Materialism Category

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Marketer + Consumer… I’ve never taken a microwave oven off roading. Or tough mudding. Or deep sea diving. I’ve never abused, misused, or spindled a microwave. Heck, I just reheat coffee and make popcorn. Yet every five years or so, a microwave decides to fail on me.Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Guy Who Spends Too Much Of His Life Sitting…Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Semi-Professional Shower Connoisseur; featured photo by High Sierra… Who doesn’t like getting into a little hot water?Read More

by Kim Tronic, Writer + Professional Happiness Pursuer… This article originally appeared in The Kim Tronicles and is republished here by permission. Sedona, Arizona. A sweet little 7-hour drive from Los Angeles, or a quick flight from LAX and puddle jumper from Phoenix. I’d heard about the healing powers of this magical destination, but I didn’t know much beyond a Google search. To celebrate my birthday and commemorate the end of my cancer journey, I booked a trip to Sedona for 3 nights and started researching different vortex excursions. What’sRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango LLC + Apple hOStage… I didn’t need a new computer. My 2010 MacBook Pro is somehow still running — now 2 years longer than any previous computer I’ve owned over the past 30 years. (Knock on wood — just by typing this I might curse my Mac.) Plus, my 2010 MacBook Pro includes features no longer available on a new Mac, such as a matte screen (glossy = annoying reflections) and a built-in DVD player (yes, some of us still use DVD’sRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Guy Who Believes The Pen Can Be Mightier Than The Sword… You know what product attribute doesn’t get enough hype? Tactility — how something feels to the touch. While today’s manufacturers obsess over size and weight, promising us larger and larger capacity and lower and lower weight, that’s fine for phones and planes — but not enough for us creative professionals. In fact, sometimes we want our tools to be heavier and less modern. Whether the instrument is a keyboard, camera,Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Guy Who Doesn’t Travel Nearly Enough… If a storm like this hit Los Angeles, the local news would cover it all day — make that all week — with sodden reporters stumbling around and calling it something like Mega Tempest 2017™. Here in Ireland’s aptly named Wild Atlantic Way, the locals refer to it as “a Tuesday.”Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Cheese Addict… Raise your fork if you like your spaghetti to look like a blizzard hit it.Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Amateur Horologist… I dig on wristwatches: reading about them, window shopping them, and occasionally adding an unusual artifact to my modest collection. For a while I collected vintage Russian watches, which are usually mechanical (no batteries) and remarkably cheap. Since many don’t come with bands, I discovered the bonus diversion of matching watch heads with the right accessories. And that’s how I stumbled upon Worn & Wound. Their striking handcrafted leather straps popped up in my Google searches, with their HorweenRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Tchotchke Junkie… A certain trait of the adult male nerd species drives my wife crazy: our penchant for collecting toys to display around our work areas. My wife calls them “dust magnets.” Of course, we adult male nerds know what they truly are: visual caffeine to spruce up our man caves and help us survive desk life. And just like coffee, an industry has sprung up to feed the need. To give you an idea of the size of this market,Read More