4 Amazing Years

Rest in Peace Grandma!

My Grandmother (Milicent Craigie Keck) of 94 years old passed away last week. She played a big part in bringing me up since she lived around the corner. When I was young, we used to spend every Sunday at her house after going to church and we'd watch football and eat Popeye's Chicken. Then, in 6th grade she started giving me rides home from school when my parents worked till late. Then in high school she'd let me borrow her car for anything I needed. These are the kind of things you never appreciated at the time, but later look back and realize how formative those times were for me.

Later in life I found out how creative and exciting she was. She helped me make outfits for Burning Man and showed me some of the designs and materials she had used to make her own clothes.

Even in the past few years, she got the most out of life when she moved to Savannah. She held family reunions for the last 4 years on the beach and hosted groups of 40+ for a week despite having already celebrated her 90th birthday. A few months ago, she went into hospice, only to come out of it and start doing aerobics and playing bridge again. She was resilient and loving and selfless and I will miss her. Rest in Peace Grandma!

I'm Getting Married!

New Neighborhood

Great furniture shop in my hood

Vegetarian Coffee

Never knew that you had to specify.

Great article about social networking from Techcrunch

Check it Out

Red Square

I never thought that I'd see red square, moscow, the kremlin or st. peters basillica. And I never dreamed of seeing someone outside with a megafone speaking freely whatever was on her mind without fear of getting arrested.

Free Cash

One could get really confused by this ad.

Summer Climax

The summer is nowhere near over yet (in fact it hasn't really started in London), but for me the climax is drawing very close. I've dedicated my summer to 4 major activities which have swallowed about 90% of my time. Those are 1) My job at Shazam, 2) Launching the new License To Live Website, 3) Organizing and Promoting the License To Live Launch Party and 4) Getting ready for Burning Man. Outside of those, I have had a bit of time to continue my salsa lessons, a bit of time to travel (down to Brighton and over to Ibiza) and very little time to stay connected to my friends here in London and around the world (sorry guys).

In all honesty, narrowing my focus down to a few areas has been difficult because I feel more comfortable when I have more freedom to explore. But I know that in order to accomplish difficult and important tasks, focus is critical. I'm excited right now because for the first time in the last few months, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The website will launch this week, the party will take place on Friday and a week after that, I'll be disconnected from the world, camping on the Playa at burningman. It's a major adrenalin rush leading up to these last two weeks, but the excitement is fantastic and the ability to see the end of some significant commitments is relaxing!

When I get back, the door will be wide open for whatever adventure comes next. I have some ideas of what they will be, but for now, I'm going to just sit back and enjoy the next few weeks. Adventure planning will begin when I get back in September. See you all then!

Big in Japan

Note the sign in the lower right. Also note that this picture was taken in London.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Good Advice

A friend told me something last night that really made a lot of sense. He said, "If you are wondering whether you should do something or not, just do it. It's the only way you'll learn." It reasonates with my belief of discovery through expression...in this case, expression via action. Don't waste time wondering "if you should". If you're thinking about it, give it a try. The worst that could happen is that you learn it wasn't the right thing!
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Shazam Launches iPhone Application

Yesterday was a big day at Shazam. We've been working hard for the past few months to create an exciting application for the iPhone 3G launch and yesterday we launched as one of the featured applications on the site and we remain the #4 application in the UK behind only Apple's Remote Control Application, Facebook, and iPint (ahead of AIM). Not bad company, I'd say.

The application allows you to identify any song with your iPhone and then allows you to purchase from iTunes or see the video on YouTube. You can also take a picture and associate the picture to the song to help remember the moment.

The user reviews have been outstanding, and the press and blogging coverage are saying great things about it.

CNET even said - "Shazam on iPhone could change music discovery"

You can see more about it on our website at http://www.shazam.com/iphone or you can get the latest version of iTunes (version 7.7) and go to the App Store to see it.

If you have an iPhone, definitely get it (it's free). If you don't, please share with your friends. It's really exciting to be a part of something big like this and I just wanted to share with you all.

Little Joys

At work yesterday, there was a fairly serious conversation about figuring out interesting ways to connect people who like similar music tastes and to get them information about the groups they liked. The examples being used were groups like hed kandi and groove armada. Just the fact that we were having a meaningful discussion during the workday about our business and how we can provide people with a good service that gives them things like access to groove armada was amazing. Love my job sometimes.

Smiles

A girl at the shop today looked at me, smiled and said "I just like smiling". Simple things like that can really make your day. I hope someone smiles at you today. If not maybe try it first and see the effect it as on those around you!

It's so true

Explain This

What on earth does this mean?

My First Trip To India

click here to see more photos
I can't say it was the best trip I've had, but it was certainly an adventure! Despite having over a billion people, India is a country that requires you to have an exit visa in order to leave. Shouldn't they want people to leave? I only know this because I lost my passport while I was there. My recommendation: don't ever do this. It's a nightmare. The Beaurocracy of dealing with this is too painful.

Before that disastrous discovery, I did manage to enjoy a few days with Goa with my buddy John Tucker. It seems that spending some time in a foreign country with few westerners will drive you to some serious philosophical investigations, and I enjoyed discussing the outcome of those investigations wtih John and his roommate Trisha. There were a lot of funny "why are we here?" existential discussions.

Lucky

It struck me today how lucky I am. I live in possibly the largest melting pot in the western world. A place where cultures come together in a combination of discovery, confusion and excitement. I work for a promising small company whose entertainment oriented business is linked closely to the evolution of the digital music experience and whose success is dependent on our ability to do business globally with companies from every different culture on the planet. And I'm lucky because one of my best friends from my San Francisco family just moved here with his new fiance. Welcome aboard Karl, its going to be a crazy ride.

How do you respond to being robbed?

My bike was stolen tonight. It was locked up outside the yoga studio in the same place I have been leaving it for the past 6 months while I work out. Being robbed generates such strong emotions: anger at others and at yourself, distrust, frustrations, stupidity and self deprication. It makes you want to distrust others and live more guarded, less free. Or it forces you to spend more money to be free (like on another bike or a bigger lock). You can't do anything about it, so you want to just move on, but there is a level of self reflection needed to avoid the same thing in the future. But after that reflection, do you change anything?



Unfortunately, in large cities like London, this kind of thing is somewhat of an unevitability. Its the cost of living here. But it sucks. I remain positive despite my recent misfortune and resolve to continue sending positive energy into the world. Londom recently started a campaign to encourage people to be more friendly and polite in public. I think its great and I hope it affects a lot of people.

Interesting take on death

As I was walking down westbourne grove today, I noticed this sign for "Repatriation" services. Apparantly this is what some people call funeral services. Interesting take on death. I wonder which country they are taking people back to.

Crab Inspiration

Life back in london is all over the place. Cold and rainy and generally shit weather wise, but work is great and I feel very safe and sound right now with a good crew of people both in london and in life (especially having just reconnected with many of my people on a two week trip to the states). The adventure in my life is a bit lacking at the moment and I think its because I'm a little tired. Its hard to take on new social challenges when the rest of your exciting, but stable, life is holding you where you are (for all good reasons, but holding you none-the-less). The darkness and the weather don't help either, both in the direct effect they have on me and indirectly in the effect they have on other people which then, in turn, affects me.

I am going snowboarding this week, then barcelona for a week for a conference, then back for 2 then off to asia to meet clients. In between is kyle's arrival (he's now engaged), tucker's 30th party in amsterdam and the launch of Bonobos and License To Live events in london. Nuts! I'm feeling like I haven't put enough into the license project recently and I want to give it more, but how can I with all this other amazing stuff going on? I have about 30+ new license ideas that I need to distill down to about 15 for the 2nd wave. And I have a whole new set of online requirements that I want to get done. All by May, in preparation for burningman and the run up to the christmas season! I think I just need a night to let loose and stop taking myself so seriously.

No girls on the horizon, but I could honestly care less. The things I'm doing in my life are exactly what I want to be doing. I just wish I had a bit more room for some unstructured adventure. I find that that keeps you on your toes just enough to remain intersting to both yourself and those you talk to, be they shazam clients, bonobos clients, license clients/partners, or just interesting people who you want a better relationship with. I say this because I believe that all of these people will want to be around you more if you can remain genuinely interesting to yourself and therefore, to them. And the more people want to be around you, the more they participate in your community and the more opportunity your community has to create wonderful things to give back to the world. (That was a powerful discovery just made as I typed this out and enabled by relationships with you all that allow and encourage me to explore and share my interests. Thank you!).

2008 The Year of Growth and Discovery

2007 was an amazing year. At the beginning, I said it would be a year of growth. At the end, I say it was a year of discovery. Without question it was both. The growth came in both my personal and professional development and the progression towards combining the two. My hope is that one day I won't talk about my professional life as something different than my personal life. They will be one in the same.

The discovery in 2007 was really the recognition that I have the freedom to live the life that I want to live and not one dictated to me by my job or by society. In fact, the discovery was that that is the ONLY way to live. But to do that, you have to know what is important to you, understand why, and you have to choose to live with that as the basis for your words, actions and decisions. Last year, just before Christmas, I discovered what was important to me and why (read more). What is important to me is my family, all my families, including my friends and the communities I participate in wherever I am. The reason why those communities are important to me is that communities are more powerful entities than individuals and, through communities, we have the capacity to create, discover, and achieve great things which, as individuals, would couldn't normally do. I also discovered last year that I have a deep hatred for emotional suffering, for sadness. while I recognize that sadness is an important human emotion, it's one I don't enjoy and would like to minimize. Communities have the power to help us deal with sadness because they provide support and nurturing for their members.

About half way through 2007, having recognized that I needed to start living my life based on the things I found important, I began investigating professional ways to explore my interest in communities. I looked at companies whose products promoted the creation or maintenance of communities and roles where my responsibility would involve creating meaningful communities. I also realized that my to-date career in wireless communications was probably motivated by the fact that wireless technology allows people to stay connected to their communities while giving them the freedom to leave those communities and explore their interests. In addition to investigating companies whose business was related to communities, I also considered an entrepreneurial approach to my life/career and decided that my business would address 3 key interests of mine, self-expression, creating communities and keeping communities connected. I had added self-expression to the list of important things in my life because I realized that expression was a pathway to self-discovery and that the best communities were those comprised of people who had a strong grip on their identities.

While looking for a job that fit my interests at the end of 2007, I started a project called License To Live which focused on promoting expression and overcoming social constraints. The launch of that project at the end of the year was one of the highlights of the year and also one of the highlights of my life. The other major highlight of 2007 was the family reunion in June at my grandmothers 90th birthday in Savannah, Georgia. Having 4 generations and 10 decades of family together was a great experience.

Other great events in 2007 were the birth of my niece, Savannah Mae Keck, the addition of new friends to my life, including Kris and Shashi, an adventure to South Africa, three trips to Ibiza, Burningman 2007 and the Recharge Ranch, a successful IT project delivered at Sky and my resignation from Accenture. A lot happened this year. It was a good year. I feel great about where I am in life and I'm looking forward to an amazing 2008...my prediction: the year of acceleration. Hope to see you there.

Seoul

click here to see more photos

This place is whack. I don't have any better explanation for what it's like to be in South Korea. Let me elaborate on what it means to be whack. It's busy...super busy.

Stores stay open until at least 10 pm, sometimes 12, sometimes all night. I actually like it because it makes for a more energetic city at night...but it also demonstrates how dedicated to work people are here and how ingrained it is in the culture. I'm here for work and my project team's average working day is 9 am to midnight (and that's just average). It's crowded, especially the streets. NYC and LA have nothing on the traffic in this town. Add to it that traffic lights and lane markers are merely suggestions and you've got a crazy driving culture.

Culture...if there is one thing I like to explore when I travel, it's the characteristics of the cultures I visit. This means people's habits, the food they eat, their lifestyles, their workstyles, their funstyles, the transporation, art, music, architecture, social norms, social taboos and anything else that distinguishes one place from the next. Safe to say, South Korea has a TON of distinguising characteristics...at least for a westerner who has never been to asia. Here are a few:

-after lunch, at work, the bathrooms are jammed with koreans brushing their teeth
-every toilet i've seen has an electronic bedet and a seat warmer
-dinner generally consists of some sort of raw food. i ate raw crab for the first time here. i probably won't go back for seconds. i also ate jellyfish for the first time. it was delicious.
-at my client site, the water fountains don't have cups, they hace flat, white, water proof envelopes that you fill with water and drink from.
-living - you live with your family until you are married and then you move in with your partner, often in one of your parents homes. nobody lives alone
-drinking - they drink A LOT here. the other night, as a hazing ritual, i watched people sequentially drink a mixture of beer, whisky and red wine out of a large salad bowl. narsty.
-kareoke - they love it. absolutely love it. i did my best rendition of George Micheal's "faith" and it was a hit.
-politeness - Koreans have an odd dichotemy of being extremely polite in direct interactions and shocking rude in anonymous environments. for example, if 15 people are waiting for the elevator, they all rush to get in first when it comes. and people cut you off all the time when you are walking (and driving)

It's not "bad", but it's not for me. For whatever reason, I don't feel very welcome here...it's just not a warm environment. I wonder if Koreans feel the same way when they come to London or the US. This weekend is my last weekend here and I'm going to give it my best. Every place deserves a second chance and Seoul has 2 days to prove that it's worth its salt.

Amazing Monday

I don't know which stars came into alignment today, but way too many things went right for there not to be some type of cosmic intervention. It's rare that every conversation you have in a day is rewarding, productive and enjoyable, but that seems to be the case today.

My personal and social life have been amazing and rewarding lately. The people I've met and the events that have taken place in the last few months have been outstanding. I didn't write about Burningman this year, as I often do, because I was pleased to come back to London and discover that life didn't change that much. That told me that I've been living the life I want to live and that the culture and atmosphere of the burningman community have successfully permeated themselves throughout my every day life. What a great discovery! Even though it wasn't a massive change, I can tell that Burningman had the same great affect it has on me every year. Even now, I remain completely inspired and envigorated, over a month after the man burned. I think it's had a profound positive affect on my life. It also reminds me that a positive outlook on things is completely contageous and people are often drawn to that.

The last conversation I had today was with my brother who called to tell me that his lovely wife, Kimberly, was starting to have contractions for her first baby. When I wake up tomorrow, I expect I'll be uncle Jason.

My blogging has remained limited lately, I know, and I think there are two main contributors. The first is that I feel very connected to my close friends in life these days and therefore don't feel the need to blog to stay connected. The 2nd is facebook, which serves as a great tool to publish and subscribe to the personal lives of others. It provides a great way to let people know what's happening with me and how i'm doing / feeling. If you aren't subscribed, I highly recommend it.

Tough Times

The hardest thing about the summer in London is trying to pick which events or trips you are going to do. There are so many óptions and all of them are great.



This weekend I picked the Ibiza option. This island is amazing. It's one of the best island resort parties I've ever seen. The weather is great, the people are friendly and beautiful and I'm here with my good friend John Tucker. I really have nothing to complain about. More London summer!

Morning commute

My commute recently has been 90 minutes each way with my current project. Its definitely further than I would prefer, but it does afford some good reading and thinking time. Possibly some good writing time...about the things I've been reading and thinking about.



No question that my thoughts recently have been extremely career focused. After the breakup with Alissa, career feels like the next most important thing to go after. Where I pursue my career is still and open question: London, SF, current company, new company...well, all of them, to be honest! What I want to do is more important, and the place I end up will be the place that gives me the best chance of pursuing that career.



Right now, the career is all about developing products and services that bring people together. Mostly because groups of people are more powerful and because group environments are generally more secure for the individuals. Two key technologies that do this today are wireless and social networking applications. There are also plenty of ways to do this without technology. Events, parties.



Two key comments I've read and heard in the last week that resonated with me: "mobile" is the new desktop, and "google and facebook are the next operating systems". I think its time to start doing something with that. Stay tuned...

Mobile blogging continues...

Returning from a trip to the US can be rough. The jet lag from the east coast alone has kept me awake until 4 am for the past 2 nights! Ugh. But I continue on.



The trip to Savannah was great. 4 generations of kecks together for a week. It was relaxing and crazy at the same time. Family can be so loving and supportive and that is such an important part of life, at all stages. It has been for me, at least.



The last few months have been pretty intense. I've had some significant challenges on all fronts, but I'm learning a ton about myself as I tackle each one. Makes me feel stronger about coming over here. Odds are that I'll stay a few years longer, despite my brother having a kid this coming fall.



A lot of things are looking promising for me these days. Career wise, personally. It feels like its going in the right direction again and that is great news. Open invite to come see what it's like. London is a GREAT place in the summer.

London Southbank

I've been wanting to start mobile blogging for a while, and I think tonight is the night. I'm sitting on the south bank of the Thames in London on a gorgeous evening. Its 8:30. The sun is _just_ starting to set. Its warm and people are out walking the river.

Monday night on my way home, I caught a glimpse of a pair of buskers near embankment station playing some good sounds. Tonight on my walk home, I came across them on the south bank. Its a Spanish couple...him playing a beautiful Spanish guitar and her playing a not so beautiful drum "box" but looking quite beautiful herself. The whole atmosphere is what I love about London summers. I have a few happy places in London. Hoxton square is one of them and the south bank is another. Regents park is also great and a little cafe up near newington green. I hope to find a few more happy places by the end of the summer.

30th Birthday Dinner Bash (round 2)

click here to see more photos

As if the first night out wasn't enough of a celebration, Decadent Decades, a four course dinner representing the 4 decades of my life, took place on Feb 9th. Have a look here to see some photos from the night. Dinner menu is below:

Starter
Tuna & Salmon Sashimi
Edamame

First Course – 3rd Decade
Assorted Sushi & Nigiri

Second Course – 1st Decade
Humus w/Ground Beef
Feta & Tomato Salad
Grilled Haloumi

Third Course – 2nd Decade
Jambalaya & “Crawfish” Bread

Fourth Course – One (or more) To Grow On
Grilled Chorizo in Red Wine Sauce
Tofu in Thai Peanut Sauce

30th Birthday Bash (round 1)

click here to see more photos

I rang in a new decade this year with a simple night out in London. I didn't have time to plan a big event, but I never pass up an excuse to get a few friends together for a night out. The 25th also happens to be Burns night (a Scottish celebration complete with bagpipes, haggis and poetry recitals), but somehow we ended up at a dim sum bar. It was great fun none-the-less. Everything was under control until somebody started buying shots AFTER my 5th pint.

South Africa

click here to see more photos
click here for a 4 minute video of the trip

After my Christmas with the Jones', I spent 3 weeks in South Africa with my great friend Hal. We spent 3 days in Johannasberg, including a visit to the Pilanesberg game reserve and the Apartheid museum. From there we drove to Cape Town via the Garden Route, camping 3 nights in Coffee Bay on the Wild Coast and 3 nights in Nature's Valley in Tsitsikama National Park. Highlights of the trip included a bungy jump off of a bridge 750 feet over a river, a helicopter ride around the coast and dressing up as the fun police and going on patrol in Cape Town. I learned about cricket while listening to a few test matches on the radio. I played 25 very close games of Chess with Hal and saw the production offices for the movie he's making, Doomsday.

In addition to the great adventures, I learned a great lesson about myself. Having just started a relationship with my amazing girlfriend, Alissa, I started to fall into an old habit of becoming somewhat of a dud to others while in a relationship. Without Hal to give me a slap in the face, I probably would have continued down that road becoming less interesting to myself, my friends and my girlfriend. The lesson is this: Be yourself. Always. You can compromise "a little" and only sometimes, but there is no better way to go through life than to understand yourself and be yourself.

Christmas 2006 - Discoveries about Families & Community

click here to see more photos

I spent this past Christmas with my London family, the Jones'. Cousin's of my mom's here in the UK. Their hospitality was amazing, and I felt completely at home despite being out of New Orleans for the first time over the Christmas holidays. While my time with the Jones' was amazing, my biggest event over the holidays came just before Christmas as I continued my introspection via a letter to my family. Here is what I came up with:

A few things have come through in my recent introspection. The first is a deep seeded discomfort with emotional suffering in both myself and in others. I expect this comes from some of the emotional trauma I faced while growing up as a brother and son always wanting to be included in what people were doing, at Holy Name with the harsh clique that formed in my class during 4th and 5th grade, at Newman when I struggling to figure out if I identified more with the cool kids, the athlete crowd or with the curious intellectuals and even at Harvard when many of the people who I thought were friends at the end of my freshman year abandoned me at a time when I had no other support. The second thing I’ve discovered is the fascination I have with exploring new things in the world. Not just locations, but people, behaviours, and cultures. Obvious examples are the trips I’ve taken to vastly different places in the world like Alaska, Cuba, Argentina and now all around Europe. Discoveries in both of these areas allow me to better understand the way different people behave when times are good, tough, or anywhere in between.

Learning these things has helped me to reflect on and understand my thoughts and actions much more intimately. For example, I now know that my drive to be an entertainer comes from a desire to distract people from their issues in life and replace those issues with positive thoughts and experiences. And I know that my interest in listening to people talk about their issues comes from a desire to help them better understand what is happening to them, why they feel the way they do and how they can improve the situation. I also know that my motivation to go out and explore the world comes from my desire to understand other people and cultures. But leaving the comfort of your own home can be daunting, and I would have never had the courage without the inspiration and encouragement to be a self-starter that dad gave me while I was growing up. What’s more interesting than understanding these thoughts and actions at the level I now do is the discovery that they are part of a larger effort that has driven me all of my life.

The more I consider my thoughts and actions and how they fit together, the more I realize that so much of what I do is related to creating communities everywhere I go. And the most intimate and powerful of those communities are actually families of mine. This might be with the hundreds of people I’ve met in London over the 14 months I’ve been here, or it could be just at the dining table when eight loosely connected people come together for a 3 hour dinner. To me, the amazing thing about communities is that they are a social construct naturally formed because of what they inherently provide for their members. And what they provide is exactly the two things that I discovered to be important to me in life: support for emotional suffering and a platform for discovery and growth. I only just made this connection in recent weeks, but when I realized how I learned this lesson, I literally became so overwhelmed with excitement, pride, guilt and a terrible sadness that I cried for almost an hour as I tried to write about it. Much of that writing is coming through in this entry.

To explain further, my excitement came from the fact that this is a lesson I’ve been learning since the day I was born. Mom, Dad, Jo, Mike, Grandma, Grampy, Teta, Jido, Charles, Jill, Yasmin, Xan, all my aunts, uncles and cousins and now Kimberly have been teaching me this throughout my life. What an amazing feeling it is to know you’ve been struggling to understand something for so long, and then one day it hits you.

The pride comes from realizing that such a powerful lesson, probably the most important lesson I have learned in life, the thing that inspires almost everything I do, has come from MY family. Not from any inspired professor or company leader or anyone famous like that, but from my family. And the fact that I refer to the most intimate and powerful communities as “families” tells me how amazing the family is who I group up with.

My guilt comes from things I’ve done, said or thought about my family over the years that might have implied or represented the family as something less than I now know it to be. I’m sure that the naiveté of my youth got the best of me at times, and while I know that some things were necessary for my personal exploration and growth, I feel guilty that they came about at all. The good news is that, at this point, after all my explorations, I’ve come around to a self-discovered feeling of pride and love for you all.

The sadness is an interesting one. I’m sad because the thing I want most to avoid, emotional suffering, is the thing I created by leaving New Orleans and then by leaving San Francisco. And I’ve created this suffering for the people I love the most and the people who’ve taught me the importance of family, i.e. my families in those cities. Sadly, I’ll have to do it again if I leave London because I’m creating a wonderful family here as well. What’s interesting about the sadness is that it forced me to think about nature of families and communities and discover how they function as an almost perfect system. They provide inspiration to explore new things, which in turn can potentially create suffering (like when I left home), but then they also provide the support you need to deal with that suffering. They provide a platform for growth and change, but also for safety and security. So in a convoluted way, my sadness has actually been the best emotion because now it’s made me think deeply about the nature of communities and how they work, and I expect that this will be crucial to my further research into the subject.

Fall Updates

See below for more photos

Since I came to such powerful discoveries just a few months ago, life has been a real pleasure to live. I haven't made any drastic, visible changes to my life, but the subtle adjustments in line with my discoveries have really helped keep my conversations and my activities very satisfying and meaningful. I feel like a large freighter that is in the process of changing course. I have my new heading, but it's going to take a while to complete the turn. In the meantime, I'm really making the most of my time in life and in London. I feel a good balance between work and life. My relationships with friends here and around the world are continuing to grow in the right direction. I'm really hitting my stride.

To elaborate a bit more on my discoveries, I can say that I've identified one of my strongest motivations in life is a deep rooted hatred for human emotional suffering. I believe it's what drives me so hard to be an entertainer, a care taker and a designer of productive, positive experiences for others. I want people to feel loved, included and welcome as much as possible. I've also recognized the desire to have my personal life enhance my professional life and vice versa...and not in a means-to-an-end sort of way. I mean that the things I love doing in my personal life, the things I spend most time thinking about, and the things I'm most creative with...I want to be working in a place where I can use those things for the benefit of my career/company. And when I do, I expect the results will also contribute back to the enjoyment of my personal life. I hope, 5 years from now, that I won't be talking about work life and personal life...they should be the same by then.

So with all the good times I've been having, I'll leave the pictures to tell the stories. There are some miscellaneous London pictures in here, including a few days in Lond with my good friend Stacy. There was my best ever trip to Paris to meet my friends Glenn and Dayna and for Paris Decompression 2006. And then a little San Francisco reunion back in Bean Town. I hope December will bring a trip to the mountains for some snowboarding, and I'll be in Cape Town in January. As you can see, the adventures just don't stop.

San Francisco reunion - in Boston

click here to see more photos

Halloween Two Thousand and Sex

click here to see more photos

Miscellaneous London Photos

click here to see more photos

Stacy Goes to London

click here to see more photos

Paris 2006

click here to see more photos

JJ Does the Windmill...in Brighton

click here to see more photos

WhoAmI - Snapshot October 2006

click here for more detail

After telling you all so much about the discovery that I came to last weekend, I got super intimidated about capturing who it is that I am. I mean, what if it wasn't as exciting as the feeling of discovery, or what if I couldn't represent it in such a way that demonstrated the magnitude of the discovery? Let's be honest, if I could capture the complexity of who I am in any way that is simple and comprehensible, then the thing I was capturing (me) just wouldn't be that interesting. But I set out to try none-the-less.

In my days at Scient, I saw some graphic designers and organizational experts capture some amazing representations of how departments worked together by creating a single picture/slide/drawing. This seemed like a good idea to me. Rather than try to write out, in prose, who I am, I went for the picture approach based on what I had seen before. I did try to draw the thing I explained in my earlier posting, but my drawing skills were no match for the complexity of the mental image I had created.

So anyway, a few comments on the picture. Each box is meant to represent a capability, skill or competency that I have. The lower boxes are simple skills, and as you move up the picture, you see more complex characteristics that are enabled by the skills below them. I recognize that there are a few gaps (e.g. i'm sure i'm missing more than one thing), but this was a first pass. It not only represents who I am now, but also who I want to be in the future (which, if you think about it, is another way of describing who I am now).

If you ask me who I am, the most simple answer I have come up with is that I am an Experience Designer motivated by the desire to see people enjoying life. I am also an experience maker. By that, I mean the host and entertainer in me that loves not only to design fun experiences for others (and myself), but who also loves to be a part of making them happen.

Thoughts, comments and feedback are welcome and encouraged on this. If you can think of anything I'm missing, please let me know. Or any suggestions for how to represent more of the complexity of how these things work together would be great.

Reflecting on My Discovery

The feeling of “finding myself” last night was really an amazing and intense moment. I think I did a good job of capturing why it was so amazing, but I may not have actually captured the emotion itself. Using single words to describe it won’t do it justice, but the best words I can find are "awestruck” and “dumbfounded.” In addition to what those words represent. In that frozen, speechless moment of awe and motionlessness, there was also a tingling sensation of euphoria that went from my head, through my shoulders and arms and down my torso and legs. Sounds sort of like an orgasm, right? Well…isn’t that another way to describe euphoria?

The feeling was one of simplicity and peace. It was both an end of a massive (unconscious) search and the beginning of new chapter. It was one of the most complete and total senses of closure I’ve ever felt. And the satisfaction that goes with that, the satisfaction of accomplishing a 29 year effort is indescribable (think of how good you feel after accomplishing something you’ve been working on for 1 year…multiplying that by 29 doesn’t even do it justice). For me (and I expect for you as well) the activity of achieving complete self-awareness and self-understanding is integrated into everything I do, and the discoveries I gain from it are critical to my life. Knowing who I am allows me understand what I have to offer (to myself and others), and it gives me a purpose in life.

Every effort/activity in my life contributes to the goal of discovering who I am. This is done through the combination of 1) contributing to the world by being myself, 2) exploring new and different ideas and 3) harvesting my reactions to discover new lessons* (detail below). Interestingly, it is a never-ending effort to achieve this goal, but that doesn’t mean I can’t achieve it. It just means that in the instant I do, I have had an experience that immediately takes me away from the state of complete self-awareness, and then I instantly re-instate my efforts to achieve it once again because those efforts are integrated into everything I do.

Anyway, back to my moment of self-awareness. The moment itself lasted about 60 seconds, and the more experiences I have between then and now, the more I will depart from that state of complete self-awareness. I realized that as soon as the moment was over, and it was sad in a very post-coidal way, but also very satisfying in the same way you feel after an orgasm that has been building up for 29 years.

*****************************************

*I mentioned before that everything I do contributes to the never-ending effort to discover myself. At a very high level, I can divide my actions into 3 categories.

The first is the activity of being me and practicing who I am. This is about taking what I know about myself, what I love and enjoy, what I like and dislike and then going out and just being myself. It’s like taking something you know, whether you’ve known it your whole life (something you learned ages ago) or just learned it, (a new trick or a new skill) and then using it in practice.

The second is exploring. This is, in some ways, making a departure from who I am (not departing from the part of me that needs to explore, though, because, for now, the need to explore is part of who I am and I don’t want to change). I guess you can also say that exploring is a departure from what I’ve already learned or discovered. This involves doing new or different things, trying out new or different ideas, or even just making slight tweaks to the things I know, like, or dislike to see if I can learn something that I like better or find something I’m sure I don’t like. Either way, this exploration gives me new information to work with in my understanding of the world and, more importantly, of myself. Another important thing to realize is that it’s not just my own exploration that creates new information to consider. Everything else that happens in the world is input as well. Other people’s words or actions, and my reactions to them, my emotions, give me great input to consider.

The third category is the harvesting. With every new activity, idea or action that I explore; with every new event or discussion I observe in the world around me, I gain new information that I must consider in the definition of myself. For me, harvesting all of this information to continuously redefine who I am is a critical activity in life.

Each of these three activities happen continuously in an endless twisting and looping mesh that you could call the fabric of my life. You can picture it as a twisting, traveling, growing, animated, rolling wave made of very small fibers that each represent experiences and lessons. The wave grows both higher and longer as it travels forward, sometimes rapidly, sometimes slowly. At any given time, you could take a snapshot of that wave, and the person I am will be the intricate mesh of fibers in the unique configuration on the right edge of the wave at that moment in time. Taking that snapshot is no easy task, but I seem to have managed to hold the wave still for about 60 seconds the other night, see it, understand it and then let it go. Even farther off to the right of the wave is the future. I’m not there, but I can see it, or at least some of it. Parts of it are definitely hidden from me. There are endless things out there, some inspiring and amazing, some threatening and dangerous, and some that I will simply pass on by.

Discovery - Post Burningman 2006

Before I was a teenager, my life was shaped by simple reactions to feelings that I couldn't possibly understand. Some physical (don't walk barefoot on hot concrete, don't hit your older brother because he will beat you to a pulp), but mostly emotional (be nice and people will show you love or nag your mom/dad/brother/sister and they will give you some attention). Around the time I became a teenager (approximately), I must have started my self awareness. Consciously weighing the outcome of my actions. Paying attention to the things I liked and didn't like, and shaping my life to maximize the things I liked.

As I grew older and had more experiences (relationships, school, jobs, religion, activities, etc...), I learned more and more about myself. I made a massive leap when I left college, moved to San Francisco and took responsibility for my own life. My self awareness increased and I had even more control over what I wanted to do. I will always love San Francisco because it allowed me to explore myself in ways I never thought possible. It is such an accepting and supportive place.

A year ago, I moved to London. London is not as supportive or accepting as San Francisco, but I gained some freedom by coming here. With the confidence I gained in San Francisco and the freedom I had starting anew, my personal evolution really accelerated. I wasn't, as they say, "searching for myself," but I CAN NOT believe what I've just realized.

Some people don't ever bother looking.
Some people look but never find.
And I can imagine that a few people, searching or not, actually do discover themselves.

Right now I am one of those people.

I'm sure this will change, in fact, I hope it will. I will have experiences that introduce me to new things and I won't know how they fit into who I am, but that's ok. I hope I will take those things and improve my life, but right now, at this moment, I know who I am, and I know that I have found myself, and I am in such awe that I really don't know what to do.

Call it cheesy, call it a cliche, but the magnitude and rarity of a moment like this make it almost inconceivable, and that is why it has become a cliche.

To be honest, it's not that I've discovered anything new about myself. I just feel like I've refined the things that I have been discovering my entire life to a point that feels EXACTLY right.

The past 2 months have really accelerated this refining process. It started a month before Burningman when I began getting ready. Getting into character, feeling free to be myself and do what I wanted. It continued as I participated in the most amazing event in the Universe. I explored, I role played, I greeted, I hugged, I loved, I danced, I made other people smile. And then it picked up when I left. I had an inspirational discussion with a great friend, fellow burner and old roommate (Axel). Someone I was scared to live with when I moved to San Francisco because we were such different people at the time. The thought of that never happening, by the way, absolutely scares the crap out of me now.

When I returned to London, I started talking to many of the people who know me well. Particular conversations with Kyle, my Aunt Jill, Mike, Dayna, Hal, and Spaly helped keep things going. And then, today, an email exchange today with John Tucker, one of my best friends in the world and an amazing person, just nailed it home. He said, "I think most people ... can only be successful when their employment suits their distinct personality. There are two potential blocks: 1. They don't know who they are yet. 2. They haven't found the opportunity. You do not have problem 1, and problem 2 is, as you say, only a matter of time once you are looking at the world in the right lens."

Don't get me wrong, I don't think that having your employment suit your personality is the end game in life, and I'm not saying that John's email helped me discover who I was. It's clear to me now that I already knew. John's gift of merely reflecting back on me what I had just told him (in an earlier, un-quoted email), helped me realize that I DID know who I was. And that was an amazing feeling.

Of course none of this actually says anything about what I've discovered, and it doesn't say anything about who I am. This is one of the most amazing moments in my life and all I wanted to do here was capture how I felt and part of the story of how I got here. The rest of the story is the story of my life. Part of it is below in this blog and the rest of it is captured in my mind and in the memories of everyone whose path I have crossed.

Capturing my discovery and capturing who I am in words is no simple task, but it is THE task in my life right now. I don't know how long it will take, but I know that I will not go very far with anything else until I have it done. It may become a book one day, or a movie, or it may just sit on my shelf. To be sure, I will share parts or all of it with you all here. Stay tuned.

Local Adventure and Cultural Observations

This weekend, I stayed in London. In fact, last weekend I stayed in London as well. And you know what? I had a BLAST. Maybe it's because I'm still on a high from burningman. Maybe it's because I'm so inspired that I'm making the best of everything. Or maybe it's because I've burned away all my fears along with the monster who swallowed them two weeks ago. Maybe it's because my good friend Kyle was here. Maybe it's because we explored some new career ideas of mine. Maybe it's because we spent 90 minutes, unsuccessfully searching for a good smoothie, and maybe it's because the people we met in our search were nice, friendly, and welcoming. Maybe it's because I didn't have anywhere to be or anything to do and I revelled in that freedom. I'm not really sure why it was such a blast, but I hope it continues!

I took a bit of time over the past two weeks to have a look around London. At the city and the people. This past weekend, inspired by my friend Axel's new project, WrittenOnTheCity, I began actually paying attention to some of the graffiti written on this town. I started asking myself what it meant, and what people were trying to say. And I found it fascinating. The picture above is by far my favorite. To me, it captures the idea of money being a source of evil and danger. It appeals to the socialist hippy in me that would love nothing more than to live in a commune with my favorite people, raise our kids together and share our lives as one big family. It also appeals to the devil in me that loves to send people there when they ask me where the nearest ATM machine (cashpoint) is :)>.

Last week, I noticed two particular "people" events. One was a beautiful girl (early 20s) at the train station on a a cell phone. She was crying. I struggled in the cab line for 15 minutes as I watched her. Why didn't I offer to help? Most of you who know me, know that I can't stand sadness. I will turn myself into a clown if that's what it takes to make someone smile. For some reason I couldn't approach her. Partly because she was on the phone, and partly because I questioned my motives. Regardless, I got in a cab, went home and felt guilty the whole way home (and clearly am still struggling with it). Two days later, I watched 2 people in my neighborhood approach a group of foreigners, ask if they needed any help with anything (they didn't look lost or helpless, by the way) and then showed them how to buy a ticket from the horribly user un-friendly bus ticket machines in London. It was such a crazy juxtaposition to my experience earlier in the week, and also reminded me of my guilt. I guess you can call this a confession. Partially a confession that I didn't help the girl crying in the station, but more of a confession that I had and allowed my "impure" motives interfere with my ability to help someone.

The last thing I took notice of since I came back is that, in London, a "non-fat" latte is called a "skinny" latte here. I'm not convinced that the rest of London is so "glass half-full", but I think that's one they have up on us americans.

Burningman 2006 - Another Planet

click here to see more photos

Burningman this year was, as every year, an amazing trip. It was mind blowing and core shattering. It was inspirational and supportive and educational and eye opening. It is a place like nothing in this universe. One night, while biking from one side of the playa to another, my buddy and virgin burner, John Tucker, said, "i feel like i'm in outer space and it's like we are traveling from one planet to the next." John's comment was about the visual experience of being outside at night at Burningman and he is dead on. In between the spaced out pockets of light that illuminate the awe inspiring installations of art, there is pure darkness and you literally feel like you are floating through space (from one planet to the next) as you walk or bike along.

While John's comment is dead on, I say that Burning Man is like no other place in the universe NOT because of the visual experience you have while you are there. In all rights, it is the most fascinating and aesthetically unique and interesting place I have ever been. But that's not what makes it special for me. Burning Man is like no other place in the universe because the social experience of participating in such a successfully cooperative society is unparallel in any culture, country, social group, family or relationship I have ever seen or participated in. I call it successful because it brings so much happiness to everyone there, and, as you get to know me, you will begin to see how important other people's happiness is to me.

Another thing that is important to me is self-expression. As a kid growing up, self-expression was difficult (as it is for many kids). I craved acceptance from friends and family and often sacrificed my own interests and conformed to whatever behavior was necessary to achieve that. As you might imagine, the pressure of wanting to be accepted prevented me from really expressing myself. At times, it still does. At Burning Man, there are no rules, but they do have a few guidelines. 1) Leave No Trace, 2) Contribute/Participate, No spectators, 3) If it don’t come from your body, don’t put it in the potty, 4) No driving over 5 mph, 5) No commerce allowed (Except for ice and coffee), and a few others. Outside of that, you can do WHATEVER you want. When I was/am at Burning Man, the guideline that I should contribute and give back, combined with the freedom do whatever I want, makes me feel like I can express myself exactly as I choose with no fear.

What I re-discover each year is that by simply being the person I want to be, and doing the things I enjoy doing, I am able to contribute to other people's positive experience and bring them happiness. The magnitude of this realization is matched only by the simplicity of its truth. Why have we created a world where that is so hard? I can picture in my head right now, people telling me how that is not possible and why it's not possible. If that is you, then I tell you this, imagine a world where it IS true. That is what it's like at Burning Man. Now what if you decided, right now, to live your life that way? What if everyone did?

These are a few things I did this year at Burning Man that I love to do and that also contributed to other people's happiness:

The recharging station - Version 0.2 of Camp Virgin Luxury was a simple recharging station where fellow campmates or any random passer-by could come for a myriad of re-charging services. These included re-fueling with ice cold water, home made cookies or brownies (brought from London), or candy; re-freshing with an ice towel scented with florida water; re-laxing with a head massage, foot massage, back massage, hand massage or even a slow dance to a relaxing, romantic song; re-juvinating with some high-energy music and a dance partner (me); & re-setting with some basic advice on how to get on with things.

Hugs not Handshakes - It's a simple rule to live by and everyone loves a hug

Costumes - I love wearing costumes, and the smiles I saw on people's faces when I wore my green alien suit with fiber-optic green hat was unbelievable. That I could bring other people happiness by just the clothes I wear was amazing (this is something I've taken back with me to london, by the way. i wear costumes every day).

Greeting - I spent 3 hours on Wednesday night welcoming newly arrived burners to their home. The excitement on their faces and in their body language that came from the simple activity of me expressing myself in whatever way I felt was amazing. At times I think it was just the uniqueness of the way I choose to express myself for that given person that made them so excited. This was everything from hugs, to spankings, to dancing, to sharing a beer, to making them hit the bell and scream "I'M NOT A FUCKING VIRGIN ANYMORE!" to the impromptu celebration that occurred with Fared's 72 year old uncle arrived with the supplies they needed to survive the rest of the week. THAT was awesome.

Tour Guide - Showing my virgin friend John around the playa and watching his eyes open at everything was amazing.

Participation - It's not just about what I can give to or do for other people. But actually, by taking part in an event, experience, or activity that I enjoyed, by taking part in something that was designed or created by someone else, I actually made them happy!

People are starting to call "Burners" a "tribe", and I think that is an excellent description. It's a group of like minded people who get together once a year to be themselves in an entirely welcoming and supportive place. If we could only expand that period to the other 51 weeks of the year, think of how great our lives could be! As I understand it, that is one of Larry Harvey’s goals, and, to be sure, he’s got a great vision. I, for one, have tried to live my life everyday with the same energy and freedom that I felt while at Burning Man. And everyday that I do feels great.

More Amazing Photos from a fellow Euroburner

And a few more from Camp Overkill

Burningman 2006 - Prep Work (51 weeks worth)

click here to see more photos

Every year, Burningman takes place over labor day weekend at the end of the summer. This year, I started preparing for the trip about 30 seconds after I left Burningman last year. I think it was mental preparation, more than anything. I was inspired after last year's trip to create an amazingly luxurious residence for my brother, his wife and some of my friends who might not normally make the trip because of the harsh environment. I started spreading the idea with everyone who I wanted to come. I pictured the camp in my mind along with all the amenities (showers, lounge area, kitchen, dance floor), and then I taught myself how to draw so that I could capture the image I had and share it with my friends. I started a small campaign back in January to drum up interest, but it never really took off.

Despite my disappointment, I realized while on the playa this year, that this was a blessing. The idea of taking care of so many people in addition to myself was ludicrous. Thus, I dodged a bullet. The idea has not died, by any means. But my approach to a camp of this nature has definitely changed. Build it? absolutely. But there is just no way that I can dedicate so much of my time out there to taking care of others. The harsh environment forces you to spend much of your time taking care of yourself. You can choose how to spend the rest of your time, and, to-be-sure, I will always spend a good portion of my time caring for other people, but I'm also going to go out and explore the rest of the Burningman world as that is a huge part of the experience. Radical self-reliance & Radical self-expression. I wonder if there will be a day when it won't feel so radical anymore. I doubt it.

So Camp Virgin Luxury never quite materialized, unfortunately, but the idea has remained and, as you will see later, has and will permeate everything I do for the rest of my life. I have come to terms with the fact that I love taking care of other people as the extroversionary character in me derives endless happiness from the smiles and joy that I see in others when I do. If you know my mother, you know where this came from.

Moving on. Mental preparation for this year's trip took an evolutionary step at the beginning of 2006 when I began to interact with the European burningman community. I met up with a sweet Euroburnger Aussie girl named Jess in Dublin over St. Patty's day weekend and discovered how comfortable it can be to have a connection to the burningman tribe around the world. After Dublin, I got involved with the pre-burningman "SupaCompression" party in May and helped build Release One of Camp Virgin Luxury, known as "The Luxury Lounge". The resident community welcomed me and the idea and gave me tons of support in building the lounge for the party. That alone was a great gift. I was so excited to see the success of both the event and the lounge, watching how both a great party and a comfortable space can bring people together and create an environment for establishing connections. As a result of the party, I met a ton of other Euroburners, re-discovered the inviting and accepting nature of the community, was re-inspired by the creative and courageous nature of people in the community, and most importantly, established a connection with Hal, an amazing new friend.

Hal and I reunited at a bbq of mine about a month later. And then again a few weeks after that. Much like the difficulty of explaining the experience one has a Burningman, I expect to struggle to capture the level of connection and understanding I felt with Hal, as well as the speed by which it occurred. The best example I can give is that during that 2nd BBQ I remember Hal and I both telling people, in shocking disbelief and excitement, that "this is actually only the 3rd time we've ever hung out together." I'm not sure who was more surprised, them, or us. I felt like I had known Hal for years. I felt like we understood each other instantly, and you could almost see the inspiration passing from one of us to the other as we fed from each other's ideas and energy, growing both individually and as friends.

Hal and I talked about Burningman a ton, and, this year, I set aside over a month to "get ready" for Burningman. Most of the time was spent mentally designing the Burningman experience I wanted and then going after the things I needed to make it happen. I can probably break this down into 3 areas. The first is actually the discussion and evolution of my ideas. I began opening up to people about my ideas for this year in an effort to ensure that they evolved into exactly what I wanted. It was like publishing the first draft of a paper to a number of respected reviewers to ensure that the final draft actually represents the best possible output. The second area was costume shopping. For 4 straight weekends, I scoured the markets in Camden town, Spittalfields and Brick lane for just the right get-up. The alien suit, the masquerade, dr. danger (hospitality first, adventure second, safety third), lucky the leprechaun, my ultimate frisbee uniform and my mardi gras get-up. One of the best moments (captured in the photos) was walking into a vintage store, putting on a pair of orange sunglasses, finding the matching faux-fur leopard print coat and dancing around the store for 15 minutes. Needless to say, I kept both the jacket and glasses. The costuming was great and led to the third part of my preparation....getting into character. The more I started nailing down my costumes, the more i was dying to wear them and before you knew it, I was prancing around London in rediculous clothes and acting like a clown. It was great! And once in costume, there is really no holding back. You are no longer yourself, but rather a antic generating clown with no fear of expression. And THAT my friends, is one of the true gifts of Burningman. It removes your fear of being different, being silly, crazy, and, really, of being yourself. And isn't that something we all really want? Freedom to just be yourself. It feels good just saying it.

So the outfits were there. My idea for contributing back had evolved from a luxury lounge for a large camp, to simply a recharging station for my fellow camp mates and any visitors. And my character was on the edge of exploding from the confines of real world. It was time to get on the plane. So I did, in character, and in costume.

Thanks go out in this entry to a few fantastic people. First to my brother and his wife. Interestingly enough, your courage to be yourselves and resist the pressure from me to go (this year) actually did me a favor and taught me an important lesson. To Jess, for being a welcoming soul, tracking me down in London, and opening me up to the Euroburner community. To Santi and Rowena. Your support of the Luxory Lounge at SupaCompression was simple but powerful in making me feel at home in London and welcome with the crew. And to Hal...my friend...my thanks to you deserves an entry on it's own. Don't be afraid.

Barcelona 2006

click here to see more photos

At the end of July, I returned to Barcelona for the 3rd time in my life. For me, Barcelona is up there as one of the best cities in the world. It's young, beautiful and unique. There is the beach, the mountains, the architecture and a great culture of people.

On this trip, two of my close friends from SF, Halton and Angela, joined me for a deep dive into Spanish culture. We were welcomed and hosted by Berta and her boyfriend Josep, who I had met earlier in the year in London. Having 2 local people around to show us the city was an amazing gift. In previous visits, I had spent most of my time around the tourist areas of Las Ramblas and Porto Olimpico doing, well, touristy things. For me, though, travel is about integrating with the people, not about site seeing.

Berta and Josep welcomed us into their group of friends, talked to us about life in Barcelona, explained the subtleties of the Catalan people with respect to the rest of Spain, and took us out to bars and clubs where the locals spent their time. Without question, there is no better way to see a city than through the eyes of a local.

In three days, I was reminded of how much closer I have become with Angela in the past year, despite being 8 times zones apart, and I realized that Halton was more than just another one of the guys to hit the town with. In spending 48 straight hours together, I that he was an amazing person to be around and talk with, in addition to his fun, out-going, good-natured, independent self.

I have many people to thank for making this trip what it was. First is my friend Julie London, who was so welcoming to us back in London when we me at Electric and made sure that I got in touch with Berta when I went to Barcelona. Next, of course, is Berta and Josep, whose hospitality was amazing and made all the difference in the world. And last, Halton and Angela, for being great friends and travel partners, for being flexible, for being fun and for including me in your lives. I am blessed to be connected to all of you and I hope that connection lasts for ever.

Been a long time tin dem days

click here to see more photos
I often feel like the times I write the least are probably the times when things are going the best. It's an odd phenomenon, but it seems to have happened both in my journal entries and my blogging. Back in March, I was convinced that I wouldn't last more than another year in London. It was Christmas 2006 at the earliest and April 2007 at the latest. You'll probably notice that my entries since then have been few and far between.

To say the least, things have changed quite a bit. London is a whole new world in the summer. The difference in weather, activity, energy, and people's attitudes is so drastic, that I can't possibly explain it. Trust me when I tell you that it's massive.

Since March, I've continued my travel adventures (Prague, Sweeden, San Francisco, North Carolina and Barcelona), moved into a new flat with a buddy from work (Ryan), made some new friends and gotten closer to old friends. On top of that, almost all of my best friends have come to visit (Stacy and Gian...ahem), two of them are living here temporarily and all of this is making me feel at home here in London. I still miss San Francisco, but I don't feel as desperate for it as I did before. Overall, I feel much better about my decision to move over here in the first place. The pictures linked here are a bit of a compilation of some of the good times I've had since I got back from Miami in March. The one above is of JJ and I making love to the camera.

Returning to my old style, I have to send out a big thank you to my friend Marc who has always been an inspiration to me. I may have mentioned this before, but it was a one drink conversation with Marc at my apartment back in April 2005 when I was on the edge of deciding to leave/stay in San Francisco that helped me lean this way. I went through some hard times to get here, and I do have some regrets. But I prefer to look to what could be, and right now, things are looking great. Thanks a ton, Marc.

Speedie's Wedding

click here to see more photos

In July of this year (2006), I made my 2nd summer trip back to the states. This time for my college roommate's wedding in the outer banks of North Carolina. The wedding and the company were amazing. Everytime I reunite with my college roommates, I am reminded of what fun, inspiring, quality people they are. They really taught me some great lessons in my time at Harvard, and they made me feel very comfortable in expressing sides of myself that I had often hidden. They let me know that you didn't have to be dumb to be cool and that exploring my curiousities (no matter what they were) was perfectly acceptable. They also gave me unending support when times were hard (which they often were). Sam, Speedie, Mike...Thanks a million. I am very grateful to have you all in my life.

305 West City One - Housewarming

click here to see more photos
As it turns out, Jambalaya, Tequila and 5 Mexicans makes for a rediculous party. We had our official housewarming party back in July and it was up there with New Years Nookie 2002. One person even quoted it as "the best party ever". As a theme, we decided to celebrate everyone's birthday in a 24 hour period. One drink per hour starting at noon on saturday and ending at noon on sunday. Safe to say, by 8 pm, I was wasted.

I made some new friends, bonded with old ones, danced, ate, flirted, and did one of my favorite activities of all time..."watching people enjoy themselves because of something to which I contributed." It felt great. Sadly, the zebra rug paid a tough price at this party and that was a lesson learned. "Don't let the zebra loose when throwing a house party."

Big thanks to my roommate, Ryan, on this one. We had a random connection one day back in November, and here we are, now, living the good life in London. Ryan, thanks for your openness and flexibility, for being a good ear for me when I bitch about work and for having the courage to expand your world outside your start group.

Wimbledon 2006

Just a few shots from my first trip to Wimbledon.

Stockholm - Summer Solstice

click here to see more photos


Sweden, an in particular, Stockholm, has a certain international attraction to it. Most people call it 6 foot tall stunning blonde women. Marc, Tucker, Kyle, Ryan and I decided that we should go see if it was for real. So we picked the biggest holiday weekend of the year in Stockholm, the midsummer's eve festival and booked our tickets to Stockholm. What we didn't realize is that our flight arrived at an airport 80 miles out of town and that everyone in Stockholm leaves the city and goes to the islands for the midsummer's eve parties. Lesson learned.

Needless to say, most 5 guy groups in an empty city would be facing a bit of a daunting task in their search for the beauty that existed in Sweden. This group had no problems. In all fairness, we probably went to some of the more mainstream venues. We ate well, watched some great World Cup Soccer, and made full use of the rip-cord if the venue didn't suit our purposes.

The midsummer festival really was out in the islands, but we had our own festival. If you ever go to Sweden, don't miss the Cafe Opera. It's one of the best clubs I've been to in the world.

This weekend was important for me because it was a coming together of 2 worlds. 2 of my best friends from SF met up with 2 of my best friends from London and, despite the quiteness of the city, we blew it out. I've always said my friends are my family and it was great to get the family together again.

click here to see more photos

Goyo Goes to London

click here for more photos

Greg's visit to London was truly a turning point in my life here. His energy reminded me that London, as a city, has a ton to offer. And his support, as a friend, reminded me that I also had a lot to offer the city. While he was here, I motivated to go out almost every night (i did take _one_ night off) and saw parts of London I forgot even existed.

It just so happened that I moved into my new apartment that weekend and I re-discovered how important it was for me to have the ability to have people over and show them a good time. Not that I didn't already know that, but actually having people over that weekend really hit home for me. Since then, I can't think of a week when Ryan and I don't have guests over at least once for dinner or drinks.

Greg, for taking spending your only holiday during residency with me in London, for talking me through the insanity that is my inner pscyhe, for inspiring me to be a better person and for allowing me to take advantage of my decision to explore another country, you have my thanks. You are welcome here anytime, and, next time, I hope she doesn't bite.

First Time in Eastern Europe (Prague)

click here to see more photos

Prague was an interesting trip and time for me. It was a necessary escape from London, and an important intoduction to Eastern Europe. I thought that the city itself was beautiful. It had the landscape of San Francisco (hills, water, etc...) and the architecture/history of Paris (churches, bridges, castles, etc...). To me, that's an amazing combination. You'll see alot of that in these pictures.

What you won't see in the pictures are any Czech people. Probably the thing I noticed most about visiting Prague (after traveling around the US, South America and Spain) is the difficulty I had engaging with locals. I expect it was a language issues, and maybe I was too timid about the languague barrier. But if I am timid about that, then I expect others would be as well. This has a huge impact on the travel experience because, while Marc and Sandy are two of my best friends over here, the adventure and exploration aspects of the trip never quite materialized for me because those usually involve getting integrated into the culture through experiences with locals. I think that was a critical discovery for me, and I expect I won't visit Eastern Europe too often without more local contacts or a trip that is more concentrated on the people I'm traveling with (i.e. a romantic getaway).

Big thanks to Marc and Sandy for getting out of town with me when I desperately needed it. You guys have been great friends to me in London, and I can't thank you enough.

click here for more photos

Winter Music Conference 2006 - Miami

click here to see more photos

After St. Patrick's day, I decided that I hadn't done enough partying with my friends in March, so I went to Miami for the biggest electronic music festival of the year. I met two great friends, abused the services of the Miami Airport Hilton and partied for 3 straight days. The festival itself was awesome. Great music, great dancing and great people. Even better than all of that, though, was spending 3 quality days with 2 of the best people in the world. After 6 months in a foreign land with relatively new friends, being with Angela and Menkin literally felt like being at home with family where I could relax and be myself. Angela, Menkin, you guys rock. Let's get together again soon!

St. Patty's Day - By Air

click here to see more photos


My buddy Marc is an accomplished pilot (just ask the Irish Aviation Authority). So I thought, "let's fly to Ireland!" Then I thought, "Let's fly to Ireland for St. Pattick's Day!" So we did.

Here are a few videos from the plane
Cruisin above the clouds
Marc, no Blackberry on the plan
And we're home...

St. Patty's Day - By Land

click here to see more photos

Once we got there, we did what most Irish people do on St. Patrick's Day. I think the pictures tell the best story.

Happy Hour, Family Friends, Ex-Pats, Paul Van Dyke, and South Africans - Love you all

Click here to see more photos
In my first trip to London, my first month in London and in my most recent weekend in London, i have found myself at a club pushing the limits of my dancing skills and stamina with somebody from south africa. Dancing skills must be a requirement to live in that country...either that or they put something in the water there.

This past weekend, I experimented with a new option for how to pass my time. Instead of the standard 2 nights of sleep, 8 hours or so each night, I opted for the one night of no sleep, one night of 16 hours of sleep approach. I guess you could say it's a bit extremist, but I have to admit that the fun I had on friday night and the rest I got on saturday night was some of the most fun and best rest I've had in a while. Hey, I'm 29, am I really looking for more "average" experiences? I don't think so. Then again, I'm not sure I've ever gone searching for an "average" anything. I think this approach has probably gotten me into trouble at times, but it's probably also prevented me from having an average life.

In truth, I've had a really good start to 2006. After new years, I turned it down a notch. I got some time to regroup. 2 months of that was enough, though, and I feel like I'm about to embark on some serious new adventures. St. Patrick's day is next weekend and then I'm going to the Winter Music Conference in Miami. April will bring a new apartment and a new roommate and many house parties (sorry future neighbors). It's a damn good feeling to feel like you have a grip on things and that you have the world at your feet. I am planning my assualt even as I write these words. Look out world.

As usual, I try to offer a bit of thanks to those who have been good to me in life. This time around, I want to put a shout out to my all of my London crew. One of the reasons Friday night was great was because I spent a few hours at happy hour after work with my work friends, a few hours after dinner with my cousin and her fun friends, went to a club with some of my ex-pat friends, and then closed the night out with a group of new friends from South Africa. To all of you, I am so glad you are here in London with me and that you make me feel welcome. Thanks a million!