Embracing the Void

Curiosity is a fundamental driving force in our lives, both personal and professional. It's the engine that fuels exploration, spurs innovation, and nudges us to step out of our comfort zones. It underpins the quest for understanding, the thirst for knowledge, and the pursuit of a more nuanced and broader view of the world around us.

My journey across numerous platforms and diverse products has underscored the value of curiosity. Adopting an open-minded, agnostic approach to product critiques, I strive to understand their real-world functionality and how they fit within their respective ecosystems. I'm driven by the desire to try new things, grasp idiosyncrasies, and understand specific use cases. This is a particular application of my approach to life in general - probing, questioning, and seeking to comprehend the unfamiliar.

However, this quest is not without its challenges or its fair share of failures. Success is a difficult target to hit, particularly when we are stepping into uncharted territories. In the realm of trial and error, failure is not only common but also a valuable teacher. It's an unpleasant yet indispensable experience that teaches us to avoid certain pitfalls and hone our strategies.

In witnessing numerous failures - many of which have been my own - I've noted that it's rare for anyone to intentionally set out to fail. Yet, when failure does happen, the sting of it often provides a powerful lesson and a strong deterrent against repeating the same mistake. While failure might be a tough pill to swallow, it's a catalyst for growth, improvement, and eventually, success.

This journey of curiosity, exploration, and learning from failures extends well beyond the professional sphere. It's a scientific and somewhat philosophical way to navigate life as a whole. It's about self-awareness, questioning our own existence, and understanding our preferences. It's about striving to be level-headed, balanced, and open to new experiences.

So, what does this existential exploration yield? It equips us with a toolset to navigate the different levels of human organization, whether it's in business, technology, or our personal interactions. It enables us to discern preferable approaches to situations, to understand when we might be overestimating our abilities, and to learn when to step back, recalibrate, and reassess our strategies. Or, said in a more human manner, it tells us when to chill out.

Embracing curiosity and learning from failures is a powerful paradigm for growth. It's about understanding that success is not solely about the intended function, but also about the use, the accessibility, and the simplicity of an approach. It's about pursuing a path that is not just functionally viable but also user-friendly, intuitive, and inviting.

I’m not one to shy away from curiosity or fear the possibility of failure. Hell, often enough I’m out there getting knocked around by it. But that’s not only a great way to amass valuable experience in life through the lessons learned from failures, but also a way to enjoy it.

Or, at least, once you get used to the aches and pains, anyway.

Newsworthy

JP Vinyl: AI-Powered Japanese Vinyl Subscription Boxes

This is a fun project. I’ve got access to all sorts of resources for vinyl across Japan, from record stores, to concert halls, to abandoned houses, and much more. And guess what? There’s some demand for the sounds of modern Japan, but huge demand for the 80’s & 90’s.

So I built a platform entirely using AI resources such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, Midjourney, and DALL-E in order to best promote the product I and only so many others can get their hands on easily to those chomping at the bit.

Will it work? Got a few so far, let’s see where this goes.

Akiya & Inaka in the Nikkei

The Nikkei is basically Japan’s Wall Street Journal - dry, unfunny, and rather conservative articles on money - and so we’re of course very pleased that a rough and tumble, good-cop-bad-cop, definitely not traditional Japanese company like ours got picked up by the likes of them!

Akiya & Inaka Also Back on National TV!

I mean, it’s Japanese media, so even if it’s not the Nikkei, its still gonna be pretty damn conservative, by decree of the Government of Japan which says, “don’t you fuckin’ look at me!”

But, thank the stars, this one was also a blast to shoot, though I swear every time they take out the truly golden moments. This time they decided to omit me crawling under the property to inspect the foundation.

Passport: Roppongi

We hosted 10 people in a thatched roof hut next to a river to discuss Web3 in Japan last month, and so this month we’re doubling that and adding AI to the mix in Roppongi.

There’s a lot of real big, real loose, real honestly kinda vapid events in the IT space, and especially Web3 and AI, so my co-booker and I decided to go a more private route. Is that bougie? Maybe. Is it effective at getting communications across and securing action? Absofuckinglutely.

Yup, it’s good ol’ paywall time. Above is some interesting news about myself which I’m happy to share with anyone willing to take a look. Below is a glimpse into the contents and observations that shape my actions, which is something of a trade secret.

Sound interesting but not yet signed up? Great, you’re chance to rectify that is here!

Interests

Music: Miki Matsubara

Yeah, so that vinyl delivery thing I set up is kinda hinged on my perception of how popular 1980’s Japanese pop appears to be in North America, which means that I am now immersed in it.

And you know, its pretty catchy. Particularly the genre known as City Pop, which Miki (above) was somewhat representative of. I wasn’t aware of her prior to this little venture, so she’s kinda top of mind.

Games: Life is Strange 2

I have a really bad relationship with Square Enix since, like, 1997 or something. Basically once Final Fantasy 7 quieted down, everything became constantly awful. And then there’s their international business practice and notable ability to force NFTs on players, and you’ve got a great recipe for me to shun them.

And yet there’s this series. This one, extremely outlier series that is so utterly captivating. Its extremely story heavy, so I won’t say much of anything about it other than its a majestically cinematic and emotionally engaging play.

Movies: Slacker

Richard Linklater writes movies like some kinda wonky combination of 1980’s Patti Smith meanderings, a rather highly Philip K. Dick-ian solipsism, and American Melodrama ala David Mamet.

Honestly, I don’t think he’s particularly profound to anyone beyond the age of 14 or so - Waking Life was great when I first started getting stoned in high school - but his films are at least kind of a relaxed and relaxing trip down a quasi-philosophic memory lane.

Wellness: Anytime Fitness

I’ve been more stuck in the city this year than in the past 3, so I’ve had to take extra steps to ensure that I get something near the daily exercise merely by existing in a rural environment here in the metro area. So, in addition to the hot yoga I mentioned last time, I also have a membership at Anytime Fitness.

If you’re wondering, I do weights in the mornings and yoga in the evening. And, just like Lava’s membership package, with Anytime Fitness I’ve also got access to a wide range of gyms, which is great because while I’m often in the city, keep in mind that Tokyo is fucking massive and I’m not always in the same spot.

And its like $75 a month, so whatever.

But something to be clear about is that while, yes, it’s nice to keep yourself looking at least kinda good physically, I find that I consider exercise - be it yoga, weights, hiking, climbing, or what have you - way more valuable for stress relief.

See, I do a lot of stuff. Weird stuff. And its fun, I truly love my line/s of work. But that doesn’t mean its all sunshine and flowers. Its quite stressful, and in particular confusing as a big part of all of the things I do is figure out how things which no one understands not only work but have value.

It can really drive me into a hole if I’m not careful, and I find that intense physical exertion is an extremely effective method of controlling this.

So give it a go, its done wonders for me.