Happiness, Photography, and Pens
Some Practical Advice for Finding Joy and Balance, My Latest Skillshare Class on Photography Composition, a New Pilot Elabo/Falcon, Flourishing Class, and Journaling With Bear vs Day One
Hey guys! Here’s a few things I’m happy to share with you from my previous week:
On Personal Growth
I came read an article by Eric Barker that offers practical advice for everyday happiness. It’s a quick read, but it serves as a good reminder of some tips that can help you find more joy in the simple things and balance out your life. In short, the article mentions the importance of:
P: Positive Emotions
E: Engagement
R: Relationships
M: Meaning
A: Accomplishment
On Photography
A few weeks ago, I released a photography class on Skillshare. My wife, Sunny, and I worked together to create this class, which covers the fundamentals of composition and serves as an introduction to layered photography. My class was recently featured in Skillshare’s marketing emails! This was awesome for exposure and I couldn’t be happier.
On Penmanship and Calligraphy
This past week I got myself the best fountain pen I have in my small collection: a Pilot Elabo (Falcon) in SEF nib. It’s already been about two years that I started to journaling consistently (after a long break), and it was also at the beginning of my return to journaling that I got myself a fountain pen that. A pen that—in turn—inspired me to improve my handwriting. Up until now I’d been using a Pilot Kakuno EF nib in a Pilot Prera body (nibs and body are interchangeable) and I thought this was the best inexpensive combination. I still think it’s probably the best you can get for the price if you are into extra-fine lines. Since I started working on my cursive I always dreamt of a Pilot Falcon though. I found one at 120 USD and I thought it was a pretty good deal. This pen feels and writes amazing.
Last week, I added a new fountain pen to my small collection: a Pilot Elabo (Falcon) with a SEF nib. It’s been about two years since I decided come back to journaling consistently. To make the habit a bit more attractive and easy to get into, I got myself a nice notebook and a fountain pen. A pen that, in turn, inspired me to improve my handwriting. All this time I had been using a Pilot Kakuno with an EF nib in a Pilot Prera body (the nibs and body can be swapped), which I believed was the best affordable combination. I still think it’s a great choice if you like extra-fine lines. However, I always dreamed of owning a Pilot Falcon. Super happy with this pen, it totally lives up to my expectations.
I signed up for this flourishing course by Suzanne Cunningham. I missed the live sessions but the live sessions are available to be watched until December. A few months ago I took another flourishing course with Schin Loong and learned a lot (actually, I’m still digesting it), so I’m excited to continue learning and practicing with Suzanne’s class.
On Apps
I discovered Shareful, an app which expand the functionality of your “share menu” in Mac OS. I don’t know how I didn’t know about this one. A small utility that is super handy.
Someone asked about using Bear vs using Day One for digital journaling. Here’s some thoughts that I answered back:
I use both, and in my opinion Day One design and features are meant to be used for journaling. The sorting, for once, but also tags are used for filtering (not necessarily for organization as Bear uses them), the separate journals, the On This Day feature, location auto-tagging and entries appearing in the map, templates, etc. All of these are geared towards truly creating the journaling “experience” in a different way than Bear. None of the extra features that Day One offers are “essential,” but now that I’m so used to them it’d be hard to give them up. Bear is incredible, I use it as my second brain, and I’m sure it could be used for journaling, but the guys at Day One did set the bar very high for any dedicated journaling app.
One of my favorite features for me with Day One is that it can keep the users media on their secure servers, and only loads it on the entries as you open them. I do manual backups every month but since I journal with lots of media this feature means I don’t need to worry about my device/iCloud filling up.
On Airlines
I learned that Ryanair makes you go through a crazy verification process if you get tickets from a third party website or agency. Few months ago I booked some flights for my parents to go from Spain to Scotland. We didn’t have any idea about this additional verification process until last week, when it was time for the trip. It was a nightmare. Just letting you know… if you ever have to book from this airline try to do it directly with them.
On Cinema
Do the Right Thing (1989). Such a great film, seriously. I don’t know how I missed it until now. Synopsis: Salvatore “Sal” Fragione is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin’ Out, becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria’s Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin’ Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin’ Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.
The Royal Hotel (2023). I’m not sure about the ending, but I enjoyed most of this film. Synopsis: After running out of money while backpacking in a tiny, male-dominated town in the Australian outback, two friends resort to a working holiday at the Royal Hotel. When the locals behavior starts crossing the line, the girls find themselves trapped in an unnerving situation that grows rapidly out of their control.
Game Night (2018). Oh man, I had not seen a good comedy in a long time. Synopsis: Max and Annie’s weekly game night gets kicked up a notch when Max’s brother Brooks arranges a murder mystery party – complete with fake thugs and federal agents. So when Brooks gets kidnapped, it’s all supposed to be part of the game. As the competitors set out to solve the case, they start to learn that neither the game nor Brooks are what they seem to be. The friends soon find themselves in over their heads as each twist leads to another unexpected turn over the course of one chaotic night.
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