Life lesson from Fight Club (the movie)

As usual I was wasting time watching YouTube videos on a late weekend (after all, it's MY personal time)...but this was not a normal time waster. This time, I found a message that shook me deep to my core:

Don't worry about external chaos, control your inner chaos and embrace what is to come.

In the movie Fight Club, Tyler Durden is the manifestation of the main character's need to control his life. Most people don't have control of their lives hence chaos kept happening to them. We feel helpless and become afraid of it.

Toxic masculinity aside, Tyler Durden teaches the protagonist to embrace chaos, not fear it.

For me, this idea is almost transcendent. I am always seeking to stabilize and control my life. Unlike the movie's protagonist, I am happy and content. I like what I have now, and want to protect it. At the root of that need lies an inate fear of chaos, the unknown, a future that's worse than the present.

But why fear chaos? Why not embrace it by controlling your inner chaos? In other words, control your reaction to external forces so you can better deal with what may come.

Today I realized I've been approaching life the wrong way. I don't need to fear the future; I just need to better react to what may come. To do that, I need to practice control over my reaction. I always knew I should exert better control over my emotions, but never thought about embracing chaos.

A quote from the Count of Montecristo: "You must look into [the] storm and shout as you did in Rome. Do your worst, for I will do mine!" 

Many times, the fear of what's to come is much worse than the thing itself. That imaginary monster and the punishment it brings, are as big or as little as you think them to be. You have that control.

Now, I need to find my Tyler Durden because doing this alone is hard. 😜

By the way, Brad Pitt is awesome, but Edward Norton is one of my favorite actors.

Another great movie that holds a special place in my heart is Kingdom of Heaven. I can never forget the last quote by Salahuddin in response to Balian's question of what Jerusalem means (after all the fighting and losses).

He simply stated: "Nothing... and everything!"

Jerusalem is just a piece of dirt with some structures built on top of it. But what it stands for, is everything. That belief, that imaginary thing, causes so much destruction and pain, but it also gives hope to generations of people. It is everything!

That movie has so many great moments. Here's another one that resonates:

Priest: "I put no stock in religion. By the word religion I have seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the will of God. Holiness is in right action and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves, and goodness. What God desires is here [points to head] and here [points to heart] and what you decide to do every day, you will be a good man - or not."

Comparison of 2 mechanical keyboards (EVGA Z15 & Loriik LR68)

Part of the joy of owning a mechanical keyboard is the high amount of customizations that comes with it. 

Revised keycaps config under bright light. Z15 (top) using HyperX PBT pudding keycaps while LR68 (bottom) rocking XDA "this is plastic" set

Lights off to show more RGB 😍

In the process of replacing keycaps. You can see the Gateron Brown switches here.

Original config of the LR68 vs Z15 (main keyboard)

...and RGB! They're actually quite nice and can be set to various single color modes

Starting with a mechanical keyboard, you get the ability to choose a switch type (the thing that clicks when you press a key) then you can change the key caps (the plastic cap covering each key), color modes, etc. With a hot-swappable board like the EVGA Z15, you get the ability to swap out the switches as well, giving you the ability to have a hybrid keyboard with different types of switches.

For example, I love clicky switches so I bought the Z15 with bronze switches. They're lovely to type on but loud. I game on these so I changed a few of the often-used keys to silver switches (8 included) which are linear (non-clicky). Without it, the constant (and rapid) clicking noise will bug the heck out of my wife. To make them even quieter, I added a rubber O-ring below each key.

Marquis of Wucheng - MoshowToys robot figure

My first MoshowToys figure arrived and it's huge!

Ive been into Gundams since I was a kid. Having built many kits, I'm used to Gundam HG and MG grades, but this new robot figure is easily 2X typical MG size.

That said, it is amazingly detailed and high quality.

I no longer have time or patience to build quality Gundam kits so these pre-built & painted action figures are just the ticket. I'm waiting for batteries to make the many LEDs in this kit shine but here's a shot with a bit of lighting to make it interesting.

A new take on American exceptionalism

A recent post on Reddit on how Vietnam defeated 3 world powers in 30 years prompted me to think about how one of those powers (the US) compares.

Finally started our travel blog & video channel

My wife kept talking about making a travel site and YouTube channel but we never actually do it, until now.

The concept is simple: 1000 Days of Travel in our lifetime (https://1000daysoftravel.com).

At 3 weeks a year, that's roughly 48 years 😱. But if we can squeeze in 5 weeks a year, we can do it in 28.6 years. We got a good start (52 countries) so let's see if we can do it.

New metal G-shock Casioak watch

The model of this watch is GM2100C-5A.

Ever since I saw the announcement of it back in February, I knew I had to get it. 

Macy's ran a 25% sale over the weekend and it applied to this watch so I grabbed it.

I can't wait to take it with me on an upcoming trip.

Here's a video review:

DNDM - Elfida. A beautiful song about a sad story

This is a beautiful song about a little girl who, despite losing her fight against illness, inspires others to fight on.

Sometimes you come across a beautiful song that evokes deep emotions, but you don't understand it because it's in a foreign language.

Still, music transcends language and nothing is lost, even if the current song is a modern (house) interpretation of the original.

This is DNDM's new song called Elfida (shown through House FM's visual presentation).

My favorite songs from INNA

I've been a fan of INNA (a Romanian house/pop artist) for a while, but I recently came across these awesome songs. I then proceeded to listen to most of her entire discography (she made a ton).

There are many good songs, but here are my current favorites:

INNA - INNDIA