Sandwich Review in NYC #9 (Farmer in the Deli) & post-thoughts on my latest blog
So I just finished my latest blog here: https://churningandburning.com/2024/11/sell-the-election-news-on-djt-a-trade-breakdown-bonus-some-polymarket-stuff.html
Anyway, after I finished that, I was super hungry and had to get food so why not this place nearby called Farmer in the Deli, near Fort Greene park? Walking out there also allows me to decompress and remove my trading hat for the rest of the week (maybe month/year?)
Farmer in the Deli. It's the most 'NYC local bodega' of all the places I've been to. The other places have mostly been the 'WE ARE A PLACE FOR JUST SANDWICHES' type of eatery, although some old school Italian places like Lioni's are a little closer to the bodega vibe. At 'Farmer', you can shop for groceries or just get your booze and cigarettes. Super popular in the neighborhood apparently, I had to wait 20 minutes in line at 3pm. You make your own sandwich here instead of just asking for a pre-made selection--something I haven't done for awhile. I'm actually more a menu guy, I think if the chef designed a sandwich a certain way, it's usually for a good reason.
I get a chopped maple-honey turkey on a hero because it seems to be the most popular item on Yelp. I basically say yes to everything asked--lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, mustard, vinegar, cracked black peper. Guy compiles every ingredient and then chops it for a good minute with a chef's knife until it's a heterogenous mix of all ingredients.
Rating: 2. It's good but just a little too mustardy. Maybe that's my fault because I'm supposed to select the ingredients myself. But all I can grade is one sandwich and if the "standard amount" of mustard is too much and it distracts from all the other flavors, it's a flaw. If an easily pleased sandwich muncher like me can pick out a flaw, then unfortunately, it's a 2 and I don't see myself going there again given the long wait. Sorry 'Farmer', my bad.
To make some relative comparisons: I liked Pickler and Co's turkey sandwich better. I prefer the amount of mustard on the pastrami sandwich I had at Moe's--not overwhelming, just enough to be there and add flavor.
Anyway, I had some random meta-thoughts I wanted to jot down while waiting for my sandwich. These thoughts center on the question: why do I write at all? Sometimes I wonder what's the point?
- I'm never going to make money. Let's face it. Blogging for money is hard. I don't want to throw ads in and make the site look ugly. I don't know what merch I'd sell. I don't want to teach people how to trade. All I've done to monetize is open a buymeacoffee site (basically an alternative to Patreon) and charge $50 for 1 hour consultations. It's pennies for my labor. My audience is also a bit too niche--it's just discretionary day traders and equity prop traders.
- I don't care for attention. Sometimes it does feel nice--that dopamine rush to see all the RTs and likes--but then hours later, it's an empty feeling. I don't have the Attention DNA that some traders have--you know the ilk, they have livestreams, they post PnL every day, they tweet 50x a day. Not hating against that, just saying it's not in me. There was a time I tried to embrace it and make efforts to get as many views and clicks as possible and now that time has passed. I currently don't care.
Here's what I've come up with for why I do like writing
- I like that I share expertise. It's hard to get good info on day trading in public out there, and for free. It's probably too much of an ask for such info to be written in a readable, funny way but people say I have a knack for that. I don't like calling myself an expert but I do think in this one case, I am qualified enough to do so. 15 years and never lost a single year. I'm the furthest thing from the platonic ideal of a trader--I'm an emotional mess, I cuss and throw shit, I don't have much gamble in me and kinda hate enduring through risk. But nonetheless, I get the job done somehow. And people oughta be able to see that perspective too.
- The thing about writing is it puts my mind in a space where I want to keep writing. I'm creating things and I like that. I'm putting good work out there for people to read. Maybe it entertains them or they learn something. It's the opposite feeling of when I'm trading where I feel like either a slave or a parasite. I really do not like who I am when I'm trading and that's another problem of itself that I could write 20000 words on... I don't know if that will ever be resolved.
- While I don't care for attention itself, it's nice to connect with other traders on a deeper level through my writing. Sometimes I'll get a random DM from someone I absolutely did not expect and they say: HEY! I felt that. And that's real to me.