Ranier
Share
💡 9 Lessons I Learned in 2025 🧠
Last year, I picked up a few new hobbies and sharpened the ones I already enjoy. Here are a few things I learned along the way.
1. Grilling doesn’t have to be time-consuming. You can smoke or grill a great piece of meat in under 30 minutes, or meal prep for the week in about an hour.
2. Cheap cuts are underrated. Wagyu is great, but transforming a humble pork shoulder or chicken thigh into something luxurious with a simple brine and smoke is better.
3. Anyone can develop a green thumb. I thought I was bad at gardening after failing at indoor plants, but growing herbs and vegetables outside showed me how approachable and rewarding it really is. All you need is time, good soil, ample sun, and consistent watering.
4. Variety changes everything. A living herb garden has taken my cooking further than any spice rack. We now grow multiple basils, leafy greens, and peppers.
5. The best workout is the one you enjoy. Boxing at home has been the most energizing routine I’ve ever stuck with — easy access, no commute, and no real-world CTE.
6. Learn from the pros, practice solo. YouTube has been an incredible resource for boxing and combat sports analysis. I may not have elite speed or power like Naoya Inoue, but studying and practicing safely has gone a long way to improving my confidence, balance, and cardio.
7. Fighting Game fundamentals transfer. Learning frame data and matchups in Tekken made me better across other fighting games like Smash, Street Fighter, and even VR boxing.
8. Play guitar like Guitar Hero. Years of noodling stalled my progress, but playing along to songs using the Chordify website completely changed how fast I improved.
9. Don’t sleep on soft skills. Guitar scales helped me understand the fret board, but grinding away at my rhythm, timing, and “feel” made the biggest difference — and made me a better musician overall… even if I’m still not that great 😅
06/27/2024
They lied and told us Midi was a small doggy!
This little one grew 10 lbs the first month and basically elongated her hotdoggy body overnight and now she thinks she's grown and mature 😤🥹
But probably my favorite thing about Midi is her connection with Livi . Every night, Midi curles up next to Livi's butt, legs, or she'll burrow herself into a nest on top of Livi's thighs. That's her favorite place to sleep ❤️😍
It's probably because Livi sleeps warm and stays still through the night. I'm Mr. Fidgets Around every 2 seconds so I'm not a reliable nest for the pup. Plus I sleep with half a leg out the blankets to stay cool ❄️
Compared to Yoko, Midi loves to just goof off in the backyard for the fun. Yoko does her business then comes in. Midna needs to sniff every corner and scare off the birds from the lawn before she comes inside.
She's also DAMN GOOD at finding things we didn't realize we're lost. Screws. Shorts. A workout glove. An insurance card 🙄
Little pup, big personality.
Extra wiggly and very licky.
She fits right in with the family ❤️
06/20/2024
Photographers often think that buying new expensive cameras with the latest bells and whistles will be the key to taking better photos.
But one golden piece of advice I learned from my fellow street photographers (s.o to Eric Kim ) was to consume more photography books instead of chasing after new gear.
So I found myself at a bookstore in Mountain View, CA one day and I found a copy of Roy Decarava's 'The Sound I Saw' and what I saw forever changed my creative aesthetic and how I chose to identify as an American.
This quiet, powerful book drew me in, and it hasn't left my mind or my inspiration board for 15 years.
On top of featuring Jazz legends like Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Billie Holiday, each page was covered in a blanket of shadows that was so drastically different from the bright, well-lit and "perfectly exposed" glossy images I trained myself to recreate as a fashion photographer.
And through this creative change, like a photographer developing their own film, I started a journey to learn as much as I could about Black artists, musicians, thinkers, and writers to help me develop my negative image of myself as a FilAm American and unlearn all of the Eurocentric standards I was told were gospel.
It was one small step for my creative journey, and one massive step for my sense of self-worth.
Thank you, Roy ✊🏼
Click here to claim your Sponsored Listing.
Category
Website
Address
Phoenix, AZ
