February 2024 Life Recap

Last updated: April 16, 2024

I’m writing this to reflect a bit more on my time and how I spend it.

I’ll include highlights and occasionally some lessons learned.

I’ll also try to add some photos and video links to make it interesting.

Events

I hosted 1 event in February in Austin. We had 40+ interesting people mix and mingle.

Hosting this event was a big win because I’d been in a rut since hosting so many events and mini-conferences in December 2023.

Plus I got to try 3 new things at this meetup:

1. Red stickers on name tags for new friends who attended. Then I encouraged / bullied my long-time friends to make the new people feel welcome and say Hello all night. I think this worked out really well.
2. New venue! Trying a cool house downtown with a partner org.
3. Breakout groups based on topics after the last round of intros. This was mixed and I still need to work on it to refine the process. Some people loved it, others fizzled out.

Friends and Fun

I watched the Super Bowl with Noah and his 49’ers-obsessed friends. I’ve never cheered for a Super Bowl before this party. But Noah and his friends were so hardcore that I got wrapped up in it. It was an emotional experience! Highs of us all jumping around and cheering. And then depressing lows at the end. One guy was so mad that he just left without a word. I can see why people like sports and to watch it with friends.

I bought a monthly pass to Kalahari Indoor Waterpark. The only thing I do there is ride the FlowRider surf machine. This was surprisingly fun. I went a few times. It is an easy 28 minute drive for me. Twice I was able to time my visit perfectly and have the ride all to myself for 20-30 minutes of riding. That’s magical because I can try new tricks, slip and fall often, and just keep iterating rapidly. Other times I had to wait in line which was a bummer and not a good use of my time.

I went to Dallas to see my friend Codie speak. Something very funny happened that I didn’t include in the vlog we made. That day was funny: I was so tired afterwards. And all we did was sit in the Green Room for hours. It reminded me how much I like being active. Also major respect to Codie: after her talk she was fired up and full of energy and continued to film for her channels, even on the car ride back. Watch my behind-the-scenes video. It’s good.

I hung out with my father in Dallas. We ate authentic-ish Chinese food, I helped set up a Roborock robot vacuum for him, played with and walked his dog, and showed him my Apple Vision Pro. I should do this more when he’s in Dallas.

Breakfast tacos with Matt Risinger, a popular home builder and YouTuber, and walking with Vanessa Van Edwards, an author and speaker about people skills. Museums with Sasha Shtern and Katelyn Donnelly. Micro-greens and mother talk with Madi Taskett. BBQ and inspiring marketing talk with Sally Hogshead and Clay Hebert. Meetup for farm hospitality with Samantha Shankman.

Dune 2 premiere with Nylo. I loved the Dune movie. Then I read the book and absolutely loved it. I was looking forward to this movie SO MUCH. It lived up to the hype. I’d go back and see it again. My vlog here.

My mother came to visit! I love it when she visits because she helps me organize my apartment and we get so much done. She’s the best.

Investing

• New real estate deal for some industrial property in Wyoming, via my good friend Zach Ware’s company Freehouse Capital Partners. It’ll be my largest real estate investment in a long time.
• A public company that I like had a great quarter, so that felt good to finally get a beat.
• I ended a relationship with an investment group that was managing a piece of my portfolio. They didn’t lose my money, which is good, but they also didn’t make any money. My friend who was working there has left the company and I’d be lazy about winding down my account there. Happy to bring it back inside my little family office to manage. I might send a chunk of it to John at Saber Capital to invest.

Travel Weekend to WFU

I spent a weekend in Winston-Salem, North Carolina at Wake Forest University. My college comedy troupe, the Lilting Banshees, was having a reunion.

Read my post from the last reunion: Lilting Banshees Alumni Reunion at Wake Forest University.

Being on a college campus again felt wild. It brought back happy memories. I should write more about my college experience sometime.

I’m proud of producing this vlog from one day on campus:

• The campus felt smaller than I remembered. The buildings, the students, the classrooms: everything felt smaller. Perhaps that’s a side-effect of traveling the world or living in New York City.
• Time with the comedy troupe was gold. Belly laughs. Creative writing. Brainstorming. Working to finish my vlog from that and it is challenging.

Random Notes

I went to two concerts in February. This is rare because I almost never go to concerts. Both were bands that I love: Petey, and then LANY. The LANY concert really messed with my head. So much so that I wrote a sorta-viral reddit post about it. And then went back the next night to see if LANY was off again. Thankfully, they were not, and night 2 was amazing.

• Petey: Don’t Tell the Boys, and The Freedom to F-ck Off
• LANY: Dancing in the Kitchen, and 4EVER!

I got a flat tire one day. I know this happens to people all the time. But it was a real bummer. I had to rearrange all my plans for a day or two. I had all these errands lined up and places I wanted to go, boom boom boom, and then suddenly: wipe it all. Clear the calendar to deal with the car. The last time I got a flat tire was 3+ years ago. And Tesla Service handled it great: they came to me the next day and fixed it for $130. But still. A helpful exercise in patience and flexibility.

I got to witness an amazing church experience. And perhaps had an experience of my own. See my long post on Twitter / X about it, or on LinkedIn. It was an extremely authentic moment. Something I don’t think I will forget for a long time. And it happened simply by luck, or perhaps by fate. But it reminds me to keep putting myself into new and unique situations and sometimes you’ll stumble upon greatness.

Someone on Instagram invited me randomly to hot yoga. I sweated more than I ever have in my life. Then I had the best night of sleep that I think I’ve ever had in Austin. There’s something special here. I should do it again.

I got the Apple Vision Pro! I used it a lot, and I showed it to a few friends. I’m still using it. I’m using it right now, actually, to type up these notes. Most of the time I’m using it simply as a huge virtual monitor for my laptop. But this morning, while I was cooking breakfast, I used it as I imagined Apple intended. I had YouTube videos posted around my kitchen, text messages, and even some FaceTime Audio calls. I love new technology. And this seems particularly new and notable. I just don’t know how yet.

Conclusion

This is the first time I’ve ever posted a monthly recap on my blog. If you enjoyed it, please send me a quick email.

Highlights of the month were:

1. Friends and family time
2. Making some awesome vlogs
3. The amazing church experience
4. Getting the Apple Vision Pro
5. Back-to-back LANY concerts

I’m sure I forgot to include friends, events, content, and more. Apologies if you were left out! It was a longer recap than I expected.

What should I write about next month? Or do differently? Shoot me a quick email to say Hi.