The old internet used to be much purer. Free of ads, paywalls, and walled garden social media. It was full of unique and interesting blogs, where you could read the thoughts of like-minded individuals. Although I am not old enough to have lived that long-gone era, I’ve been told the tales and seen the relics.

Do not get me wrong; I am not (overly) judgmental of what the internet has evolved to. For instance, I do believe that social media is worth some of your time — you can meet and connect with a lot of cool people. But I also believe that they do not work in their current centralized form. That’s why I microblog on Mastodon. It is exactly how I imagine social media. Open source, free, decentralized, and federated.

Besides microblogging, here you will read the long, ‘proper’, blogs. There is no particular content or purpose for this blog, it is just my corner of the web. My little contribution to the internet.

After all, the internet is not a window to a better world, it is a mirror. A mirror of us. We do not have to fix the internet. We have to fix ourselves.

Motorcycles and bikes

Motorcycles are a lifestyle. It may sound cliché, and you’ve probably heard it before a thousand times, but stick with me.

The sense of freedom you get on a motorcycle is a unique feeling that no other vehicle can replicate. You are one with your surroundings and not sterilized in a metal box. You are part of a community where everyone helps each other when in need, transcending age or sex, political or religious beliefs, and background. It is an emotional experience, whether you are cruising by the coast or ripping trails on the mountains. You are in absolute synchronization with a vastly complex, but yet, so simple machine.

Motorcycles are a way of life.

Bikes on the other hand are the simplest form of a motorcycle to my eyes — you get a new perspective of two-wheeled vehicles dynamics.

Weightlifting

Science based lifting from the likes of Jeff Nipard and Renaissance Periodization is my cup of tea. I train consistently with weights for a while now. I don’t do 1 rep max efforts often as I deem them too risky. Instead, I use a one rep max calculator to roughly get an idea of where I stand.

LiftOne rep max
Squat110kg
Bench82kg
Deadlift153kg

Where that places me as a lifter? Well, given I am a little over 80 kilos and based on the table bellow from Jeff, I am an early intermediate.

LiftBeginnerIntermediateAdvancedEliteFreak
Squat1.25X BW1.25-1.75X BW1.75-1.5X BW2.5-3X BW3X+ BW
Bench1X BW1-1.5X BW1.5-2X BW2-2.25X BW2.25X+ BW
Deadlift1.5X BW1.5-2.25X BW2.25-3X BW3-3.5X BW3.5X+ BW

Film photography

At first I thought it was quite stupid to shoot on film in an age where the average smartphone is more than enough to cover your needs. I continued to believe it up until my friend Christos gave me printed photos of a trip we had. Next thing you know, I was out buying film for a 90’s point and shoot we had laying around.

Of course you can emulate the feeling of a film camera on a photo. And of course you can print your high quality digital photos. But, what I really like, is that naive feeling when you shoot. The fact that you have one chance to get a good shot. Waiting for the film to develop, anxious to see if you got any good shots. The photos you have lying around the house, that you then pass to your friends to see.

Blogroll

These are some of the blogs I enjoy reading: