May

Thanks to one of my new fans (M) I got some peer pressure to write this today.  It’s been a quiet week with lots of introspection.  Johanna went to Sweden to see her friends and family, and my friend/quasi-roommate Ari went to LA.  I’m in one of the largest cities in the world, so I could get be as social as I want, but I chose to stay in a fair amount.

I had another week off from trading research, so I had lots of time on my hands.  I finally got motivated and excited for a new trading project today though.  I currently trade crypto futures, and US equities, but I’ve been testing/recording some algorithms on US futures (S&P 500, crude oil, interest rates, etc) for a few months, and want to start trading those as well.  The market has been going down again which makes trading for me a little quieter.  I noticed when the markets are going down trading in the major US futures like the S&P 500 is better, while individual stocks dry up.  Getting algorithms for US futures running feels like it will be a fun and important addition to my strategies.  

I kept my meditation and Spanish study streaks going, almost three weeks straight now.  It helps having apps that track progress for me in that.  I get up and want to do both of those nearly every day now.  If something comes up, it’s a nagging thing that I’ll do around noon at worst.  I’m considering what else I want to track in that manner now.  Number one is probably a 500 words a day writing habit that I’ve been doing occasionally, but not consistent on a daily basis yet.  I’m also thinking about some type of eating healthy check mark for the day.  

I watched a fun poker game on YouTube this weekend (shout out to my guy Alan for putting on an incredible display of gambling and keeping a great attitude even though he ran bad) featuring famous streamers and just a few pros.  I thought poker was going to die a long time ago, but private games and now televised versions of these seem to be bringing a ton of life into the game.  I was surprised they could get a table together of people who could buy in for $50,000+ who aren’t grisled pros.  I was actually curious to hear table talk about how they ran their social media accounts, and there were a few interesting bits.  

Who hasn’t had the fantasy of starting a wildly popular YouTube channel these past few years?  I know everything is much harder than it looks, but I read an interview with Mr. Beast (who played in the poker game, and is one of the top YouTube stars) a few years ago and it sounded exactly like what I thought.  Hours and hours of studying what content goes viral, studying how the various social media algorithms work, making content yourself, improving your content production process, and repeating this cycle indefinitely.  Lots of collaborations and working on outsourcing aspects of the production via building a team.  In other words: real work just like anything else. 

I was thinking what’s stopped me from doing something like this?  Why couldn’t I get myself to grow a big YouTube account or create a NFT portfolio?  It’s something I’ve thought about for years.  You see something hot and trending, think you have an angle on how to do it yourself, but inevitably watch the opportunity pass by.  I realized the reason is that I’m not a consumer of that content.  Any successful business or venture is going to be full of more hours than you expect, many of which are numbing.  If you aren’t a true fan of the thing you’re working on, you have no chance to grind through the years of nothingness that everyone else who you see crushing has.  I’ve been a fan of finance and trading since my childhood when I had no money, I’ve been a fan and enjoyed poker for years (although I haven’t played in years now and miss it sometimes), and I’m a big fan of reading/good writing/good film & tv.  I’ve been dabbling with writing for the millionth time lately.  I’m almost done with a draft of a short story, and it’s been fun to play around with fiction writing again.  It’s something I can see myself toiling around in obscurity with but not feeling like it’s wasted time.  I’ve tapped out far too many times in the past though, so I don’t want to hype up my writing habit right now.

I rewatched the film “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”.  It’s a movie I really liked when it came when it came out ten years ago, and wondered if I thought it held up.  Definitely thought it was great again.  I like how it deals with sensitive topics like mental health, sexuality, trauma, etc. but keeps a loving and positive mood throughout.  I’m a fan of films/shows with all the feels.  TV shows in that category include “The Leftovers” and “Mare of Easttown”.    

I’ve been alternating reading chapters in an embarrassing amount of books, but many of them are short story collections so it’s a good way to mix things up.  One of the really good ones is “The Illustrated Man” by Ray Bradbury.  I’ve never read anything from Ray Bradbury, even though he’s one of the most decorated authors of the last century.  I just assumed things would be very dated and boring, especially science fiction.  This book in particular was published in 1951, but highly recommended on various lists I was looking at on Reddit of best short story books.  I was very wrong.  Great writing is great writing, even if it’s 70+ years old.  Occasionally a date is thrown out, like 2010, and it’s meant to represent some crazy time way in the future which is funny.  Other than that the stories are great and more serious/relevant today than I would have expected.  He’s also great with sensory description and making you feel like you’re in the story.  Very inspirational.  

With that I’m going to leave you and get back to my trading/writing projects.  Wishing you a great week, and here is a picture from my favorite taco spot (Rifados Taqueria) of an al pastor quesadilla (without the tortilla) and my favorite park in Mexico City, Los Dinamos.