Moritz Krüsselmann

Quantified 2011

01-01-2012

Because reviews and numbers always give me the comfortable, warm illusion of accomplishment and because ‘The Quantified Self’ is still a fascinating topic for me. Thus, following my 2010 report, here is my year 2011 in numbers!

- Visited 21 cities (+3 from last year)
1. Sevilla 2. Hamburg 3. Berlin 4. Duisburg 5. Buenos Aires 6. Cordoba 7. Iguazu 8. Bariloche 9. Santiago de Chile 10. Mendoza 11. Madrid 12. Frankfurt 13. Montpellier 14. Zürich 15. Amsterdam 16. Paris 17. Istanbul 18. Mainz 19. Barcelona 20. Karlsruhe 21. Bozen

- Read 13 books (+3)
1. Freedom 2. Tod in den Anden 3. The Catcher in the Rye 4. Der unendliche Plan 5. How Proust Can Change Your Life 6. Leonce und Lena 7. Das Geisterhaus 8. Das Böse Mädchen 9. Das Museum der Unschuld 10. Unterm Rad 11. Draußen nur Kännchen 12. Steve Jobs Biography 13. El Sombra del viento

- Watched 34 films (+5)
1. Die Band von Nebenan 2. Drei von Tom Tykwer 3. Black Swan 4. The Outsiders 5. Glorious39 6. The Kings Speech 7. Love and Other Drugs 8. Hereafter 9. The American 10. Eden 11. Almanya 12. Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei 13. In China essen Sie Hunde 14. So ist Paris 15. The dancer upstairs 16. Midnight in Paris 17. Im Winter ein Jahr 18. Gottes Werk und Teufels Beitrag 19. My last five girlfriends 20. Idiocracy 21. Le diner de cons 22. Lammbock 23. Precious 24. Fish Tank 25. Resturlaub 26. Friends with Benefits 27. Auf der Flucht 28. Das weiße Band 29. Thyranosaur 30. I killed your mother 31. The Rocky Horror Picture Show 32.Die fabelhafte Welt der Amelie 33. God of Carnage 34. The Ides of March

- Throughout the year I posted 311 bits on Twitter, wrote 5 blogposts here and collected 31 pieces on Thoughtstrudel. My Aperture library grew by 1732 (+406) photos of which I uploaded 177 (+45) to my Flickr Stream.

- According to RunKeeper my motivation was enough to go running 33 times (+4) for a total 392 km(+184), which makes for an average of 11,87km (+4,70) per run including my first ever Marathon in 3h and 43 min. – I worked out 22x (+3) and went swimming 5x

Finally I spent about 42.532 seconds tracking data with highly questionable importance to anyone.
Happy New Year!

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The Quantified What.

By: Moritz

24-11-2011

Digging

“Humans make errors. We make errors of fact and errors of judgment. (…) These weaknesses put us at a disadvantage. We make decisions with partial information. We are forced to steer by guesswork. We go with our gut. That is, what some of us do. Others use data.”

from “The Data Driven Life” by Gary Wolf

The quote above is from an NYT article, that I first stumbled upon in April 2010. It was about a group of geeks tracking personal data in their everyday lives and how they used this data to draw useful conclusions from it.

I was instantly fascinated by the gigantic potential behind this idea and started experimenting to track little bits and pieces right away. Ever since then, the idea and the movement behind it have seen enormous waves of interest from the private as well as from the commercial side. What the article from 2010 described as a group of “geeks and outliers” with “abnormal behaviour” is now defining new industries, selling bestsellers and, as some say, moving us towards the the next step of human evolution.

However it still seems, that many people have never even heard about all of this concentrated awesomesauce- let alone thought about tracking a thing or two. As every dear reader of this blog is a very trend-aware, interested, cool human-being, this is of course intolerable.

To your rescue, the smart people from Third Wave have started what they call a “topic sprint” (a concentrated effort one just one topic) on exactly that topic. Their series should give you a proper understanding of what makes this topic so fascinating to me and why it might help you run that marathon or loose a kilo or two.

To give you an idea, here’s a paragraph from the first article:

“Data is at the core our lives in the information age. It’s one of the essential ingredients to how we work, make decisions, communicate and much more in the 21st century. Data is the most raw and abstract form of information, that has the power to change anything. From the decision of what to wear today by checking the weather forecast to buying or not buying stocks based on company metrics to whether to wage war or not according to data collected by an intelligence agency. (…continue reading)”

So far they have published three articles:

Introduction: The Quantified Self by Johannes
I track therefore I am by Johannes
The Quanitified Self in health and lifestyle by Peter Bihr

My very own setup currently consists of 12 metrics, that I am trying and most often failing to track on regular basis. Despite all doubts at the beginning, some have already helped me to change some of my habits, others are still being tracked, because I suspect them to be motivating or offer genius future use cases. Most of all however I find it fascinating to able to observe and experiment that is still so dynamic and full of novelty.

As I like to say: What you learn in the process is just as important the outcome. Happy tracking!

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Finally, Harvest Online Shop.

By: Moritz

15-10-2011

Digging

Quick Note: Harvest, the only place in the world, where you could ever see me “shopping”, now finally has an online store.

For those of you who tuned in new: Harvest is a great Menswear store in Munich. I reported about them earlier. Cheers to Philip! The online store almost looks as nice as the offline equivalent.

So now, go hide your creditcards and follow this link.

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Argentina Travelnotes

By: Moritz

17-04-2011

Observations

La pura vida! Saw big cities, snowy mountains and went into the jungle- all without ever leaving the country. Loads of great people with whom I had big conversations as well as big party. Epic amounts of meat, wine, coffee and sunshine. Together a huge mess of memories that make sitting at the desk to study really not easy. Here are some of my rather loosely organized notes. Maybe someone can find them useful someday. Some photos too, if you’re in the mood for some Fernweh..

Travel:

Big comfortable buses are the standard for long-distance overland travel. Cama vs semi cama is worth paying extra, air condition is usually on freeze and onboard breakfast & lunch suck badly. (sleeping mask, ohropax & proper headphones are helpful everywhere)
Less is more when it comes to packing. Clothing is relatively cheap compared to Europe, so rather stock up on a few tshirts than carry stuff around unused. Getting your stuff washed at the local ‘lavadero’ is also fast and cheap. 4€ for a huge bag
To use an Argentine SIM in your existing mobile it needs to support GSM 1900/850, which your decade-old Nokia probably hasn’t.
No matter where you are, ‘Havanna’ (the Argentine Starbucks equivalent) is reliable for a solid cortado, free WiFI and some tasty alfajores.

Places

Iguazu

Hostel Inn is a hostel with the pool of a hotel, great staff and happy vibe.
The waterfalls will blow your mind and completely soak everything on you -bring a ziplock for phones, passport etc.

Cordoba

‘Pasantias Argentinas’ is a friendly German agency that offers Spanish courses, voluntary work at NGOs/Kindergardens etc., internships and farm-stays. You live in one of three great community houses in Alta Cordoba and their office helps you where they can.
Macanudo Bar is truly a unique place to have a drink at. Where else do you get a bathtub with living fish in it as your table?

Bariloche

Again, Hostel Inn Bariloche. Great from the terrace, friendly staff and acceptable dinner.
Swim in the lake.
Rent a Bike and go up the surrounding mountains.
If you feel homesick, have a good beer at ‘Cerveceria Bachman’.

Santiago de Chile

Barrio Bellavista is king for coffee and lunch, but more on the touristy side-Barrio Brazil seems more local, but just as nice.
Restaurants in the market hall offer affordable seafood, as fresh as it gets.
Visit a Jazz Bar. Jazz is huge in Santiago. We sadly discovered this only on our last day.
‘Cerro Santa Lucia’ is the perfect place for your 360degree panorama picture.

Mendoza

Get on a bike and explore the bodegas and olive-oil factories. Organized tours are offered everywhere around the city. You will learn why French oak is better to wines than American Oak and what makes an olive oil extra virgen
Take a walk in the beautiful park a bit outside the centre to recover from the resaca that you will probably have, if you take wine-tasting seriously.
Most obvious, but most important: Enjoy lots of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Buenos Aires

My favorite places on a map.
Don’t miss a ride on the ‘Subte’ (BA underground). The linea A trains are an attraction for themselves. For about 20 cts it takes you all around the city.
Dance to ‘La Bomba del Tiempo’, a live percussions-performance that takes places every Monday. Imagine Techno on African bongo-drums.
Puerto Madera, the Dubai of BA, is shiny and nice, but real life happens elsewhere.
Palermo is beautiful for strolling around & shopping, but consequently hipster-heavy and more expensive. I felt more at home in San Telmo.
Finally: Drink lots of coffee and enjoy the vibe.

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Argentina amigos!

By: Moritz

11-02-2011

DearDiary

So excited: 6 weeks of travel, for the first time really- mostly on my own. I’ll be celebrating 5-hour asados, return perfectly tanned and make people jealous. Yeah! Things I need to absolutely see and do?

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3 Types of Foodlove

By: Moritz

03-01-2011

Observations

“Sitting together to a good meal with a cool person is something I never want to live up and it’s one of the most enjoyable things about my life.”

Jeff Staple sums it up perfectly: The best social networks are created around the dinnertable. I know of no medium, excluding maybe alcohol, that can spark thought and conversations so well no matter what language, background and age the people around your table come from. So food is the next big thing. You can watch lifestreams of conferences about it, download iPhone-Apps that count calories, read blogpost about hipsters that harvest bananas in their drawer or bother your friends with photos of the Schnitzel in front of you, that you upload to Flickr and crosspost to Facebook. What a happy world!

Lately, however, I have made the shaking discovery that the happy little food lovers community is actually divided in three “CLASSES” with badly differing objectives. So I made up a little theory…

1. The Spoon Swinger: People that came into cooking, have fun with it and are usually very good at it. Mums are the perfect example. They are creative and use their creativity to create whatever the fridge offers. They are happy if it turns out well, but is is more about making the others happy. In a restaurant they’d rather be watching the cooks, than sitting behind the plate.
2. The Connnaisseur: He likes great food – if he can eat it. He knows all the go-to places in town, can read any international menu or talk two hours about different brewing processes of coffee. Confusing a cappuccino and flat white would never happen to him and he takes pleasure in explaining the difference Sometimes he also cooks, however he does not feel at home in the kitchen, but rather at the table.
3. The Real One: He loves every bit of it. He knows about where the carrots are from and if they had a happy life, but also knows how to cut them and which. He cooks for an hour even if he’s alone at home and before bed secretly thinks about how he could tweak the receipe just that little bit more. He’s the one starting the urban farm and opening up his own restaurant. He’s also sort of the coolest.

I suspect many Type 3 claimers are actually Type 2. What type are you, are there more types, or is this theory complete crap after all?
(5 hours early to the airport on a Sunday. Thanks for reading my little bit of nonsense.)

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What I did in 2010

By: Moritz

25-12-2010

DearDiary

As a tribute to my current fascination with self-tracking and personal informatics- my 2010 in numbers..

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How To Create The Perfect Menswear Store?

By: Moritz

03-12-2010

Digging

If you don’t like buying your clothes online, getting the right gear together can be a true pain these days.
Finding the good stuff is nice and easy, thanks to the genius of people like Jeff Staple (Stapledesign), Jesse Thorn (PutThisOn) or the guys from Carryology. BUT: Finally you are left with a bunch of links and brandnames. Shipping from the US takes ages and costs you a fortune – No chance to try and see if the shirt you like actually fits you. The solution? Oldschool Retail to the rescue!

If you ever come anywhere close to Munich- check out HARVEST!

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Frenchmen, Love and Chansons

By: Moritz

24-10-2010

Digging

Quick confession: I like dreamy, romantic, cheesy films.
500 Days of Summer, The Science of Sleep, Garden State- That sort of movie.

My current favorite is ‘Gainsbourg’ which tells the story of Serge Gainsbourg a French chanson-singer, you probably know once you hear the songs. The story is good and the storytelling by director Joan Sfar nothing short of beautiful. If you liked any of the films above, chances are good you will leave the cinema with a big smile on your face. A bit less romantic, because it’s real life, but still lots of love and french speaking people involved.

9 /10 points from me. The Soundtrack is likely even better than the movie.

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Why Cool People Call a Bike

By: Moritz

11-09-2010

Digging

Good morning. Today be cool and join a bike sharing club!
If you are German then it is most likely “Call a bike”. (Yes that is the silver/red bikes that stand around everywhere, but you have never thought of using them.) If you are from somewhere else in the world, maybe there is something similar in your city. Give it a try! It is convenient and cool. Here is why.

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— Moritz Krüsselmann

Quantified 2011

The Quantified What.

Finally, Harvest Online Shop.

Argentina Travelnotes

Travel:

Places

Argentina amigos!

3 Types of Foodlove

What I did in 2010

How To Create The Perfect Menswear Store?

Frenchmen, Love and Chansons

Why Cool People Call a Bike

Connect

Flickr

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