badass neighborhood - walkable, safe, parks, off leash dog areas, great schools (people always say this), greenspace, people living outside, cafe culture
great house - safe. easy to clean. efficient warm. lots of natural light. modern electrical, plumbing. drywall with studs. great layout. space for storage.
tools - screwdriver, hammer, saw.
corded circular saw. jigsaw.
clothes -
jeans, tshirts, shorts
sweat shirt, sweat pants
socks, underwear
a nice light jacket - barbour, filson
a nice heavy jacket - whatever
a nice long coat - potentially because you can wear one with a sweatshirt
production -
cell phone
laptop
tablet - skip it
watches - maybe get a sports watch, you do not need much more
blankets - blankets are fantastic, thick, warm blankets. thin and really great wool blankets. in fact, almost anything wool.
socks - wool socks
luxury items
pens - get a nice fountain pen if you use pens regularly
pencil - get a nice pencil
sunglasses - get nice glasses
headphones - don't need super expensive ones, but it is nice to have overhead noise cancelling ones, ones for video games (which if you do not play FPS then you can have the same noise cancelling ones), and travel which is wired IEM
consumables - liquor potentially, food definitely, note a restaurant meal does not come across as such an expensive gift
bright flashlight - does not have to be expensive, but it is typically much more expensive than normal
knife - get a fixed blade
tote bag is better than a purse - why? because you use a tote bag more often
watch
jewelry - hard to pick
books
personally i do like giftcards to like a nice place
buy or make yourself - art
draw pictures
write writing
frame photographys
what i learned from trying to use a tablet
tablet - skip it, but it is good for consumption, watching videos, listening to music, but too few ports, weird file system. it may work if you have an all online workflow, that is, storage with all like online services. the problem is that like if you want to write on your couch, well the tablet is falling over all the time. and if you want to write on a desk, well, the tablet is too low to get a good viewing angle. and if you put the tablet up at eye level, well, now you have to still reach up to click. if there is something like samsung dex available, then maybe, but you still run into the problems above.
what is a tablet bad at?
writing
writing on a couch
writing on a desk
researching when you have to click or save things
connecting to anything physical - yeah they have USB-C ports, but still, the dongles, and carrying everything and stuff does not work, and if it does, it is slow
what a tablet is good at?
watching TV, movies, videos - great. way, way, way better screen than an equivalently priced laptop, easy and fast to pick up, super fast to boot up (essentially no time because you always have it on), super long battery life, great speakers
drawing - my goodness, is it excellent at that
editing photos - potentially
scrolling through photos - potentially
sharing photos - great, really great at that
showing people stuff - great
what i learned about houses by living in an apartment
used to think it was a big thing, lol, not at all, well that would be cool, but like, after living in an apartment, i learned a lot.
don't need much space
walking through a big building is a pain - short distance to the stairs and elevator is a big advantage
thick walls - need thick walls to make sure you cannot hear your neighbors
warmth from neighbors - your individual utility costs could be quite low because everyone else is insulating you
utility costs - the utlities can add a lot, and some places charge the residents extra for trash, water, electricity, etc.
drill into your walls - being able to drill into your own walls without worry is nice
deposit - people who are individuals will fuck you out of you deposit, you might get it back with a professional place, but probably not either
shitty policies - pets, like charges for pets, deposits for pets, etc. and it is shitty. some places say you can have pets one person required you to have lived there for a year. wtf.
stuff to get rid of
long commute
I don’t spend time commuting. My commute is six minutes. I have chosen to live in a smaller, more expensive per square foot house nearer my work so I don’t commute much.
https://www.theifod.com/how-i-write-a-daily-blog-read-76-books-in-a-year-and-still-find-time-to-work-and-exercise/
toxic thoughts
All you need are food, shelter, and loved ones. Safety.
Then you have artistic expression.
Honestly, that is all that you need.
Honestly, as long as you don’t freeze to death, as long as you don’t starve to death, and as long as you have loving friends and family— you’re good. If you need convincing, just go camping for a few days and you’ll see how little you need to survive/be happy. - Eric Kim
What do you need in terms of gear?
A laptop - blogging, writing, research
A phone - play videos, download and play music
Headphones - earbuds (simple), IEMs, bluetooth, over ear headphones noise cancelling
Music - hip hop, upbeat, work music
Health
Books - minimalism leo babauta, buddhist teachings, meditation
Weight lifting - bodyweight, pull up bar, sandbag, kettlebell, adjustable dumbbells, barbell and weights, squat rack and bench, running, jump rope, exercise bike
Give people a chance to express themselves
Give people a chance to own something themselves
Guide to headphones
Headphones - get IEMs or earbuds, get over ear noise cancelling headphones, bluetooth for working out if you have to work out in a shared space
earbuds (simple), IEMs, bluetooth, over ear headphones noise cancelling
Guide to work music
hip hop, upbeat hustle - jayz, kanye west
instrumental version
beats - girltalk all day album
Guide to meditation
cut the shit
observe it
realize certain things that are true: the other boat is empty, the
cut toxic people out
how to deal with toxic people
why are you saying that?
is that what you believe?
hard to underestimate you.
no
sure, you're right
that does not even make sense
we love you, you do not need to do this
you're really concerned with branding, you bring it up all the time
Guide to weight lifting
Do less than you think you can lift, for like the first six months, at least
Maybe then you can start pushing yourself
This is assuming you are in shape, probably a year if you are not in shape or obese.
You need to cut out weight. Walk. Jog. Alternate walk/jog. Continuous run.
Deficiet eating. Fast until lunch...it will feel terrible for a few weeks. You do not get to eat until you work out.
You can eat almost unlimited amounts of dark green leafy vegetables (kale, spinach), eggs, rice.
Take a multivitamin.
Conjugate system for working out:
Monday - heavy lower body
Tuesday - heavy upper body
Weds - fast lower body
Thurs - fast upper body
Fri, Sat - cross training
Sun - rest or cross training
Work out first three weeks of the month
Relax and prepare for the next cycle during the 4th week
Maybe one time a year you can max test