Ahhhh going down
Ahhhh observe the noise; some tell stories, others reveal secrets. observe the colours; some convey intent, others reveal emotions. when combined you a character emerges, who are they...
Gathering thoughts…
Gathering thoughts…
A world of little thoughts.
Ahhhh observe the noise; some tell stories, others reveal secrets. observe the colours; some convey intent, others reveal emotions. when combined you a character emerges, who are they...
I'm a big fan of Yes Theory and their open, serendipitous approach to life. And I try to take them as an example, to seek more discomfort myself, to say yes, to approach strangers, and to face new situations openly and curiously. That's easier said than done, and it's still not easy for me. Too often, my comfort zone…
reflect & manifest reverb23 in january adapts the reverb10 event shared about in this post - https://nicheless.blog/post/before-%7C-reverb-in-december-20 "... online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what’s next ... an opportunity to reflect on what's happened, and to send out reverberations for the year…
if i had infinite money i would be so happy. and i wouldn't even buy anything extravagant i have literally no need for it. i would just live the way i do forever but not worry about money. there are people who would wanna work even if they didn't have to. not. me. i dont wanna work. i just wanna read, write, relax,…
I was in Italy for a week and just got back to Cambridge, UK. Arriving at the train station and driving through the city to my apartment in an Uber was a nice experience. A city I visited for the first time only three months ago, which felt so foreign back then, now feels so familiar. I recognize the routes, can…
I got in to a discussion with a friend about some bill that was signed into law in Florida that, depending on your political orientation, either (a) made it illegal to talk about being gay in classrooms, insinuating that anyone who supported it is a homophobic bigot, or (b) was an attempt by concerned parents and…
It’s a common excuse. I don’t have time. If you want it bad enough, you make time. That’s the way I felt when I started my 30-day experiment on journaling gratitude. Now I have a full-blown journaling habit. I'm really grateful for it. You can build a journaling habit. It doesn’t take that much time. Here was my…
Most people test what AI can do. Ankur Goyal suggests testing what it should be able to do. Typically, as product developers, we build a feature then write some tests to protect it. When tests fail in the future, you know you've broken something important and need to fix it before pushing any changes. This is true of…
.. or public writings for myself? Who knows what this will evolve into, but it seems at first glance to be a natural step forward from using The Most Dangerous Writing App to get my thoughts out on paper, back when I was a teenager. Personally I have always felt the struggle of wanting to be in a community, to share…
It is not easy to write anything. Everyone wants to write something. Preferably something good. Preferably something good and useful. Preferably something good, useful, and uplifting for the heart. But isn’t the very act of writing itself a kind of uplift for the heart? I will not settle that question now. Because my…
I understand they happen to be there because it's cheaper and simpler, but what a tasteless and generic place to put them. Lighting can be beautiful if you set the sources gracefully. Indirect lighting can make a magic atmosphere and functional lightning can be a great tool depending on your goals. But "one light bulb…
When my brother and I were growing up, our dad would respond to my brother's "alternative" preferences for how he chose to express himself by rolling his eyes and saying, "whatever floats your boat." This phrase was etched into his mind and, later, into his skin, when he commissioned a tattoo artist to ink a wooden…
A short one about an interesting sliding doors moment. Louis Menand’s 2021 review in the New Yorker of Glenn Frankel’s “Shooting Midnight Cowboy: Art, Sex, Loneliness, Liberation, and the Making of a Dark Classic” contained a brilliant tidbit. It's believed that a key element contributing to the mood of Midnight…
i got a myspace y'all i'm still waiting for that email verification (and am completely LOCKED OUT OF HEAVEN until i get that done) but let me tell you it is a different experience. it's completely VIP, completely next-level. it asks you to identify yourself. and so i'm clicking through the options and each click is…
I started a newsletter many years ago. It happened on a whim, tied a moment in my professional career when I didn't have a job. The newsletter focused on a product that changed how I looked restaurant and other hospitality-related recommendations. Here's a link to the product, called Text Rex:…
The duality baffles me. Of who I am, and who people think I am. Actually fuck duality. Let's call it the unholy trinity. Disgusts me. Who I am, who I think I am, and who people perceive me to be. It's surreal once you become slightly aware that you might already be living in a multiverse. Of your own faults. Of your…
Legacy is an idea that has recently been top of mind. Coupled with my retaking three PKM-related courses, I have been thinking about how and whether one's digital and physical "assets" (note to self: there are likely more descriptive and representative words) related to knowledge management provides for one's legacy.…
I've often been told that I'm straightforward in my conversations. This caught the attention of my wife who once remarked, "I wish I could be as straightforward as you." It made me wonder if there's a fear of being direct and possibly offending others. When something catches my attention like this, I try to dig deeper…
My combo family/girlfriend trip taught me three lessons about packing for a ten-day trip. I haven’t traveled much in recent years. I confess I tend to overpack. A three-day getaway poses no problem. Ten days with weather changes proved a challenge. I had a strategy. I packed mix-and-match items and planned to layer…
1. Cosmos cosmos.so It's a really good looking site with an okayish free tier offering. Sadly uses some AI for auto-tagging and their search engine. They also have an iOS app. 2. Arena are.na I really like this. Their design is absolutely top-tier. Pretty generous free tier offering (you can save 200 "blocks" or…
This is something that came to my mind recently. Mostly because I had to make changes to my usual schedule to better accommodate engagement with other fellow creators and to be available for my client's work. It made me think that routines, as much as they're touted to be the key to success, don't make you a…
Forever can be broken down to a bunch of nows but can there be multiple nows? No matter how much you conquer you will always be beaten by the last second, the last mile and eventually the last breath. Which begs the question of what you really own. 20 minutes into meditation and i cannot tell whether the arms i’d…
one thing i’ve been thinking about a lot is what i’ve thought of as “what-the-fuck art” that is, those artworks that are so weird and so confusing that you can’t help but go “what the fuck, why is this… like this? what series of decisions and beliefs led the artist to think these make sense together?” — i suppose any…
Ahhhh some days are experienced yet sit deep within my subconscious never to be recalled on. today could be one of those days...
Care is the gravity that holds a group together. It is the practical stuff of hospitality, like preparing for a meeting or cleaning up afterwards. It's also emotional work, like noticing that someone is not having a good time, and checking in with them. Without care, a group falls apart. It’s safe to assume that in…
For the longest time, whenever I would be asked, "where do you see yourself in 5 years?", my mind would stray away. The beauty of human imagination is that it is unrestricted. A thought is swift enough to traverse wide enough. I would wonder if it is a luxury car, a big house, frequent travelling, ability to lay my…
Today, I hiked in a remote area. It was beautiful, but very muddy and slippery, and I fell a few times. Nothing more than wet feet and dirty clothes resulted, but it made me think what could happen if something serious occurred. Today, we have emergency services ready to deploy with cars, boats, and helicopters.…
I was born in the late 80s, which means I grew up playing Starcraft. For those of you not born in the 80s Starcraft is a computer game where you'd build little armies and conquer the map. There were the future humans called Terrans. There were fancy hi-tech aliens with their spaceships and laser beams called the…
It's been a while since I wrote on Nicheless. Now that I'm writing here again it feels like a return to form. What happens when you undergo a major change in your life? It's different for everyone, some withdraw from their social circles, while others become happier and more open in general. Is it the same for hobbies…
For a while now, the question of what niche should I pick for my public writing has haunted me. For some reason, an OCD-like obsession haunts me in figuring out my niche and starting to post online. I started with Medium, writing 2 articles on which I felt some impostor syndrome. While they felt close to my heart and…
memories over memories. its over but i’ll carry them in my heart forever. what would’ve been? we dont know. but i'll never stop hoping that everything will be alright.
It's the decisions that you made right? No matter consciously or subconsciouly - you put the water in the kettle for it to boil. You get back to your workstation and continue to work while waiting for the water to boil. Once the water is boiled: - You travel to the kettle and took the kettle and get back to your…
Today has been one of the longest Sundays I’ve ever had in a while. Akriti Didi came down with her husband Bhargav. Had so much fun just talking to her and him, and generally enjoying the family talk. Early morning I helped sort things out and welcome them. Then after breakfast, had an amazing sleep. Then we went out…
i've never felt there was a stronger case for being selfish. in a good way. like, for the first time, the demand side of the internet has outpaced the supply side. like it finally makes sense to just... be. and maybe that seems oddly specific, or convenient. a reason to realize what has always been true. or maybe it's…
It starts with a door opening. Then you just see a man's feet trudging through the snow on a horrible dark night. He turns over the ignition and the car's headlamp seems to appear in the darkness. We watch the car make its way down the road. It's the only car on this awful kind of deep snow-covered road. And then a…
Rights are like muscles. They must be exercised regularly to prevent atrophy. They are earned through hard work and preserved through constant maintenance. As with any maintenance work, the cost of neglect can lead to sudden unexpected catastrophic consequences, particularly so when one can least afford to address…
Eloise was always a fan of the outlet malls. She'd often come home from a day out with bags of clothes and a giant grin on her face. She'd lay them out on her bed, pointing to each price tag while her husband, Ed, would nod along. "This was 60% off, Ed," she'd say. "Look at this one, Ed, it retails for $400! I got it…
Gives me perspectives on How you always work so hard for someone And you gotta be fearless & understand you don’t have any thing that drags you down E: if you don’t love the girl or the guy, it’s okay to let it go - and if you’re on the other side Understand that it’s okay & let it go Kinda in your situation now Just…
To stay in a 9-5: too slow to get the money! The success of anything links heavily to your xintai “Do they still call 23 young?” If there is one book I would want to take a deep read on Is how to converse with people Because any guy can be an expertise in a field But not many can be a bridge to link products with the…
I first learned the word blasphemy in sixth grade, when I carried a laptop of one brand in a case embroidered with the logo of another. "Isn't that blasphemy?" a teacher joked. I asked him what that meant. I don't remember the exact explanation, but I do remember his tone being flippant. Blasphemy is one of those…
Day 3.5, 5:30 pm: does the new publication automatically subscribe everyone? what art for the first "intro" teaser--mom in the kitchen photo or a sketch? Day 4: writers' hour, 5 am, stuck on the monthly blog post which is about mom's newsletter. does this count toward my 15 minute goal of anything C&T related? yes. an…
Yesterday I started working on ramen based on local ingredients from Goa. So far I've swapped the traditional pork topping for a Goan Choriz and I blended cashew nuts into the broth. As I gently pushed the boundaries here I constantly found myself asking what makes ramen ramen? The black and white answer is that Ramen…
Our attitude acts as a powerful lens, transforming how we perceive and experience the world around us. The same task or situation can feel like a burden or an opportunity, a challenge or a chance for growth, all depending on the mindset we bring to it.
A few days ago, I took a blog post, https://nicheless.blog/post/a-busy-street, that I wrote here, and I posted it on my personal blog, https://johnjago.com/blog/busy-street/. But there was a problem: I was disgusted with my own writing. I still believed in the message I was trying to convey, but the writing was awful.…
Also I don’t wanna jinx it but I’m liking this Murakami book so far. It’s like the type of movie I like to watch for reasons unknown. The kind where nothing really happens but you meet people. There is no goal. You wander and meet characters. Kinda like Alice in wonderland. And the new Glass Animals album is good.…
- a girl who i talk to who is doing her best to be nice to me and listen to me - a boy who i talk to who is doing her best to be nice to me and listen to me it's like they're kinda trying to be - deep - interesting - thoughtful but they lack that quintessential thing. what is that quintessential thing? it sounds a bit…
I remembered something that I had penned a while ago, as I was reading Louis' post on disregarding intuition. I wrote about why we rely on it so much in the first place and how understanding a little nuance to our intuition might help us. It goes something like this. Intuition helps us understand things instinctively…
after coming back from indonesia, and having thoroughly enjoyed the people there, i feel WEIRDLY more /japanese/ than ever (having no japanese heritage whatsoever) what i mean is that the "weird" desires arising in the hearts of a people who have been increasingly burdened by capitalistic demand, materialistic…