This newsletter comes out every other Thursday and hopefully provides you with thought-provoking content about the mundane, wacky, and weird. I will be writing until the 75th edition(!). If you know someone who may enjoy the newsletter, share it with them here.
I turned 32 this year and wanted to share with you the 32 most interesting things I learned this year.
Homeschooling has been on the rise for decades. Covid only accelerated a trend.
“If you think something nice about someone, always tell them right then. Life’s too short, you don’t want to be telling all the nice things at their funeral. Tell them today.” (Sahil Bloom)
The graph below shows how prices have changed in the US over the past 20 years. Education and healthcare have gotten more expensive, while things have gotten cheaper.
Scarves are in fashion. I’ve started occasionally wearing a scarf the past few months and have received many compliments. It helps level up a casual outfit, keeps you warm, and can be worn in a few different styles.
Before you are old, attend as many funerals as you can bear and listen. Nobody talks about the departed’s achievements. The only thing people will remember is what kind of person you were while you were achieving.
chatGPT is a conversational artificial intelligence that answers questions and writes essays. We’ve been hearing about artificial intelligence for decades, and this is one breakthrough in AI. Here’s what I asked chatGPT to do and its response is below.
Go for a walk. People have been using a walk outside to problem solve, decrease stress, and get out of our heads for thousands of years.
Most often, I go for a 10-20 minute walk listening to podcasts or audiobooks.
I’m lucky enough to live nearby to my good friend Sam Kahane, and we will go for long 1-2 hour hikes through nearby parks. Talking about life with a close friend on a walk outside is as good as any medicine for my emotional well-being.
When I’m super stressed a no phone walk does the magic trick.
Don’t confuse worthwhile with difficult. Getting a fancy car or a cool job is difficult but it might not be worth it. It is easy to fall into the trap of desiring something because it is difficult, without deeply considering if it’s worth chasing in the first place.
Read old books. I checked out a 1939 tourists guide to North Carolina from the library. It gave me such a better view of what life was like back then, rather than reading a book about North Carolina history. I got to see what was relevant and outdated. Libraries have a hard time getting rid of books. You would be surprised at how many old books your library still keeps.
Tahini became my favorite food. This middle eastern stable is underrated in the states. Whole Foods brand tahini is one of the best. Here’s my recipe:
Roughly 3/4 cup of tahini
1/3 of a lemon’s juice
1 garlic clove - minced
Pinch of chopped parsley and salt
Add water slowly and stir until the you achieve a drippy texture. It will get worse before it’s get better.
Add to roasted veggies, toast, salads, burgers or anything you want.
“40% of global shipping involves moving fossil or other fuels (oil, gas, wood pellets) around. More renewables (solar, wind, nuclear, geo) means fewer ships.” [Bill McKibben]
This is the most booked Airbnb in the world. Kitty, the host stumbled on to Airbnb in 2009 when she tried renting out the dome she had built for her adult children to live in. Her location in the Santa Cruz mountains was the perfect weekend escape for the early adopters of Airbnb, tech workers in the Bay Area. In the early years of Airbnb, the unique Mushroom Dome was often featured on the company’s home page. They even ran a global ad campaign about her as a host. Below is Kitty and the mushroom dome on a billboard.
She was at the right place, right time and had the X factor.
Starting from scratch has its advantages. When Germany had to agree to complete disarmament after losing WWI, it forced them to build and create new and better technologies for WWII.
The creators of Sim City had a problem with car parking. “We realized there were way too many parking lots in the real world. Our game was going to be really boring if it was proportional in terms of parking lots.” [Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley]
The best paid lifeguard in LA received just over $500,000 in 2021. In Australia, Bondi Beach lifeguards are paid less than $70k. [Adam Andrzejewski & Andrew Taylor]
🟫UPS decided on using the subtle Pullman brown, the color used on railroad cars to minimize signs of dust and dirt. [American Business History]
Chick-fil-A makes $4 million annually per location. Far outpacing McDonalds at $2.7 million per location. This is even more impressive, considering Chick-fil-A is closed in Sundays.
Israel has the best water management practices in the world. We should follow their lead.
Happiness in life is U-shaped, declining until our early 50s and then coming back up as we enter retirement. This is despite the fact that people are lonelier in their 70s and 80s.
Texas leads the United States in wind power. Texas leads wind power because it makes financial sense. They have a lot of wind, which drives down the cost of the energy it produces. This is despite Texas being the oil capital of America and a red state. Typically, red states have been slow to adopt renewable energy. Economic incentives trump politics.
🌍 Africa’s population is forecast to explode, reaching 35-40% of the world’s estimated population by 2100. Today it is about 16% of the world population. To a large extent the future is in Africa.
Americans aged 25-34 are increasingly living with their parents. The decline in living with a spouse correlates with the drop in marriage rates and rising housing costs.
500 people have died of fentanyl overdoses so far this year in San Francisco. Fentanyl is 50x more potent than heroin. It’s not just in San Francisco, over 60,000 Americans have died year to date from fentanyl.
“As you become an adult, you realize that things around you weren't just always there; people made them happen. But only recently have I started to internalize how much tenacity everything requires. That hotel, that park, that railway. The world is a museum of passion projects.” - John Collison
👀Reverse google search images on desktop. To do it, right click on an image “search with google”. This brings up similar images. Related, with the google app you can take a picture of something and it will come up with a google search of that item. For instance, I took a picture of a tree on my street and found out it was a Blackwood Acacia and the app included a short description of the tree.
🥇Not everyone reacts the same to winning a gold medal in the Olympics. Everyone cries more than Africa, and South America wears their hearts on their sleeves. If it included World Cup data, I expect South America’s number would be even higher this week.
Energy management > time management. Ride the highs and embrace the lows. Your energy levels vary significantly throughout the day. When you are in a rhythm, flow with it. If you just had a cookie and coffee, you are going to be on a high for about an hour and then crash. When the crash comes go for a walk. Adjust accordingly.
Einstein said compound interest is the 8th wonder of the world. “He who understands it, earns it, and he who doesn’t pays it.” It is hard for humans to internalize when making decisions.
Podcasts are on the rise. There are 2.4 million podcasts today. However, 99% of them never make it past 20 episodes. Persistence pays.
The Brits now pay almost as much out of pocket for healthcare as Americans. [FT].
Money talks, wealth whispers. It’s not a coincidence that Donald Trump said “I wasn't satisfied just to earn a good living. I was looking to make a statement.” (but if he had wealth, he wasn’t whispering, he was talking. so that is the opposite) A lot of his products give the impression of fancy, but are not made of the highest quality. Here’s an example of two watches.
Editing is underrated. This list started as 67 things. Thank you to my wonderful editor and partner in life Jenny for helping edit and cull
Book I’m Reading
“The Psychology of Money” by Morgan Housel. The book’s subtitle is timeless lessons of wealth, greed, and happiness.
What I’m watching
Jamie Foxx is the ultimate entertainer. He’s combines music, comedy and acting so well. One of his key skills that combine all three is his impressions. Check out this compilation of his impressions (FYI there is some swearing).
For a deeper conversation, listen to Tim Ferriss interview him. Still one of my favorite podcasts of all time.
Pic of the Week
The last few months I have rediscovered play in my physical practice. Grateful to have the Bay Area Movement Practice. It has been magical starting most weekday mornings with the stars overhead followed by the sun slowly rising over the east bay mountains.