Last updated: December 6, 2024
A great month in Austin, trips to New York City and Houston, movie previews, events, a few viral hits, and lots of friend hangouts. Let me share the highlights.
Friend Hangouts
Lots of friends in November. Here are a few of my favorite hangs.
Election Night: I watched the election night results with some friends. What a wild ride!
Lake Travis wake surfing: My friend Zach Ware hosted an afternoon on the lake. We went out with a handful of friends to do wake surfing and enjoy time outdoors before the winter. This was lots of fun and I really enjoyed that time out on the boat.
Michael Galpert visit: My friend Michael Galpert visited me in Austin. He is one of my best friends. We did swimming in Barton Springs together, went to UpGrade labs here in Austin, ate a lot of meals and generally just hung out and caught up. He made a special trip for two nights just to come and visit me which I am very thankful for.
Friend visit with Rob Abasolo: Visited my friend Rob’s house in Houston to say hello to him and his wife. He is a great guy. Check out his YouTube channel here.
Matt Mullenweg: I briefly saw my friend Matt in Houston. He is such a smart guy who always has great advice. He gifted me a copy of the book “The Science of Rapid Skill Acquisition.” I’m excited to read through this. We also talked about his upcoming “What’s in My Bag” blog post which I hope he will release in the next few months.
Kelso Bradshaw: My friend Kelso is traveling across the world on his bicycle. He stopped through Austin and we hung out for one afternoon and went swimming in Barton Springs Pool. He had some great thoughts about how to work as an executive assistant that he shared with me. I hope to be able to share these in an upcoming article because it is among the best writing and training that I have seen for working with a support team.
Favorite Photos
Here’s a dump of some other pictures and selfies I want to share.
New York City Visit
Man. I missed New York. It felt so good to be back. At times I felt like I could play the city like a fiddle.
I went back to New York City for the first time in many months. I really love New York and I miss living there at times. I loved seeing all of my favorite places and museums, but I especially loved one thing: you never know where your day is going to end up.
One of my favorite moments was an unplanned bike ride through Central Park that turned out to be so beautiful that we just canceled our plans and continued to ride around the loop to enjoy the fall colors. This truly felt like a magical moment.
There is so much hustle and bustle and things to do in New York that I both love it and hate it. I love it because there’s so much to do and there are so many smart people there, but I hate it because I do not have the strength to say no and to hold back. I find myself trying to do 1,000 things every single day and then I get very wound up. That’s a balance that I need to figure out for the next time I go to New York City.
Favorite Things in NYC
Some things we did in New York that I’m happy about:
Michael Jackson The Musical: A Broadway show that is good for families. This is my second time seeing it. I do not necessarily recommend this show, but it is good for groups of all ages and especially for those people who have not seen a Broadway show in several years.
Maybe Happy Ending: A new show on Broadway that I highly recommend to almost everyone. Two humanoid robots that are winding down to their end of lives fall in love and go on adventures in Seoul, South Korea sometime in the future. This is probably my top favorite show on Broadway right now. The staging was beautiful and the music was fun, and the whole experience was great. Once again, I highly recommend it, go see it!
Othership: A guided sauna and cold plunge experience. We had two guides for an afternoon session lead us through breathwork in the sauna and then extended cold plunges. Beautiful space in the Flatiron neighborhood of Manhattan. I highly recommend this experience.
JoJo by John Georges: A restaurant in the Upper East Side that I really enjoyed. Thank you to Lauren for telling me about this place. I met my friend Avi Flombom there and had a great chat with him. The food was great.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: I spent a few hours exploring the Met. I also filmed a long walkthrough video here. It did not get many views on YouTube sadly. I filmed some short video clips there and this one about the flower pots went viral with hundreds of thousands of views. There are a lot of little fun facts that I remember from my years as a tour guide at the Met Museum that would be fun to capture some other day.
The Ned Private Club: My friend John Arrow hosted me and Lauren at this private club in Manhattan. It felt like we had the whole place to ourselves which is nice in such a big city.
Riding Citibikes: Me and Lauren rode these bike rentals all around Manhattan. It was so much fun. Riding bikes in a big city is one of my favorite things to do. You can get around town so much faster than a taxi or sometimes even the train. And I feel so much more connected to the city when I’m at street level on the bike. Perhaps it is dangerous and I guess we could bring helmets next time. Maybe.
Google Office: I got to spend the afternoon at Google’s flagship office on 8th Avenue. I ate three different meals there. It was really delicious. What a luxury to have all of your meals provided by your employer!
Other NYC Observations
Here are few more random notes about the city:
- NYC is still the best big city in America for sure – it’s super walkable, has amazing food, you can shop everywhere, and there’s so much diversity and art stuff going on.
- The city’s infrastructure is pretty rough around the edges – like how is there STILL no cell service in so many subway stations in 2024?? The trains are old and super noisy, kind of falling apart, and slow… but at least they run 24/7.
- Dog poop on the sidewalks is apparently a thing in SoHo now – saw a bunch while walking around. Gross.
- Homeless crazy people: You see some “crazy” people/mentally ill folks who can be threatening, but honestly it feels worse in Austin and other cities. It’s kind of embarrassing for America and we really need to find a way to help these people and get them off the streets
- Outdoor dining seems to be less of a thing now compared to before. If you haven’t visited NYC in a year, it is quite noticeable how much less. Changed regulations etc.
- Electric bikes: I guess almost all CitiBikes are electric now?? When did that happen? Most all that we saw in Midtown and SoHo were the new gray electric ones, not the old blue ones. I prefer the blue ones!
See this article for more of my best tips and tricks in New York City.
Events and Meetups
A few things that I attended in November 2024:
Cathryn Lavery’s Birthday: She hosted 16 or so friends for a VR experience. It was so much fun! Thanks to her wife for planning it all. And the tacos. We played Squid Games at Sandbox VR which was super fun.
Noah Berkson Dinner: Noah hosted a dinner with Ben Levy at a new restaurant called The Kitchen in Austin Texas. I am thankful for people who bring smart folks together at dinners like this and this is something that I want to do more of myself.
Wizard Academy: A monthly meetup for some interesting fellows who like to drink alcohol and smoke cigars while sharing stories. It’s hosted at a fascinating place outside of Austin called Wizard Academy. Someday I want to learn more about this.
Mortified Live: An event where people read their diary entries from middle and high school live on stage. Well produced and deliberately awkward, they’re currently doing a national tour.
Babygirl movie: I was invited to see a preview of the movie Babygirl starring Nicole Kidman. This was a good movie but it is definitely not family friendly.
Thanksgiving in Houston: I went to Houston to celebrate Thanksgiving with Lauren and her family. She has a huge group: 42 people in her extended family. The food was tasty and the people were friendly.
Meow Wolf Houston: I went to visit the new Meow Wolf in Houston. This is the fourth or fifth one that I have visited and I think I am over it. It was too crowded and I don’t find these spaces to be interesting anymore. That being said, there were a lot of people there who really liked it.
Wellness Salon: I attended a gathering in a private home for people to discuss health and wellness topics. We talked about electromagnetic interference as well as the spectrum of radio waves. I’m so thankful that Julia Lipton and Justin Mares are producing these events.
What can you do about EMFs?
- Use wired headphones & speakerphone
- Keep your phone away from you
- Turn off your wifi at night (maybe go all Ethernet!)
- Go Bluetooth, wired peripherals only
- No wifi router near you
- Test your home
Viral Content
I made two pieces of super viral content this month:
- my profile about a young woman named Jamie who moved to New York City
- a short video about the flower pots inside the Great Hall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
I also filmed a video about the only freely available Bloomberg terminals in New York City. These are available in the Stavros Niarchos branch of the NYC Public Library.
- My notes about Barton Springs Pool
- Trade Show Booth Exhibits: Examples and Ideas vlog
- FREE Bloomberg terminal in NYC public library
Other Notes
- Tried my first Waymo in Austin, Texas. I got a guest pass and have been using it a lot. I love it so much.
- New electric bikes: I bought two more electric bikes in anticipation of a new thing I’m working on for next year for my friends in Austin. I bought these on Facebook Marketplace and it’s the first purchase I have made on Facebook Marketplace in a few years. I’m reminded how nice of this experience was. I went to visit this nice retired married couple and we had a nice chat and I loaded the bikes in my trunk and I sent them the Venmo with no problem.
Dating Advice for Single Men
Single guys, if you want to meet an attractive woman just do this:
- Start going to group fitness classes
- Always arrive 10 mins early
- Learn how to have casual convos
- Do fun stuff that you can invite people to
- Success ~ the end
Conclusion
November was a month filled with meaningful connections, from celebrating Thanksgiving with Lauren’s family to catching up with old friends like Michael Galpert and Matt Mullenweg.
The trip to New York reminded me of what I love (and sometimes struggle with) about the city. Key lessons include:
- Go see Maybe Happy Ending on Broadway if you like musicals.
- Othership in NYC is a nice cold plunge and sauna experience that is very well done.
- How do we feel about helmets?
See last month’s update here: October 2024 Life Recap.
The end for now! See more of my past monthly recaps here.