The Obvious, another reference book of quotes or quick punches

The Obvious by James Dale is a book packed with information to help you succeed. As I've grown in my journey, I've realized a lot of these books are like quick caffeine boosts that give you the "pick me up" when you either think you need it or just want a quick stimulation. While it's great to get a boost, the downfall is that it doesn't last. Maybe this is where certain authors or people before me have said that the more they read, the more they feel they don't know. I guess that's the beauty of life, we think there are set rules, but the rules are going to be different everyday. And this book is really a book of quotes where you choose one or two you would frame up on a wall in the bathroom or entrance of your home or office. James Dale, you get the credit for writing this and selling it. It's residual income and you probably did use a good chunk of energy to make this but there's something always funny about books that tell you "you should do this, or this" to succeed. Also there were a lot of sections where you would start and the next chapter you contradict what you just taught.

Out of the ride in reading this book, I did learn a few things or got reminded of a few things so I can't fully say it's a bad book. It did get me to think about my career as someone's boss, hiring someone better than me, thinking different, becoming someone's mentor, creating my own system, letting go, really asking questions to myself that someone else might be answering. Basically what to be thinking about as I continue to upgrade in life.

My favorite part was where we discuss selling, finding an audience and opening your mind. Breaking down the latin root of Question which means "to seek" and that is what we're doing everyday. Seeking to serve, and create. I'm thankful for finding this book even though I think it could be better without so much contradictions. I will skim and do more note taking on this again to get it to sink in better.

The empowering book called "Do Less, Achieve More" by Chin Ning Chu

Everyone has a different background, it might have been challenging or easy, good or bad. The bottom line is nobody has a perfect start in life (there are exceptions to the rule).

I am 29 about to turn 30 and I am free from any past reasons or excuses for doing what I do today or being where I am at today. We are human beings and to BE is the main reason we are called human BEINGS.

Where does this book kick in for you? If you feel that you are overwhelmed, indolent, or confused this book is one of the building blocks to help you to find your direction.

From reading "Do Less, Achieve More" I've interpreted some new thoughts for myself that I'd like to share. In a capitalistic society and an instantaneous one at that we try to make things our way. In one aspect this is good because we are utilizing the freedom we have that others in different countries may not have. But in trying, we try to control events to go our way.

We should look at life as a flowing river (from the Tao Te Ching) because it's easier to swim with the current than to go agains the current. Since life is oxymoronic, I am not telling you to go along to get along because life would be boring.

In an effort to bend results in our favor, anxiety develops and the best way is to let things flow while we BE.  Do not confuse "going with the flow" as being stagnant, we as humans must stay moving until we die.
 Time is something we have attempted to control, but in reality it's impossible. Time has existed well before humans did and will dissolve all things in existence. Don't believe me? How many of us can name the movers and shakers before we were born? There were so many inventors, entertainers, artists, laborers, and leaders that contributed so much but have been forgotten due to time.

In yoga, you simply allow the body to relax itself to the desired posture instead of force. When you are relaxed the body opens itself to deep stretching without effort. Effort and ease are not in opposition but they are two forms of thought that compliment each other.

There are plenty of good thoughts that are in this book and are fairly applicable to today as it was 20 years ago. It's an easy read and is well worth your time.

Get it for free on openlibrary.org, or abebooks.com

New Office Space

It's really refreshing to be in a new spot. Sometimes if you feel stuck, or things are not moving the first thing to do is to switch things up. It helps you to keep on moving which is really important.

So keep moving, it'll feel good to be on beat.

What is really patience? What is really self-discipline?

I'm sure we've all had a good amount of advice from people we look up to or have been mentored by, but at the end of the day do we really understand what we have learned? Have we applied our knowledge to everyday life?

I don't have the exact answer yet for the meaning of patience and self-discipline but as a definition it's quite simple.

I have a friend who I live with, and he's a web designer for Sony Computer Entertainment (the video game sector). He's valuable, efficient, and intelligent. One thing that amazes me is he's able to negotiate his work hours to no more that 6 hours a day. As a web designer for Sony, he's "the web guy" for MLB and quite good at it. What he does on his off times is work out and play video games. I used to be critical about his lifestyle, but understanding free will I think it's a great thing that he's doing what he wants to do. I've been able to see that he lives his life like a game, a game that's supposed to be fun. I used to question where his self discipline was but his actions and results make so much sense. When he's supposed to "work" it's a game to him. If we can look at self discipline and patience as a game, it will flip the script on how we look at these things.
So ask yourself, are you working or playing?

Are you meant to live and die in the same city you were born in?

To answer that question, I don't believe so. I believe that the world is one big habitat that we humans have the right to move around in. It's a beautiful thing to be able to think about something we desire and move towards it.

I have to admit, while I have all these great ambitions I've only tapped probably 60 percent in achieving these wants/goals. Being absolutely honest to myself, I'm probably the laziest person I know while at the same time the most hard working.
I've never been able to find that balance yet, where it would be perfect to be able to do something bit by bit and see it accomplished. I like working on something without being distracted to see it finished. For example, if you worked on a project that required a month of estimated time to complete it, you would probably work piece by piece on it per week. Where for myself I'd prefer to do 2 weeks (14 days) non stop to get it done and have the project complete with 2 weeks to chill and have fun.

It's extreme, and right now I admit it's not good. But it feels absolutely natural for me. You have to find what is natural for you, so if you can find balance in your life, RUN IT(DO IT). Because I understand myself, I am in constant movement. I believe that change is good for us, and if you are cool staying at where you are that's fine as well. Life is simple, and right now it might feel complicated but if you can "let go" in the wave of life the ride will be a fun one. I've learned that analogy from surfing, and being in the water all the time.  I know that if you are balanced and happy/content with where you are at by all means keep at it, but if you are unhappy/balanced I suggest you make some new choices. It's that simple people, you and I are here to move, do things, and of course obtain those desires.

"Stay hungry and stay foolish".

Doppelganger Attention

Actors connected. Ron Ng from Hong Kong and Atsuo Nakamura from Japan.

A screen from film Kill! 1968 by Kihachi Okamoto and HK TVB television Find the Light 2003.

I'm going to probably have to post more of these look a likes from films/tv shows/music from all over the world.

Teaching the Baby Boomer Generation how to engage with technology and computers.

  Today my dad asked to show him how to send himself a youtube link. Before we started he asked for steps so he can jott them down for future reference. Not listening I asked him to start off finding the video that he wants to send. He speaks out the process as he attempts to access Youtube and these were the words I hear: "So I will goto Youtube and copy and paste the video to my google."

  Hearing this I then tried to explain that he has to understand the difference between a website like youtube, google, and gmail. After hearing that he started to get confused. I kept insisting he had to understand the "basics". It got frustrating for him and myself. Looking at the situation from a third person perspective, it was going to be like driving After laughing out loud, I had to hear my dad out.
He explained to me how he learned in his computer class. After a quick breakdown, today I learned that the generation X and above have to learn in a different way even simpler than googling "how to do __(Fill in the blank)  ."

It was humbling to listen to him, because sending youtube link to yourself is beyond preschool. We have to understand that it's not the case with everyone else. One of the things the younger generations of X,Y, Z, and beyond should know is not all the boomers had access to the latest technological goods that were being sold in the consumer markets from 1960-2000 in their lives. This reigns true if they came from a third world country, or had to focus on making a living for a family. What I've learned from being born and raised in the US is that there are no excuses. But some people are at this foreign state with tech and computers so the least we can do is to help them become competent in communicating online in an already simplified connected world.

This is a philosophy I carry for myself, if you're parents raised you, provided you a home to grow up in, the least you can do is be patient when teaching them anything. When they brought you into the world, you knew NOTHING.

Onto the solution, while this is no quick fix, it's a building block to help the older generations with or without a grasp of the tech/internet/computer language let alone the English language. This may not apply to everyone, but it's a start.

  So to start it off, you have to be very elementary in any explanations. My dad works for a city job as a park maintenance professional and is good at everything, and really wants to put computer exposure under his expertise. His team consists of people young and old and has a good number of 50 and up.
Their tech class was simple as f*ck. The instructor didn't go explaining what anything was or the history of anything, except to just do what she says. She gave them a process list to press this button, click this bar, type in this word, and so on.

You're probably thinking what I was thinking, "how will they learn and know what they exactly are doing for future references?" The process was simple, they rinsed and repeated(practiced) a few times and once they were familiar the instructor started to explain what they just did. First you give a group a target, task, or goal, they perform the steps and practice it then it gets broken down to them.

This is not how everyone learns(everyone learns differently), but it's a start. My dad's group learned how to take care of email faster than asking an impatient person to teach one person. They can attest to this process, and I will be using it more to help my parents understanding computers and tech.

If you guys have better and effective ways to teach the generation X and above folks to engage with technology please email me at thetopramen@gmail.com

Thanks for reading this, and hope we can help the other generations enjoy what we enjoy with today's simplistic technologies.

Nongshim Vegan Ramen!

Apparently Nongshim always had a Vegan product and it was sold in Korea previously. I came across a pack of these delicious noodles at the local Zion Marketplace in San Diego. I was immediately caught by the packaging, then upon further review on the ingredients I had to try this out. The ingredients aren't natural but definitely is a vegetable flavoring. I usually use about 40 percent from the soup base pack and it still taste just as good. I highly recommend this brand and product. Try it out, it's really good.

Summarizing what I've learned from "Ordinary People, Extraordinary Wealth"

After reading this book, I've decided to start summarizing what I've learned from this book to help ingrain the knowledge to my knowledge bank. Starting with the book, it was an easy read and was almost like talking to a financial investor even though I've never worked with one. Also, please know that this is filtered knowledge from my own reading, it's good to do your own research. 

 Since this is not a book review, we'll start off talking about diversification. I've heard of this term many times previously and assumed it to be as it sounds. Knowing to place your money in different places or investments with research in what or where you are putting it in is the first lesson dropped. Time is a supporting factor, and the best time to start is early or NOW. If you have the money, and are prepared to put in the time, find out what prices are low. One interesting thing the author touched upon was about playing with your mortgage. A lot of the folks that grew up with the great depression mindset made it a mission to always pay off the mortgage in the quickest way possible. This book, talks about being "house poor" and having as big of a mortgage as you can so you have money left over to do investments, or prepare for other house expenses. This makes sense to a certain extent, as I believe to never be in debt. The benefits of having a mortgage are the tax breaks and freeing up your cash flow. Prior to reading this book, I had no clue as to the difference of stocks, funds, bonds, certificate of deposits or anything on that financial level. A lot of people invest into fixed accounts which are what most of the 9 to 5ers are in. It's a company or institution plan that does not really move meaning you don't lose much, nor do you EARN much. That aspect of investing goes with my new found understanding of risk in life. No risk, no reward. 

 Culturally in capitalistic nations or countries, there is a lifestyle of competing consumption where everyone gets the "newest new" thing and wants to be like the rest. Think about putting your money into something that results in a return, so it could be something frivolous if you know how to flip it for profit. The competing consumption of things is a mindset, you just have to know how to spend your money versus wasting it. In the book besides knowledge from the author, there was different interviews with some of the author's clients which provided life and financial experience stories to great benefits. One client had stated that his way of becoming financially independent was to not let a job become your life. You do not have to fear about losing your job. Know that you work because you WANT to and not because you have to. 

Understand taking calculated risks. In a free society, being poor is a state of mind and being broke is a state of wallet. You can fix being broke, but it's not as easy to fix the mindset of being poor. Once again the mind, and the power to think for yourself is a tool to your own advantage. Continuing the aspect of time and investing, be consistent in saving and find something to invest in through a long time. You don't have to invest more than $1000 per year as practice. Try out the "buy and hold" strategy as a way to manage money. Buy a variety of quality investments(diversification) and hold onto them for a long period of time. "The most money you put in the bank account consistently in will have the most money." Filter out emotions when making investment decisions. "Market Timing" is ideally something we'd all like to possess, but to know when things move in the markets are a difficult thing to apply. It's like controlling the force of an ocean wave. Emotions are the cause of most investment failures. Obtain the historical facts to support your decisions, and take the calculated risk. 

Personal financial success is not achieved through spending time tracking your expenses. It's as simple as knowing what coming in and going out, anticipate the bills and expenses you may have. Managing what you have is as simple as having the least amount of accounts to keep you free. 

Diversify your currency in different investments such as IRA accounts, selected insurances, life insurances, wills, mutual funds and more of what you find worthwhile. Understand that money works like water, keep it moving in savings, investments and enjoy a portion. Ultimately learn to love what money can do, not money itself. This has been a fun quick non standard essay or blog post. It feels refreshing and I have a sense of fearlessness in doing this. Share the knowledge you get to receive more. Always be studying and refining yourself and your skills.

Ensenada - Weekend Wave

I decided to put time to finishing this project that was left in the back burner. A great trip and a quality one minute piece to enjoy.

Eric Lau - 2012 Tour Featurette

Really honored to be able to be a part of this project with Eric Lau and his team. I have never seen someone so passionate in their craft with a selflessness to match that is so influential. Thank you for watching and please do yourself a favor listen to One of Many by Eric Lau.

Bad Guys 2012

This was shot back in 2012 and glad I was able to get it out today to the world.

Internet, meet "Bad Guys" the short movie.

Photos published in Wax Poetics Japan

Shot some stuff for my friend Freddie Joachim a while back.

Trader Pros

Worked on a quick practice piece with Victore and the gang on this one.
 Shits and giggles.
 

War!

Exploring Hanoi City.

This time we travel to Hanoi, Vietnam with some jazz by Ahmad Jamal.

Within my last stop in the city of Hanoi the capital of Vietnam, I could sense a city with a fine tuned balance of the old and new.

In this short amount of time explore Hanoi through this unique perspective.

Garbage Cans Mixtape

After hanging out with a lot of older heads that were in hip hop in it's golden age they had described anything new as garbage. Everyone is the Hip Hop police now a days.
I thought it was funny cause I like the old, the new, and because the world is always evolving I figured I'd take part in this mess.

Smooth and arrogant sounds for your ears. Just wear these "Garbage Cans". Thanks world.

Knockaround x Pow Wow collaboration.

Just finished this piece with the Product Etc and Knockaround team.