Tangent: Mixed Bag of Goodies

Video games at the airport, what I've been reading lately, & LA photos.

Howdy friends,

I haven’t done one of these mixed bags in a while. Also, my return flight from LA was uneventful, so I don’t have a crazy follow up story for you.

Nothing like last week’s journey.

I did stumble into a place at the airport where you could play all kinds of video games. It had blue and pink neon light trims, gaming chairs, and bright green headsets. One of the employees caught me in long inquisitive stare and invited me come in and try it out. Had this man pulled up to me on the street in an unmarked white van and encouraged me to hop on because he had candy inside, I would have gotten in. Because: charisma.

For $16.99 you could play for 30 minutes. If you compare the price tag to a shitty airport salad and a soft drink, then it’s a bargain #camilomath. Instead of lunch, I would feast on Xbox-fueled dopamine.

I decided to play FIFA. Problem was that I hadn’t used an Xbox/PlayStation in so long that it took me 10 minutes to figure out how to access the game #gettingold. I was too proud to ask for help because who on their right mind would walk into a video game café and pay to play without knowing how to use the console? Me, I guess.

I managed to get a couple of matches in, and then I remembered why I don’t really play video-games anymore: I wanted to keep going. Forever. To play more matches with my beloved Real Madrid. To miss my flight. Just let me live here, at the Gameway in Terminal 6 at LAX Airport.

Anyways, here are a few pieces I’ve read lately that I liked, a book I’m reading, and some photos from my LA trip. Enjoy!

What I’m Reading

Using ChatGPT to find out if I'm a spring, summer, autumn or winter

I loved this post by

Raika Sarkett

. She writes about how she used ChatGPT to figure out what colors/make-up would suit her based on the color of her skin, eyes, and hair. It’s a nice little experiment which I did myself.

Here is what it gave me:

• Skin tone (#F3CBBD): This falls into the warm undertones category, which is often associated with the Spring or Autumn palettes.

• Hair color (#312F30): This dark color can complement both warm and cool undertones, but it tends to lean towards cooler tones, which can be associated with the Winter palette.

• Eye color (#2E2727): This is a deep, neutral color that could complement a variety of palettes.

Given these colors, you might be a mix of characteristics from different seasonal palettes. However, considering the warmth of your skin tone and the depth of your hair color, you might lean more towards the Autumn palette, which typically includes warm, earthy tones.

Best Colors:

• Warm earthy tones like terracotta, rust, caramel, and olive green can complement your warm skin tone.

• Rich jewel tones such as deep emerald, sapphire blue, and burgundy can enhance your overall look.

• Neutrals like camel, taupe, and chocolate brown can also be flattering.

Colors to Avoid:

• Very cool tones like icy blues and grays may clash with your warm undertones.

• Neon or very bright colors might overpower your natural features.

• Extremely light pastels may wash you out.

In short, I need to aim for warm earthy tones and neutrals like camel and taupe (cool, cool). I should avoid icy blues, grays, and neon colors.¹

Where Are All the Boyfriends I was Promised by Celia Gurney

What I loved about this essay is that it starts by describing the common modern dating experience in a big city. It felt all too relatable, but nothing really new. That is, until Celia goes deeper to understand the source of tension with her love life and explores the idea of demisexuality.² That’s where it gets interesting and I ended up learning about the idea of demisexuality, which I didn’t really know much about.

From the piece:

Whether they’d all want to embrace a label like demisexuality, however, is another story. Some people feel constricted or pathologized by labels. Others think increasingly specific labels are a snowflake thing or just a way for privileged people to claim marginalization.

All I can say is: this label helped me find others going through similar things. Eventually, it empowered me to shrug off societal expectations about dating and pick and choose only what works for me.

How I think About Debt by Morgan Housel

It’s annoying how well Morgan Housel writes. In less than 500 words, he is able to teach us something interesting (the Japanese term shinise for centuries old businesses), while making the case that debt restricts the range of outcomes you can endure in your life.

My own reflection stemming from this post is that in times of high volatility and uncertainty you want to be able to respond to as wide of a range of outcomes as possible. Also, it is highly likely that over my life I may experience a catastrophic and/or financially challenging event.

From his piece:

I hope to be around for another 50 years. What are the odds that during those 50 years I will experience one or more of the following: Wars, recessions, terrorist attacks, pandemics, bad political decisions, family emergencies, unforeseen health crises, career transitions, wayward children, and other mishaps?

One-hundred percent. The odds are 100%.

Manifest: 7 Steps to Living Your Best Life

I wanted to hate this book. I really did. The title sounded gimmicky and I had long been unsure about whether manifestation was just a load of crap or if there was something to it.

I only read this because my sister-in-law has recommended the book to anyone within an earshot, but most importantly, because you can see the book’s impact on her. She’s become more optimistic, less anxious, and more proactive.

Unfortunately for my first impression, it’s a well-crafted book.

What I like is that the book is structured very well. The chapters don’t linger, the paragraphs don’t bore, and it’s highly practical. Early on in the book you get the idea that manifestation isn’t about imaging nice things and waiting for these nice things to happen. Manifestation is the act of defining your desires clearly, visualizing them so that your mind and body start believing you are worthy of these things, and then taking the sustained actions that align with what you want to manifest. I can get behind that.

There is only one way to see if this book really had an impact on me. We’ll revisit this in a few years.

Foticos (from LA)

Until next time!

1. ChatGPT didn’t need to tell me this: I have the memory of wearing an almost neon orange Express track jacket my senior year of high school seared on my brain. It’s was as cringeworthy as my Myspace posts back then.

2. Demisexuality is a sexual orientation where a person only experiences sexual attraction after forming a strong emotional bond with someone.