These are my Momentos, short personal diary entries I write daily – since 2013 – and publish monthly. Some links are affiliate links.
1
Cold calling today. I used to try trick these contractors into thinking I might be a customer, so they wouldn’t hang up on me right away. But many of them could sense something was amiss. Probably because of my accent. I don’t sound like their typical customer. Better be direct.
2
More calls today, many conversations, several appointments booked. Some I have high hopes for, others not so much. One sales guy I follow has a saying: buyers are liars. And he’s right. People lie to me all the time. I’m getting better at calling them out without making them feel bad.
3
Woman approached me in the parking, asked where to pay. I instinctively understood and responded, didn’t have to translate in my head. Felt good. Then the woman at the front desk today. She might as well have been speaking Korean. Progress is not a straight line.
4
They say 10 daily minutes of vigorous exercise is better for your health than 10K daily steps. I believe that, and yet I don’t want to abandon my steps. I guess the ideal is to do both. But I’m wary of adding too many things. I already have a million daily habits. Some days I feel like a slave to them.
5
When was the last time I slept outside? It’s been a while. First occasion that comes to mind: in the jungle a few hours from Manaus, twelve years ago now. We slept in hammocks and awoke to the sound of distant howler monkeys. Nice that I can go back and read what I wrote that day.
6
Was hoping to land two clients today, only got one. I know I can crush it for the other guy, but he has trust issues, been burnt 2x by other agencies. Was going to call him again this eve, see if he’s free to talk, but that would likely come across too desperate. Will give him some space.
7
Cycling by the lake. There’s a legend that witches would gather and bathe here. If they discovered a man spying on them, he’d be turned into a black cat. In reality there were many women accused of and punished for witchcraft 400-500 years ago around these parts.
8
An ACT exercise…
Imagine five years from now, you look back at this time in your life and reflect on the way you handled this crisis, problem, or difficulty. What would you like to say about the way you handled it?
9
Still doing my ten minutes a day talking to ChatGPT in Spanish. It got an upgrade today and it’s even better now. And this is the free version. Incredible how fast it’s progressing. Breaks my brain to imagine what this technology will be like in five years.
10
Thinking about the time I ran out of money in the Middle East back in 2012. I wrote soon after…
I couldn’t get myself out of this mess in Iran. I needed the assistance of other people. I had to leave my ego at the door, put up my hand and ask for help. And then I had to accept that help graciously.
11
Doing that thing again, more focused on getting items checked off my to-do list than thinking them through and doing them properly. It’s a tough impulse to reign in, especially when I have a busy day and a big list in front of me.
12
If you could live to see one massive, reality-shattering thing happen in the world, what would it be?
- Contact with alien intelligence
- A crack in the simulation
- A message from the future
- Verifiable evidence about life after death
- The end of aging
I’d pick the last one. Solve aging and we can all live to see the rest, no matter how long it takes.
13
Didn’t sleep much last night, walking by the river before the sun is up, cooler than expected. I didn’t want to be here today, but now I’m glad I am, enjoying the forced break in my routine. I’ll have a picnic breakfast and lunch, work from the library, visit a cafe.
14
Christy Moore has a song called Beeswing, always reminds me of an old friend. A powerful lyric in there…
They say her rose has faded, rough weather and hard booze
Maybe that’s the price you pay for the chains that you refuse
15
Famous people who shook things up mid-career, when they could have gone on doing what everyone expected of them, what made them successful in the first place. Michael Jordan. Bob Dylan. Nina Simone. Daniel Day-Lewis. Muhammad Ali. David Bowie. Maya Moore.
16
The Quiet Man from 1952 hasn’t aged well. Supposed to be a romantic comedy but John Wayne treats Maureen O’Hara like shit. Played fine at the time, well received. Makes you wonder about the things we see in movies nowadays that are perfectly acceptable, but future generations will find appalling.
17
They sometimes convert the big car park near us into a festival space, music blaring until 2am or later. Fine on weekends, but on regular weeknights it’s baffling. Last night – a Thursday – they were just prepping the space, few people down there, but the music went until 3am.
18
Slipping into that habit again, listening to podcasts all the time, keeping my brain distracted. Not good for my Default Mode Network, which processes experiences, regulates emotions. So easy to avoid boredom nowadays, but a little boredom every day keeps me thinking the right way.
19
A lot of life is realizing you’re wrong about things, trying to accept and adjust. Small example: an old college drinking buddy, hadn’t seen or heard from him in years. Figured he’d be working at a supermarket or something all his life. Instead I see he’s currently a VP at a big tech company.
20
Fifth consecutive night of incredibly loud music from that festival. They went until 6am Saturday and Sunday morning, 5am this morning (Monday). 1am now on Tuesday and they just started up again. Our neighbors don’t seem to mind much, just shrug it off as Andorran tradition. It’s driving me insane.
21
Trying to be positive. We were supposed to travel today. If our plans hadn’t changed, I’d be driving 3 hours to the airport, catching a flight, then driving another 2 hours in a rented car on the other side of the road. All on less than 4 hours of sleep, which has the same impact on driving as being legally drunk, making an accident 11x more likely. So today could have easily been the day I died.
22
Half a brain
All in pain
Real fears
Reluctant tears
Feeling tense
Nothing makes sense
23
Went for a walk. Down by the river. They built new padel courts recently. And there’s a new bar/cafe with outdoor seating. Lots of people around. New construction further along as well, by the community gardens and the new bridge. A lot has changed since we moved here.
24
Richard Feynman, renowned physicist. Complex calculations were his area of expertise while at Los Alamos. Then Enrico Fermi came along and casually did the same calculations “ten times better.” Good reminder that expertise really depends on who you’re measuring yourself against.
25
In awe of The Odyssey. To make any movie, even a terrible one, is an impressive accomplishment. But something like this… how is it even possible? All at once it’s a visual spectacle, a deep philosophical work, a collaborative triumph, and a big dumb action movie.
26
How rarely we sit and think and make up our own minds nowadays. So easy to turn to podcasts or YouTube or AI to figure shit out, tell us what to think. To resist that, you have to be comfortable feeling lost or stupid for a while. Some days I’m better at this than others.
27
Now that I’m middle aged, it’s clear that life is made up of phases. I used to think that once I’d figured something out, I’d be sorted in that department the rest of the way. Not the case. To quote one of my favorite movies: you never know what’s coming for you.
28
Wish I could think things through clearly just in my head. My thoughts and ideas are a mess until I write them down. Speaking them aloud helps a little. But writing is best. Flannery O’Connor agrees…
I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.
29
Glen Hansard died last night, crashed his motorbike on a quiet road. He became a dad a few years ago, talked in recent interviews about writing letters for his son to read years later. Also about taking better care of his health, now that he was no longer the most important person in his life. Hits hard.
30
Title of the podcast: Europe is Burning. Tempted to listen, as I do worry about wildfires. Record temperatures in Andorra, forests so dry that it wouldn’t take much. But why listen? What will that do for me, apart from increasing my anxiety?
31
Walk past a willow tree here in Andorra, think nothing of it. But willow trees are where aspirin originated. Ancient civilizations used dried willow bark to lower fevers and reduce pain. Several distinct civilizations figured it out independently somehow. I find that fascinating.