Focus on maintaining a strong and intentional posture to strengthen the body and promote vitality. Walking with an upright posture helps engage muscles and maintain a confident gait.
Charge Your Batteries
Just as a camera needs charged batteries, our bodies need rest to recharge. Treat sleep as a sacred ritual, avoid artificial lights at night, and prioritize a natural sleep routine to maintain energy.
Sun Gods
Spending time outdoors in the sun is vital for energy and health. Wearing protective gear like a sun hat can help safely maximize sun exposure, drawing parallels to experiences in the Middle East and Africa.
Repair Your Cells
Restaurants should restore health, focusing on nutrient-rich foods like Vietnamese pho and avoiding processed foods. Emphasize the importance of consuming collagen-rich foods like bone broth for physical restoration.
Leaders vs. Followers
Critiques the authenticity of modern YouTubers and the consumer-driven trend in photography. Encourages people to be leaders, not followers, and resist marketing ploys.
Are You a Bot?
Questions the authenticity of online interactions, suggesting that a large number of social media users and engagements might be fake or manipulated.
Water and Vitality
Highlights the importance of water for community and personal health, drawing from experiences in Zambia. Advocates for hydration and consuming natural resources that the body is composed of.
The Industrialization of Society
Critiques modern technology and its impact on society, comparing the habitual use of social media to outdated practices and suggesting a more mindful approach to daily routines.
Weakness is Bad
Argues that modern sedentary lifestyles weaken the population. Advocates for physical activity and critiques the complacency observed in everyday city life.
The Most Walkable City in the United States
Promotes Philadelphia as an ideal, walkable city that doesn’t require a car. Encourages exploring the city on foot and using public transportation to engage more physically with the environment.
Walking is Happiness
Suggests that walking and standing are key to happiness and mental health. Physical movement is essential for both physical and mental well-being, especially for men.
Terraform the World
Encourages a minimalist, natural lifestyle similar to characters in RPG games. Advocates for barefoot walking, minimal clothing, and living intentionally to strengthen the body and reconnect with the earth.
How to Get a Six-Pack
Explains that getting a six-pack is simple through diet (fasting and red meat) and basic exercises like the farmer’s walk, push-ups, and pull-ups. Stresses the importance of posture and overall physical strength.
Don’t Release Your Energy
Encourages conserving sexual energy to enhance focus and vitality. Suggests that abstaining from certain habits can lead to a stronger, more disciplined self.
Why Carbs Are Bad
Critiques the consumption of carbs, particularly processed ones, for their effect on insulin levels and appetite. Advocates for a diet focused on protein and fasting to maintain energy and avoid unnecessary hunger.
Meet Me at the Eagle
Highlights the daily ritual of visiting the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia as a way to connect with public art and transcend the human experience. Emphasizes the importance of engaging with art in public spaces and appreciating the beauty around you.
Everything you do should be done with intention when it comes to the physicality of life itself. When you’re walking, walk with your head up, your shoulders back, your chest open, and your core tightened. By focusing on your posture, you’re strengthening your body, spine, and muscles, allowing your legs to move you through this world with a strong gait filled with vitality.
Charge Your Batteries
When it comes to street photography practice, make sure to have at least a spare battery with you at all times. Your digital battery should be charged, just like your physical body should be.
In order to increase your energy, we must treat sleep as a sacred part of our day. Personally, as soon as I get home around 6 or 6:30 PM, I turn the lights off, put on a dim light in my kitchen, cook my meat, eat as the sun sets, and go straight to sleep. It becomes a meditative part of my day, and sometimes I even keep a book by my bedside to read so that I can fall asleep at ease. Typically, I won’t do this because I prefer reading in the afternoon, but the plan is to not use your phone or have any artificial lights in sight at nighttime.
Sun Gods
We are the new Sun gods.
I can’t stay indoors for any longer than it takes me to eat and go to sleep. The rest of the day, you can be assured that I am outside. My body is drawn to the light, like a fly or a moth is to the lamps in the middle of the night. The more time I spend in the sun, the more energy I have. I’ve recently been wearing my sun hat that I wore during my time volunteering and living in the Middle East and Africa. The sun hat is perfect, paired with my long sleeves and pants throughout the afternoon while working in the park. I personally do not wear sunscreen, but the way the sun hat wraps around my neck and covers my cheeks is perfectly fine with me. This hat has seen a lot throughout my journey, and I’m happy to bring it back out here in Philadelphia. I realized when I was in Jericho, in the desert, how important it was for me to wear this hat because of how striking the sun was in Jericho. Considering it is the lowest elevated city in the world and there are rarely any clouds in the sky, it’s basically just you, the sand, and the sun shining down on you. As much as I praise the sun and believe we should spend the maximum amount of time in the sun as possible, if you’re going to be out there in the middle of the day, around noon, you should definitely pick up a sun hat. I personally think it looks really cool too, but it’s mostly just practical.
Repair Your Cells
The only real restaurants in the city are Vietnamese pho places. Why?
I believe in 16th or 17th century France, restaurants were originally places to find cheap healing broth on the street. The word restaurant derives from the term “to restore.”
A restaurant should be a place where you go for restoration, refreshment, and to increase your vitality. Vietnamese pho is rich with nutrients and protein that we need to repair our physical bodies. Beef is filled with bone broth, which provides collagen, one of the most abundant sources of protein found in the human body. Not only does the bone broth within the beef provide this nutrient, but there are also organ meats and beef found within this delicious bowl of soup.
Besides Vietnamese pho, all-you-can-eat Korean barbecue places are good options, or the newest Brazilian steakhouse, NaBrasa, is way better than Fogo de Chão and certainly the best of the best in the city of Philadelphia when it comes to a true restaurant.
Most restaurants smell like sweaty locker rooms. Consider a salad bar or any restaurant like Chipotle, where they serve you from station to station. There’s something off about this way of consuming, where it almost becomes like the shitty cafeteria food that you would’ve consumed in high school. I remember when I was in high school, I would rarely ever eat lunch because it just smelled so bad in the cafeteria, so I would skip lunch because all they really served was ultra-processed slop.
If you want to heal your body and repair your cells, consider the power of collagen that is found in organ meats and how we can increase our protein intake, depending on the restaurants we choose to visit. Even better, just never eat out at restaurants and only ever cook your meals at home. If you want to buy your own beef liver, go to the Reading Terminal Market, to the Halteman farm, which has been serving the citizens of Philadelphia for over a century. It’s about $2.50 per pound of beef liver.
Leaders vs. Followers
The problem with modern YouTube videos is that the YouTubers are always promoting something, sponsored by someone, and never a truly authentic representation of themselves. I find it hard to watch and also hard to believe that they truly stand by the words that they express within the videos they create. I believe that film photography has become popular through YouTubers and particular channels that make it seem trendy and cool. It’s very easy to promote and gain a following around camera gear because it is consumer-driven.
There’s leaders, and there’s followers…but I’d rather be a d*ck than a swallower – Kanye West
We are merely consumers, suckered by marketing and advertisements, and I believe film photography has become popular because of this nature. Don’t get suckered by the advertisements, the lame YouTubers, and their sponsorship deals.
Are You a Bot?
I feel like people are just really dumb. It’s so easy to succumb to a trend or just generally not think for yourself. If I were to tell you that 99% of the users on Instagram were bots, and you had 1 million followers, receiving around 100,000 likes per post, but 99% of them were fake, would you still publish to the platform?
Water and Vitality
As a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia, Africa, I learned the importance of water in the village and the critical role it played in forming community. At the center of the village, there is a well where men and women gather to grab water for the day, filling multiple buckets, which I also attended to, filtering the water by boiling it, throwing it in a gravity filter, and even adding iodine, just so that I could drink a cup of clean water. Here in the United States, we can turn on a tap and get clean drinking water in an instant.
The human body is comprised of around 60% water. Humans are merely water and meat, or water and flesh. Eat more meat and drink more water. It’s very simple; we should be consuming the things that we are primarily comprised of. Maybe if you feel a lack of energy, it is simply due to dehydration. Personally, I drink 2 liters of water before 7 AM. This way, I start my day off with energy, vitality, hydration.
The Industrialization of Society
When the Industrial Revolution introduced the automobile into our society, we no longer had to deal with cleaning the excrement of horses in the morning or the smell of their waste every day. The modern-day equivalent of using a horse and buggy is waking up in the morning and checking your Instagram.
Checking your Instagram first thing in the morning is equivalent to waking up, taking a shit, wiping with your hands, smearing it all over your body, your face, your eyes, and not wiping it off.
Weakness is Bad
Anything that decreases your vitality and increases the feeling of weakness is bad, something to avoid, and not to partake in. One thing that makes me feel tired or depletes my energy is sitting down throughout the day. Now, with this in mind, I would say that 75% of the population of a city is currently living a sedentary lifestyle. You may be wondering, doesn’t that make 75% of our population weak? I’d say, yes, it does. We are currently living in the age of weakness and softness; just look around you, and you’re bound to see every other individual walking on the sidewalk possessing some sort of metabolic disease or appearing extremely anemic. We are living in a way that goes against our human nature.
Spending any time in a vehicle, sitting down on your butt, is the equivalent of being a big baby in a stroller, pacified. Yesterday, while waiting for the bus, I like to do pistol squats, stretch, and put on a show for the people who are in their cars waiting at the red light. There was this one guy driving a truck full of workers who were all clapping and cheering me on. Another car had a lady with tattoos all over her body, lighting up a cigarette and hot-boxing her car, bashing her head around and accidentally hitting the pedal or the brake over and over again. It’s so amusing to stand at the corner, waiting for a bus, and simply observe the people in the vehicles themselves. Is it just me, or do they all look extremely miserable? Not to mention, getting simple glimpses of the people who drive would make me nervous to even step foot in a car and drive, considering how irresponsible some of these drivers are these days.
The Most Walkable City in the United States
Philadelphia is the most walkable city in the United States, and citizens of this city actually do not need to own a vehicle.
You can walk through most neighborhoods within a single day of exploration. My favorite walk is to start at the Philadelphia Museum of Art along the Schuylkill River Trail, walk throughout the Center City area, towards Old City, Penn’s Landing, Spruce Street Harbor, even Penn Park, all the way across the Delaware River, where William Penn made a treaty with the Lenape tribe to purchase the land and create the city of Philadelphia.
If you need to get somewhere specific, we have great public transportation through SEPTA. The upside of a bus is the option for you to stand. I can walk around the bus if I want to, snap photos of people, or even just outside the window, which I typically do in Philadelphia. Otherwise, Uber may be one of the greatest apps ever invented, as you can simply reach for your phone and hail a taxi instantaneously, no matter where you are in the world. This is really good for us street photographers who might find ourselves in need of a vehicle in a pinch, considering we wander off far away sometimes. Despite this, recognize that your body, your legs, are the ultimate vehicle, and we live in the most walkable city in the United States of America here in Philadelphia. I believe that this simple fact alone makes Philadelphia the greatest city to live in the USA in the current year, 2024.
Walking is Happiness
I actually walk and stand for a living. This may be the ultimate way to live our lives. Any time spent on your butt is a life not worth living. It’s really simple: physicality is happiness, walking is bliss, and it brings true joy and meaning in life. Our bodies are meant to be moving, not confined to a cage. It’s funny when you think of depression as this mental thing, where we don’t even admit that it becomes a physical problem first.
Without a strong body, you will not have a strong mind.
When you are depressed, you are probably bedridden, stuck inside, sitting down, talking about your feelings with a therapist. However, for men, all we need are some plates, a barbell, two legs, movement, some meat, sunlight, clean water, and everything will be alright. Men are extremely simple creatures. I believe men generally prefer to be outside and to be physical.
Terraform the World
Let’s redesign the world like we’re playing Minecraft in real life. Actually, consider RPG games like Skyrim, where you start the game by designing your character from the ground up. You start at the loading screen, looking at your character, naked in the flesh. You equip him with armor, give him a skin color, set his height, his weight, his facial features, etc. Perhaps it’s wise for us to redesign our character from the ground up, similar to these RPG video games, where we should strip away the superfluous and shed our skin.
Firstly, remove your shoes and connect with the Earth around you. Shoes are like condoms, where the soles prevent you from feeling the sensations. The Vibram FiveFingers ELX model has been the greatest blessing in my life for the past two years of wearing them every day. I feel so much stronger from my feet, calves, legs, upwards. I find that I am more intentional with each step I make by connecting with the ground below me. It’s also funny how we follow trends depending on what sneakers we wear, whether they are New Balances, Vans, Jordans, etc. We become the things that we own. However, by removing the shoes, the brand itself, and simply having a small glove that fits over your toes and your feet, it’s almost like you go back to being that default character in that bare-bones, blank slate when you’re starting out a new game in an RPG like Skyrim. Also, consider your shirt as optional. During the evenings, when the sun sets, I’ll typically find myself walking around the streets with my shirt off, basking in the sunlight, tanning my skin, and flexing my muscles as the ultimate fashion.
Instead of buying that lame designer shirt or clothing item, make your body the ultimate luxury item by acquiring a six-pack and removing your shirt.
I think it’s much more virtuous to have a beautiful body than to purchase superfluous, “beautiful” clothes.
How to Get a Six-Pack
Getting a six-pack is extremely easy. You don’t need to slave away doing crunches, sit-ups, and all sorts of ab exercises.
Abs are made in the kitchen.
By fasting and eating one meal before going to bed, consisting of red meat, you satiate your body with all the nutrients you need.
Do some simple weightlifting techniques, like the farmer’s walk, where you pick up two heavy dumbbells, walk them out, and put them back down. Also, push-ups and pull-ups are simple exercises that go a really long way and are something I do every day. My current situation is walking with a 40-pound plate carrier each morning for an hour in nature. Honestly, I think anyone can acquire a six-pack by just fasting, walking, and simply eating animal-based protein. I think the most critical aspect of our physique should be our posture. Focus on standing upright, walking with a strong gait, and opening your chest and shoulders. This will give you a more dominating and more beautiful and elegant presence than being hunched over, which is the inevitable outcome of our modern-day physique due to the way in which we interact with technology. By training with the weighted vest, or my 40-pound plate carrier, every day, I’m training my posture, my core, and strengthening my entire body.
Don’t Release Your Energy
I would say that 99% of men watch pornography or masturbate. While this may be natural, normal, and not really a big deal at the end of the day, maybe it is when it comes to our health and physical strength or vitality. By releasing this critical energy from our body, it’s equivalent to depleting your battery back to 0%. So, for two years now, I’ve been conserving my sexual energy, and I can say that there are definite benefits from this. I believe it enhances my focus and increases my vitality generally. Not to mention, your body naturally goes through nocturnal emission cycles every month or so. If you want to become the strongest version of yourself, overcome the mental discipline of not engaging with this habit that 99% of other men do. Become the one percent of men who transcend these norms.
Why Carbs Are Bad
I don’t necessarily think that all carbs are bad per se; personally, the only time I consume them is if I eat Vietnamese pho, but consider the bread they serve in a restaurant. When you get served bread in a restaurant, for free, it is because it will naturally spike your insulin throughout your meal. As you eat the bread, the carbohydrates break down into sugar, spike your insulin, and trigger your body to actually be more hungry than it actually is. That way, when they come around with the dessert menu, you will be more enticed to order more food, as you haven’t reached that full level of satiation that you deserve after eating a meal. This is why I believe by fasting, waiting until the end of the day, and focusing on eating the primary source of nutrient that you need, protein, and eating until you’re fully satiated, is the best option for us who are seeking to become the greatest version of ourselves.
Meet Me at the Eagle
Every day, I visit the Wanamaker Organ, inside the Wanamaker building here in Philadelphia, at 5:30. If you’re somebody who appreciates art, listening to the Wanamaker Organ is a real treat. I genuinely believe it to be one of mankind’s greatest artistic achievements, and the greatest public display of art in the city of Philadelphia. Architecture and sculpture are the highest forms of art. When you stand beside this eagle sculpture in the center of the building, underneath the high ceiling, with beautiful columns and details and ornaments all throughout the architecture, in front of this symbol of power and transcendence, with every feather of the eagle rock-carved by hand, gazing up towards a golden organ with large pipes and beautiful sounds emitting from them, your spirit is uplifted to a new height. The goal of great art is to transcend the human experience and uplift it, and the combination of sculpture, architecture, and music, transcends this world.
When I visit this location every day, I bring my iPad along with me, scroll through photographs from my day, hit the streets for a bit, then go back home. This keeps me disciplined to stay on top of my archive while enjoying some music, so by the time I get home, I don’t even have to look through my photographs. I think the point is to do everything in a public space. I like to shoot videos, photos, and even look through them in a public space. I think all great art can be found in public spaces as well, considering our great architecture and sculptures that can be found all throughout the city. I also appreciate the functionality of some of these pieces, such as Logan Square’s beautiful fountain.
Find yourself inspired by public works of art, rather than those photos or paintings and drawings, etc., that are sequestered in the galleries. There’s art and beauty to behold all around you. You just have to look with your head up, shoulders back, and chest open.
The word “protein” comes from the Greek word “proteios,” meaning “primary” or “of first importance,” which is derived from “protos,” meaning “first.” The term was coined in 1838 by the Dutch chemist Gerardus Johannes Mulder and later adopted by the Swedish chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius. The name reflects the fundamental role proteins play in living organisms, serving as essential building blocks for cells, tissues, and various biological functions.
Archimedes of Syracuse (c. 287–212 BC) was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer, widely regarded as one of the greatest mathematicians and scientists in history. Born in the city of Syracuse on the island of Sicily, he made significant contributions to various fields, particularly mathematics, physics, and engineering.
Key Contributions:
Mathematics: Archimedes made profound advances in geometry, particularly in the areas of calculating the area of shapes and the volume of solids. He developed the method of exhaustion, a precursor to integral calculus, to calculate areas and volumes with great precision. He also discovered the relationship between the surface area and volume of a sphere and its circumscribing cylinder.
Physics and Mechanics: Archimedes is famous for formulating the principles of leverage and buoyancy. The principle of buoyancy, known as Archimedes’ Principle, states that a body submerged in a fluid is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the body. This principle laid the groundwork for fluid mechanics.
Engineering and Inventions: Archimedes invented numerous machines and devices, including the Archimedean screw for raising water, compound pulleys for lifting heavy objects, and various war machines like catapults and the Claw of Archimedes—a device purportedly used to defend the city of Syracuse from Roman invasion by lifting enemy ships out of the water and capsizing them.
Astronomy: Although less is known about his contributions to astronomy, Archimedes did engage in the study of the universe and attempted to calculate the distances and sizes of celestial bodies.
Legacy and Influence:
Archimedes’ work influenced not only his contemporaries but also generations of scientists and mathematicians that followed. His writings were preserved and studied throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance, helping to inspire the scientific revolution. His approach to problem-solving, particularly his use of mathematical rigor and physical reasoning, laid the foundation for modern scientific methods.
Archimedes is also famous for the anecdote involving his discovery of the principle of buoyancy while taking a bath, which led him to shout “Eureka!” (meaning “I have found it!”) as he ran through the streets of Syracuse. His contributions have made him a symbol of genius and a pivotal figure in the history of science and mathematics.
“Give me a place to stand, and I shall move the Earth.”
This quote reflects Archimedes’ understanding of the principles of leverage, emphasizing the power of applying force at a distance using a lever. It illustrates the concept that with the right tools and knowledge, even seemingly impossible tasks can be achieved.
If nutrition were intuitive, chronic diseases and widespread sickness wouldn’t be as prevalent.
The goal is to delve deeper into the nuances of nutrition.
Old vs. New Models of Disease and Nutrition
Historically, certain nutrients, like saturated fats, were demonized.
There are still “diet cults” that demonize various nutrients, particularly saturated fats.
It’s important to bring nuance to the conversation; not all saturated fats are the same (e.g., coconut oil vs. dairy fats).
A shift is needed from focusing on single nutrients in isolation to considering the whole foods we consume.
The Standard American Diet (SAD)
The SAD is high in added sugars, unhealthy fats, and refined grains, often found in ultra-processed foods.
These ultra-processed foods are engineered in labs to create customer loyalty.
The SAD is linked to chronic diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, and dementia.
It is primarily carbohydrate-based (45%-65% carbs, 20%-35% fat, 10%-20% protein), leading to concerns about adequate protein intake for body composition and metabolic health.
The Role of Protein and the Protein Leverage Hypothesis
Protein is the most satiating macronutrient.
The “Protein Leverage Hypothesis” suggests that increasing protein intake could naturally reduce overall calorie consumption by promoting satiety.
Overconsumption of carbohydrates and fats is common in the SAD, but the real issue may be the overconsumption of unhealthy added fats, sugars, and refined grains.
Ultra-Processed Foods: Definition and Impact
Ultra-processed foods are industrial formulations containing multiple ingredients, usually high in calories, added sugars, fats, and salt.
The NOVA food classification system categorizes foods based on their processing level: minimally processed (e.g., meat, fish, eggs) to ultra-processed.
Ultra-processed foods are associated with higher mortality, dementia, cardiovascular disease, and cancer risks due to their lack of satiety and nutrient content.
Study on Satiety and Ultra-Processed Foods
A study by Kevin Hall in 2018 showed that when subjects ate minimally processed foods ad libitum, they naturally consumed fewer calories.
When switched to ultra-processed foods, the same subjects consumed an excess of 500 calories, highlighting an 800-calorie swing due to food quality.
The quality of food influences the quantity consumed, making ultra-processed foods a significant factor in the obesity epidemic.
Characteristics and Risks of Ultra-Processed Foods
Ultra-processed foods contain ingredients not commonly found or used in home kitchens (e.g., industrially refined seed oils, emulsifiers, artificial sweeteners).
Seed oils, like soybean and canola, are refined, bleached, and deodorized, making them prone to oxidation and potential health risks.
These foods are low in protein and typically a mix of unhealthy fats and refined carbohydrates.
Added Sugars and Their Impact on Health
Added sugars contribute to empty calories, hyper-palatable foods, and perpetuate hunger, with average consumption at about 77 grams per day (20 teaspoons).
High-sugar intake is linked to several health issues, including elevated blood pressure and reduced testosterone levels.
The insidious nature of added sugars leads to excessive intake without providing nutritional benefits.
Seed Oils: Concerns and Recommendations
Refined, bleached, and deodorized seed oils (e.g., soybean, corn, canola) are a concern due to their oxidative properties and potential health risks.
There is a lack of long-term data on the impact of these oils on overall health, particularly concerning brain health.
It’s advisable to minimize consumption, especially in fried foods, where these oils can generate harmful byproducts like aldehydes.
The Five R’s of Real Food
Does it Roam or Ripen? Is it an animal or a plant?
Does it Rot? Real foods are perishable and have a shorter shelf life.
Can I Recognize it? Foods should be easily identifiable and not have long ingredient lists.
Could you eat it Raw? Natural foods can often be consumed raw.
Could you Recreate it? Foods that can be made in a home kitchen are generally minimally processed and healthier.
Conclusion: Key Takeaways for Healthy Nutrition
Focus on achieving a healthy body composition by consuming minimally processed, nutrient-dense foods.
Prioritize protein intake to support muscle health and overall vigor.
Avoid ultra-processed foods and added sugars, and be mindful of seed oils to maintain metabolic and cognitive health.
Embrace a holistic view of nutrition, considering the entire food matrix and its entourage effect on health.
“Create your blank canvas” suggests the idea of starting fresh or beginning anew, free from any preconceived notions, restrictions, or influences. It is an invitation to embrace the potential of a new beginning, where you have the freedom to shape and define your own path, experiences, and creative expressions. This phrase implies the power of choice and the opportunity to construct your reality or vision from a point of complete openness, much like an artist beginning to paint on an empty canvas. It’s about seizing the moment to design your life, actions, or creative work authentically, guided solely by your inner vision and aspirations.
My favorite video game of all time was Minecraft. Minecraft is the most sold video game of all time, and I believe this to be the case because of how great it truly is. The world is an endless expanse for the individual user to create and build upon. There are dungeons to conquer and new terrain to explore, in infinite ways. Maybe we should design our lives like Minecraft, where we can terraform real life. I was chopping trees down at work the other day, and it felt this way, as I completely transformed the terrain, the landscape, and the area surrounding a sculpture and garden.
Get outside the box
I cannot be boxed in, to the four corners of a room, to an office, a cubicle, or even a social media platform like Instagram. Consider the Instagram grid, the algorithm, and the way you are locked into this closed system. It becomes more difficult to build, to create anew when confined to the corners of a box. However, with a website, there is an endless expanse for you to build upon. Firstly, if you’re serious about photography, delete your Instagram immediately, and start your own wordpress.org website, hosting your firstnamelastname dantesisofo.com on bluehost.com, and install the Astra theme.
Ever since I started my own blog, I feel like I have this endless canvas to work upon. There are so many possibilities for what you can do with the blog, such as presenting your photographs in a portfolio, slideshow, videos, PDFs, digital downloads, blog posts, essays, sharing poems, videos, audio, podcasts, etc.
I suggest everyone get a GoPro Mini and just start recording your own thoughts. When I record my thoughts, I’m essentially just thinking out loud and sharing these thoughts with the world, through a Spotify podcast, uploading it to my blog, and YouTube. By fleshing out my thoughts through speaking, I’m understanding how I think about photography, philosophy, society, and the world in general, by embracing authenticity. To me, this is my core mode of expression, besides photography, as I now start to dabble with writing. It feels like I’m just getting started, and there’s just so much to do. Starting a blog gives you an endless opportunity to create and build upon, to reiterate, and to share your authentic self with the world.
Beyond ordinary
Every morning, I enjoy waking up at 4-5 AM, and go for a morning walk, where I get my steps in wearing my 40-pound plate carrier, with barefoot shoes on, camera in hand, making photographs, and voice dictating these blog posts. If you’re going to attempt to build something, to become someone, or to become a certain thing, why settle for the ordinary, or just good enough? If I’m going all in on photography, I’m going to strive to go beyond the ordinary, to become extraordinary, to become the best photographer that I can possibly be. This means I’m going to be photographing as much as humanly possible, as early as possible, by quite literally waking my physical body up immediately in the morning, reaching for my camera, and going outside. Throughout the day, no matter where I am, I will be making photographs. It’s funny, lots of photographers ask me, when did you get outside today? When did you start photographing? As if I have a set schedule to practice, which I suppose is technically from 3 to 6 PM during my typical route shooting in the streets of Center City. However, I think it’s funny to just respond, 5 AM. As soon as I wake up in the morning, I start practicing photography. Photography is the cup of espresso that gets me up in the morning. I am beyond motivated, passionate, or even obsessed with photography, but have become completely called to it, like a vocation.
My vocation is to be outside.
Ever since I was a little boy, I would spend my days in the Wissahickon forest, chopping down trees, building forts, bridges with stones, and blazing new trails. I would bike endlessly along the Schuylkill River Trail for miles and miles, toward the Valley Forge National Historic Park. I’ve always been an adventurer, explorer, and builder, since a very young age. While I’ve enjoyed playing video games like Minecraft, I also enjoyed tinkering in the real world, the great outdoors, where I naturally thrive. I think my intuition, my inner child, told me to return to nature, quite literally. Since working in horticulture, outside in a park for the start of my day, I feel like I finally found my calling in life.
Actually, the real reason why I decided to start working in the park is that last year when I was unemployed, deciding what I wanted to do next, I was spending the entirety of the day in the streets of the city and found it to be quite unnatural. There was a part of me that kept going back to the river, returning to parks, and just naturally gravitating towards green spaces, where I felt like I could not necessarily spend all day on the street as much as I love it. Also, as a man, and somebody who has the instinct to protect and provide, if I want to build a family one day, I could honestly not tell you where a true safe space to raise a child is in the city of Philadelphia. The streets are just too dangerous, and not necessarily a place where I would ever bring a child. However, Fairmount Park is away from the chaos, and a place where I could see a child be raised, growing up out in the open spaces, exploring the trails, and the parks, similar to how I experienced my childhood as a young boy.
Shout out to Spencer, the number one dad in the city of Philadelphia, who is honestly the only man I ever see with his child every day, who walks the streets shooting street photography with his baby strapped to his chest. It’s quite a strange world when you can see only one family per day, and the rest are just stuck inside offices and the children are stuck inside daycares.
The goal of humanity
The more I contemplate human nature and society, I believe we are either going on decline, or on incline. Is society collapsing, or rising? Frankly, it seems more on the decline, considering the lack of population growth and innovation in real life. The problem with innovation is that it is all occurring within the digital spaces. Everybody is looking down at their phones, listening to their AirPods, and not necessarily in tune with their actual surroundings in the physical world. What this means is, there is nothing being built in real life, nothing being done to innovate the streets, the infrastructure, the architecture, and the places that we actually inhabit. We are responding to technology, and modernity, by innovating within the digital world, and that will inevitably lead to the decline of the physical world.
Have you ever seen the movie Ready Player One?
In the movie, this community is living in complete poverty, in tin shacks stacked on top of each other, like a refugee camp. Despite the poverty and the ugly environment that they are faced with in real life, they have modern technology, such as virtual reality, and the ability to enter a new world by simply strapping on a headset, glazing over their eyes with an LCD screen. Part of me feels like this is happening in real life, where we inhabit digital spaces throughout the day for work, play, entertainment, and even social communities now when it comes to making friends or forming relationships. If the physical world around us is crumbling, I don’t believe we should lock ourselves into a matrix world, pretending that the real world is fine and without need for building or repair.
Speed is important
When I would play Tony Hawk Pro Skater, I always maxed out my speed and air stat points right away. Why? I knew that speed was the most critical attribute to acquire within the game, to unlock new locations, to reach new goals, to find the secret tape, to advance within the game itself.
I believe we should focus on speed, especially within the realm of photography, as this will enhance our ability to improve at a rapid rate. By using a compact digital camera, such as a Ricoh GR, and removing the viewfinder, focusing solely on using an LCD screen, we will become more in tune with this flow state of production, where we liberate ourselves, and snapshot our way through life. Always having a camera in your pocket, there is no longer an excuse for you to not practice your photography. I enjoy treating photography like a personal diary, as a way for me to remember the day, and to create visual notes or instant sketches of life.
I highly suggest every photographer to purchase an iPad Pro.
When I hit the streets, I make photos quickly with speed. Towards the end of my walk, around 5:30, the Wanamaker Organ sounds inside the Macy’s building. I bring my iPad along with me, importing my photos from that very walk, directly into my iPad Pro’s built-in Photos app from the iOS that’s preinstalled, and go through the photographs with speed. I simply tap on the thumbnail, viewing the photographs at a 3 x 3 grid, favoring them, and throwing them into a selections album. This way, I can go back out, photograph for another half hour, come home, and then back everything up immediately to my Google Photos Drive, and publish the photographs directly to my blog. This workflow provides me with the ultimate speed, staying on top of my archive, and always making the effort to cull immediately, provides me with less of a headache down the line when I actually come to want to make real keeper selections.
Quit film photography
This workflow is phenomenal, as the small JPEG file, with high contrast, black-and-white baked in, with the contrast cranked to the maximum, provides the quickest way to make a photograph in the current year of 2024. The problem with film photography is how slow it is, from the time it takes you to load the film in the camera, to line up your composition with the viewfinder, to set your camera focus, to press the shutter, to then send it to a lab to be developed, to have it returned to you, to go to a dark room, to print it with chemicals and then finally scan it and have a digital file.
By the time it takes you to get the photographs from a roll of film to the final product of a print or a digital scan, I have already made a month’s worth of new work and photographs. He who makes more photographs will ultimately make more successful photographs. At this rate, who is going to succeed more, innovate more, and improve more, within the realm of photography?
Person A: Shoots one roll of film per day Person B: Shoots 1,000 photos digitally per day
I think the answer is obvious, and we all know that person B will ultimately be the better photographer, in every single way. It’s up to you to decide whether you want to become extraordinary with me, as we can all thrive together, or remain ordinary, and just good enough. Get over the romanticization of film photography, the tactile feel, the print, the gallery, the blah blah blah. It’s all over, done with, in the past, and time to move on.
Money, money, money
I remember being a young boy, watching TV shows like American Idol, and I believe before American Idol would come on on a Friday night, The Apprentice by Donald Trump would come on. I remember the theme song played some song that went along the lines of, “money money money, mooooney” in a sort of jingle.
In this modern world, where we print money ad infinitum, with a brilliant implementation of the Federal Reserve’s power of money printing, inflation is inevitable. This means, the value of our dollar is decreasing every single year. If the value of our dollars is decreasing every single year, what is it that we should do with our money? Should we keep our money in our bank account, allowing the bank to borrow it? Or, should we invest our money in a scarce asset, like gold? Or maybe we should invest in the Fortune 500 companies, as these will increase our capital gains over the years at a steady rate. Honestly, none of these ideas seem too great. Holding money in the bank, allowing the bank to simply borrow my money, using it to pay off loans, or even better yet, fund the endless wars occurring overseas, that I want nothing to do with. It seems like the only option is to take self-custody of our money, and put it in a true scarce asset. It seems that there’s only one true scarce asset that is currently being built within our modern world, being Bitcoin. Bitcoin is cryptographically proven to be a scarce asset, whereas gold is not. You could tell people to go out and mine gold, and they will find more gold, endlessly. However, there are only 21 million bitcoin that will ever be produced, making it the only real scarce asset. When my ancestors arrived from Italy and entered the United States of America through Ellis Island in New York City, they had the opportunity to purchase property before the bank started to own everything. They built their families, through the baby boomer generation, having the ability to raise a family with one income, own a home, have multiple children, and have a thriving life. Now, in this modern world, my generation, Generation Z, frankly does not possess the ability to rise to the occasion, raise a family on one income, purchase property, own a home, a car, etc. However, we were born with iPhones, and all this technology, allowing us the ability to own property digitally, where there is nobody in between us and acquiring it, besides our open minds and our ability to adapt to modern times. We may not be able to own a physical block in Manhattan, but we can own a digital block like in Minecraft, or cyberspace.
I first learned about Bitcoin when I was walking down the street on Market Street here in Philadelphia, looking at the electronic billboard, at the beginning of 2024, that was describing the ETF, where you can purchase Bitcoin through the bank. From there, I started to do my own research, and came to the conclusion that Bitcoin is the only option if you want to hold your money, and have it increase in value over time.
At this rate of inflation, the average worker has to work for an hour or two, just to be able to afford to eat an ice cream or a roll of film. The strategy? Don’t buy film, but BTC.
A lot of people can’t even afford to have three square meals per day. So what can we do about this? Stop buying food. Stop buying anything. Fill your freezer with meat, don’t eat breakfast or lunch, and eat the most satiating food before you go to sleep. Increase your physical strength, buy Bitcoin on Coinbase, and just chill. The number in your bank account means nothing anymore. In the future, the real flex will be how many Satoshis you have. If you can even get to 1 BTC, you will be a legend.
If you want to learn more, I’ve basically gone through every single video from these two websites:
I just gave my copy to my engineer friend, who for the past year was mocking me about Bitcoin being stupid, and is now reading my book. We will all get Bitcoin at the price we deserve.
I believe in this future of decentralization, where the individual holds their private keys and their personal bank. I think if George Washington was alive today, he would also partake in Bitcoin. I think Bitcoin is hope, and ultimately allows the individual to think more about the future optimistically. If my money will go up in value over the next 20 years, I will simply hold my money in that asset that will allow for this, giving me hope for the future, to pass down wealth, generally, to think more about family, and how to build a future. In today’s world, we’re so consumer-driven, because the value of our dollar is decreasing, we’re spending the dollars endlessly, on things that truly do not matter. We live in a consumer age, where we follow our base whims and desires, purchasing random junk. Because the purchasing of our decreasing, we’re simply spending it with a pessimistic view of the future. I believe that the money problem is also a reason why we are seeing a decrease in population and families forming. However, Bitcoin reframes the way that you think about money, where you simply make money, and don’t spend it, giving you an optimistic outlook on what is to come, rather than what there is here, right now, to purchase. It essentially reframes the way you think about money from instant gratification to delaying the gratification.
I believe that the present holders of Bitcoin will be the future builders of the world. If you want to build a future, we need hope, we need a life raft, something that can get us out of this sinking ship, and build a new world together.
A healthy diet balances the energy (calories) ingested daily with the energy expended, a concept known as energy balance.
Macronutrients: Include proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. The appropriate ratio for each person depends on individual health goals and needs.
Micronutrients: Essential vitamins and minerals, along with beneficial compounds like phytochemicals found in whole foods. Bioavailability varies between plant and animal sources.
Minimize consumption of ultra-processed foods as they tend to be low in nutrient density and high in calories. Healthy dietary patterns are generally low in ultra-processed foods.
Understanding Energy Balance
Energy Balance: Refers to the equilibrium between calories consumed and calories burned. Maintaining this balance is key to weight management.
Calories: Essential for bodily functions and activities. The source of calories matters; a calorie is a unit of measurement, but its effect on the body varies based on its source (e.g., French fries vs. eggs).
Methods to Estimate Calorie Needs:
Mifflin-St Jeor Method: Uses weight, height, age, and gender to calculate Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE).
Weight by 15 Method: A quick estimate by multiplying body weight by 15 to gauge daily calorie needs for energy balance.
Food Journal Method: Tracking daily intake to estimate calorie needs if weight is stable.
Macronutrients: Proteins, Carbohydrates, and Fats
Proteins:
Vital for building and repairing tissues, creating enzymes and hormones.
Protein Quality: Determined by amino acid content and digestibility.
Digestibility Scores:
PDCAAS (Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score): Measures how well protein is absorbed.
DIAAS (Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score): A newer, more accurate measure showing that animal proteins are highly digestible.
Carbohydrates:
Provide energy; quality matters more than quantity.
Favor whole foods (fruits, vegetables) over processed carbs to maintain health.
Fats:
Essential for absorbing fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) and providing satiety.
Focus on whole food sources of fat rather than added fats.
Micronutrients and Their Importance
Micronutrient Deficiency: 90% of Americans are deficient in at least one essential micronutrient.
Sources:
Animal products generally offer more bioavailable forms of vitamins and minerals.
Plant sources are valuable, particularly for specific nutrients like magnesium found in dark leafy greens and almonds.
Magnesium: Critical for hundreds of bodily processes, including DNA repair and energy production.
Optimizing for Satiety
Satiety: A key feature of a healthful diet that helps in weight management by promoting fullness with fewer calories.
Three Satiety Superstars:
Protein: The most satiating macronutrient. Encourages fullness and reduces overeating.
Fiber: Slows digestion, expands in the stomach, and reduces hunger hormones like ghrelin.
Water: Drinking water before meals can reduce calorie intake; hydration also plays a role in reducing perceived hunger.
The Role of Fiber
Benefits of Fiber:
Helps manage blood sugar levels by slowing carbohydrate absorption.
Reduces inflammation and supports gut health by promoting beneficial bacteria.
Assists in lipid and hormone balance by trapping certain compounds like estrogen and cholesterol.
Increasing Fiber Intake: Should be done gradually to allow the gut microbiome to adapt.
Conclusion
A healthful diet is not one-size-fits-all but should be customized based on individual needs and goals.
Focusing on whole, minimally processed foods rich in protein, fiber, and water can optimize satiety and nutritional intake.
Understanding macronutrient and micronutrient requirements is crucial for long-term health and wellbeing.
