Holy crap, sorry that there’s been such a massive gap in these blogs. I’d insert some awesome excuse here if I had one, but I really don’t have one other than juggling work and the stream. I’ll try and get these things more consistent, I think the hardest thing for me is just getting started, and after hearing Tim Ferriss talk about his quota of “2 crappy pages” a day, I think I can know out at least SOMETHING every day. It doesn’t even have to be 2 pages, it could be “1 crappy paragraph” a day, and with that I’d be able to put out a blog every week! That was just a really long winded way of letting you guys know that I’m gonna try to write more.

Oh, and the blog about all the other crazy stuff that’s happened in my neighborhood is coming! It involves (ALLEGEDLY), drugs, the paramedics, CPR, the police, mass amounts of strangers, screaming, Austria, and Nicholas Cage. I’m still working on putting it all together into something that resembles readable, so hopefully that will be the next thing I put out.

But on to some other shit for your week!

What I’m Watching

If you’ve been watching the channel for awhile, you’ll know that I’m a huge documentary nerd. I love learning new stuff, and documentaries typically are an entertaining way to do it since the makers typically have a narrative and they keep things interesting. Lately I’ve been going kinda nuts watching Vice documentaries because some of the FREAK ME THE HECK OUT. One of my favorites is “The Cannibal Warlords of Liberia”. It’s a few years old but totally worth the watch.

The Vice documentary shows a part West Africa after a violent 14 year civil war, and interviews a number of ex-warlords (many of which lead forces containing children). I won’t spoil anything but there’s a TON of parts that got me thinking “WTFF?!” (that’s right, double F because one was not enough!).

Now the reason I think I like this documentary so much is because it reminds me how lucky I am to be born on the right patch of dirt. I mean if I had a shit roll of the dice, I could have been born somewhere that they’d have me going to war and doing drugs at 12 years old, but I got lucky so I’m just a keyboard jockey who’s most difficult decision of the day is to whether or not I should get off my ass and exercise. It’s interesting, informative, and terrifying at the same time. Learned quite a few new things (like role that the US played in the founding of Liberia) from this documentary.

What I’m Listening to

MyNoise.net

I’ve talked before in a previous blog about how I listen to songs on repeat in order to stay focused. Well sometimes I like to change it up, and lately I’ve been listening to “noise generators”, like over at MyNoise.net . There are a number of different noise loops you can choose from (my favorites are “Ocean Waves” for when I want to zen out, or “White Rain” when I have to work in a noisy environment). Each loop has adjustable sliders that let you tailor the sound to fit your needs.

Something I’m Interested In

So something I like to do when I’m feeling lazy is I like to get inspired by listening to music that pumps me up, or watch videos that have super productive people in them to get me motivated. Some of the stuff that motivates me is speeches by Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Tim Ferriss podcast (so many super successful guests in a TON of different fields), or some of Casey Neistat’s videos, this one in particular:

A really great explanation on what to think about when you structure your day (minutes gotta come from somewhere), so that when you’re planning you don’t squander them.

Now on the surface, Casey Neistat’s videos probably look like just another way to waste time on the internet, but there are so many things in them that can be motivating. The music is many times uplifting, the dude wakes up early in the morning to run 10+ miles, PLUS he finds time to edit together a mini movie almost EVERY SINGLE DAY…..but also to be fair I’ve totally wasted entire days binge watching his videos, so they can kill your productivity too. On a side note I swear my ass puckers up every time he drops a camera. I cringe every time I set my phone down too hard, and dude’s out there dropping $1000+ cameras like they’re nothing. He said he sees them as tools, so I guess that makes sense, but I still can’t stop freakin out a little each time I hear the camera make a loud CRUNCH

So yeah, checkout the above stuff if you’re looking for a bit of entertainment. If you have any recommendations on stuff that motivates you, or other techniques that keep you focused, let me know in the comments below, or hit me up on Twitch and/or Twitter !