Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large.

Year of NewJeans

Is my 2023 top 10 list of songs going to be mostly NewJeans?

I absolutely cannot stop listening to NewJeans’ latest pre-release EP, featuring the songs Super Shy and New Jeans. Both are the typical NewJeans flavor: catchy, cute, innovative, and super fun. Best of all, there’s more music to come as the full mini album is coming out next week. Expectations are rightfully very high.

NewJeans’ release at the beginning of this year - the tracks Ditto and OMG - has already solidify their place in my 2023 top 10. Unless a new song blows me away during the second half of this year, Ditto is likely number one (I’ve play the song more than 800 times already). A melancholic, hauntingly beautiful track that talks about platonic longing for a special someone.

So that’s two slots taken, with Super Shy and New Jeans knocking dangerously on the doors, and more releases coming up. Can I really dedicate half the slots to one group? That last time this happened was back in 2015, when Red Velvet came out with Ice Cream Cake EP and The Red album. Coincidentally, the creative director at the time for Red Velvet was Min Hee-jin, who is now the executive producer of NewJeans. Talk about someone tremendously good at her craft…

The 2023 list is going to be tough. Which is a good thing because who’s complaining about lots good music? Contenders also are aespa's My World EP, and LE SSERAFIM’s Unforgiven album. Both features songs I’ve been really digging. Why does it look like all I listen to are Kpop female groups, you ask? That’s where the innovation is, my friends. Kpop male groups are all trying to do the tough guy BTS thing. That gets tiring after the fifth track that sounds exactly the same.

Clearing the slate

Last week, I noticed a coworker checking out bicycles (of the self-pedaling kind). I asked if he’s looking to buy, or merely window shopping. Somewhat meekly he replied that he really shouldn’t be looking to buy, because he’s already got a bicycle that he spent a relatively significant sum on. Alas, the upgrade treadmill comes for us all. We’re always looking for the next better thing, aren’t we? This is why I’ve yet to keep a car longer than three years. (My BMW M2 is coming up to that threshold in September…)

Another coworker chimed in with a tip: if you truly wish to replace something with a new/better of the same, you should sell the one you already have first. That way, the slate is clean, and you’re once again deprived of the thing you want. (Ignore the depreciation, obviously.) Coincidentally, the coworker looking at bikes said he actually did put his old bike up for sale! And soon as it sells, he’ll have no reservations about buying the newer, shinier replacement.

Inspired by this, I decided to give my old Sony A7R2 camera (plus two lenses) to a photography enthusiast friend of mine. For free. I cannot be bothered to put it up for sale, wasting time with tire-kickers and having to go to a UPS store for shipping. I’ve had the camera for seven years, it’s served me well; it’s time to let it go cleanly and smoothly. Never mind the fact I hardly use the camera these days. By offloading the camera to my graciously accepting friend, I am now free to make a move for a newer camera.

I’ve been admiring the Fujifilm XT-5 for awhile now. It’s not an easy decision to switch from one camera brand to another, because you essentially have to re-buy everything that isn’t the memory card. The draw of the XT-5 (and any Fujifilm camera) is the film simulation: essentially a filter on your shots that replicate how old film cameras would look. No editing, just straight out of the camera. An easy button for when I don’t want to spend hours editing hundreds of RAW files.

Now I just need the XT-5 to go on sale…

Not enough juice

We are about two months away from the annual new iPhone launch in September (typically). I cannot wait to get a new one this year, because the battery life on my current iPhone 14 Pro has been the worse I’ve ever used. (And I’ve had every single iPhone since the 7.) The iPhone is famous for robust battery life compared to the Android competition. In my experience, this has been very true. I’ve never had to plug my iPhone in mid-day to top up the battery ever. It’s never gone down past 20% at the end of the day even in my heaviest usage days.

That is, until the iPhone 14 Pro. 10 months in, the battery life have not held up to standards. These days I’m down to 20% by the time I get home from work in the early evening. Mind you this is without any heavy usage of social media apps whatsoever. I’m only chatting with friends on Signal and reading ebooks on Kindle. I joked to my friends that I’ve become just like them: having to charge the phone battery during the day, otherwise risk running out of juice.

The forthcoming iPhone 15 Pro could have zero new features - only improved battery life, and I would still happily do the yearly upgrade.

Obviously, this is the most first world of problems. Here’s some quick perspective to bring me back down to earth. A new coworker of mine recently remarked that in all of his previous jobs, he’s never had the major holidays off. In the typical service industry-type jobs, the holidays is when you definitely have to show up for work. That’s where the money is made: restaurants needs tables filled, shows need to go on, and parcels need delivering. That coworker’s remark is a humbling reminder that I’m so lucky to only have had jobs where major holidays are actually a thing.

It reminded me of my younger (than me by 10 years) brother. He’s currently working his way up from the bottom at entry-level service jobs. There are no holidays off. And should he wish to take any time off, he has to find others to cover his shift. A two week vacation? He can certainly take one, but just don’t come back to work afterwards. It’s tough work for not that much pay. Fingers crossed he can eventually find a job that provide proper benefits and time off - like my coworker did.

I guess I'll lie down

I had planned to exercise after work today. But I woke up this morning with a super cranky right shoulder. It’s bad enough that I can’t comfortably turn my head rightward, and wearing a backpack actually hurts. Guess what? That means moving a kettlebell around is not going to fly, nor is doing pull-ups. No workout today. I’m not that enthused about it, honestly.

Alas, I am getting to that age (mid 30s) where ailments like that just happen. I’d go to bed with zero pain anywhere and then wake up with a body part gone awry. It can’t possibly be the mattress, because I paid a pretty penny for a quality one about a year ago. Perhaps during sleep I am dreaming something violent happening to me, and it’s transferred over to real life.

Good thing I bought a couch this year! Indeed, every home needs a properly good couch. Lounging around - especially when parts of your body isn’t feeling to great - is the best thing. Watching YouTube on the big TV in couch mode is the only way to enjoy hours of Korean language programming. Of course, you should definitely pay for YouTube Premium. Because adverts in videos are obnoxious. It’s one those things in life where it’s good to throw money at the problem. The quality-of-life increase with YouTube Premium is worth the monthly expense.

My friends are definitely tired of me saying, “Ads? On YouTube?” every time I watch on their TV or computers. I’m simply not used to seeing ad rolls before and during the video. I’m too lazy to even click the skip button using the TV remote. When I’m on the couch, I am on the couch: totally vegged out, not wanting to move any more than necessary.

Because my right shoulder is hurting.

The best laid plans

I ran into a work colleague today. For exchange of pleasantries, we talked about vacation plans. I said I planned to take the last full week of July off, a bit of staycation to relax before the rush of Fall semester preparation begins. The colleague informed me he’s already taken his summer trip: to Hawaii, more specifically the island of Maui. After congratulating him on a good time, I remarked that my friend and I were suppose to go to Hawaii during spring break (March) of 2020. Other plans, as they say, got in the way. To say the least.

Three years later, I still don’t desire to visit Hawaii, even though I’ve never been. Besides, the whole reason for going - back in 2020 - is no longer there. This is a good thing, mind you.

Today is Amazon Prime Day, a Black Friday of sort for Amazon Prime subscribers. I didn’t plan to buy anything during the festivities (there’s never any discounts on the photography stuff I want) until my friend informed me that New Balance shoes had a site-wide 46% discount. So like a chum with money burning in his pocket, I plopped down some unplanned cash on a pair of New Balance running shoes, and a regular pair of the classic 515. Not bad for under $100 shipped (free two day shipping, obviously). I paid more for my current single pair of Allbirds.

But that should be it - no more spending during this year’s Prime Day. Please do not notify me of any deals you’ve found. Because I’m as memetic of a person, with little self-control, as the rest of you. For our generation (read: millennial), interest rates are at historic highs. The move to make right now is save as much as possible, and put money into a high-yield savings account. These days, my monthly interest earnings are nearly as much as the monthly payment on my first car. Somewhat humble brag.

Are you threading?

Facebook (I’m not calling it Meta), via its Instagram division, have launched a twitter competitor. It is called Threads. In five short days since launch, the service have already amassed over 100 million accounts. The major brands and personalities you're following on twitter have likely all jumped over to the new thing. So why haven't you?

I haven’t signed up for Threads because that would break my own rule of having nothing to do with anything Facebook (again, not calling it Meta). My own Facebook account have been long deactivated. So have the instagram handle. I’ve essentially convinced my friends to join me on Signal, therefore no need to keep the WhatsApp around. There will be zero nefarious ad-targeting (and probably spying) on me!

Besides, the whole point of leaving twitter is in large parts eliminating all social media apps from my everyday life. The other part obviously is Elon Musk’s utter mismanagement.

It’s sad to see twitter dying on a proverbial vine. Now that a worthy replacement have appeared - back by the biggest social media company of all time - I don’t see how twitter can survive. Locally here we speak of a doom spiral in San Francisco - the same can be said if people start ditching twitter in droves. There comes a point of critical mass, and there would be nothing worthy or notable remaining on the bird app. The party’s over at Threads.

I have to say, it’s a masterful way to set 44 billions dollars on fire. Monsieur Musk is like the Joker in The Dark Knight - torching the money he stole from the mobsters simply for sport. It’s sad to watch, honestly, because twitter will be but a beautiful memory. Forever lost to the pantheon of bygone social media apps.

Gray so gray

The drudgery of summer here in San Francisco have gotten slightly depressive, even for jolly ole me. The western side of the city remains constantly blanketed by a cloud of fog on most days. An unpleasant situation for receiving those mood-positive vitamin Ds from the sun. Even though I’m grateful for the coolness during the night, the grayish overcast during the day can be rather oppressive.

I thought of Conan O’Brien’s sign off during his last episode as host of The Tonight Show. (Shame forever on Jay Leno for forcing Conan out of his dream job.) Despite the clear unfairness done to him, Conan cautioned us to not ever be cynical:

"I'm asking this particularly of young people that watch: please do not be cynical. I hate cynicicism. For the record, it's my least favorite quality. It doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen. I'm telling you: amazing things will happen. I'm telling you. It's just true."

It seems every time I get into a bit of a funk, I go back to this Conan quote. Indeed, nobody in life gets exactly what they want. What you thought something would be turns out to be completely different. That girl you like just might not like you back. Where you are right now isn’t where you’d thought just five years ago. But that’s okay. Like Conan says, you just have to be kind, and keep working at whatever it is that you do. Take some risks, make some decisions, and deal with the consequences head on.

What I’m working on these days is being first to communicate. If I encounter something and it makes me think of someone, I try not to hesitate to text that person. Typically, I would be paralyzed with anxiety and simply not make the effort. What if that person finds it bothersome? What if they don’t text me back? What if we haven’t talked in a while, and I come off as weird? I’m trying to fight against that programming.

The point is to let it out into the world. Whether that boomerang comes back is out of my control. Best case, however, it sparks some conversations that otherwise wouldn’t ever have happened - if I didn’t make the effort.