Personal

For the past few months, I’ve been trying to get my photography side hustle off the ground. My initial assumption was simple: people are always looking for photographers, so if I start with very affordable rates, clients will follow. I did all the necessary setup and busywork early on: insurance, a new camera, PPA membership, and the other basics that make things feel official. What I didn’t expect was how difficult it would be to land paid clients. I’ve done a few TFP shoots, which were useful for practice and portfolio building, but so far I haven’t earned a single dollar from photography. ...

As I build my photography side hustle while working full-time as a software engineer, I keep returning to one idea: minimalism. Both fields pull me in different directions. Programming has taught me to strip things down to their essentials. Photography constantly tempts me with more gear, more tools, more stuff. Balancing the two has made me think deeply about what minimalism really means in creative work. The Simplicity of Code In programming, I live in a world of virtual tools. A laptop, an editor, a few accounts, and I can build almost anything. Over the years, these tools have faded into the background. GitHub, IDEs, frameworks, and cloud platforms all exist, but they feel weightless. They live on the screen, not in my bag. ...

We’ve all heard the classic question: “What would you do if you won a million dollars?” It’s a fun daydream, but let’s be honest, most of us know that’s a pretty unlikely scenario, so we don’t really think deeply and give very surface level answers. Instead, let’s talk about something that’s actually going to happen to most of us: retirement. Thinking about retirement is a lot more grounded than fantasizing about sudden riches. Pretty much everyone retires at some point, and many of us are saving (or at least planning) for that phase of life. Even if it’s not something you’ve thought about in detail, it’s a realistic scenario. And the beauty of asking yourself what you’d like to do in retirement is that it can help you figure out what you truly want to do with your life right now. ...

“The things you own end up owning you.” - Chuck Palahniuk. I was minimalist. It was very easy and stress-free life. I did own many things but but only after careful planning and I was quick to sell things that didn’t meet my expectations or once I stopped using them. I also used to live well below my means. I felt free because loss of job or any other financial crisis would not affect me much. ...

Ask HN: What are some captivating fair play mystery books that you’ve read | Hacker News — Read on news.ycombinator.com/item

Ask HN: What’s the coolest physical thing you’ve made? | Hacker News — Read on news.ycombinator.com/item

It’s both intriguing and somewhat disheartening to observe how trading concepts often mirror human behavior. Here’s how: Follow the Trend In the investment world, the saying “past performance does not guarantee future results” is well-known. Despite this warning, many successful trend followers have found that stocks moving up generally continue to do so, and vice versa. Interestingly, this concept applies to humans as well. Those who are happy and kind often continue in the same manner or even improve, while those who are miserable tend to spiral downward. ...

I feel hopeless, rejected, and a burden on society – one week of empathy training – Terence Eden’s Blog — Read on shkspr.mobi/blog/2019/07/i-feel-hopeless-rejected-and-a-burden-on-society-one-week-of-empathy-training/

Ask HN: How do you find clothing? | Hacker News — Read on news.ycombinator.com/item

Ask HN: Looking for new hobbies to relax, grow or make friends, any ideas? | Hacker News — Read on news.ycombinator.com/item