General Musings

For me, 2022 was a year with many divergent themes – investing in my business vs. investing in my hobbies; stability vs. freedom; listlessness vs. a sense of meaning. My solopreneur content business, Peak Frameworks, has continued scaling well. I’m fortunate to have doubled my revenue over 2021 while roughly halving the amount of time … Continue reading My 2022 Annual Review →

I started producing music four years ago in the summer of 2018 back when I was still living in New York. One late night while doomscrolling through YouTube, I saw a video of a friendly looking guy making a beat in FL Studio. I had briefly tried using FL in high school, but the steep … Continue reading Arial Ten (My Music) →

Before this blog existed, I used to condense all of my bloggy writing energy into annual reviews, which I would send to my friends as a way to update them on my life. I’m going to do an annual review for 2021 because: If you want to check out my old annual reviews (2016 – … Continue reading My 2021 Annual Review →

Like many other soft millennial males raised by the Internet, I subscribe to a post-modern masculinity that has taught me to embrace emotions and to be conscientious of others. Growing up, my natural disposition was definitely to care about what other people thought of me. I do know which of my goals are authentically mine, … Continue reading The Opinions of Others →

I wish I could say I’ve had a truly amazing teacher in my lifetime, but sadly I don’t think I have. I’ve certainly enjoyed classes here and there, but my professors and high school teachers never seemed to have the right tools or incentives to genuinely care about the quality of my education. Most of … Continue reading Qualities of Effective Teaching / Learning →

One of the hardest things to do when starting something new is picking a name that feels good. I think for many people, including myself, picking a good name is so uncomfortable and daunting that it prevents people from ever actually starting on the project. I named my business “Peak Frameworks”, which I derived from … Continue reading Choosing a Name →

As I progress further and further into my late 20s, I’ve observed a steady, organic decline in the number of my close friendships. This realization used to strike me as sad, but upon reflection, it feels appropriate and natural. Unless you’re bonded by some recurring mutual interest or are part of the same social circle, … Continue reading The Ingredients of Friendship →

Most of the important decisions in my life have been made with a fair amount of caution. As a matter of philosophy, I typically lay out all the pros and cons and probability weight the different options to see which choice has the best chance of succeeding. It’s a very boring, finance-y way to approach … Continue reading When will I be Good at Music? →

Over the years, I’ve generally tried to become less proud of a person, though I’ve always found pride to be kind of a slippery personality trait to pin down. Even if you’re aggressively meta and willfully self-aware, it’s still hard to clearly check all of your character blind spots. And when you self-examine through a … Continue reading When does Confidence Become Pride? →

I don’t know an awful lot about American history, but I’ve always looked up to Benjamin Franklin, or at least the idea of Benjamin Franklin, because he was espoused as a great polymath. A founding father of the United States of America, Franklin was famously good at many things such as writing, science, politics, and … Continue reading What Kind of Hobby is Best? →

I probably go to a third of the concerts I attend by myself. I don’t consider myself to be a music snob, although I suppose I might be. I’ve just found that oftentimes, it’s way too annoying to find people to go to concerts with. Going with just one person can be uncomfortably intimate because … Continue reading Music Taste and the Variability of Personality →