Likes
In no particular order, and never finished. Things get added and removed as I change.
Caspar David Friedrich, Moonrise over the Sea, 1822. Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin
updated
Mind
Philosophy I keep returning to
- 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
Directors I rewatch on principle
- Stanley Kubrick
- David Lynch
- Studio Ghibli
- Beautiful failures
- Films that trust the audience
Art
Art I never get tired of
- 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
Music
What I listen to
- Classical, all of it
- Tchaikovsky, for Swan Lake
- Chopin's nocturnes
- Progressive metal
- Tool
- Opeth
- Jeff Buckley
- Kadhim Alsaher
- Britpop
- Garage rock revival
- Moody Americana
- The tuning note before the first note
Style
A dark, tailored world
- 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
How a room should feel
- 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
Rooms I don't own
- Libraries
- Bookshops with ladders
- Museum halls near closing
- Grand old cinemas
- Old train stations
- Hotel bars at midnight
Food
Foods that are worth the effort
- 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
What ends up in the glass
- 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
Fast cars, empty roads
- Porsche 911 Turbo S
- Aston Martin DB11
- Ferrari 488 Pista
- Manual gearboxes
- Night drives, windows down
- Empty highways at 3am
Wander
Travel, weather, slight danger
- 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
A Greek-god frame, and tolerance for pain
- 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
The software taste behind the day job
- 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
R
I am worthy because I am curious, not because I am clever.