Likes

Mind.

• Why people suffer
• ·Whether meaning is discovered or invented
• ·The line between good and evil
• ·What makes a life worthwhile
• ·Why some relationships survive and others don't
• ·How much of personality is choice
• ·Why we tell stories
• ·What attention is
• ·Where taste comes from
• ·What curiosity itself is

Cinema.

• Stanley Kubrick
• ·David Lynch
• ·Studio Ghibli
• ·Beautiful failures
• ·Films that trust the audience

Every film and show I have rated →

Art.

• Northern Romantic painting
• ·Caspar David Friedrich
• ·Johan Christian Dahl
• ·John Atkinson Grimshaw
• ·Ivan Aivazovsky
• ·Moonlit landscapes
• ·Shakespearean tragedy
• ·Ballet, especially Swan Lake
• ·Ruins reclaimed by nature
• ·Lonely figures in vast landscapes
• ·Storms at sea
• ·Melancholy without despair

What's on the shelf →

Music.

• Classical, all of it
• ·Tchaikovsky, for Swan Lake
• ·Chopin's nocturnes
• ·Progressive metal
• ·Britpop
• ·Garage rock revival
• ·Moody Americana
• ·The tuning note before the first note

What I am listening to lately →

Style.

• Oversized English trousers
• ·Crisp dress shirts
• ·Waistcoats
• ·Tall coats & capes
• ·Eyes Wide Shut masks
• ·Glasses, always
• ·Artistic rings shaped like animals
• ·Silver necklaces
• ·Silver lapel pins & cufflinks
• ·Pocket watches
• ·Victorian-patterned ties
• ·Fedora hats
• ·Textured leather belts
• ·Wooden-soled leather shoes
• ·Long boots
• ·Raincoats
• ·A proper black umbrella

Space.

• Cozy, small, lived-in rooms
• ·Patterned wallpaper
• ·Warm yellow light
• ·Victorian & Greek detailing
• ·A real fireplace
• ·Dark wooden doors
• ·Archways instead of corners
• ·Dark wood interiors
• ·Worn leather
• ·Indoor plants, everywhere
• ·Paintings on every wall
• ·Dead flowers in a vase
• ·Patterned carpets
• ·A big TV, sofa pulled close
• ·A bed too big for the room
• ·Candles & lanterns
• ·Detailed spoons & utensils
• ·A coffee corner
• ·A shoe-shine corner
• ·Windows onto trees & train tracks
• ·Fallen leaves indoors
• ·Easter eggs scattered through the room
• ·Hand-painted appliances — fridge, TV, the lot
• ·Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves
• ·Wall-sized mirrors in the dressing room
• ·A big mirrored bathroom
• ·An oversized shower head
• ·Rain against windows

Places.

• Libraries
• ·Bookshops with ladders
• ·Museum halls near closing
• ·Grand old cinemas
• ·Old train stations
• ·Hotel bars at midnight

Food.

• Pancakes, flawless and faintly divine
• ·Quzi, slow-cooked
• ·Yalanji
• ·Steak, rested
• ·Risotto, done right
• ·Penne arrabiata
• ·Rocket (arugula) salad
• ·Sushi
• ·Sunflower seeds, by the bag

Drink.

• Cocktails, more or less all of them
• ·Sex on the Beach, ordered without irony
• ·Jägermeister, very cold
• ·Beer, very cold
• ·Iced V60
• ·Peach iced tea
• ·Black tea

Road.

• Porsche 911 Turbo S
• ·Aston Martin DB11
• ·Ferrari 488 Pista
• ·Manual gearboxes
• ·Night drives, windows down
• ·Empty highways at 3am

Wander.

• Rain & thunderstorms
• ·Solo travel, big cities
• ·Nocturnal urban exploration
• ·Secret European alleys
• ·Arboreal retreats, off-map
• ·Deep mountain hikes where no one has been

Body.

• Inhuman training volumes
• ·Endurance past the point of reason
• ·Strength as a default state
• ·Sitting in discomfort, on purpose
• ·Cold water, on purpose
• ·Breathing exercises
• ·Stretching & mobility
• ·Balance
• ·Long walks as thinking
• ·Meditation
• ·Sleep, defended

Craft.

• Total control over my stack
• ·Linux, always
• ·Suckless philosophy
• ·Software you can leave alone
• ·Programs that start instantly
• ·Plain text, forever
• ·Go, Rust, Svelte
• ·Self-hosted everything
• ·IBM Plex, everywhere
• ·Sorting files and data like a maniac