Seemingly-Disparate — mnchrm vol. xxxix
Hello friends! A light rain is falling outside my windows, and a cup of coffee sits next to my computer as I write this. Which is to say: it's shaping up to be a good day. I hope the same is true for you.
When looking for a photo of mine to add to this newsletter, I noticed I've passed two million views on Unsplash. Unsplash, if you don't know, is a cool platform for royalty free images. But this isn't your Dad's stock photography site. The idea is that photographers like me upload work for free for others to use in creative projects.
If you enjoyed this dispatch, please consider forwarding it or sharing it with a friend. If you were sent this from someone and would like a copy of the next letter for your very own, I'd love to have you subscribe here. Thank you!
In it's inception, there was a bit of a stir among photographers, saying it would devalue work. Maybe it does! I personally like it. It doesn't compress my photos, and allows my work to be seen by a larger audience than I'd get otherwise. I don't upload all my photos there, but for more generic photos I take, I'm happy to give them away.
Even though we're more or less into Summer now, I haven't taken many photos this year yet. Why is that? For one, I've been working on a lot of longer contracts, been busy with side projects and the like. I haven't looked to see if the data supports this, but it seems like we've sort of skipped Spring here in Chicago.
It feels like it went from cold, dry days to being hot and humid immediately. I work most in that sort of Goldilocks sauntering weather, where I can just wander around downtown, with my camera slung along my chest. We haven't had that! It's not even good running weather anymore. I'll have to find myself out and downtown more anyways, but it hasn't been as dead-simple so far this year.
However, there's a downside to this, too. I can easily get sidetracked and spend an entire afternoon or day just messing around in something. This isn't bad by itself, but I am trying to write a novel, and learn Japanese, and read etc, not to mention just make rent freelancing. So if I get caught spending an entire afternoon writing JS before I get my novel pages in... it's definitely a hindrance.
So far, I've been trying to assign goals for myself on a daily level, usually time-based. Write fiction for an hour a day, write 300 words for Hibi Kaika, complete my Japanese Kanji reviews daily, etc. This has been working okay. I also just try and give myself enough little side-projects to work on so that if I can't focus or be productive in one, I can find something else to do.
I've been using the Pomodoro technique for focusing for a few years, and often have success with it. The gist is to do something for 25 minutes, concentrating fully, and then giving yourself a five minute break. This mix of concentration and rest is definitely beneficial for most things, and plays into the idea of focused attention vs. diffuse attention, something I've been thinking about after it was covered in this online class on learning I'm doing.
However, it's a bit rigid at times, and doesn't always work for things I'd like to spend more time on, or things where my focus is on completing a task rather than doing something for an hour, say. For that, this idea of the flowtime technique has been really helpful. Flowstate is the state of mind where you're so engrossed in a task that time seems to disappear. If I'm really doing well at a task, I don't want to stop as soon as I get into a groove.
With the flowtime technique, the focus is less on strict intervals, but on your level of concentration. If you're able to focus on a task that needs to get done and work on it for an hour straight, why not do that? Then when you do lose focus, give yourself a break proportional to the time spent and level of concentration you had.
And its got a crank! I need one, stat.
Seeing the solution to an internet mystery that has dogged me for a good six-months, I pulled the trigger. Direct from a warehouse in China, I got it only five days after shipping confirmation. Pretty neat!
Unfortunately, I forgot that I was tall, and the medium I ordered is a little too small on me. I'm exchanging it for a large, so I have to ship it back to China. The seller gave me the address to ship it to, and out of curiosity I decided to paste it into Google Maps to see where it came from and would return to.
It's going to end up in Hangzhou, the capital of the Zhejiang province on the east of China. Much to my chagrin, there wasn't street view available, but I spent a while just looking over the map, satellite view and normal, seeing the location of businesses and local parks, viewing the 360 degree photos where available. This took me to the Wikipedia page where I read about the region, of famous residents (Like Jack Ma!) and local landmarks. Just look at this lovely spring.
Your faithful commander,
— I
When looking for a photo of mine to add to this newsletter, I noticed I've passed two million views on Unsplash. Unsplash, if you don't know, is a cool platform for royalty free images. But this isn't your Dad's stock photography site. The idea is that photographers like me upload work for free for others to use in creative projects.
If you enjoyed this dispatch, please consider forwarding it or sharing it with a friend. If you were sent this from someone and would like a copy of the next letter for your very own, I'd love to have you subscribe here. Thank you!
In it's inception, there was a bit of a stir among photographers, saying it would devalue work. Maybe it does! I personally like it. It doesn't compress my photos, and allows my work to be seen by a larger audience than I'd get otherwise. I don't upload all my photos there, but for more generic photos I take, I'm happy to give them away.
Even though we're more or less into Summer now, I haven't taken many photos this year yet. Why is that? For one, I've been working on a lot of longer contracts, been busy with side projects and the like. I haven't looked to see if the data supports this, but it seems like we've sort of skipped Spring here in Chicago.
It feels like it went from cold, dry days to being hot and humid immediately. I work most in that sort of Goldilocks sauntering weather, where I can just wander around downtown, with my camera slung along my chest. We haven't had that! It's not even good running weather anymore. I'll have to find myself out and downtown more anyways, but it hasn't been as dead-simple so far this year.
⁂
On my daily blog Hibi Kaika, I wrote about my blind ambition, and how I try and keep it in check. I love learning and trying new things, exploring fields outside of my area of expertise like design, music production, development, etc etc. In general, I think trying to learn as much as possible is a good thing, as I find myself drawing connections between seemingly-disparate items which helps my understanding and skill level in both of them. However, there's a downside to this, too. I can easily get sidetracked and spend an entire afternoon or day just messing around in something. This isn't bad by itself, but I am trying to write a novel, and learn Japanese, and read etc, not to mention just make rent freelancing. So if I get caught spending an entire afternoon writing JS before I get my novel pages in... it's definitely a hindrance.
So far, I've been trying to assign goals for myself on a daily level, usually time-based. Write fiction for an hour a day, write 300 words for Hibi Kaika, complete my Japanese Kanji reviews daily, etc. This has been working okay. I also just try and give myself enough little side-projects to work on so that if I can't focus or be productive in one, I can find something else to do.
I've been using the Pomodoro technique for focusing for a few years, and often have success with it. The gist is to do something for 25 minutes, concentrating fully, and then giving yourself a five minute break. This mix of concentration and rest is definitely beneficial for most things, and plays into the idea of focused attention vs. diffuse attention, something I've been thinking about after it was covered in this online class on learning I'm doing.
However, it's a bit rigid at times, and doesn't always work for things I'd like to spend more time on, or things where my focus is on completing a task rather than doing something for an hour, say. For that, this idea of the flowtime technique has been really helpful. Flowstate is the state of mind where you're so engrossed in a task that time seems to disappear. If I'm really doing well at a task, I don't want to stop as soon as I get into a groove.
With the flowtime technique, the focus is less on strict intervals, but on your level of concentration. If you're able to focus on a task that needs to get done and work on it for an hour straight, why not do that? Then when you do lose focus, give yourself a break proportional to the time spent and level of concentration you had.
⁂
I am obsessed with this little handheld game console from Panic Co. Designed in collaboration with Teenage Engineering, makers of some lovely synths and musical instruments, the Playdate is a black and white handheld with seasons of bespoke games made by some of the most innovative and clever game designers in the business. And its got a crank! I need one, stat.
⁂
I bought a jacket the internet helped me find. After seeing a handful of images shared of this jacket on Japanese Twitter, I couldn't find the source or shop to purchase it in. Luckily, some of my friends on Twitter are more skilled at Google-fu than I am, and managed to source it.Seeing the solution to an internet mystery that has dogged me for a good six-months, I pulled the trigger. Direct from a warehouse in China, I got it only five days after shipping confirmation. Pretty neat!
Unfortunately, I forgot that I was tall, and the medium I ordered is a little too small on me. I'm exchanging it for a large, so I have to ship it back to China. The seller gave me the address to ship it to, and out of curiosity I decided to paste it into Google Maps to see where it came from and would return to.
It's going to end up in Hangzhou, the capital of the Zhejiang province on the east of China. Much to my chagrin, there wasn't street view available, but I spent a while just looking over the map, satellite view and normal, seeing the location of businesses and local parks, viewing the 360 degree photos where available. This took me to the Wikipedia page where I read about the region, of famous residents (Like Jack Ma!) and local landmarks. Just look at this lovely spring.
⁂
Something deeply beautiful and haunting about this video of snow at sea. Just the snow, detached from any reference points reminds me of looking up out the window while riding in a car through the snow as a kid.
⁂
Thanks for spending some time reading my writing, this week. Hope good luck on your adventures and expeditions this week!Your faithful commander,
— I
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