principles
(originally posted on @1000wordvomits in March 2017) What are my principles? A bunch of my colleagues were chatting about our
fun
You were born laughing, you should die crying. Life is short. Are you having fun? If you’re not having fun, would you li
make friends
— 1 — You can spend years arguing with idiots, or you can spend years making friends. The idiots aren’t going to be
Memex
I saw a picture of “Bay Area Memespace“, and for some reason I felt compelled to put together my own “@visak
2019 twitter
January strategy/marketing/biz/career stuff: sermon: play the long game theory about loving your own writing the best content
twitter threads
(this is a work-in-progress post trying to consolidate my often-revisited, often-shared twitter threads.) Start Here These are
Relationships are challenging + a lot of work
Preamble: Hello everyone! This post has been getting shared a little bit, so I thought it might be worth taking some time to p
‘Smart Writing’ is about cultivating taste, suspending judgement and chasing your curiosity
I saw someone tweet “I wish smart writing came to me as easily as dumb tweeting” — and so I am here to share my strategy
marketing
A service I provide as a “marketing consultant” is really to just help people think clearly about what they’
flirting is about signalling interest with plausible deniability
What I tell my nephews: flirting is basically this – give moderately strong signals of interest with plausible deniabili
We need to get better at dealing with assholes if we are to progress as a species
— 1 — As I get older I feel this subtle-but-strong pressure to become more “professional” – more “civil”, mo
rationalbros are mainly interested in scoring points in the rationalbro game
This is a collection of notes and tweets I have about the times I’ve used the phrase “rationalbro”. I may so
#StrugglePorn
good conversation started here with Nat & Gary I’m not personally a fan of Gary’s overall brand, but I appreci
Singapore
I’ve somehow found myself in an interesting position of getting to be the only Singaporean in a room full of foreigners
my life in pictures
This post exists to help me, at a glance, get a sense of my own life over the years. 1990 – 1996 1998 2001 2003 2004 2006 20
I used to be a picky eater
I saw somebody make fun of picky eaters on Twitter, and I felt compelled to write about my own experiences. I was like this my
how to predict relationship failure
My wife predicts divorces & failed relationships with stunning accuracy and I have learned a few of her tricks relationshi
men can and should creature nurturing spaces for each other
My wife pointed out to me recently that there are so few spaces for men to gather and talk about their feelings. We could crea
our metaphors for god adapt to keep up with our technology
Most of us inherit an idea of God as a “world craftsman”. If you think about it, this idea could not predate craft
minorities have to be extra-sensitive
(these were thoughts in response to Sarah Jeong being called out for being racist towards white men) I think one of the rules
women’s perspectives are criminally underrepresented
As I get older and hear more about women’s experiences, it gets clearer and clearer to me that movies and TV are dominat
mansplaining is sometimes (but not always) innocuous
If I had to do a “the difference between men and women” type of standup set, I think I would focus on the phenomenon of ma
many women want to have sex
my wife was telling me something interesting about an all-women FB group she was in women very often want to have sex with men
menworld: a way of considering the patriarchy
(Clarification: for the whole of this thread, when I say Men, I’m referring to the subset of straight men who live &
“I only like Chinese girls”
There is some nuance in the space between having a preference and articulating it. Lots of dudes are utterly incapable of walk
Breakfast AMAs
Every so often I have breakfast alone, and I ask Twitter to ask me questions. I enjoy it a lot – I find it to be a great way
Depression Selfies
Lady Gaga and the art of orthogonal attention-seeking
Punching nazis is probably good, but never be gleeful about violence
There was a period of time where people on Twitter seemed very gleeful about punching Nazis, and the idea of punching Nazis.&n
cultural cosplay: a broader framework for thinking about cultural appropriation
I’ve never quite been satisfied with the overuse of the phrase “cultural appropriation” in all sorts of cont
Talking about cultural things means getting things wrong.
I think cultural things are the most interesting things but they’re also the hardest to talk about with other people A b
different people have different mental models
People typically have high-res models of their own lives and lower-res models of other people’s. We are all born clueless wi
People are tired, and this leads to suboptimal outcomes on many fronts
A thing I didn’t appreciate as a kid, but understand better now, is why so much of the world is suboptimal – it’s no
do you know what you want?
What do you want? Do you really want what you think you want, or did you inherit it from your parents, your peers, from societ
Attempting A Reading Into Indian History
What is India? What is Indian? I like to start with words. The name India is derived from Indus, from the Old Persion word Hin
Why I stopped blogging in 2013, I think
Before I start with this, I want to take a moment to summarize a 2014 blogpost, “Why should we blog?“ It allows fo
Books I’d like to talk about
I used to have a really old version of this blogpost that was tattered and patchy, until eventually I got sick of it and decid
Narcissist PR works because we can’t shut up about it
WIP I tweeted a more cautious version of this blogpost in July, and it’s been on my mind so I wanted to take some time t
Most people over-tolerate assholes, which lets them get away with it
[Original thread] As I get older I feel this subtle-but-strong pressure to become more “professional” – more “civi
Hypothesis: people with uncommon names are likelier to develop uncommon identities
Here’s a nominative determinism flavored hypothesis: I believe that people with uncommon names are likelier to develop u
Helm Of The Arse Gods
Oddball confession: one of my first life-shaping experiences on the Internet was lying on a video game forum (Darkstone, Delph
Bangkok [2013]
India [2016]
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Why do we want to become productive members of society?
I’ve had a few different interesting conversations with a few different people. One friend said, when she was asked to a
stop “confessing your feelings”, women are not confessional booths
"Can I know you?" "Will you be my friend?" "I think I've fallen in love with you" are
echo chambers are inescapable; the challenge is to design good ones
It's interesting to witness how people throw the term "echo chamber" around to criticize others who are careful
It’s my fault and that’s a good thing
(notes for a future essay about self-blame, responsibility, the concept of fault) A long term tension in my life: I don't
a system can only be improved at its tightest bottleneck
I’ve been thinking a lot about Tiago Forte’s point about bottlenecks – that the only meaningful improvement you
Skinwalkers: mass shootings are nihilistic acts of disaffiliation
(Writing this post because I’m cleaning out my bookmarks in one-tab and realizing that I’ve mentioned Skinwalkers
we turn our lives into mostly-predictable sitcoms
(The following is from a conversation with a friend, after an acquaintance told us about feeling suicidal) it’s interesting
I have to articulate my fears so I can defeat them
I have two big fears that are holding me back in life 1 is a fear of daily reviews 2 is a fear of scheduling in both cases, it
there are no trusted adults, you have to supernanny yourself
The following is a cleaned up transcript of a conversation I had with an older friend in 2015 Visabot: I hate that I keep gett
stress log: identify the root causes and address them
2018-feb-24: i was feeling super chill after a really slow, luxurious shower, trim beard, etc. then sat in my chair to start d
Bestof 2018
todo: search twitter for “from:visakanv 2018” FB Jan happy new year I want to go to the moon (hilarious) trippy gl
sexual objectification – “the standards don’t apply equally”, because the costs are unequal
I would say that this IS objectification, but the context we live in dictates that men are affected differently by objectifica
Krabi
– Day 1 – Day 1 – was sleep deprived – didn’t sleep all night. flight was relatively short, probably shorter than my
My National Service Experience
Wrote this a few years ago. While I was still in NS. Around Dec 2011. I still remember when I went for my medical check-up a f
surviving in jailworld requires some complicity; dismantling it will take lifetimes
Notes from a conversation about Oprah and Neoliberalism: yeah so there are multiple things going on at the same time, and peop
to sleep earlier I need to fix my poverty mindset
I had a post called “next“, and in that post I concluded that I should write how-to guides to myself. At the top o
Bestof 2017
FB Jan Emotional labor thread and discussion “Was 2016 dangerous for celebrities?” – clever use of Wiki article
a set of notes about storytelling
Emma Coats’ 22 Rules Emma Coats is a storyteller who used to work at Pixar. In 2012, she wrote a series of tweets with t
sinister connotations allow people to be assholes with plausible deniability
I like words. It’s a big part of why I’m a writer. I like everything about them. Here are some interesting things
Remind me later
I think a lot about the passage of time. About how the past and future each have histories of their own. The sun used to revol
Listen to your “naggy” wife
Written as a Facebook comment on February 22nd. Today’s coffee thoughts shall be about this. My wife is my best friend a
there are several kinds of happiness, so be precise about what you’re pursuing
Martin Seligman: The new era of positive psychology 3 kinds of happiness pleasure home warddrobe commute workspace dates food
Threads
startup bullshit Just shipped some stuff for work, so I thought I'd take a second to explore some thoughts that have been
smartphones and other linguistic legacies
Language is full of interesting legacy issues. The pocket supercomputer I'm writing this on isn't really a "phone
eddies
I love this comic by Kevin Simler of Melting Asphalt: Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. Between the
Inspiration
Sometimes I get a little worn out by the friction of everyday life. In these times, it helps to have things to return to in
The utility of art (includes escape from myopic utilitarianism)
It’s often difficult to have a conversation about art because we’re almost always talking past each other. I once
Talking Past Each Other
When I was younger, I was very passionate about the idea that conversations are basically the answer to everything. That’
Teenagers
locust-style social effect I’m on a train. It’s 218pm, I’m on the east-west line on the way to Buona Vista. There’s a
Singapore Skyline
I want to write a quick blogpost about the Singapore skyline. I’m not an architect, or architecture student, or even any
Marina Bay Sands is Singapore’s Schelling Point
What’s Singapore’s single most identifiable landmark? It’s changed over the years, and that’s the subj
Mariamman Temple and Capital Tower
The oldest Hindu temple in Singapore is Sri Mariamman Temple. It was founded in 1827 by Naraina Pillai, eight years after the
how is conditioning unlearned?
First you need to recognize that you are conditioned. everybody is. But we’re also conditioned to assume that our condit
June 2017 status update [vomit 0684]
(I wrote this in June 2017, while I was on reservist) Dear Visa, How are you? It’s me, your oldest friend, who’s always be
how to bullshit everyone with an inspirational success story
I used a procrastinating underachiever. Then I decided to Follow My Dream and play in a rock band, <s>sell t-shirts<
Is Ya Kun Kaya Toast “Authentic”? [2013]
Originally posted on Poached Mag in 2013. I was having kopi with some friends at Ya Kun Kaya Toast. A friendly auntie spoke to
there’s no escaping constraints; we have to work with them
-1- Constraints can be cruel, arbitrary, stupid, unfair, unkind, damaging, crushing, painful, horrifying. The idea of wishing
marriage
Originally posted on Hacker News: Here’s my random, unsolicited opinion: I doubt porn is the cause. Porn might be a como
What does it mean to be wealthy?
“One can divide political twitter into people who think wealth is created and people who think poverty is created.”
Supernormal Stimuli
I was on the train a while ago without my phone (left it at home) and I was just curiously watching what other people were up
Real Life Is Dystopian
Lately I’ve been collecting factoids that I’ve found dystopian about the world we already inhabit. A mirror that
Memoirs
I have always been a somewhat scatter-brained person, and I’ve also always felt this sort of compulsion to catalog every
2017 Review
Highlights: Hosted Venkat when he came to Singapore did GA workshop (April 13th) Meeting Shitij’s friends Written: Relig
Safe spaces
Some people think that safe spaces have a coddling effect. And maybe that’s true sometimes. And the examples are pretty
cultural appropriation is very context-dependent
In response to http://en.rocketnews24.com/2017/02/17/japanese-twitter-seems-to-have-no-problems-with-karlie-kloss-geisha-phot
Modern Capitalism
This post is a work in progress about how we seem to distract ourselves from the realities of modern capitalism. Sort of, R
favorite poems
Good Bones by Maggi Smith Life is short, though I keep this from my children. Life is short, and I’ve shortened mine in a th
The Human Game
Essay WIP. I find myself thinking about an Alan Watts lecture, that you can find on YouTube titled The Human Game. And he talk
content marketing, incrementally
WIP I was talking to a potential hire today about what my team and I do. It occurred to me that the way I was explaining thing
Tips
Web browsing Google search tips from Reddit Gaming Mouse I use a gaming mouse (Logitech G602). First of all, it’s a good
Deeper Consciousness
I’ve had this recurring conversation with a friend about how there’s a deeper consciousness in each of us, that w
An oral history of my relationship with religion
Thought I’d write about my thoughts about religion, and how my perspective on it has changed from my childhood to the presen
100
I saw a post by Jon Westenberg that listed out 100 things to do. I thought I’d do the same. Squat 100kg Squat 2x my body
Tripping through time on the information superhighway
Originally posted on 1000wordvomits. I wanted to write about “tripping through time”. I was telling another friend about t
Parents, peers and other benevolent plagues
Originally posted on visakanv.com/1000/ I’ve been reflecting on how people get into drinking and smoking and drugs. And by e
Beating yourself up is egotistic
When I was a kid, I was stuck in a very silly cycle. I’d get home from school every day and I’d avoid doing my homework fo
4 years together
Fun fact: Sharan Kaur and I got married 4 years ago today. It was kind of a secret. We did it over milkshakes and hotdogs at a
the duality of hard things
There’s seems to always be this interesting duality to achieving anything difficult. You have to have faith that you can
The Folly Of The Plunge
There’s an overly romanticized idea in both business and romance (and probably in many other fields as well) – tha
‘hacking’ the 7 sins
I once extensively dissected all the 7 deadly sins as a mental exercise (I was bored as a conscript, and I wanted to solve the
Retake the narrative
Wrote a response to someone asking, “Why should Muslims have to answer for what some madmen do halfway across the world?
When arguing, strive to understand context
— 1. When arguing, seek to understand context — [Published 2016] Roughly between ages 13 and 23 I was thoroughly convinced
The problem with jetpacks
TL;DR: In the broadest sense, we already have powerful engines; to go faster we need better shock absorbers and handling. ____
people seem fundamentally unserious about their information diets
TL;DR: “Every new piece of news is seriously important” => fundamentally unserious about the nature of importan
Different perspectives are more kaleidoscopic than different “points of view”
Thought: Words and phrases like “perspective” and “point-of-view” don’t adequately convey how ra
Identity
One of the most interesting things I’ve ever read was about this guy who was homeless and living in the forest for a rea
Early Employee
source +1 to this. I’m a relatively early employee at my team, and while my founders don’t really mind whether I&#
is your subconscious smarter than you are?
Original: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9072394 I really liked this idea– I think by Robin Sharma [1], but by many
Self-promotion
Self-promotion isn’t intrinsically bad; it’s just usually bad because people walk in, post their shit and then dis
Annual Reviews
Every year I make it a point to do some reviews of my life. Here’s a list of what I’ve done so far. 2009 birthday
Modern Civilization
1 To be born into modern human civilization is both a great privilege (for the safety and opportunities it provides) and a rat
An Analysis of Power And Social Dynamics In ‘Mean Girls’
Theory: The movie has such enduring power and is quoted so much because it sheds some incredible light on real sociological ph
scared men
I knew some dudes like this. They’re like young versions of the racist old man Bill Burr described in his standup –
A Sideways Look At Time
A Sideways Look At Time is a 1999 book by Jay Griffiths that I find myself referencing over and over again. I thought I’
2016
WIP I want to make it a point to do annual reviews. Next year I’ll update it every month. But this is retroactive. Writt
learnings
work in progress Basics Cause and effect Human beings live in the same universe as electrons and galaxies, and are all governe
Beware the moral failing fallacy
SELF-LOVE AND THE “MORAL FAILING” FALLACY: Here’s something that’s taken me a long time to be able to
GEP
I was a student in Singapore’s Gifted Education Programme from 2000 to 2004, from when I was 10 to 14. I found parts of
pics
Language news Good typography The message has to suit the medium: Recurring theme of brooding over cities how people make refe
SeeingSpaces
Stone tools, computer mice, bricks and smartphones are all designed to fit the human hand. people looking ridiculous SeeingSpa
Parable of Shitty Choices
OVERALL TLDR/SUMMARY: Effective decision-making can be counter-intuitive. You assume that a good decision is supposed to look
Keyboard shortcuts
For Mac. Cmd + ctrl + space – Emoji keyboard Ctrl + click – Right-click Cmd + Shift + 4 – Screenshot area (+ Ctrl – sa
The Seductive-Destructive Siren-Song of Fame
In 2010, I wrote a blogpost about Justin Bieber. In 2018, I want to expand this post into something broader, about celebrity a
Death
I believe that it’s important to properly come to terms with death in order to live well. This is something that’s
Goals are a way of making sense of the chaos around us, giving us a vision of the future to live into
2017 update: This post is hilariously vague. I need to add some measurable, achievable targets to prove to myself that I have
Adulthood is about taking responsibility
The following are selected quotes from @1000wordvomits. -1- “What is “this”? Whatever it is that distinguishes me fr
Ways in which I’ve been a misfit + how that’s shaped who I am
I made this post because I want to make sense of who I am. I’ve had a funny relationship with being a misfit. Initially,
Concepts
Guiding ‘Principles’ Beware the Guilt-and-Shame Ego Trap. Alternate names: Self-flagellation trap, beating yoursel
Drogon vs Balerion size comparison
Hypothesis: Artists perceive differently than regular folks
I have some kooky hypotheses about how people like this (and folks like Van Gogh) experience reality differently from the comm
What does it mean to be Indian in the modern world?
WIP What does it mean to be Indian in the modern world? It’s annoying how – to an American audience, Indian can often
Fashion is omnipresent and inescapable; we are all making fashion statements whether we realize it or not
Why does this post exist? I think fashion is interesting and important. I’d like to develop a better sense of my perspec
Jealousy is a myopic emotion
“I deal with jealousy the same way I deal with narcissism- by reminding myself that everybody is infinitely complex, and
Institutionalized
Local man gets released from prison, quickly proceeds to attempt to throw himself into path of bus to extort money from driver
Jokes perform social functions and sustain social orders
Lol so we should just stop appreciating comedy in general… (cos every joke/skit is inherently poking fun at some facet o
work learnings
The following is a list of things that I personally learned. Work in progress. One on ones. It’s very important to have
What I’m up to right now (July 2017)
I’m currently working full-time at ReferralCandy. I’m with the marketing team, and I’m responsible for any
Predictions are a good way to test your understanding
Preamble Originally on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9325637 It’s always interesting to look at ol
Mind-expanding stuff
https://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/the-universe-is-scary Wait but why Neil Tyson’s the universe is in us, we stopped dre
Sanjay’s Super Team
I’m thinking about Sanjay’s Super Team, and Ratatouille, and overcoming ‘villains’. Overcoming cynicis
Advertising is about selling ideas
David Ogilvy’s Confessions of an Advertising Man is one of my favorite books. He wrote clearly, with humor and taste. On
10 traits of successful entrepreneurs
I originally posted this as an answer on Quora, and it got picked up by Inc. What are ten signs that you might have what it ta
Internet Fads
Once upon a time I thought it would be fun to compile Internet fads. I’m not sure why. I still have my notes from them,
What’s up with yoga?
I think there’s something interesting about how yoga went from being a spiritual way of being to becoming a commodified
precise
The Philosophy of Logical Atomism (1918-19) Lecture 1: Facts and Propositions By Bertrand Russell (The following articles ar
Tools I use
I’ve been meaning to write reviews of all the tools I use. Chat / communication tools HipChat – This is what we use as
Baby abandonment
People are usually quick to demonize the mother in these situations. It’s interesting (and sad) to me. There’s a v
What feels good isn’t necessarily what is good
Some decisions are easy, and some decisions are hard. What’s the difference? It seems that we’re predisposed to li
bestof @visakanv hacker news comments
Singapore Is Taking the ‘Smart City’ to a New Level Writer’s block What is your writing process like? slack as ̵
Politics and the English language [2016]
The following is my attempt to update George Orwell’s essay Politics and the English Language [1946] for modern reading.
Taste is the beating heart of all creative value
This post is a work-in-progress. It’s really just a set of notes for now. 1 I was re-reading Playboy’s 1994 interview
Life Basics
Haven’t written in a while. I feel a little tired and bored of the 1000wordvomits project, like it’s not going any
One must imagine Sisyphus LOL-ing
Life, particularly in modern civilization, is an absurd circus. We’re all clowns living in boxes trying to amuse ourselves w
Travel
I’m not much of a traveller. I’d like to change that. So far, I’ve been to… Johor, Malaysia Batam, Ind
Fitness
I’ve developed an idea in my mind about how to use my blog moving forward. I want it to be an extension of my mind, that
The Body Is The Mind
From reddit thread about walking around during phone calls; This is a specific case of the general phenomenon. Lots of people
Pondering the heat death of the universe
(I wrote this in 2013 in a a conversation with a friend, and decided to tidy it up a little and publish it for future referenc
Advice for a JC1 Kid
“SO, do you have any advice for a JC1 kid? :p Like a “dear 18 year old me” kinda thing haha” Sure, you
My journey from underachieving student to moderately competent adult [2016]
An older friend told me that a parent wanted to talk to ‘learn about my educational journey’ and ‘understand
referrals
I like making referrals whenever I spot the opportunity to, and I rarely care about the benefit to me (unless it’s absol
life-summary
1990 – Born 1994 – St Hilda’s Kindergarten 1997 – Opera Estate Primary School 1998 – Burnt hand 2000 – St Hild
How To Self Regulate
I think the solution to the problem of self-regulation will begin with really little things. If you suck at self-regulation, y
1000 index
self-observations 0408 — tendency to talk in explanations – I get neurotic when I try to explain everything, includin
Guilt is a feeling that should inform action, not paralyze
Originally 0532. Guilt is a feeling. It’s often a legitimate feeling, and it’s a signal from the mind/body that something
word vomit notes
Practice Stoicism (0010) Keep your identity small (0094) Avoid heartbreak warfare (0006), petty arguments (0076) Be random fro
Are men with large penises happier than others? [wip]
Penis enlargement ads are all over the Internet. Men with small penises are often stereotyped to be unhappy, insecure, mocked,
Why are some accents sexier than others?
It’s Official: Survey Confirms Southern Accents Are the Sexiest Why are some accents more attractive? http://www.persona
Words are vessels of meaning
I have loved letters and words for as long as I can remember. I love their shapes the way a painter might enjoy the smell of p
Sex is ubiquitous – and it’s shamed and policed as a tool of social control
Sex: http://slutever.com/sex-is-normal/ Clever use of pictures to communicate. Bloomberg – Has internet culture ruined love
history is an underrated source of insight
I think history is interesting. It’s like binge-watching old seasons of current affairs – we get to go through a lot
Advice To A Younger Self: How To Manage Yourself
1. Hit the gym. We live in the real world and physical strength has real benefits. Get fit and you’ll look fit, and peop
Bookmarks that I often share with friends
Disclaimer – I find these reads interesting. I don’t necessarily agree with them. #Bestof / Most Shared These are li
How to build and maintain communities
This blogpost started out as a bunch of notes and links, and I found myself sharing it with people over and over again so much
We are all miseducated + need to rethink education from scratch
We are all miseducated. My education journey 0129 – future of education 0461 – we are all miseducated – accepted it and
cooking is a radical, localized act of authoring your reality
I’ve always been afraid of cooking. I’ve decided to get started. 2016-09-11 – Today I bought a piece of salmon f
Surprises reveal the limits of our expectations
I started smoking again. Thought I would’ve quit for good. (Quit again in 2016) people are stupid. keep assuming that th
Meditation is mind-maintenance. If you believe that the mind is important, meditation is, too
Clear the gunk off your windshield so you can focus on the present moment, what’s in front of you right now. Jon Kabat Z
the body is inextricably intertwined with the mind
I’ve been overwhelmed in recent times with the realization that I don’t really know my body as well as I thought I
Why do hard things? It’s about the people you meet along the way, including a better version of yourself
I’m somewhat intellectually convinced that it’s worth doing hard things in life, but I don’t always live as
questions
Questions to answer / stuff to write about 30 – what should I do about the fact that I tend to continue where I left off
Why do I argue with people on the internet?
I wrote this because I wanted to make sense of a habit that I have, and to modify it so it serves me better. I think the impor
The XAB method – Get person X from point A to point B without overextending yourself
This is a draft of a blogpost I’ve been meaning to write, articulating what I’ve learned from a few years of being
The media is critical to how we make sense of ourselves and our reality
Why does this post exist? I think the media (in all its forms) is a very important part of what it means to be human. It’
curse of development
People of a certain level of “development” suffer from being surrounded by “less developed” people who
Schools are powerful, outdated tools of social programming
Why does this post exist? I haven’t been in school in over a decade, but it had a debilitating effect on me and I want t
“What do you like about being a startup marketer?”
I was asked this question by a young guy who was interested in marketing, but didn’t know if he wanted to work for a sta
reviews
I maintain lists of reviews of books, movies, TV shows, products I’d refer to others, and feature requests. Notes mass
What are the principles of authenticity?
The goal here is to explore what we mean when we say something is ‘authentic’, ask who gets to decide, and how we
How to facilitate interesting interviews / conversations
If I were an interviewer. 1: I think it’s important to get all the preliminary questions out of the way ASAP. Most dialo
Making sense of my childhood and how it shaped me
I was born on June 6th 1990, in Singapore. George HW Bush was President of the USA. The Berlin Wall fell, East and West German
Different Kinds Of Hot
This was meant to be an essay on the different kinds of hot. I think it might be something that does well on some online publi
Procrastination is a solvable problem
On putting things off [HN] I’m very passionate about the problem of procrastination, having suffered terribly from it a
Movies I’ve watched and liked
Movies I really loved and would rewatch Lord of War – depiction of bleakness of arms industry Moneyball – I really appreci
TV shows I’ve watched and liked
blog > reviews > TV TV Shows that I really loved, recommend and would rewatch The West Wing – great conversations, co
Creativity Is Just Connecting (And Remixing) Things
Everything Is A Remix (Full Video) [30 mins+] How To Steal Like An Artist, by Austin Kleon (Google him for Twitter). P
Motivation is anything that compels you to take action
Hello, World Finished Not Perfect [1:30] Why Do We Fall [6:13] Unbroken [5:57] Dream [6:20] Les Brown: You Gott
Stuff I’ve written about writing
Stuff I’ve written about writing: Minimum Viable Content Copywriting Content Anxiety “Do you have any writing ad
An oral history of the games I’ve played
What’s the first video game you ever played? I’m not entirely sure. I recall watching my brothers play games on th
boredom is a 4-part bug of the mind; it can be resolved
“I have nothing to do / wear / watch / read” is a bug we encounter when… 1- a tired mind 2- attempts to find
Quotes I’d like to be reminded of
“The plan, a memory of the future, tries on reality to see if it fits.” – Laurence Gonzalez – Wisdom tells me I am not
“So, what are you passionate about?”
A younger friend told me that he gets asked this question a lot, and that he doesn’t know how to answer. So he asked me how
Cebu [2015]
I went to Cebu in March 2015. It was a pleasant experience. Hung out in Ayala Mall. Bought some books. Ate Lechon. It was real
twenty fourteen
interstellar (the story behind the story is better) ___ notes: what to do with life? have fun + make a difference at scale. wh
The Tao of YungSnuggie
I loved YungSnuggie so much that I pulled out his best answers, formatted them a little (tried to make it easier to read witho
Starting work – excited to be among thoughtful, kind, high-functioning people [2013]
2014 EDIT: Just to avoid confusion; this was written at the start of 2013! I’m still working here and having loads of fu
Buying a HDB flat [2013]
He sits in an empty house with the woman of his dreams nestled in his lap like a kitten, only bigger, more beautiful and more
No, I Won’t Be Going To University [2012]
I wrote this in December 2012. I have been thinking about the University question for some time, and I decided to get some inp
7 Important Things I’ve Learnt (meatbag maintenance, mood and declutter)
During my 2 years of National Service, I began what I called the 90 Week Project. I had heard many horror stories from men wis
My MBTI Journey: Each new way of seeing can become a new set of blinders
MBTI: I remember when I first encountered MBTI. It was introduced to me over beer, by a friend of a friend. He was a self-prof
2012 review – it’ll never be perfect so just do it
I didn’t want to do anything for new year’s. I didn’t want to spend money unnecessarily, because lately I
“Gifted” is a label that can discourage hard work
2014 summary: Used to be a minimum-effort student who was proud of how little effort I needed to get by. Now wish I had learn
2010 review – inflated sense of self-worth
New years are fun and exciting when you’re a kid, perhaps because you’re told that they’re fun and exciting-