Day To Be Living

I know I’ve praised Ezra Klein before, but if you can’t listen to all of his recent episodes, this one (released yesterday, Tuesday 1/13/26) is especially interesting with guest James Talarico, a rising 36 year old Christian politician from Texas, who is politically liberal, and a Democrat. Messaging is so important in today’s algorithmic information economy, and I think he has the biggest potential for national appeal among anyone I’ve seen lately; even more than people like Gavin Newsom, who I like a lot for the most part. Talarico demonstrated a high degree of self-awareness, humility, and eloquence simultaneously during their conversation, which gave me some renewed hope. And he’s old enough to run for president, being 36 now! To be honest, it took me a bit by surprise hearing someone quote the Bible intelligently, in a seemingly authentic, non-bigoted, non-weaponized manner. Check it out! www.youtube.com/watch

Speaking of scripture, I feel like it’s time for a relevant Rush quote, for some wisdom from the Holy Trinity of progressive rock (not politics):

“They say there are strangers who threaten us

Our immigrants and infidels

They say there is strangeness too dangerous

In our theatres and bookstore shelves

Those who know what’s best for us

Must rise and save us from ourselves

Quick to judge, quick to anger

Slow to understand

Ignorance and prejudice

And fear, walk hand in hand”

Lyric credit goes to the late, greatest of all time, Canadian-American drummer Neil Peart, in Rush’s song “Witch Hunt.” Even more timely words today than 45 years ago when “Witch Hunt” was first released.

Well, I guess I missed posting yesterday too. It was a long day involving an in-depth work assignment, staying on top of cooking and cleaning, and going grocery shopping. I wrote some thoughts down but wanted to re-read them today. So I guess today is like two days’ worth of content?

First, though, I must give a shoutout to Kai Ryssdal for mentioning what a “long strange trip it has been” in yesterday’s Marketplace episode (Mon 1/12/26), especially given that Fed Chair Jay Powell is a Deadhead—and especially given my prior post on Bob Weir.

Eventually, I figured I needed to get back to making a political post with all the shit going on. It’s just been on my mind and really fucking with people’s collective mental health, despite my best efforts to set boundaries. Given that my wife and in-laws are immigrants, our dystopian world is fucking with them magnitudes more than it is with me. Usually I stay strong, but even I’m not invincible.

I find a strange comfort in expository, trusted sources—places where I don’t have to compulsively fact-check every claim I hear because they’ve proven themselves to be credible and level-headed, without veering into either false reassurance or fear-mongering. TikTok influencers sometimes have real merit and report on things major publications overlook, and I get that. But with all the fake news and manipulation out there, I still have to take the next step and assess credibility. So I usually start by listening to or reading what I already trust.

I don’t read the news first thing in the morning or before going to bed. I’ve turned off all push notifications from news apps and deleted all social media. I don’t miss targeted ads at all, but I do occasionally miss posts or stories from people I actually know well. I wish more people did blog-style posts like this, because I’d read them regularly. For now, I’ll just ask to see my wife’s Instagram account to follow most people. I highly recommend doing all of the above. It’s worked very well for me, and I’ve stayed mostly well-informed on all the truly important stuff.

Sensationalism and the ill-intended, attention-grabbing, ad hominem provocations from the orange Cheeto—I don’t need constant updates. I just don’t care anymore unless it has an immediate effect on actual public policy. Not Truth Social posts, but things actually going into the Federal Register.

Soon enough, though, we’ll need to inactivate my wife’s social media, as USCIS now preys on immigrants’ free speech rights. The main focus has seemed to be the pretense of “antisemitism” (also known as criticizing Israel and advocating for Palestinian independence, which I guess now somehow makes people Jew-hating Nazis—despite the glaring irony and disturbing parallels between Hitler and Trump, or Nazis and our “ICEstapo,” but I digress). Once the slippery slope of free speech suppression begins, even “normal” mainstream political posts could cause trouble.

I feel like I could write a whole PhD dissertation on why our immigration system is so fucked up to its core—legislatively, administratively, and judicially.

Regarding immigration, it’s overdue for moderates and “mainstream” people to confidently demand that ICE be abolished. It sounds far more radical than it actually is in practice. ICE has proven itself to be a state-sponsored, fascist institution unlike any other agency in the federal government, even within Homeland Security. No other democracy has a functional equivalent of ICE. And now, even white, U.S.-born citizens like myself have reason to worry about exercising supposed First Amendment rights (to the extent they still exist), given the state-sponsored homicide of Renee Good in Minneapolis—walking distance from where George Floyd was intentionally and infamously tortured to death by a violent criminal cop.

Imagine if these brave souls hadn’t filmed either of these needless, tragic deaths. I doubt George Floyd’s murderer would be behind bars. It was bad—but you know what? Even right-wing media really couldn’t defend the police on that one. So they predictably shifted focus to anarchists vandalizing property at Portland protests instead. I lived in downtown Portland about a mile away at the time. There were two blocks of chaos. The rest of the city was struggling because of the virus, not the protests.

Sure, not all of the problem is ICE; underlying immigration legislation has long been shit. But ICE is where the rubber meets the road in this willfully devastating human rights crisis. And our nation’s figurative bald rubber tires don’t exactly grip well in icy conditions (sorry for the pun). Hopefully, one day, things will get better. As Bernie Sanders says, despair is not an option.

The wicked powers that be want us to be poor, fat, and depressed—because that’s how a few become powerful and rich at the suffering of the rest of us. I strive to be well-off, fit, and happy not just for myself, but also as an act of resistance (conceptual credit due to my wife). We must keep our heads up and keep pushing back.

So needless to say, contrasted with George Floyd, it’s disgusting and inexcusable to see the Department of Homeland Security lie about and even defend Renee Good’s homicide. When are we finally going to hit rock bottom? Immigration lawyer Jim Hacking went on an epic seven-ish minute rant about it and couldn’t have said it better myself: www.youtube.com/watch

If you’re saying, “Well, what about needing to deport the rapists, fentanyl dealers, and violent criminals Trump used to talk about—before he decided to prioritize arbitrarily deporting families instead?” First of all, you don’t need ICE for actual criminals, regardless of immigration status. Regular police can, should, and do take care of that. Criminals go to prison. And if they’re not U.S. citizens—including green card holders—they are automatically deported after serving their sentence. It’s strange that millions of people don’t understand that.

Second, it is not a crime to lack immigration status. It’s a civil violation under statute. But instead of letting people get into line and pay a fine, there is no line to get into and no fine to pay. So to the proverbial Trump supporter who tells immigrants to “get to the back of the line” and do things the “right” way, I ask: get to the back of what line?

Xenophobes talk like there’s one immigration line, despite the myriad divergent visa categories, none of which are administered equitably or fairly. And the system is deteriorating, not improving.

If you must deport non-criminals, here’s how you do it the correct and dignified way: you issue a Notice to Appear (NTA) in immigration court, with reasonable time to defend status (or lack thereof) before a judge. You are not held in detention, because you’re not supposed to be punished. Once all legal options are exhausted and you lose in immigration court, you get a reasonable grace period—several weeks—to make personal arrangements and voluntarily depart. If you refuse, then you’re escorted at a later, set time, without handcuffs unless you’ve already proven uncooperative or dangerous. Only then would escalatory measures be appropriate.

That’s what fair deportations with real due process look like. It’s how it works in many places. Racial profiling and arbitrary workplace raids would never be a thing.

Let me also say this clearly: I support the need for law enforcement in a functioning democratic society with civil rights, rule of law, due process, and innocence until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. We need good cops. Policing is often a tough and thankless job—unlike first responders such as firefighters or paramedics, who are (rightfully) widely celebrated.

Living in a completely lawless society—overrun by terrorists, gangs, or violent extremists, like Haiti—would be terrible. We need some level of “protect and serve” that applies to all residents, not just white U.S.-born citizens. Many U.S. police departments are racist and prey on low-hanging-fruit targets like immigrants, weed dealers, and unarmed Black people with functional impunity, instead of focusing on real public safety. This crisis has been going on forever and must be addressed. Otherwise, the potential “good” cops just won’t want the job.

(As a side note: I was torn but reluctantly voted for a local law enforcement levy, largely due to promises to expand resources for violent crime victims and the drug deflection program. I absolutely would not have done so if I lived in a non-sanctuary jurisdiction, or one where simple drug possession automatically meant prison time.)

The other extreme—police states like North Korea—doesn’t seem good either. I’m not sure whether I’d rather live in Haiti or North Korea. Ugh. I don’t even want to consider that.

Seeing recent news of brave Iranians in Tehran protesting after their regime shut down all communications gave me some perspective. I caught myself thinking, “Well, at least the U.S. isn’t quite that far gone yet—and hopefully won’t get that bad.” What a sad state of affairs, using Iran as the metric for the U.S. But it doesn’t feel that crazy anymore, especially after the whole Jimmy Kimmel–Brendan Carr–FCC incident last year. Iran would have been an unthinkable comparison not that long ago.

Iranians are fucked over not only by their own government, but also by the U.S.—with blanket travel bans that disproportionately target citizens of the most unfree and unstable countries. It’s a real shame. I’m sure Iran, like many places, has wonderful people and a rich, fascinating culture. Yet it would never be safe for me to travel there, simply because of my nationality.

Well, I missed my non-stop streak daily blog post streak this year for 2026. Oh well. I’ll try to get most days, and if I miss something here or there, I’ll get back the next day, or as soon as feels right, where I can.

I found out unexpectedly yesterday that Grateful Dead’s frontman Bob Weir passed away at 78 years old. May he rest in peace, and my deepest condolences to his closest family, friends, and the broader Deadhead community. There are some beautiful posts about him out there that are wonderful to read.

I grew up in close proximity to the Grateful Dead’s music. I learned that my parents played China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider as some of my lullaby music as an infant, which is pretty cool, so to say I got exposed to jam band music young would be correct! Even now, listening to most Grateful Dead songs usually has a naturally calming and sedating effect for me, absent any substances. Some of my favorite songs (which I understand Bobby wrote or co-wrote) include ones like Estimated Prophet, Jack Straw, One More Saturday Night, Playing in the Band, Corrina, Hell in a Bucket, and Picasso Moon (I’m probably missing some good ones, but these come to mind).

This music also influenced my guitar playing and sound preferences, learning jazz chords, and adding mixolydian modal scales, often found in classic jam band tunes, in addition to usual major, minor, and pentatonic keyed patterns. I also credit Bob Weir and the Grateful Dead culture for positively influencing many younger artists in the scene, including Goose, who wrote an amazing tribute on their social media, as did Trey Anastasio, and many others. I’ve always been struck at how most (but certainly not all) jam band musicians like Bobby disproprotionately tended to seem like kind, good, down-to-earth type people compared to other famous people, rarely egotistical, obnoxious, or full of themselves. Seems to go along with the consistently liberal, spiritually-minded counterculture crowd. I often notice many identical parallels with the EDM and rave scene. But like with any big group, you’ll always find few rotten apples in the figurative barrel.

With Bob Weir specifically, I remember hearing Ratdog’s only studio album, Evening Moods, fairly regularly on rotation CD back in the 2000s (strangely, Ratdog and this album is NOT on Spotify even though Bob Weir and the Grateful Dead are), along with various live Grateful Dead albums on CD. To any readers younger than 25 or so, I’m actually old enough to remember when CDs were mainstream, and how cutting edge the first gen iPods and MP3 players were. I remember wired earbuds getting tangled too, before Bluetooth took off. It’s strange how much the music industry economics has changed, these last 20 or so years, both in terms of physical sales versus streaming, and algorithmically priced concert tickets (a darker topic for another post, but there’s also a silver lining with a couple notable smaller Portland, Oregon venues not suffocating under TicketMaster’s headlock).

Although I was too young to have seen the original Grateful Dead, as Jerry Garcia and I only shared about a month on this planet together, I was fortunate to have seen Bob Weir 8 times in total in some of his other post Grateful Dead bands (Ratdog once, Furthur four times, Dead and Company twice, and Wolf Bros once). My dad, family friend, and relatives share their enthusiasm with me as a child and teenager. I know as I get older, I know I’ll be hearing more often about some older legends passing away.

Shoutout to the Missives From Samsara blog, which helped inspire me to do this blog post: missivesfromsamsara.com I appreciate the honorable mention from January 6, 2026 post titled “5 Recommendations”! It’s one of my daily bookmarked reads for this year, written by someone who is a voracious reader and longtime history teacher, Buddhist, and deadhead. I highly recommend it. The Missives From Samsara blog has also experimented with including AI images, and included more post-related photos, not just long text like here. I hope to follow suit.

I have also made a commitment to not use AI tools in altering my writing here. I have found typos occasionally, and I try to fix them when I do. At most, I like to use AI search for errors, or fix sentence fluency for writing, or maybe brainstorming, and finding source material. But having finished my Master’s degree program, I am usually very good at reading and re-reading my content for perfection. My goal here is more “stream of consciousness” oriented, rather than perfection. From my experience, the more formal education I’ve acquired, the less helpful AI is in writing itself. More often than not, AI paraphrases my writing in a way that undermines the substance, as well as “personal voice” of what I really want to say. It’s a cool tool, don’t get me wrong. But that’s it. Sometimes it can phrase things in a better way than me, but usually not, and even then, only once I recognize it, and think for myself that it’s what I wanted to say all along, and not a bunch of powered silicon chips at some massive industrial data center at a top-secret location.

I wanted to include some thoughts on reading. Learning how many Americans just don’t read AT ALL from the Missive From Samsara blog was pretty eye-opening (granted, I think there are many worthwhile mechanisms by which to be entertained or informed, with books or audiobooks just being one medium).

I didn’t formally keep track of how many and exactly which books I read last year cover-to-cover. I’d guess close to only about 6 or 7 for 2025, although several more I started but didn’t finish. I definitely want to increase that number for 2026, including print edition, especially in laying down to read and sit still. The big development for me last year was reigniting an interest in fiction reading. Ever since struggling through Shakespeare and old English style literature in middle and high school, fiction began to intimidate me more and more. I always felt unsure and insecure about what supposed important details I comprehended versus didn’t. Worse yet, why go through that inner turmoil of being lost, when a nonfiction book can seemingly teach me something, much more directly, tangibly, and efficiently? The ostensible “deep” messages just didn’t resonate with me. The “so what” factor just… eluded me. I’m sure there is beauty and depth with this literature, I just assume I wasn’t well-equipped to see it easily.

I’ve had such an intense productivity and information-absorption mindset towards reading, especially via grad school, that I nearly always sought out and got good at consuming strictly expository, nonfiction content, no matter the form. That’s why I’ve begun to think, sometimes reading something easy, and/or fun is valuable in a different, cool, and unexpected way. Case in point, my wife had been reading many romance books and eventually figured out how much self-doubt I had in following it. I took baby steps with her nudging, and I listened to a dual point of view book. The plot and characters were simple enough to follow and I developed better confidence, and I realized the amount of character depth and emotion that could be discovered. I mean, sure, reading a newspaper or history book is valuable, but can’t fully replace fiction by itself. Same probably goes true for probably any book category.

Many books I read as audiobooks on the Libby app (which has helped me keep track a bit from past titles).

I’m pretty tired tonight so I may go into finer detail another time but I’ll list a few honorable mentions where I read all books, cover to cover!

1. Abby Jimenez’s “Part of Your World” series, all books.
2. Elsie Silver’s “Rose Hill” series, all books.
3. “Out of the Woods,” by Hannah Bonam-Young.

Also, I must mention, I haven’t read many autobiographies/memoirs, but “On Call” by Anthony S. Fauci, is a highly recommended read, and while long and in-depth, very well done. An incredible doctor and public servant.

I’ll make another post about other past books I’ve read sometime soon!

There are many talented, great comedians out there who I admire greatly. My favorite stand-up comedian right now is probably Stavros “Stav” Halkias. He’s becoming more and more well-known, and I got to see him live once before. I thought of him because he came up on my YouTube suggested feed and I think he’s just absolutely hilarious. In terms of crowd work, I think he’s basically the greatest of all time, even though he’s only 36 years old. I know that’s saying a lot, but I think it’s warranted.

Similar to Jim Hacking, the immigration lawyer I previously mentioned, Stav will accept phone calls in of people having crazy hilarious stories, and give them comedic “advise” and air the funniest ones, on the Stavvy’s World channel. Today, I got a YouTube notification of him talking about what to do if a friend joins ICE (spoiler alert: Stav is a fellow snowflake lib like me), and I admire his audacity to risk alienating his “manosphere” type followers in the interest of a thoughtful message decorated in comedy. See here: www.youtube.com/watch

Unlike some comedians, I never get the vibe of underlying dickishness to his humor. Stav can hang with anyone, and even went on Joe Rogan’s podcast one time, shared laughs, and smoked a cigar with him.

I definitely recommend watching one of his crowdwork compilation videos to get a sense of how he can on the spot, just engage anyone and make it funny. Here’s one example: www.youtube.com/watch to see if Stav is your vibe too!

I am a big Goose fan as evident by the title of this micro.blog domain “Day To Be Living,” but I haven’t written much yet here about being a honker. Right now, they are giving geographically distant flocks the touring love, rather than the Pacific Northwest. I know, cry me a river! It’s good for the 2026 budget sheet to have them come by later on. I have absolutely nothing to whine about as I’m coming close to 20 shows in only 5 years, and I only discovered them back in the early summer of 2020.

I first stumbled across their opening set in Portland, OR from February 2020, opening for Pigeons Playing Ping Pong (a show I foolishly did not attend but heard about, not yet knowing a pandemic was around the corner). Their keyboardist Peter Anspach blew my mind by leading everyone through a breathing meditation mid-jam at about the 37:40 mark. Then back to a great jam. www.youtube.com/watch

Regardless of whether you like Goose’s music or not, pretty cool. This is a great litmus test video to see if you like them, eh? (My language has sounded a bit more Canadianized lately. I mean, I do love Rush, the outdoors, and real maple syrup on my pancakes. I’m generally polite unless provoked, and say sorry. Unfortunately, drinking milk out of plastic bags at hockey games probably won’t be my thing anytime soon though.)

I spend very little time being into pop culture. Every once in a while I do, but usually if its tangentially related to something I’m into. It’s kind of a blessing and a curse. On one hand, I don’t always get references other people do, but I usually get enough at this point, and bigger picture feel grateful I can spend my time focused on the nerdy, quirky things that bring me joy.

So, what does this have to do with today?

I saw Great Blue, Peter Anspach’s band from before Goose, played with Pigeons Playing Ping Pong in a recent YouTube video (PPPP is another fantastic jam band I recommend you see if you haven’t). I got a notification about this video, and it was instant surge of dopamine and serotonin flooding my synapses, back in business! Check it out! www.youtube.com/watch

Also, Peter is just so fun to watch. The dude has such a chill, yet goofy, positive, and wholesome vibe. I want to be more like him.

I haven’t even had a chance yet to listen to all of it, let alone most of it. But just the show notes for the rest already look awesome. Plus the “Around the World” cover by the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the end? With Pigeon’s frontman Greg Ormont joining (who by the way, has the craziest eyeballs I’ve ever seen. Just look him up on Google Images. Need I say more haha.) They’re all just a bunch of musically talented, professional goofballs having fun. Unfortunately the show was out on the east coast. But if I ever get an opportunity to see Great Blue, I definitely will.

Time to watch this bit more. Goose has a ton of new content out as well, only some of which I’ve seen. Hope this brings some awesomeness to your day (or evening)!

Well, I guess I’ll do two political posts in a row, then onto something more uplifting tomorrow. But it’s on my mind. And I’ll end today’s post on a higher note.

It only seems appropriate to talk politics, given that it’s the 5 year anniversary since the insurrection. Shit seemed crazy then. But in a different way. The virus was still in charge of the global social order, killing thousands every day, and the idea of democracy itself being destroyed still seemed “fringe” to me. Yes, I obviously despised Trump 1.0, and always thought the guy was a real piece of shit long before politics, taking shameless sadistic joy in firing people on reality TV. But I remember 1.0 as more like “this guy says crazy, incendiary, hateful shit, is embarassing, and is putting bad people in charge of federal agencies.” While bad in so many ways, it was negligible relative to now.

How are the modern leaders of the most powerful nation-states (with a few fortunate, notable exceptions) the most atrocious, horrible people? Wouldn’t the modern world have learned from the authoritarian shitheads of history, especially post Hitler these last 80 something years?

The recent shitshow with Venezuela is humiliating and insane, let alone the latest illegal travel ban (which included Venezuela before this latest Maduro capture). The illegal drug supply chain is global, y’all, really no different than crude oil. As far as I’m concerned, the Trump admin is just as morally bankrupt and violent as the worst cartels, as evidenced by unilateral strikes on boats. The thing is, you can’t really enforce your way out of any “black market” problem, without drastic unintended consequences and tradeoffs to society undermining said purpose. This includes prostitution, drugs, the “good” sincere coyotes actually helping migrants illegally cross the border, rather than exploit or traffick them. Such enforcement measures are a profoundly inefficient tools and uses of taxpayer funds, but ironically it’s seemingly politically more popular the more conservative you are, even though conservatives love to whine about government being “inefficient.”

One Customs and Border Protection (CBP) estimate I saw a while ago indicated that they only seize roughly 10% of imported illegal drugs, which means 90% or so is making it into the U.S., and most drug mules (whether knowingly trafficking or not) who are going through legal ports of entry, are usually desperate and exploited people, paying the horrific punishment of prison time if busted. There is just this whole chain of suffering, other than those at the very top of the supply chain (or demand, if you are a well-off drug user). It reminds me a lot of human trafficking, the cruelty of slaughterhouse factory farming, including to human workers, and all of the dangerous, underpaid, and dirty work out there in the world, violating basic human welfare (and that of livestock and living beings more generally). It’s just straight up terrible. Society’s job (and governments) should lessen total collective suffering, not waste public resources worsening it. I’m not saying some drug enforcement isn’t necessary, but I don’t think it should be the number one tool, and definitely not a justification for invading Latin American nations. Also, MDMA and psychedelics should be schedule 4 substances like Xanax, not schedule 1, meaning they are legal, regulated, and treated as medicines, with potential for abuse, and not put in remotely the same category as black market fentanyl.

Not to mention, the lethality of fentanyl isn’t even remotely close to other common addictive drugs of abuse. Yet somehow alcohol (which I think should be legal and regulated like it’s been for a century in the U.S., as it is very harmful to humanity), isn’t even listed in the Controlled Substances Act.

If we really wanted to “protect America” from the harms of drugs, why would we not invest in all harm reduction, and treatment for those who end up with a problem? We wouldn’t be risking a violent war with Venezuela. The fact is, most people who try drugs do NOT end up addicted. A sizable minority (I’ve heard stats close to 15%, including with gambling) end up with a problem, and it’s a serious one. In no way do I mean to downplay the suffering, and at times, death, to individuals and loved ones who are in that minority.

I think about a one of many musicians I admire, Trey Anastasio, who started his own holistic rehab, the [Divided Sky Foundation] dividedsky.org/our-story… When watching his free Beacon Theater live streams during 2020, which really warmed my spirits during the infamous concertless lockdown of 2020, I donated $25 to his rehab as a token of appreciation. He was so wholesome and sincere. While I’ve been lucky (and at times very cautious and measured) in my share of drug experimentation in my 20s, and not faced the gutting despair of addiction, I know if I was struggling, or had a loved one who was, Divided Sky, or a place like it, would be the place I’d want to get clean and sober. THIS is where our war-on-drugs money should be going. It’s like, why are these places not prioritized in our health care system? (Wait, I know, profit and greed of course). But seriously, it’s worth a shout out to Trey Anastasio! Even if jam bands aren’t your jam, he’s a cool guy to a listen to in interviews.

Okay, a couple people who are providing some hope now. Besides Trey Anastasio, some other people I want to mention.

Bernie Sanders has been doing FDR style “fireside” chats on YouTube. Very wholesome, sincere, and balanced assessment of what is going on. The latest video is fantastic. www.youtube.com/watch How anyone not admire Sanders? He’s just the man.

Another shoutout goes to Ezra Klein and his podcast. He is easily my favorite journalists out there right now (along with Kai Ryssdal from Marketplace). He has the audacity to welcome conservative voices, including Ben Shapiro, much like Gavin Newsom did on his podcast. Topics are covered so well. I have yet to find a remotely weak episode since I really got into Klein this last year.

Last, someone much less well known nationally is the YouTube influencer and immigration lawyer Jim Hacking. He does a fantastic job of talking in detail about our fucked up immigration system. He even does an answer show multiple times a week where people can call in for free and ask him any immigration question. He also posts videos on the latest developments. Right now, he is suing USCIS for illegally halting ALL immigration benefits to people from the banned countries, and he is among one of the many unsung heroes and professionals in many fields, doing the real work to uphold rule of law and preserve democracy. Big tip of the hat as well. He also gives a history lesson that is excellent. Worth your time to check out if you can: www.youtube.com/watch

The above people give me hope and inspiration, and I hope they do to you as well. I hope you have people like these out there, whether journalists, influencers, or someone you know personally who is making the world a better place. We have to remember, these good people are out there, even if they fly under the noise and radar!

Well, today I’m back at work (remotely) for the first time in 2026. It is not a bad day to be back. My home office was deep cleaned over the break, so I already feel a bit more at ease working in a clean space. I have a new 2026 physical planner, I have already looked at Meetups I’m attending, and I feel on track with some tedious parts of my job as a commercial real estate appraiser.

Now, onto a brief follow-up regarding the politics I mentioned a couple of days ago. I’ve attended the “Unite For Democracy” and “No Kings” events. I attended a smaller one on a busy road in an affluent area, which was largely composed of white liberal Baby Boomers. Recently, I spoke with one of the event organizers—a member of this white liberal Baby Boomer cohort—who took an interest in conversing with me and invited me out for coffee. I took him up on his offer last weekend, and we chatted for a couple of hours. He treated me to a latte and pastry, and it was very informative. There was a good-natured humanity about visiting with him; he had meritorious, valuable life experience to share, much like talking to Yoda or a wise Buddhist monk. It also informed me of his own blind spots regarding some huge generational divides, even among self-identifying liberals, that are far greater in magnitude than I anticipated.

I have always admired pro-democracy messages, especially over the last decade as Trumpism and far-right populism have systematically eroded democracy, tragically in the United States and worldwide. I was horrified to see the January 6th insurrection, and even more so to see fascist white terrorists get pardoned, let alone supported by huge swaths of society, all worsened by their leader occupying America’s top office. Although I identify as progressive left (but not far left), I respect that there are many factual, merit-worthy arguments that oppose my policy views, and that’s okay.

I have had people ask me—and I’ve been scratching my head myself, not being actively on social media—“where the fuck are all of the young people? Why are they not out peacefully protesting and taking to the streets?” Obviously, I’m making generational stereotypes based on trends, with the caveat that there are always individual exceptions to the rules, but clear trends are still clear trends.

The thing is, I had a conversation with my wife about Gen Z’s lack of voting, nihilism, and so forth (she’s much more chronically online than I am). Gen Z has had it really tough—tougher than younger Millennials like myself. However, I still harshly judge those who can vote but choose not to. I see it as a fucking insult to every citizen under authoritarian rule globally, and to every oppressed group who fought for equal voting rights in the United States—and who are still fighting, as those rights are actively being suppressed. If that’s your perspective on the importance of voting as well, you’re in good company. But I think we all need to set aside our judgments and be better listeners to those whose civic decisions we disrespect through our implicit bias, even if we are “right” about it.

My overarching point here is that pro-democracy messages about the rule of law, institutions, voting, and civility ring much hollower for the young than the old, specifically if there is insufficient acknowledgment of people’s pain, and specifically economic pain.

I get this, because I knew in the 2024 election that Kamala Harris would make zero difference in improving my life. She was a horrible candidate; that had nothing to do with her race or gender, as Claudia Sheinbaum became Mexico’s first female president around the same time. So why did Sheinbaum do so much better than Harris? Because Sheinbaum is real with Mexicans and speaks to economic issues in tangible terms, including where she is failing to deliver and why—not in bullshit rhetoric about having an “opportunity economy” approved by billionaire Democratic donors. Harris failed catastrophically in articulating how she would be better than Biden. And ironically, the very few good things Biden actually did legislatively were seldom, if ever, discussed by either Biden or Harris. Worse yet, in terms of actual executive admin agency actions, especially around immigration, Biden was completely stupid and useless where it actually mattered. Nearly all the media attention was hyper-fixated on our totally “open” border (I guess “the wall” was taken down overnight when Biden was inaugurated? I’m being sarcastic, as there has been fortification for decades). I could go on, but you get the point.

Anyway, this older event organizer whom I met for coffee wants to broaden the coalition. And I’m sure the movement will be successful in finding mostly upper-middle-class, white, U.S.-born, college-educated people over 45 to protest. After all, the goal of preserving democracy should be universally agreed upon, even if policy is disagreed on.

To my dismay, the gentleman eloquently and verbosely downplayed the importance of economic pain, believing in one common humanity without demographics, stereotypes, or labels, to a fault. In fact, he thought that talking about pain would entrench learned helplessness and confirmation bias and incentivize a lack of self-determination. In other words, forget mathematical economic reality, because “where there is a will, there is a way.”

Sure, there’s merit to that. But Gen Z and younger is, in fact, our future. Are older generations really naive enough to think that we can save democracy with messages that are non-starters for our youth? What’s the point in voting if big corporations buy elections anyway, or if your choice is between the lesser of two actual evils? What’s the point in attending a peaceful protest when you have to work two jobs to make rent and attend college, and masked ICE agents arbitrarily kidnap people based on skin color with impunity?

I mentioned that my generation, even those of us doing well, will—with few exceptions—never be able to afford a house. Sure, a small, fortunate, and hardworking minority of us can pinch pennies for years, be money-obsessed, win the lottery, or start a successful business, but those are the rare exceptions again, not the norm.

Furthermore, Gen Z doesn’t care about civility in terms of swearing or expressions of anger. Does “returning to civility” mean no ill intent and cruelty towards groups of people like the president shows, which is one thing, or does it mean an old white lady doesn’t like a protest sign that says “fuck Trump” and considers that uncivilized?

Bottom line: older folks need to meet Gen Z and younger Millennials where they are at. Otherwise, they are just preaching to their own choir, which is fine, but it’s far from enough on its own. Messages about democracy alone just ring hollow for a generation that has never really experienced an actual functioning democracy.

Today’s topic is a bit uncharacteristic of me to discuss: film reviews. Specifically a kids film review worthy of praise, Inside Out 2, recently released in 2024.

Before getting into the movie details, I want to say a few things first. I’m not normally much of a movie buff. Or a TV show guy. Or for that matter, a reader of physical books. Come to think of it, I’d really like get in the habit of sitting my ass down to read full length books and movies more regularly. It’s not to say that I don’t enjoy movies, TV shows, or reading books… quite the contrary in fact. But only recently it really dawned on me how I have an incredibly hard time sitting still, relaxing, or meditating, especially if it’s not late at night. I am a bit of a neat freak and have some mild OCD tendencies, so I tend to putter a lot, and listen to a lot of audiobooks or podcasts. Not that productivity is bad per se, but there has to be an end in sight. One of the things I’m working on this year is accepting an unfinished to-do list at times, and being able to sit down and relax, especially early in the evening, even if dishes aren’t fully done, belongings put away, and so forth. Moreover, since this is the last day off before work for my wife and I, she asked me ahead of time to “pause the productivity” by 5pm. Having a little mental heads up helped me accomodate to what my wife wanted, and the selflessness and flexibility on my end was undoubtedly good for me, too. I appreciated being nudged in the right direction.

So, about this movie…? Why did some childfree 30 year old decide to watch some PG-rated Disney kids movie? Well, my current individual therapist absolutely raved about it, and very enthusiastically endorsed it, even joking that he’d personally pay the $3.99 rental fee on YouTube or another streaming platform, if I agreed to watched it all the way through.

The protagonist is a 13 year old girl, Riley Andersen, with personified animated “emotion” characters inside of her head including joy, anger, envy, sadness, and anxiety. While the film is entertaining for basically all ages, I think adults can appreciate the deeper psychological metaphors emerging. When the “anxiety” character takes control and doubts Riley’s self worth, it creates much more suffering than when “joy” is in charge. The metaphor felt so resonant and palpable in my own life, in terms of giving myself reassurance, positivity, and not letting the anxiety character be in charge, when anxiety is all too often for so many of us, kids and adults alike. While I never saw the first Inside Out, even watching Inside Out 2 by itself, like I did, is totally fine.

The reason it is such a good movie even for adults is because of how un-attuned most of us are to our inner emotions and the different parts of us. Need I say more.

Other recent movie review shoutout from this holiday break includes Avatar 3 in IMAX. Similarly, I didn’t see the 2nd Avatar movie, and only the original Avatar when it came out many years ago. Also a very well done (and 3 hours long) movie like the original Avatar, and many similar profound messages about tribalism, war, community, respect for nature, embracing those you don’t fully know or trust, among other valuable lessons.

Today is New Year’s Day, and I do want to make a post daily this year about various cool topics. This is a long one! I don’t plan on most to be nearly this long, but given that I haven’t posted since Christmas Eve, and it’s the New Year, I figured why not?

My goal is to bring genuine joy, nerdiness, quirkiness, goofiness, and the like, at a time when it feels all too mindlessly instinctual to get nihilistic about the world, or my own life’s work-in-progress. It’s too easy for me to catastrophize my insufficient trust towards myself and my loved ones, and heartbreakingly too tough to see their humanity, love, and goodness.

I enjoyed New Year’s Eve going Cosmic Tubing at Ski Bowl with my wife, her family friend, and some acquaintances. It was a niche and unique way to ring in 2026, mostly listening to fun 2000s pop hits under colorful rave-like lights, and accelerating fast down the icy hill. I hope it’s an annual winter tradition, possibly even for New Year’s Eve again. If you haven’t done it before, I would definitely recommend it for both the wild nighttime adults and the families with kids alike (but hopefully the secret doesn’t get out too much about cosmic tubing…).

While I want most of my blog posts going forward to not be depressing, I realize there is a colorful spectrum to everyone’s human experience, and some topics just fucking suck. Today, I feel most authentic to blend the unpleasant topic of mental health with New Year’s resolutions.

While I find New Year’s resolutions to often be a bit… I don’t know… cliché? Overhyped and performative? Something for people who only go to the gym the first two weeks of every January before perfection-infatuated disappointment gives way to old habits? Okay, maybe that’s admittedly a bit cynical, as we’re all guilty of it, and it’s time for a celebratory reset for many, and I want to fully endorse that. I want to cultivate the hope and right attitude nonetheless that doesn’t always seem to ignite easily. But I just need to Give It Time, the title of a Goose song (of course)!

As a pretextual side note: importantly, my biggest and most important New Year’s goals I just can’t ‘measure’ in a numerical sense. I want balanced mindfulness towards proxy indicators nonetheless, without descending into my typical, unhealthy anxiety about perfection. Proxies that come to mind include increased kindness and confidence towards myself and others, and assuming the best more often, even if imperfectly. I’m sure other valuable metrics will arise over time that I can report on.

As my overarching New Year’s theme, I do not want perfect to be the enemy of good in 2026 (a phrase apparently attributed to the French philosopher Voltaire? I love it). That’s really my main New Year’s resolution, as paradoxical as it may sound. At the same time, I don’t want stagnation or cynicism to be the enemy of good! You feel?

Second, and similarly, I want to take healthy yet feasibly small steps towards trusting people. I know there are many justifiable reasons why I distrust others, and I want to honor that, when I all too often blame myself or my own sanity instead. It’s too easy to feel individually unseen, when I was born societally privileged with every demographic advantage namable. Maybe it’s why civil rights, immigrant rights, or systemic oppression resonates with me, as I get what feeling othered far beyond your control feels like, even though I have been immensely fortunate to have avoided the systemic iteration of othering. Irrespective of demography, it often seems that most people don’t feel insecure (for good reason) about the size, quality, or stability of their communities of people, whether friends, family, colleagues, or whomever else. I hope to get there, and I have a good feeling I will, especially as I build the skill to refocus my precious and limited emotional capital on the love I do have, and the bright parts of my future sense of belonging I can work towards.

But as I get older (and hopefully wiser), I know that I engage in too much confirmation bias towards finding anything that might reinforce my toxic narrative to protect myself, even though it no longer serves me. While there are many people in my life whom I fully like, admire, and even love deeply, I just can’t say I fully trust anyone yet. I try to, believe me, I really do, and I really want to, but it’s just not there. It’s not all or nothing, and there are many shades of gray. I partially trust many people, but I don’t yet feel safe or secure enough to put forth the requisite vulnerability warranted. Worst of all, I know there are people who deserve my full trust who aren’t receiving it. That’s why I’m motivated to put forth all the right mindsets in 2026. In fact, I’d hypothetically forfeit so much of my other hard-earned successes and privileges if it meant I could fully trust people, feel seen, loved, and secure in my chronically fragile sense of community. That’s how monumental and crucial this feels to me.

I want to be allowed to ‘fail forward fast’ (recently discussed by Governor Gavin Newsom, and apparently credit is due to John C. Maxwell?) on enjoyable yet low-stakes activities that get me out of my complacent comfort zone. I’ve seen my wife’s community and how ‘low effort, low expectations’ it feels. I want to channel that in my own life too, and actually emulate all that I admire. I want to feel nothing but happy for her, and a big part of me truly does, but I’m also ashamed to admit that my ego feels strongly jealous, which isn’t fair to anyone.

Similarly, I’m working on activities, at least once a week, to connect with people—whether an open mic, a run club, or a Meetup event—which I did little of in 2025. This is really important to me: to do things I love with minimal expectations and to build the resiliency of failure being no big deal. Additionally, it gives me exposure. Among other goals, I’m vowing to participate more diligently in my automated 5-minute phone notifications 3x/day, checking in on how I’m feeling and reminding me to slow down, breathe, and recenter myself. I hope this is a precursor to meditating more, something I’ve struggled to get in the habit to do.

Less importantly, but still mattering: physical health. I am pretty disciplined on it and want to stay the course. Marathon training, usually sleeping, exercising, and eating well have all mostly helped. I also plan to remain fully sober, with the exception of the possible no-more-than-quarterly spiritual/psychedelic experience (more on mind-altering medicines sometime in another post). I don’t believe in being ‘fundamentalist,’ as I might have a single drink if offered, but that’s it. I don’t like feeling out of control in social settings, which might be why I’ve always gravitated towards most stimulants. I think the ambiance and ritual of having a cold pint of craft beer I enjoy far more than the alcohol buzz itself. At night, I’ve replaced it with the ambiance of tea drinking. Now that I have a Garmin smartwatch tracking my sleep and running, I can see quantitatively how even one drink compromises my HRV and sleep quality. Not to mention, I can’t mix any alcohol (even beer and liquor), and being even a little hungover is among the most miserable human experiences, similar to food poisoning or the flu.

As for THC, it’s a different but similar story. Generally, there are much milder next-day side effects, but in the moment, cannabis makes me feel much clammier, sometimes jittery, and conversationally sluggish and anxious compared to most, so I’ve stopped. I do enjoy CBD drinks and products occasionally, getting many benefits of the herb without the psychoactive side effects.

When I was in my teens and 20s, I wanted to be a stoner and naively figured maybe if I smoked enough weed I’d be stereotypically chill, and thus likeable and accepted—the misguided foundation to some semblance of stable belonging. But weed is just not for me. I’ve always had many stoner values, including liberalism, skiing, outdoor activity, jam bands, being a foodie, and, of course, being super forgetful!

But taking care of myself physically and mentally are both important. Physically, I’m mostly there; mentally, it’s a mixed bag, but growth isn’t linear, of course. It’s time to lower expectations, slow down, smile, and take a deep breath. As Goose’s song ‘All I Need’ says, ‘all I need is coming, though it’s not here quite yet.’ Here’s to a good 2026!

So… here it is! I’m excited to share my first post. There are so many various topics I’m excited to share about in the near future, but I’ll start with what comes to mind about today.

Tonight is Christmas Eve, and also my wife’s birthday. She is a year and a half older than me, but I always like to say how she looks multiple years younger and hotter than me (not in self-deprecation, but simply a compliment). Her celebration was low-key this year, since neither of us wanted to spend much money. However, we went out to brunch with her sister and nephew, and had a kickback at our place last weekend.

While admittedly, I feel a bit insecure about my creative gift-giving ineptitudes, I bought her a Baggu bag she wanted, wrote a thoughtful card, and got found an Etsy seller to make a PDF map showing Doe Donuts, our first in-person date on December 12, 2020, titled “Where It All Began.” I got it professionally printed on thick poster-sized cardstock at Walgreens. It still has to be framed, but I’m proud of myself nonetheless for endeavoring outside of my comfort zone in service of a love language towards another. My mother-in-law helped wrap the gift, and my wife seemed truly touched by it.

Also, today is my first day of vacation, after working Monday and Tuesday, and my wife gets a two week hiatus from work. Neither of us work until Monday, January 5th! We feel privileged to have some time off. A low stress end to 2025 is welcome and eager development to say the least!

Having grown up in the Portland, Oregon area, I am very well acquainted with the cold, dark, and rainy winters. However, I’ve managed to avoid seasonal depression as contrasted with many I know. As a side benefit of feeling better, I’ve rarely been getting sick. With my recent outdoor marathon training, sleeping well, taking vitamins, and mostly eating healthy, I’ve felt okay thus far. Plus, now that I’ve finished school, I invested in a Meadows value ski pass to join one of my best friends, so I’ll get to thrive, not just survive this winter.

Merry Christmas Eve, and happy holidays, no matter who or how you celebrate. Cheers!