Many songs from The Beatles catalog were written in an afternoon. I Want To Hold your Hand, Paperback Writer, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, to name a few.
Because a lot of art is digital nowadays, it gives us an infinite canvas where there’s a temptation to tinker ad nauseum.
However, the constraints and simplicity of older recording methods also resulted in faster creative decision making. There’s something magical about seeing or listening to art made in an afternoon.
There have been projects where I’ve had endless energy to work on them.
I find it easy to get into a state of flow, and even the setbacks feel like small speed bumps.
When considering a new project or opportunity, I think about how much energy it will require of me, and if I’m lucky, the answer may sometimes be: endless energy.
What if credit cards were called mini-loan cards? Or short-term debt cards?
I’m sure they’d sell fewer cards, but maybe it’d help people better understand what they’re really signing up to.
Note: Of course, there are benefits, such as transaction protection, but I think it would pay to have more people aware of the downsides.
Every so often I pick up a copy of the Economist when I’ve got some extra time. When I do, I’m reminded why I love the their style of writing.
They take big, complex topics and make them simple and easy to understand. That’s hard work.
They have a consistent structure, tone, and point of view that helps me quickly orient myself on a topic. It’s a high amount of signal with very little noise.
I may have shared this before, but it’s summed up well in their mission statement: to take part in a severe contest between intelligence and ignorance obstructing our progress.
In Tennis’ 2024 US open, the average number of shots per point was about 3.8. That’s an astounding figure. Once you take into account the serve and the return, there are only two more shots, on average, before a point is won. And although this is data from the US Open, I’m confident that this data carries over reasonably well to the general population.
Players love to practise rallies. But the data doesn’t lie: we’re likely better off focusing on our serve.
Tennis is just an example, because I’m confident this prioritisation phenomenon exists in most fields.
There’s a special lunar new year tradition from Malaysia and Singapore called Yee Sang (translated as raw fish) or Lou Sang (stir up). It’s also generally known as the “prosperity toss”.
The dish is a mixture of vegetables, pomelo, raw fish, crunch (like peanuts), and a special sauce. The ingredients are laid out beautifully on a large plate, then all the guests use their chopsticks to mix the salad by tossing the ingredients into the air whilst shouting auspicious phrases to bring good fortune for the coming year.
It’s a wonderful tradition. The dish itself is delicious, and it’s a great way to welcome the new year. Here’s a photo from our Yee Sang.
I mentioned the other day that Maru and I are making a special effort for lunar new year.
Today I attempted to make Cantonese braised beef and daikon. It turned out really well, but the supermarket journey took a long time. More than three times as long as my typical trip.
The ingredients were new to me, I had no idea where they were in the Asian supermarket, and I had to double and triple check against my recipe to make sure I had the right things.
I usually get frustrated at wasting time, but I deliberately chose to enjoy the slower pace today. The effort, the work, the journey; was part of the reward.
The All You Can Eat seems nice at first glance. However, once you realise they have to take a shortcut on quality to deliver on price and quantity, the trade no longer looks so appealing.
Most good things in life require a trade-off. When you see an All You Can Eat type deal, it’s rarely worth it.
Before I come to any conclusion about how I feel about London, I check two things:
January in London can be tough. But come May, London is one of the most wonderful cities in the world with a beautiful summer ahead.
One thing I’ve found remarkable about having a tennis coach is the number of things they’re able to see that I would never have picked up on.
It makes sense. My coach has years of experience on me and has spent his life immersed in the subtleties of the sport.
My bad habits—small things I would never have noticed—he identifies instantly. He then gives me clear nudges and techniques to remove those bad habits.
It works for establishing good technique too. There are dozens of things that go into make up a great forehand, but he tells me to remember only two things. However, it is those two things that bring the whole movement together.
I’m relearning every week that there is so much value in what a great coach can see that you can’t.
Today is the first day of lunar new year. With my mum being Malaysian Chinese, it’s been a celebration in my family since as long as I can remember.
However, the odd thing is I’ve never made it my own. When I left home, I didn’t continue celebrating. I sent messages home, and went to a few gatherings with extended family in London, but I made very little effort.
That changes this year. Maru and I are making a point to celebrate. We’re decorating our flat and making traditional dishes. I realised that unless I make an effort, this special and unique celebration—that was very much a part of my childhood—won’t continue in our family.
I’m just glad I didn’t wait any longer to start!
When everybody is in the room, the energy is different. There’s no latency, no accidental muting, no multi-tasking.
There’s a heightened focus. The subtleties of language are easier to understand. The group is simply more motivated to engage.
It doesn’t happen as often as I would like, but I relish the boost when everybody is in-person.
I was recently talking to a friend who runs a film production company. We chatted about the huge amount of archival footage he has amassed over the past 16 years.
One interesting thing he shared was that video quality advances so quickly that footage older than 8 years old is generally no longer usable on modern projects.
I found that astonishing since the last time I properly made video content was about 8 years ago on the Mississippi River. All of my footage filmed in Full HD 1080p is now considered old school in a world of 4k, 6k, and 8k footage. And 24 frames per second has now bee eclipsed by up to 120 fps for super slow motion shots.
It’s amazing how far you can fall behind on the latest state of the technology when you dip out of it for even a few years.
John Muir earned his nickname “Father of the National Parks”. He founded the prominent conservation organisation, The Sierra Club. It was his writing that eventually saw the US Congress pass a bill to establish Yosemite National Park.
I found Yosemite to be an awe-inspiring place when I visited at the tail end of last year. The sheer size of El Capitan and the ageless sequoias stunned me.
This John Muir quote really summed up my weekend there: “But in every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.”
Over the last few years, I’ve made it a point to practise changing my mind.
I aim to listen with greater openness, and to change my opinion if my original one was outdated or wrong.
The critical part of the process is knowing why I’ve changed my mind, and being able to articulate the reasons simply and plainly. If it passes that bar, then I’m reasonably happy I’ve changed my mind for good reason.