Three Rules

"Most opportunists enter crypto with schemes to get rich quick. While forgetting their investment could disappear...like a magic trick."

How do u spell relief rally? Ethereum. Yes, boys and girls the crypto pump is in full swing. If prices continue on their current trajectory Eth can hit 3K and Btc can clear 40K. If you're a fan of the Ichimoku cloud  I'm getting those estimations from the weekly charts. If Btc breaks through 40K the sentiment will be that the next bull run has begun. People will start throwing money into the market with reckless abandon, expecting things to rocket up to 100K. Not me. If I had never been through a bear market before, I would be partying too. It would be time to change the shower curtain into a Toga, put a lampshade on my head, turn on Nirvana, "Smells like teen spirit," and start doing the running man. Oh yeah, daddy would get freaky with it. That description of money induced dance fever will never come to pass. 

The reality is if Btc clears 40K i'm going to sell everything that's not staked so fast, my fingers will get friction burn from clicking the mouse button. The reason its called a relief rally is that it's a temporary pump before the price falls to a new low. In laymen terms I'm saying that breaching 40k is my signal to place short trades for the fall to 10K. (not financial advice) I'm definitely not saying the price will drop all the way to 10k. My trades will be based off price action from the past bear cycles. Remember, this is just my opinion. Do your own research. That's how u make money. 

This Eth merger from proof of work (pow) to proof of stake (pos) will be the equivalent of three Btc halvings rolled into one. Depending on when it actually happens, the outcome will change the landscape of the crypto space. It seems like big business is aware of the profit margins and wants the largest piece of the pie. The list of corporate entities now involved with crypto is too long to write in this post. The effects will be seen by the next halving in 2024. Add-on the resolution of the SEC case against Ripple Labs (XRP) which should be resolved sometime next year. That creates a recipe for a super cycle with potential gains that will make the last bull market seem like crumbs. The one consistent occurrence in crypto is that it always goes higher or lower than people expect. 

Now that almost all the crypto lending platforms have been liquidated, there's no one left to sell. Celsius filing for bankruptcy was a smart legal move. The question everyone is asking is what's next? Will we get all our money back? Will we get only a portion back? Will all the money go to the creditors and none to the retail investors? What's going to happen to the owner? Was there a crime committed? Will people go too jail? Here's what I can tell u. As of last week Celsius disbanded the ambassador program. We received the same information that was released to the public. If u want updates about the case...watch the news. I wrote the Celsius money off as a lesson learned. I have zero expectations that the funds will be returned. If they do get returned somewhere down the line that's a bonus. 

Always remember the three rules of investing. 1. Don't invest more than u can afford to lose. 2. Don't lose money. 3. Never forget the second rule. 

I wish u health, wealth and success,

Until Next We Speak, Be Well

Tha One an Only 

Lost Faith

"They say, see the good in strangers believe your neighbor no one questions why? Never trust in people's words because...all humans lie." 

Let me start off by offering apologies to all readers for the situation with Celsius. I've been using their services since they started in 2018. Full disclosure, I am part of their ambassador program and have funds locked on the platform. Also I invested a large amount of capital in their fund raising round on bnktothefuture. To put it bluntly I have allot of money staked into Celsius and it suxxs that I have zero access to it. We're deep in the bear market and they've halted all swaps and withdrawals on their platform. 

That means nobody can touch their money. I'm not going to speculate on if we're going to get our money back or not. Nor will I address the torrent of rumors that this bank run is a targeted attack against the owner Alex Mashinsky. Hypothesizing is a guessing game. I only deal in facts. What I can say factually is that I did get the interest payment Monday on my crypto like usual. If they're still paying out interest I can't call them a scam. I'm hoping Celsius recovers and makes it through this public maelstrom of bad press. 

Why did I use Celsius and recommended them to my network? The pattern is to sell some crypto at the market peak for profit then save the rest for later. By staking on Celsius I could borrow cash and not sell my crypto. It was that simple. Now that my money is trapped and inaccessible I've permanently lost faith in CeFi platforms. If you're unfamiliar with the term CeFi (Centralized Finance) means a centralized entity maintains custody of your assets. DeFi (Decentralized Finance) means u maintain complete ownership and self sovereignty of your assets. This situation epitomizes the classic euphemism. "Not your keys, not your crypto." To insure u don't lose all your crypto its always good to keep some on DeFi wallets like metamask and coinbase wallet (not connected to the coinbase platform) or cold storage wallets like Trezor and Ledger. 

For me there are no safe centralized platforms. Just to give perspective Binance one of the biggest exchanges in the world halted bitcoin withdrawals. It was only supposed to be for a half an hour but took much longer. If Binance is having problems no place is safe. The effect it had on the already panicked market was like throwing gasoline on a blazing inferno. Trust is low and fear is high. Not just high like a skyscraper or smoking to much weed high. I'm talking about fear at a cosmic level. The best thing to do in these uncertain times is to take control of your assets by moving them off centralized platforms. (not financial advice) 

That way if we have another Terra Luna debacle or Celsius asset freeze the money is already in your hands. I'm taking everything that's not staked and stashing it away until the relief rally, then I'm going to sell everything faster than a lightening strike. Believe it! I can buy it back later. There's time to accumulate in a bear market.   

I wish u all, health wealth and success

Until Next We Speak, Be Well

Tha One an Only  

Fruits of Labor

"In life even the blind can have a vision. To manifest their dreams, desires and ambitions."

Yikes! Did u see that dip. It looked like btc took a long fall off a short cliff. As of now it's rebounding but could fall lower. Luckily paranoia prevented me from buying at 32K and I avoided the big drop. After experiencing 50% drops last cycle I knew better. For those invested in Luna...I feel your pain. Watching it fall to zero was a reminder that we are definitely in a bear market. I'm just glad I never got involved with UST. This is the first time I've seen a stablecoin lose its peg and drop so low.

In a previous blog I said I didn't believe btc could fall to 14K. That was stupid. Anything can happen in crypto. For the past two market cycles there's been an 85% drop during the peak of the bear market. That would put btc at around 10-14k. That my friends would be the bottom and would trigger a buying opportunity that would literally change people into millionaires. You will see the fruits of your labor before the next halving in 2024. If you're searching for a little light at the end of the tunnel. There's a possibility that we see a bounce back up before the end of this month. Basically that would make this a temporary bottom. The price could rise to around 50K then fall even lower. This is just looking at the history of the last two cycles. Adjust your portfolios and keep some stablecoins ready. (not investment advice)

Last bear cycle I was spot trading and fell victim to the crash. Now I know how to leverage trade. I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I can say that "shorting" everything has been very profitable. I know shorting is a taboo subject for many investors. It's basically making profit off the declining price of an asset. It's foolish to believe anyone (or group) of retailers shorting could effect the market. It's not possible. The real market movers are trading billions of dollars. Your short trade means nothing. I'm saying this because now is the time to make money. While everyone else sits on their hands praying the price goes back up (which it will) in a bear market u watch for the pump then ride the crash down. (not investment advice)  

I wish u all Health, Wealth, and Success

Tha One an Only 

Served Cold

"As the body withers with age and memories grow old...revenge is the dish that's best served cold." 

Yesterday I attended a gathering at a bar in north Amsterdam. The place was a mix of off work professionals, students and locals. I didn't want to be there. An acquaintance asked me to come so he could get some crypto advice. I found this proposal interesting because this same person had told me back in 2019 that crypto was a bubble and a waste of money. He was heavy into the equities market (stocks and bonds) and didn't consider crypto a real asset class. For identity purposes I'll call the acquaintance John. 

When I arrived at the bar John was already there with a group of people I didn't know. After greeting John and getting introduced to a bunch of faces with names I didn't bother to remember, I grabbed a drink at the bar. I asked for a vodka with apple juice and that's what the bartender said he gave me. John appeared at the bar beside me and began talking about his life. I tried to pay attention to his words but since I had no emotional connection to them my mind began to drift. In between Johns' sob story on how the stock market may crash and worries about having to move back to Seattle I caught bits of other conversations. There were several people discussing whether it was acceptable to wear socks with sandals. A man and woman sitting at the bar to my left were chatting about feeding their cat chocolate. People behind John and I were arguing over if Punk was dead or not. 

I finished my vodka apple juice and felt no effect. John finished his story and had a perplexed look on his face. I realized that a response was necessary but I hadn't been listening so was unaware of any question. My mind had been occupied wondering if the bartender had given me apple juice with no vodka. Everyone around me seemed like babbling village idiots. Perhaps my alcohol was defective. John said, "So can u do it?" Instead of asking him what "It" was? I said what I was thinking. "I think my alcohol is defective. This happened to me once when I was in South America. I need to talk to the bartender." John seemed confused then he laughed. I didn't. At that moment three other guys came over and blended into our discussion. Luck was on my side because John filled in the conversation gaps. 

By the way, don't worry if the people I'm writing about will be offended. Let me let u in on two little secrets. One, none of those guys like to read anything they don't have too. "If it's not in video or audio format then it's not worth knowing". That was a quote from one of the guys. I have a higher chance of being hit by a comet, being ridden by a two foot tall, green, Martian, wearing leather chaps and a cowboy hat, before any of them read my blog. Two, these are facts.

John and his friends wanted me to teach them about DeFi. Traditional markets are looking grim and crypto is showing bigger long term gains. Some of his friends had dabbled in crypto but none of them trusted or knew how to interact with smart contracts. They were semi-drunk so some of their questions became long stories about how the pandemic changed their lives. I gave them a brief summary on DeFi and some of my wins and losses in the space. After answering some crypto questions I excuse myself and went to the end of the bar by the entrance to speak to the bartender. Right after I gestured for the bartender to come over John appeared beside me. Alcohol makes people emotional. His eyes were glossy like he was on the verge of tears. He apologized for comments he had made about me losing money in crypto. Then he went on to say he understands if the reason I didn't say yes to his question is because I was still upset. What he was describing is petty revenge. 

Lets take a moment to discuss revenge. For me there are different types of revenge. First, there's the vengeful type of revenge. Second, there's the improve yourself and let your success destroy your enemies ego type of revenge. Last, is petty revenge, or commonly known as a grudge. This type never involves physical confrontation. Petty revenge is where u are in a position to help someone who wronged u in the past. You refuse to do it to get back at the person. For all types of revenge emotional attachment to that moment or experience is the driving force behind your actions. I feel nothing.   

The truth was I hadn't heard his question. My attention was focused on getting to the bottom of the vodka mystery. After his emotional display and my cold response John asked what was up. I seemed really relaxed for a guy who had recently taken a loss. I seemed calmer than normal. I could've told him that by changing my leverage trading strategy to 3x for Alts, plus a generous DyDx airdrop, I recouped everything I've lost over the last two years. Instead I just said, "I got it back." Then he asked if I was still trading? I told him, "I'll never stop trading." While we were talking people kept coming over and interjecting tidbits into the conversation. Another of John's friends had been standing by and said, "If u won everything back u should be celebrating. Why do u look so serious?" I replied, "I lost my emotional attachment to things." They all laughed. I didn't. Some more words were exchanged which disappeared from my brain like smoke in the wind. My concentration was on getting the bartender. 

Once again people had been talking to me but I missed the discussion. One of Johns' now completely inebriated friends said, "My man, it sucks that u lost feelings where do u think u lost them?" To my astonishment and utter disbelief, someone standing adjacent to me actually said, "Good question." In my mind it felt like I had been unwillingly transported to the high council of babbling idiots. I remained expressionless and replied, "I think they fell out my pocket on my way to the bar. I'm going to look for them on the way home. " They all laughed. I didn't. While they were still having bellies full of laughter and liquor, I returned to my quest for the bartender. This time I finally got his attention. The bartender was in front of me, John to my right, and one of his drunk minions to my left. The rest of the group had migrated over to us and were standing behind me making noisy monkey chatter. 

I introduced myself to the bartender. We exchanged pleasantries for a few moments, then I asked if the vodka was defective. They all laughed. I didn't. From the stoic expression on my face the bartender knew I was serious. We talked for a minute about different liquors while John and his friend made random shot suggestions. Since I was only drinking white liquor the bartender recommended I try some Jenever, a Dutch Gin. We drank shots of different Jenever brands. The bartender had taken half shots with us and had become talkative. It was a short time after that he bounced off to change the music. People were dancing by their tables and the mood was quite festive. 

As I sat on the bar stool listening to what was once mindless chatter trying to keep my thoughts from sinking below pristine white waves of liquor. I came to a realization. Either all the conversations around me had suddenly became scintillantly interesting or...I had become one of the babbling village idiots. Regardless of the answer, it was fun. After that I shared some DeFi resources with John. It took some time to convince him that his past words meant nothing to me. The brewed spirits helped insure my statements weren't taken offensively. Later, I conceded to the bartender that the alcohol wasn't defective. They all laughed. I did too. It was a nice night. 

One thing u want to always keep in mind. The people u pass on your ascension to success in the journey of life. Are the same people watching as u descend. If you show love to them along the way. They will often extend a helping hand to stop your fall. Food for thought. 

Until Next We Speak, Be Well 

Tha One an Only

Celestial Bodies

As the space race in the private sector heats up new exoplanet discoveries offer a glimpse of where mankind is moving in the near future. There's an estimated four hundred billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Every star has at least one planet. If u do simple math and say one out of every one thousand planets has life. That would leave u with roughly 40 million planets with intelligent life. (Just in our galaxy.) It is reasonable to believe that some of these planets could be hundreds or even thousands of years more technologically advanced than earth. Any civilization that advanced will have mastered interstellar travel and wormhole technology. 

Our current technology can put a person on the Moon, Mars and soon asteroids. Our asteroid belt is between Mars and Jupiter. Asteroids are full of precious metals, crystals, and other resources that could alleviate their scarcity here on Earth. All the metals on earth originated from space. They were deposited here millions of years ago when meteors crashed into the planet. That's why there's a finite amount and the more we mine the less there is. Mining one asteroid could provide the planet enough resources for hundreds if not thousands of years. They're a veritable gold mine and government's around the world are aware of it. It will be like the movie Armageddon minus the cheesy romance and nuclear detonation. Anyone who says "we're never going to mine asteroids" is still living in the stone age.

To put things in perspective, if we are almost able to colonize other planets a civilization hundreds of years more technologically advanced could easily travel to earth. To go deeper down the rabbit hole. There is undisputable evidence that there was a pre flood civilization with advanced technology. What if some of them survived the flood by colonizing other planets? There have been pyramid structures like those in Egypt found on Mars. It would be mind blowing for humanity to finally start colonizing planets and find humans already out there. Imagine the first astronauts to land on Mars call back to mission control. "Houston we have a problem. There are people here and they're angry because our arrival took so long, and we didn't bring any chicken." Deep thoughts from a shallow mind.

Thoughts of possibly being able to travel to space in my lifetime inspired me to paint. There are infinite worlds to discover. My newest piece is titled Celestial Bodies. It's acrylic paint on (40 x 120cm ) canvas. 

  

Life Goes On...

Like the title says...life goes on. No matter what struggle or challenges you face. The world doesn't care. If u were to disappear, people would miss you, but after tears were shed and kind words were spoken. Life goes on...

I made that statement because recently I was forced to accept that harsh, lonely reality. To be honest I'm glad I had to go through a tragedy that left my heart bearing scars. It's not because I'm a masochist. It's because it taught me three lessons. Each can be found in old expressions. "Life goes on" was the first. The second was "What doesn't kill u makes u stronger," is a fact. When I reached my lowest point is when I found the strength to stand back up and start walking forward again. Losing my daughter was the hardest thing to emotionally survive in my life. Now I'm conditioned, and there's very little left in this world that can harm me. 

One of the steps I've been taking to get back on track, is getting back in optimum shape. It's summer. The weather is hot. Masks are off. No better time to have a beach body. I spent the better part of two months doing my best impression of a couch potato. When I was in the bottomless abyss of despair the ice cream started talking to me. I'm not sure when it started. It was a few weeks after the break-up. I was sitting on the couch, crying like a child because Bruce Willis got shot in Die Hard 2 (or because I lost five figures on a trade), fluctuating between anger and sadness when the ice cream started talking. 

It would say "Hey, its cold and dark in here. Take me out. I'll keep u company and make u feel better." In all fairness the ice cream didn't lie. It made me feel better for a long time. I walked past a mirror one day and looked at my reflection. The mirror had become the enemy. I hadn't seen my reflection in months.  All it took was five seconds of appraisal for me to know the ice cream had to go. Immediately I rushed to the kitchen snatched the ice cream out the freezer and prepared to throw the whole pint in the trash. The Ice cream, frosty and emotionless asked. "Why throw me away? Didn't I make u feel better?" Trapped in the depths of rage and self hatred I yelled back. "Yes, but now I'm fat." Always cool, calculating, and compassionless, the ice cream replied. "I promised to make you feel better. Not look better. That's your job." The ice cream was right. It did what it promised to do. There was no one but myself to be angry with. Once I came to that realization my sanity returned. I thanked the ice cream by eating it. I haven't brought a pint home since. 

During the lockdown in Europe all the gyms were closed (like everything else). Here in the Netherlands we had a (21:00 - 05:00) curfew that only recently ended. No gym meant I had to device a way to get a full body workout at home. One thing to remember is no matter how much u exercise, if u don't eat healthy the results won't show.

The last lesson was perhaps the most important. "No Risk No reward" is also very true. Even if u don't succeed in achieving a goal, you gain more experience from every attempt. Trust me when I say, taking a risk on yourself is the best thing u can do. In eighteen months my entire life changed. I'm optimistic about the future, motivated in the present, and making peace with the past. The journey I'm on is like trying to climb Mount Everest, blindfolded, with one arm handcuffed behind the back. If you're going to stay around prepare yourself because its going to be a bumpy ride.  

Until Next We Speak, Be Well

Tha One an Only 

AniManga: Kangoku Gakuen (Prison School)

Kangoku Gakuen (Prison School in English) is my manga guilty pleasure. It has a comedic storyline, interesting character development, kinky imagery, and insane plots. The manga is written by Akira Hiramoto. Its been serialized since 2011. The series was made into a twelve episode anime in 2015.

This AniManga centers around a group of five teenage guys who attend Hachimitsu Academy. The school was formally an all-girl academy and one of the strictest schools in Tokyo. To make things worse the school is under the control of a group called the Underground Student Council. Most of its members hate men. The rest of the student body is apprehensive about talking to men because they have no experience with them. If that sounds bad..it only gets worse from there. On the high school premises is a small prison, hence the name Prison School.  The five guys named Kiyoshi, Takehito, Shingo, Joji, Reiji get locked in prison. 

Kiyoshi is the main character of the series. He's in love with the president of the USC (Underground Student Council) little sister Chiyo. Kiyoshi is also the love interest of Hana another member of the USC. Hana is a martial arts expert, sadistic and is jealous of Kiyoshi's affection towards Chiyo. Out of the four guys Kiyoshi is the most normal and runs into the most problems. Kiyoshi and Shingo were friends from middle school. Shingo, is your average high school delinquent. He has a pessimistic personality and almost zero loyalty towards the other four guys. 

Takehito (also known as) "Gakuto" is a glasses wearing otaku with a fascination for the Three Kingdoms. Throughout the series, Gakuto proves to be a smart strategist and opportunist. During their stay in prison, Gakuto and Kiyoshi come up with several ingenious plans to escape their forced captivity. Out of all the guys, Gakuto takes the most physical abuse during the series. He also has the worse reputation. 

Joji (also known as Joe) is the weakest member of the group. He has a persistent cough that never goes away. He can only take light physical exertion and is no help in their attempt to escape prison. Joe does have an affinity towards animals. At one point during the series, he is portrayed as a Doctor Dolittle by talking to a colony of ants. Joe is loyal to his friends. On numerous occasions, he tries to be the voice of reason for the group.  

Reiji (also known as Andre) is the largest member of the group. He is overweight and taller than the other guys. Andre stands out from the group because he is a masochist with extra long earlobes. He enjoys pain and being degraded. During his stay in prison, he becomes obsessed with their prison guard Meiko. Like Joe, Andre is fiercely loyal to his friends. Throughout the series, he starts out as a gentle giant. As it progresses, he becomes more outgoing. Due to his strange proclivities, he becomes the object of fascination for several girls at the academy. 

I'll leave the circumstances of how the guys get locked in the school prison up to you the reader to discover. What I will say is once the guys are in prison they get treated like POW's (Prisons or War). Their prison guard and enforcer for the USC is a woman named Meiko. She is in charge of keeping the guys in line by using fear, intimidation, and extreme violence. For some reason, she has a particular dislike for Gakuto. 

Meiko is a tall curvaceous woman who is fiercely loyal to Mari the USC president. Meiko also has enormous breasts which she flaunts proudly. As a youth, she was bullied for her breast size until Mari befriended her and helped her develop the self-confidence to be proud of her figure. Due to her constant strength training, Meiko is often drawn sweating. She is an extreme sadist with inhuman strength. Meiko is stronger than Andre the biggest member of the guys' group. She can be seen as the main protagonist during the first half of the series. 

Mari is the USC president. She is also the daughter of the Chairman of the academy. Mari hates boys and believes all men are perverts because her father has a fascination with the female form (especially butts). Mari plots and conspires with the rest of the USC to get the guys expelled from the academy. In the first half of the series, she is pure evil. During the second half, she becomes calmer because she experiences some of the torment she put the boys through. Her relationship with the chairman is tumultuous. She is overprotective of her friends and little sister Chiyo.  

The character development during the series is phenomenal. The whole first half is about the USC while the second half of the series is about the above ground student council. The USC and the student council go to war for control of the academy and the five guys get trapped in the crossfire. My one criticism is that during the second half of the series some of the story arcs get dragged out. The writers break-up the action between too many chapters instead of keeping it fast-paced and condensed. 

Overall Kangoku Gakuen is an awesome series. If you're looking for action, ecchi, romance, comedy, interesting characters, with insane plots...I highly recommend it. 

Freestyle Monstas

Frestylin is defined as raps performed with no previously composed lyrics. The most commonly used slang term is "spittin off the top of the dome."  Originally, in the 1980s, the term ‘freestyle’ referred to a pre-written rap verse that was not on any particular subject matter, but instead was written for the purpose of demonstrating skill. Since the early ‘90s onwards, with the popularization of improvisational rapping from groups/artists such as Freestyle Fellowship and Souls of Mischief. The term "freestyle" has become used as a  term for rap lyrics which are improvised on the spot.

Below are a some MC's who I call freestyle monsta's, meaning they can spit ridiculous verses off the top of the dome...nothing written. There's allot of catz who claim it, but only a few could do it. Supernatural, Juice, and Big L (R.I.P) are three MC's who could spit verses so effortlessly it sounds like they're written. Check the clips.