bump

space age madness

Space Age Madness
About / Blog / Kungfumaster
You are here: Home / Archives for Weekly Bump

Some Things I’m Enjoying

By

How are you? I’m doing okay given the circumstances, and I truly hope you’re doing well at this crazy moment in history. I should mention that I am currently looking for a job in digital products and you can read more about my background on my LinkedIn profile. I’m long overdue for some sporadic blog posting, so here goes, here are some things I have enjoyed lately.

Something to Read: A great TechCrunch article by Darrell Etherington about improving your at-home videoconference setup on any budget. This article goes into a lot of detail and has excellent videos inline that help along the way. Even if you think you have a great setup, worth a read.

Something to Listen To: I really enjoyed the most recent episode of Switched on Pop, an excellent podcast about pop music. This episode, Why lo-fi is the perfect background music, covers the rise and origins of lo-fi music, including J Dilla’s influence on its origins and Adult Swim’s role in its popularity. I’ve been listening to a lot of this style of music for a long while, this was a lot of information that I didn’t know, and was very interesting to learn.

Something to Listen On: I’m loving my $20 IKEA Frekvens Portable Speaker. It’s become the speaker that I take out to the backyard to work on some project or to the front porch to listen to something while I have a beer and relax. I don’t think you can order them online, but I highly recommend if you have a means of obtaining. The sound is really good for such a little speaker, and the device was created in conjunction with Teenage Engineering. You may have heard of them because of Playdate, but I’ve wanted an OP-1 since basically forever.

Something to Snack On: I discovered Honey Mama’s, I believe, through the Random Show, which is a podcast that Tim Ferris does with Kevin Rose. In any case, these bars, and I love love love the Mayan Spice flavor, are made with honey, instead of refined sugars, cocoa, and other ingredients depending on the flavor. The Mayan Spice are a little spicy and a little chocolatey, are a nice treat. I will say that these are not cheap, and take a little while to ship if you don’t have a store near you. Worth the price and wait, in my opinion, I just had one after lunch.

The Weekly Bump: Episode 6

By

Not so weekly these days.  This episode is very focused on paper goods. 

I’ve really been digging the slim and tall format of these Ro-Biki Notebooks from Yamamoto Paper. I’ve adopted them for my Bullet Journal, and the format seems to be perfect for my simple adaptation of the system. The paper in these notebooks is fantastic, and works well with both my beloved Signo gel ink pens and the fountain pens I am using from time to time.  I am currently using the  “Star Map” edition pictured above which is a lovely dark green color. The covers of these notebooks are a waxed stock that develops cool character as you beat it up. These aren’t cheap, but are a high quality product.  They ship from Japan, so you need to be a little patient with arrival timing. 

As it’s December, it’s time for a new “planner plan” for 2019. This year, I am straying from the Hobonichi Techo and Hobonichi Weeks that I have been using for the last few years and giving the Jibun Techo system a try.  I bought a fairly expensive setup from one of my favorite online stationary retailers, Baum-Kuchen, that is centered on the B6 Slim format and includes a BK x The Superior Labor leather case. If you want to get an idea on how one might use this planner, here’s a great article detailing some of the features of this cool planner setup with good shots of the folios and some ink tests, if that’s of interest.  There are more similar stories of how people are using this planner here. I’m hopeful that I will stick with daily use of this system better this year than the last couple of years with the Hobonichis. I purposely went for something smaller to ensure that I will carry it around. The Ro-Biki notebook that I am using for the Bullet Journal fits in the case with only a small amount sticking out. 

I’ve also become interested in the idea of keeping a five year journal, and since I’ve just hit a big birthday, this year seems as good a time to really start and lean into this idea. It pairs well with my current interest in Stoicism and reflection. For this purpose, I have chosen the Hobonichi 5-Year Techo A6.  This size is currently available from Jet Pens if you don’t want to order it all the way from Japan.  

Lastly, for now, I have been a fan of The James Brand for a while. I carry their Elko knife in my pocket all the time, use one of their key hooks for the daily carry of my keys, and own a couple of their other knives. So I was really interested, and immediately ordered the LTD Benton pen when it was released. A sweetener is that it comes with a limited run of 600 set of Field Notes books that match the pen. If you know me at all, you know that I had to have this pen, and those sweet sweet notebooks. I really like the super clean lines of the pen, which is a ballpoint out of the box. My only reservation on recommending this is that the click mechanism for the pen is plastic, which is not something I really expect in a pen that costs this much. Having said that, I am happily using mine. 

The Weekly Bump: Episode 5

By

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done one of these. No excuses, but I’m also not putting too much pressure on myself. We went to the beach for a week, and I was at E3, which I should probably write something about.

Since it’s Summer and we went to the beach, one thing that’s been top of mind for me has been sunglasses. I’ve typically worn Ray Bans, which are $100+ a pair. Not all sunglasses look good on me, but the Wayfarer models usually look okay. Unfortunately, I have a horrible track record of scratching or losing them. At $100+ a pop, that’s shitty.  Additionally, I have an iPhone X, and actual Ray Ban Wayfarers don’t typically work with FaceID.

Enter Goodr, I discovered this brand via a professional runner who I follow on Instagram. (I follow a bunch of fitness athletes on Instagram. It’s one of my strategies for keeping myself motivated and inspired to work out myself.)

Goodr glasses are roughly Wayfarer shaped, but they only cost $25 a pair. They also, although you mileage may vary by color, work with FaceID. So I can lose or damage a pair of these, and not feel like I wasted a C Note. They also make pretty rad holiday color ways. The most recent is the “Betsy Ross” pictured above, which I purchased for my 4th of July fun.  (I’m not getting any referral credit or anything, I am just recommending these glasses because I think they are great.) 

One other item I wanted to call attention to this week is the limited availability of new Hypercritical shirts from John Siracusa.  As a long time fan of his reviews, blog, podcasts new and old, and social media, I own one of the original shirts, but was delighted that these were available, and in new colors. I went for the color pictured, but there are others. I have found that I have too many black t-shirts, and I am feeling the need to mix it up a bit more. These shirts are only available until June 29th, so better get hopping and get one if you’re going to want one.

Last but not least, the Andys are at it again. They will be conducting an XOXO Festival in Portland this year, and the registration application is currently available, through June 29th. I have attended three of the previous XOXO Festivals. All of them were great experiences, I met great people, was exposed to interesting ideas, and left inspired and refreshed. I could not recommend it more. Unfortunately, it doesn’t fit into my September calendar. We’re taking the kids to Walt Disney World for a week the following week.  Hopefully I can still get some of those sweet sweet XOXO Field Notes if they make them.

See you next week?  I hope so.

 

The Weekly Bump: Episode 4

By

Hope everyone’s had a great week.  It feels like Spring has officially sprung here in the Atlanta area. Last weekend was crazy busy, with a really enjoyable Foo Fighters show, which was the first ever concert at the newly renamed Georgia State Stadium, which used to be Turner Field.

It’s been kind of a mundane week, with the exception of moving my office at work, which always is a distraction. I had been in my existing office for almost exactly a year, and while I will miss it’s quiet corner of the world charm, the new one is more centrally located for what I’m working on. It probably took me about three days total to get comfortable with the new setup.

Each week, this post has gone a couple of days later…Now on to things I’m enjoying.

 

At the beginning of the year, I got a chance to try some peated bourbon for the first time, and I have to say that it’s really grown on me. It’s definitely not the first thing I reach for every time, but it’s a unique taste that I have come to enjoy. Specifically, the peated bourbon from Kings County Distillery. There’s definitely a debate about whether it still should be considered bourbon, but I honestly don’t care, it’s really good.  Two warnings, it’s not cheap, and not super easy to find.

 

In keyboard addiction news, these Zambumon GMK Serika Custom key caps are currently available to back on Massdrop. (That’s an affiliate link.) These look really high quality, and really nice. I already have a keyboard in mind for them. I’ve had really good luck backing key caps on Massdrop. Again, not cheap, but so nice.

 

Finally, I read the first two issues of Weapon H, a sort of mashup between the Hulk and the Weapon X series. I have found these really enjoyable reads, and it’s a cool idea. Can’t wait for the rest of them to come out.

 

 

The Weekly Bump: Episode 3

By

What a great weekend, we didn’t do much out of the ordinary, but it was a really relaxing and constructive couple of days, with some high quality NBA Playoff games, and an Atlanta United victory mixed in. I’m continuing to take it easy, and my energy has returned, albeit slowly. I mostly played Hearthstone and Vainglory over the weekend, I want to play more PC games, but didn’t feel like shutting myself off from the family to play this weekend.

We finished our Lego Ship in a Bottle this weekend. Lots of little pieces.

A post shared by Robert Occhialini (@bump) on

I did also take my sons to the Pop’s Pancakes pop up at the Spindle on Sunday. If you have the chance to try these pancakes from my buddy Jeff, you definitely should check them out. I had the breakfast sandwich with Delia’s Chicken Sausage, and I am hooked.

A couple of Kickstarters of note that I wanted to mention. Both are fully funded.

Time is starting to wind down on the Mark One Pen from the Studio Neat guys. This pen checks all the boxes, and my friends over at the Pen Addict podcast had nothing but nice things to say about it, which is good enough for me.

The second one is the Kira Mechanical Keyboard from the Input Club. These guys really know how to put together a nice board, and I currently have and use a White Fox at home.  This board is unique in that it’s the smallest footprint you can squeeze a full sized keyboard into. It’s a bit pricey, but compared to similar keyboards, it’s a good price for the high quality they produce.

Some things I am enjoying.

Picked up a Schon DSGN Limited Edition “Punk Rock Pink” pen a couple of weeks ago, and it’s become my EDC pocket pen. I’ve always like the Fischer Space Pen refill, and this colorway is striking. This color is sold out, but they have a lot of other combinations that are equally as nice.

 

Upgraded my computer audio monitors to these Mackie Monitors. (Amazon affiliate link) I had been using the same Bose setup for maybe ten years before this. These speakers also support Bluetooth, so I can pipe other audio to them when I am not using my gaming PC. They sound great, and are small enough that I didn’t really have to make any huge changes. I am running out of plugs to power things in my home office.

Finally, I ran my Twitter account through Watson after reading this Kottke post about Watson Personality Insights.

Here’s what came back for me:

You are skeptical.

You are authority-challenging: you prefer to challenge authority and traditional values to help bring about positive changes. You are dutiful: you take rules and obligations seriously, even when they’re inconvenient. And you are hedonistic: you feel your desires strongly and are easily tempted by them.

You are motivated to seek out experiences that provide a strong feeling of organization.

You don’t find either tradition or taking pleasure in life to be particularly motivating for you. You care more about making your own path than following what others have done. And you prefer activities with a purpose greater than just personal enjoyment.

Still processing that.