# ayden (blogs) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 1 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover ayden. Page: Feed: --- ## [Die with Zero](https://chaosplay.com/reviews/books/die-with-zero/) _2026-07-16 · chaosplay_ This book showed me an alternate perspective I had never even considered. As an immigrant who grew up in a house where being poor and losing it all was a constant fear, I am 100% focused on saving for retirement. Probably save way too much. And that always seemed like the right thing to do. This book challenges that and reminds us that any money we saved and never used is essentially wasted. We… ## [Happy Birthday Zayn](https://chaosplay.com/fatherhood/2026-06-29-zayn-is-five/) _2026-06-29 · chaosplay_ Zayn is five!! He had a great birthday party yesterday. He is so social and so excited about celebrating his birthday at daycare with his school friends. Ayden is also growing up so fast. He is such a deep thinker. Yesterday he asked me if when I was a kid, I ever thought about how maazing life would be when I grow up. I said yes then asked why. He said that what he was thinking. He said life… ## [Joker](https://chaosplay.com/reviews/movies/joker/) _2026-04-05 · chaosplay_ Heartbreaking to watch. The Joker has been my favorite villain for a long time, and what got me here is that they finally showed the human side of him, how someone who started out good gets ground down and turned into something evil. It makes you sit with that question the whole way through. Joaquin Phoenix’s performance is amazing; he carries the entire thing. Saw it in the theater with a… ## [Oppenheimer](https://chaosplay.com/reviews/movies/oppenheimer/) _2026-04-05 · chaosplay_ My #1. I grew up reading about these scientists in my textbooks, just names on a page with equations attached to them. Seeing them walk around as actual people, in the same rooms, alive at the same time and all connected to each other, was something else. That’s the thing that got me: not only Oppenheimer, but the whole crowd of them gathered at one moment in history. Nolan does the science… ## [The Matrix](https://chaosplay.com/reviews/movies/the-matrix/) _2026-04-05 · chaosplay_ The first movie I ever saw in a theater. I was 17, and when I walked out I genuinely felt like I was in the Matrix, looking at the street, the people, all of it, half-wondering whether any of it was real. It messed with my head in the best way and shifted how I looked at a lot of things. I was studying computer science at the time, and this is the movie that made programming feel like more than a… ## [The Social Network](https://chaosplay.com/reviews/movies/the-social-network/) _2026-04-05 · chaosplay_ Watched it in the theater with friends, which was the perfect way to see it. As a wannabe startup founder and a programmer, I connected with the Zuckerberg character right away. Honestly, I felt like I was him. It pulled me straight back to all the hack projects I built in college, the all-nighters with friends, the rush of making something out of nothing. And that “Creep” cover, the… ## [Vivarium](https://chaosplay.com/reviews/movies/vivarium/) _2026-04-05 · chaosplay_ A couple goes house hunting, gets stuck in an endless maze of identical houses, and is handed a baby to raise as the price of ever getting out. I watched it a few years ago, in the middle of what felt like a midlife crisis, and I didn’t really watch it as a horror movie. I watched it and saw my own life. That’s the trap it nails: first you fight it, trying to escape backward to the… ## [Starting a Portrait Photography Business](https://chaosplay.com/art/photography/2025-12-18-starting-portrait-photography-business/) _2025-12-18 · chaosplay_ Lessons from launching a portrait photography side hustle: what worked, what didn't, and what I learned. ## [Photography vs Programming: a Minimalist Perspective](https://chaosplay.com/art/photography/2025-10-11-photography-vs-programming/) _2025-10-11 · chaosplay_ Balancing a photography side hustle and a programming career through the lens of minimalism. ## [What Would You Do When You Retire?](https://chaosplay.com/essays/2025-09-22-retire/) _2025-09-22 · chaosplay_ Thinking about what you'd do in retirement can reveal what you truly want to do right now. ## [Fast, secure international transfers (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/6MqJ0GCjcWuj) _2025-09-21 · **Sponsored**_ Bank transfer, cash pickup, mobile wallet — low fees and real-time tracking ## [Lake Tahoe Vacation](https://chaosplay.com/travel/2025-lake-tahoe/) _2025-07-15 · chaosplay_ Family vacation at Lake Tahoe ## [LLMs and an old dev](https://chaosplay.com/essays/2025-06-10-llms-and-old-dev/) _2025-06-10 · chaosplay_ How LLMs helped an older developer keep up with new tech and extend his career. ## [Louis Tussaud's Palace of Wax](https://chaosplay.com/travel/2025-louis-tussauds-palace-of-wax/) _2025-06-07 · chaosplay_ Wax figures and oddities in Grand Prairie, TX ## [Wishlist of shows and movies](https://chaosplay.com/notes/micro/2025-05-07-wishlist-of-shows-and-movies/) _2025-05-07 · chaosplay_ I keep telling my kids that I cannot wait to watch my favorite movies and shows with them when they are older. Game of Thrones The Matrix Scarface Last of Us Black Mirror Fight Club Arcane Fallout ## [Raising Mentally Strong Kids](https://chaosplay.com/reviews/books/raising-mentally-strong-kids/) _2025-03-26 · chaosplay_ Raising Mentally Strong Kids (affiliate link) is one of the better parenting books I have read recently. Highly recommended, 5/5. A lot of parenting books have the same concepts, but it is good to re-read the same ideas with different perspectives from various authors. It helps reinforce those ideas. The main ideas are: Focus on yourself first. Fix your issues, get good sleep, handle stress, do… ## [Circle of Life](https://chaosplay.com/notes/songs/2025-03-09-circle-of-life/) _2025-03-09 · chaosplay_ Nants ingonyama bagithi baba Sithi uhm ingonyama Nants ingonyama bagithi baba Sithi uhhmm ingonyama Ingonyama Siyo Nqoba Ingonyama Ingonyama nengw’ enamabala Ingonyama nengw’ enamabala Ingonyama nengw’ enamabala Ingonyama nengw’ enamabala Ingonyama nengw’ enamabala Ingonyama nengw’ enamabala (se-to-kwa!) Ingonyama nengw’ enamabala (asana) Ingonyama… ## [Mo (Netflix show)](https://chaosplay.com/reviews/tv/mo/) _2025-02-08 · chaosplay_ The first episode of Mo was so annoying that it took several months to finish it. But eventually the show gets interesting. Mo is so annoying that it is very hard to love him initially. There were moments when he got into trouble for his immaturity and, instead of feeling bad for him, I felt relieved. I hate shows in which there are no consequences for stupid actions. Here, at least, he had to… ## [Hunger (2023)](https://chaosplay.com/reviews/movies/hunger/) _2025-02-05 · chaosplay_ I saw this movie on Netflix. It started off strong but turns into a disappointment at the end. The movie is about a street food cook who is invited to join a team of top chefs. SPOILERS WARNING: The girl wanted to be the best, and she even ended up opening her own restaurant. But in the end, she just wanted to go back to being a street food cook. I felt disappointed because the message seemed to… ## [The Courage to Be Disliked](https://chaosplay.com/reviews/books/the-courage-to-be-disliked/) _2025-01-30 · chaosplay_ Just finished listening to The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi. The book is in the form of a dialogue between a philosopher and a youth. It discusses Adlerian philosophy. The book seems to be written from a Japanese perspective. It talks about “shut-ins”, NEET, and other terms for young people who prefer to isolate themselves. I had never heard of these terms; after some… ## [Post Malone – Losers](https://chaosplay.com/notes/songs/2025-01-30-post-malone-losers/) _2025-01-30 · chaosplay_ Lyrics: (Verse 1) Last callers, last chancers 9 to 5ers, truckers, dancers Couple Chuck’s, Ern’s, and Chandler’s With a whole lotta prayers unanswered Whiskey by noon, and beer before that Southbound train on a hellbound track Might just put two middle fingers up and throw one back for all the People who ain’t ever felt at home Just spinnin’ on a rock and gettin’ stoned (Chorus) Yeah this one’s… ## [Finnish Seedboxes — Up to 20Gbps (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/VnO7kep1J62b) _2025-01-30 · **Sponsored**_ Private Finnish seedboxes with 1–20Gbps speeds, RAID storage and 14‑day refund ## [Sonic 3](https://chaosplay.com/reviews/movies/sonic-3/) _2025-01-27 · chaosplay_ This weekend, I saw Sonic 3 with my son. I have never gotten into Sonic movies, so this was the first Sonic movie I saw. It was a really enjoyable movie, and Ayden really loved it as well. From a parent’s perspective, I liked that it used some common phrases such as “make good choices,” which should help reinforce these messages. ## [Photography in the age of Generative AI](https://chaosplay.com/art/photography/2024-12-21-photography/) _2024-12-21 · chaosplay_ How generative AI is changing photography and what it means for photographers.