that you are strong, mighty, you rule, you are powerful.

Newsletter

Sendy.co — one of the quickest ways to create new value is through making a list. A list of emails, individual human beings and contacts, and being able to send them information and ideas at scale.

It seems that any sort of new technology or infrastructure or things we could create via Amazon web services, Amazon AWS is good. For example, creating an email newsletter with sendy.co is great, because you could leverage Amazon simple email services to propagate your thoughts.

Also, using Amazon Web services to make a website or a blog or even a website. I think moving forward, maybe just using Amazon Web services to make a website or a blog via WordPress.org is a good idea.

Why media is the future

It seems for the most part, we will never stop making movies. Even in 2023, it looks like movie theaters have been able to survive the pandemic. People love movies, cinema and film.

We humans are still embodied. That is, for a date night, you will still probably want to go watch a movie with your partner, in real life, in some sort of external location, which is not your house.

What is it about movies and media, cinema music that we love? I think it helped spark or imagination, creativity, art, and concepts.

For example, I just watched a quick trailer for the new Ant-man movie on imdb.com, and the visuals were pretty phenomenal. Being able to imagine a different universe, different science-fiction images is awe inspiring to me.

Think it all.

Also a new way to create new value is by innovating and proposing new approaches. For example, my powerlifting 2.0 notion. You don’t necessarily need to change the equipment, just take the pre-existing equipment, and figure out new approaches and techniques to utilize it.

For example, all of the new lifts I propose (rack pull, atlas lift, floor bench press) are all easily accessible at any normal commercial gym.

Also, my concept of the one rep max; this is just a different mindset and methodology to weightlifting.

Or my notion of the 100% carnivore diet, mixed with intermittent fasting, no breakfast, no lunch, and for dinner, striving to eat at least 4 pounds of beef ribs.

Or, creating new recipes. For example, my new “keto taco“ recipe.

Essentially, anything new you propose, even if it is a mishmash of old stuff, is still new value.

Information, news, technology, etc.

For myself, ever since I was a high school junior, around 16 years old, I had so much fun blogging. The good old inspiration from Maddox.xmission.com

In fact, my enthusiasm for blogging actually predates my enthusiasm for photography. I got into blogging when I was 15 or 16 years old, and I got into photography was when I was 18 or 19 years old. Also I got into cars when I was 15 or 16 years old as well. And I have always been into clothes in fashion ever since I was a middle schooler— 12 or 13 years old.

Essentially to share anything you’re passionate or enthusiastic about is good. To share your energy and vibes has much value.

Fighting against problems of modern day society?

For me, I am all about self experimentation, and creating new proposals for new solutions. For me, simply to complain or critique something without offering a solution is vain.

Seeking new solutions?

EK STRATEGY — shoot an email to Eric (at) erickim.com with your problem(s).

Stuff I’m up to and on my mind

  1. Better to be over warm than over cold. My new current outfit that I really like is wearing my long sleeve compression shirt, a workout T-shirt, and a sleeveless down vest on top. If I’m too hot, I could just take off a layer.
  2. Also, feet thoughts. Barefoot is the best, if not barefoot, Vibram five fingers.
  3. What is the best car, and the best modern day flex? Not a Lamborghini, certainly not a Tesla. My ideal would be a matte pink Hyundai genesis G90. That is real cloth talk, real expensive fabrics.

Crypto thoughts

What is one bitcoin worth? One bitcoin. Everyone likes to peg the bitcoin to the US dollar, but the reason why this is not a good idea is because currently speaking, the US dollar is becoming devalued.

For example, I see now that McDonald’s is hiring for around $16.50 an hour! What is the point of going to college anymore?

Also, it isn’t that houses are getting more expensive, it is simply that the dollar is not worth as much. Therefore in order to buy a house or property, the seller wants more US dollars, because the value of each individual dollar is now less.

As with bitcoin, it is still the god crypto. That is that ultimately all cryptocurrencies are pegged to the bitcoin. And therefore the end of the day, maybe the best way to think about crypto and cryptocurrency and crypto technology is in regards to bitcoin. Rather than wondering, how many dollars is one chain-link worth? A better question is, how many bitcoin is one chain-link worth? Or how much chain-link can I get with one Bitcoin?

Maybe into the future, tesla will start accepting bitcoin as payment for their cars, And also, maybe 30 or 40 years into the future, real estate agents will also accept bitcoin to purchase a house.

Invest in yourself

Experiences never die:

  1. Conquer your fears in Boston
  2. Conquer creativity online May 5th
  3. Become a more artistic photographer in Downtown LA May 20
  4. Hadong South Korea— March 23rd

Innovation ideas

1. “Social autism”

It seems that a small dose of social autism, or like how Korean people say it, “Noon-chi uhpssuh” (you don’t have eye sense), it can be one of the greatest advantages onto innovation. Why? For example, I was just able to floor benchpress 5 plates, and a ten on each side, 515 pounds.

For example, there’s this funny bias at the gym, or weightlifting culture that you have to do “proper form“. That means, doing a bench press on the bench, doing the typical deadlift and squat, etc.

I think one of my greatest strengths is I could care less. I am more interested in innovating the form and technique, and approach, in order to maximize my leverage and just push or pull or lift more weight.

For example, it is rare to ever see anybody deadlift over six plates, let alone seven plates. Yet am easily able to rack pull over seven plates and a 25 (725 pounds).

Or, I have never really seen anybody in real life squat six plates or beyond. Yet, I am able to easily atlas lift over eight plates and 20 on each side, I think that is 805 pounds.

Or with benchpress, it is pretty rare to see anyone benchpress three plates on each side, let alone four plates. There’s only one guy at the gym I have witnessed bench press for plates and a 25 on each side, and he is massive. Yet I was able to floor bench press Five plates and a 10, 515 pounds, easily destroying anything I’ve witnessed in real life.

The way I was able to do this is just by maximizing my leverage, technique and form. For example with floor bench press, maximizing your arch, and driving with your legs is key. And also doing it barefoot.

Atlas lift is pretty easy, essentially you just put the barbell at typical squat level, and instead of stepping back and squatting down, you just left the weight up, don’t move, and then just put it down. I think the typical strong guy should be able to do over seven plates or 8 plates, perhaps even 9, 10, 11, 12 plates on each side. I think a really strong power lifter should be able to atlas lift over 1000 pounds.

Why doesn’t anyone else adopt my unorthodox yet effective techniques and form? Because people don’t want to look “stupid“. They don’t want to draw attention to themselves by doing things differently. Also this nonsensical notion of “cheating“.

This is where being intelligent and wise is good, you realize that metaphorically and philosophically, there’s no such thing as “cheating”.

2. Doing things out of personal curiosity

Before Facebook became the multi billion dollar company we know what today, Mark Zuckerberg had no idea what he was building, or how to monetize it. He first built it, and then far later they figured out the monetization.

Also, interesting to note, I remember one Facebook, before we even had a newsfeed. Before there was advertisements. And also when the advertisements were first, just on the right side bar, very unobtrusive. Then later, Facebook adding advertisements to the newsfeed.

Also, with myself, when I was just out of college, a fresh 21,22 year old, I just started blogging on street photography because it was my passion. I legitimately did not think it was possible that I could make a living from my passion, and that’s why I just had a normal tech day job during the day, earning $40,000 a year, and just building up my blog on the side, when I had no work to do at work, or at home blogging before I went into work, etc. Also shooting YouTube videos of me shooting Street photography on the 3rd St., Promenade during my lunch breaks.

It was always my interest to transform my passion into my living, I still remember fantasizing about being able to one day, be able to do photography and street photography full-time. But at that time, the notion of being a “full-time street photographer” was not even a notion. I think I might’ve been the first person to have become a full-time street photographer, earning $200,000.

It wasn’t until my company went public and IPOd, and then the stock tanked, and then I was made redundant from my job, even my boss lost his shirt. It was at that critical moment, that decisive moment that I finally had the opportunity and the moment to pursue my passion full-time for a living. That is when I went super duper hard on street photography, pouring my life and soul into it. And I’m still happy and proud. I am still insanely passionate about it today.

Even nowadays, I am randomly pursuing another passion I have in life for working out, fitness, diet and nutrition, intermittent, fasting, lifestyle, etc. In some regards, I see myself like the next Tim Ferriss. I think Joe Rogan should probably interview me.

I would say, the intelligent strategy in life is to not worry, much about monetization, money, or something as “pedestrian” as profit or income (Peter Thiel). Just pursue your passion and figure out all the details later.

Now what?

  1. Upload your best photos to arsbeta.com
  2. Try to think, carte blanche, or blank slate. If you restarted everything today, how would you approach things differently or anew?

INNOVATE ON!
EK

Share the love!

If this sparked even 1 ounce of interest or motivation within you, feel free to forward to a friend!

EK NEWS >

START HERE // BOOKS // PRODUCTS

When in doubt, just kill it.

ERIC

How to Become Muscular

Muscles — I was studying the etymology for the word, and apparently it meant “little mouse“, that somehow, muscles look like little mice? *muhs

Apparently when you flex your biceps, ancient Romans thought it looked like a little mice were running under your skin?

Also, apparently mussels (the clam looking things) looked like little mice to some ancient Romans, and thus the name was born.

Back to reality

So when we think of muscles, we tend to think of skeletal muscle. The fleshy bulging thing.

Over the years, the hilarity is that certain ways to describe physique were invented.

For example, I was born in 1988, and as a kid growing up, into college and beyond, certain phrases included being “jacked“, swole, ripped, massive, etc.

Muscle quality?

I was once hearing an interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger and he was critiquing the modern-day bodybuilder, that their physique was totally out of proportion, and also, the “quality” of the muscle went down. For example, some people quote later years Ronnie Coleman, as not having “quality“ muscle, albeit he was an over 330 pound mass monster with a 6 pack!

When people talk about muscle quality, I think it is not precise enough. I think typically when people talk about muscles, this is what they think:

I want to augment the mass of my skeletal muscle, and decrease my body fat percentage to a minimum, in order for me to see my six pack.

Misconceptions

I think the new modern-day racism is towards “genetics“. That when people say that some people have “good genetics” and others have “bad genetics”, it is a new form of low-key racism. I think of “genetics” as racism 2.0.

There is no such thing as “good genetics.” When you see upper echelon bodybuilders, at the top, it is not because they have “good genetics,” but they are just really good at taking steroids. And also, intelligent enough and knowledgeable enough to know which types of steroids, performance-enhancing drugs, testosterone boosters, hormone inhibitors, etc. to take in a “stack“.

Apparently I was very naïve; of course I knew that the really really high-end bodybuilders all took steroids, but, apparently even 18-year-old high school kids take steroids, in order to get that college football scholarship etc.

Why are you should never compare your physique with anybody else, why superhero movies are a scam, why you should not go on YouTube or social media

Everyone is 100% “natty (natural)”, until they are busted.

For example, apparently there is this guy named the beef liver king, who ate nothing but beef liver, and said that he was 100% natural, and the way he was able to get so jacked and muscular was because he lots of beef liver. This is hilarious because independently I came up with a thought, that beef liver, and cholesterol is a natural steroid, because beef liver has the highest concentration of cholesterol in any meat food item, And that cholesterol is a natural steroid. And no, cholesterol will not give you a heart attack. Also the hilarity is that consuming more dietary cholesterol, let’s say eating beef liver, will not necessarily increase your LDL or HDL cholesterol levels, all these “scientific” studies about cholesterol and heart attacks is all about correlation, not causation. All observational studies, which is not real science. And no, don’t trust Bill Gates, just look at his “boner killer“ beer gut, as tweeted by Elon Musk.

The only way you could maybe do a scientific study is to take two children at birth, twins, both boys, and keep them in test tubes from birth until death, and feed only one 100% beef liver, and the other a “balanced“ “Mediterranean“ diet. Even if you did this, it might not be significant, because your sample size is not big enough. You might have to do this with at least 1000 kids, which ain’t gonna happen, not even in mainland china.

The ERIC KIM workout plan

I have very simple directions:

1. Intermittent fasting

That means no breakfast, no lunch, only one massive 100% carnivore dinner. I have done this seven years religiously, and also the fun thing; I think I might be the only one who lifts insanely heavy weights at the gym, without having consumed anything before! The only things I consume before working out might be normal filtered tap water, and espresso with no BS added.

2. One rep max.

That means, what is the maximum amount of weight you are able to move, successfully once. Also a new innovation is towards “nano reps.” The basic idea is this: increase the weight, decrease the range of motion.

The hilarity is that a lot of people tell me to “be careful“, and that I might “hurt myself“, or that I might “hurt my back“. Anyone who tells me this is a coward. Why? When they tell you to be careful, or that you might hurt yourself, what they are essentially saying is that,

“I am so bewildered that you are able to move that insanely heavy weight, without any straps, belts, knee wraps, etc. I am flabbergasted how you are so strong and how you were able to do that. Certainly your method is a foolish one, and if you keep doing that, you’ll end up injuring and hurting yourself, because what you do is illegitimate. I want to see you hurt yourself so I could feel better about myself, about how weak I am.”

Zero issues here. And also for your personal reference, no, I do not take any weird drugs or steroids or hormones. I don’t even consume protein powder or creatine! Just 100% beef, beef neckbones, beef ribs, beef liver, beef brisket. If beef is not available, pork belly and pork ribs. But it is my theory that beef is superior to pork, because beef has more myoglobin red blood cells in it, more oxygen, which may be assists in muscle building.

Red meat or nothing.

3. Why meat?

Currently speaking, I think there is an anti-meat conspiracy going around. Note that apparently people like James Cameron, Bill Gates, etc., a lot of them on much farmland in America, or on some sort of weird pea protein powder companies, so this is the thing:

People want to seem more benevolent, care about “humanity“, “the planet“, “animal rights“, etc., in order to advance their personal image, their “legitimacy“, and also make money from it.

I believe that if we really want to think scientifically, or, think critically about muscle building, let us not talk about ethics, “the planet“ etc.

4. Hypertrophy

Hyper means “over,” tropia” means nutrition, or nourishment in Ancient Greek.

When a lot of people talk about “hypertrophy“ in regards to muscle building, I think what they are talking about is doing lots of repetitions, at a lower or moderate weight, in order to maximize “muscle size“. But the reason why this etymology is misleading is that actually, hypertrophy really means “over nourishment.”

As a thought experiment, let us say that I lift insanely heavy weights, over seven or eight plates at the gym, even for a single repetition. And then I go home, and I eat 5 pounds of beef ribs. Let us say I continue this pattern for a year. Certainly I will accumulate muscle mass and size, and strength.

5. What not to eat?

Another funny notion is nowadays guys want to do something called a bulk, and “bulking up,” and then later on, cut their carbs and sugars, and starches, in order to “lean up“.

I find this to be a disintelligent strategy.

You do not need any sugar, carbs, starches, rice or potatoes, protein powder, creatine, etc. in order to augment your muscle size. Also as a fun fact, you do not need to even consume food, or whey protein powder a “golden hour window“ after you’re done working out. For example, I typically go to the gym and lift weights at around 1 PM, and then I don’t eat dinner until 6 PM, I have still been able to meet some demigod gains. Sometimes I don’t break my fast or eat until 10pm, no problems here!

6. Do you need to eat anything, or drink a protein shake, or take pre-workout powder before your workout?

No. Just do it fasted. If you’re going to have a stimulant, why not just drink black coffee? These new pre-workout caffeine cocaine looking powder things I think are bad because they make you fat. 99.9% of them, if not 100% of them have some sort of sucralose or artificial sweetener added to it. Similar to these “0 cal“ energy drinks, just read the ingredient list, any sort of artificial sweetener will make you fat.

7. You do not need to put on fat in order to augment muscle.

Eating meat will not make you fat. Also, eating fat will not make you fat. The only things which make you fat include vegetables, fruit, starches, rice and potatoes, sweets, Coke zero, Stevia, monk fruit, honey, almonds, nuts, legumes, sweetened or flavored water, milk, dairy, almond milk, oat milk, oatmeal, etc.

Essentially anything which spikes your insulin levels is bad.

No no no, it is not this silly “calories in calories out” nonsense. Even “zero calorie“ beverages, let us say a Coke zero, has artificial sweetener added to it. You cannot fool your hormones or your biology. If you drink a Coke zero, and you taste the sweetness, and your body senses this sweetness, I am quite certain it will start injecting insulin into your body, which acts as a fat storage mechanism.

8. Fat vs muscle?

Also, the reason why you should never weigh yourself, irregardless if you are a man or a woman is that it is a foolish metric. It is impossible to ascertain how much of the weight on the scale is fat versus muscle mass, versus bone weight, sinew weight, blood weight, etc.

Why are people so into this cult of weighing yourself?

I first blamed the doctors. The doctors tell the patients that they should “lose weight“. No no no. What they should say is, to lose fat. Also changing up the lexicon; don’t call people overweight, call them overfat.

How to Work More

It seems that in today’s cult of work, we all want to work more. Why? And towards what?

What is “work”?

*Werg— it literally means to make.

Therefore, I think the most pragmatic way we should think and approach work is about making. Building, creating.

Therefore if you want to work more, it isn’t answering more emails, or checking more things off your to do list. Rather, work is making.

What do you want to make?

There are lots of things you could attempt to make. For example, you can make blog posts, you can make articles, you can make essays, you can make videos, you can make photos, you can make music, beats, audio, podcasts, video podcasts, make illustrations using Procreate on iPad or iPhone, You can make a lot of stuff.

Therefore to work more is to make more.

Is making more better than curating?

Another funny bias I have discovered is that it looks like a lot of these pseudo woke, superficially conscientious people is all about —

It is all about quality, not quantity. I myself am working on some insanely great thing, yet, I am still in the process of thinking it through.

Something I have observed about the modern day bohemian, artistic, millennial is this:

They are very creative, artistic and ambitious, yet lack courage.

For example, when is the last time you smiled at a stranger millennial, and they made eye contact and smiled back?

Go to the gym

I don’t know about you, but I get most of my best creative thoughts when I’m at the gym, working out, getting a quick pump.

Why is this? Some thing which is productive about the gym lifestyle is that when you go to the gym, often you have this massive indoor or outdoor place, with lots of humans, physical activity, and lots of hormones and endorphins in the air. Therefore, a simple thought:

If you want to work more, just bring your iPhone, iPad, or laptop to the gym, and after you get a quick pump, do some work at the gym.

Why?

For myself, before the pandemic, I loved going to coffee shops to do creative work. There was something about the environment, the low-key stochastic resonance of all of the background noise and chatter, the activity and flurry of people, the sound of coffee grinding, the smells and aromas in the air, being around other people makes us more productive.

Thus, I have this concept of a space, imagine part powerlifting gym meets coffee shop meets daycare meets creative collaborative space.

Can you imagine a place where you could do some quick powerlifting, a quick one rep max deadlift or squat, rack pull, or at atlas lift, and then enjoy some nice coffee, and do a standing desk with your laptop and do some creative work with the free gigabit speed Internet Wi-Fi? That would be awesome.

I would also have this funny challenge that if you could successfully lift 600 pounds off the floor, you’ll get a free pound of beef ribs or coffee.

Things which need to be created:

  1. Some sort of all you could eat 100% carnivore meat buffet, in which literally only meat is served.
  2. Some sort of gym or space which has no stupid cardio equipment, no machines, no treadmills, etc. Only power racks and barbells.
  3. A co-working space which is part gym, and also part daycare for your kids. For example as a new parent, I like this idea that you could just drop off your kid with you at the gym, and you could get a quick pump, while your kid is close by.
  4. Also a fun ideas create some sort of gym for kids, not those stupid indoor playgrounds, but the space in which kids could lift heavy weights, and challenge one another to epic feats of strength.

Why do you want to make?

Assuming that to work is to make, the question is; why do you want to make more? Why do you want to make more stuff?

The first thought is that perhaps there’s something in our human DNA in which we love to make and create. That for optimal human thriving, we must make more, attempt more, in order to become more.

Produce more

Having met a few successful folks in Hollywood and beyond, the interesting thing that I’ve discovered is that what does a producer care for? Not to sit on their laurels, but instead, to keep producing.

The joy of the producer is to produce, to make new things, to make new movies or shows, etc.

And thus, money finances and resources is simply a means to keep producing more grandiose shows films etc. To fulfill their artistic and creative vision, not to just augment their fame or their money, etc.

So where do I put my stuff?

I think this is the more interesting philosophical question; what is the significance of the things you make?

For example, do you want 1 billion views? A billion dollars? 1 billion followers? If so, then what?

A simple intervention I have is this:

300 die-hard followers is enough.

What is the best way to accumulate followers? Your own blog, or your own email newsletter.

  1. The best email newsletter to start is via sendy.co
  2. The best way to start your own blog is by registering your own domain via bluehost.com, and installing wordpress.org
  3. You can also start a YouTube channel, and just link back to your own website and blog

Now what?

So let us assume that you already have 300 diehard followers. What do you want from them? Do you want to make a bunch of money? This seems to be the goal of a lot of people.

Or, if you just want to turn your passion into a living? Then, if you do so, then what?

I then say that the final goal is to innovate for the sake of advancement. Advancing yourself, advancing ideas, advancing philosophy, advancing entrepreneurship, and advancing the human race.

ADVANCE ON!
EK

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Money thoughts?

  1. Now may be a good opportunity to buy Chainlink
  2. Still bullish on Bitcoin: It may not be a hedge against fiat currency or inflation, but it is still sexy to me!
  3. Bearish on Ethereum — it is an insanely great innovation, but it still seems lame to me?
  4. TESLA still a good standard stock investment! Just bought some more for my ROTH IRA
  5. Better to buy Tesla stock than a (real) Tesla.

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