Bluey Crew

‘Ello from a couple of Blueys and a Mama Kangaroo! Or maybe I’m Bluey’s dad… that works too. He’s my dadspiration. Either way, we kept it heaps Australian this year 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺

This wraps up one pretty loaded month! It began with a baby shower, ended with a virtual baby shower-birthday party-Halloween filled weekend, and also included @deanna.suzanna’s birthday, a @plantwpurpose gala, and my half marathon.

This weekend was such a bizarre blend of heavy and light, and also assembling nursery furniture, keeping tabs on a climate conference all the way in Scotland, and making a fish cracker cake.

While Rhys turned two, it also hit me that his childhood isn’t just an 18-year lump sum of Rhys, but constantly saying bye to a younger version and meeting a new older version and it’s always bittersweet. I also spent the day before at a friend’s memorial service, and though it should’ve been heavy, it was also overwhelmingly joyful- bringing together a community she cultivated.

What a high-contrast reminder to bask in the sunlight of each day and to look at the stars a little bit before bed, too.

From here on out, we have no further plans. We don’t even have the ability to make plans, other than to be ready for these twins the moment they decide it’s show time.

The ride moves fast, especially so some months, but it’s hard to do better than spending your days doing stuff that matters with people you love.

Rhys Turns Two

Rhys, I can’t believe I have a two year old now!

The Terrific Twos, I heard, yeah? Where they’re super compliant and only want to make your life as easy as possible? Cool, buddy, let’s do this!

I say over and over how much I love being your dad and it’s so true. Look at how much we’ve done and how much has changed between last year and now? You started school, we moved to a new place, you went on some big adventures to Washington and Arizona… I love how much you love the snow. I’m still getting used to you talking as much as you do these days. And now you’ve got this big brother gig coming up!

It’d be easy to lean into all the excitement ahead of us, cause there’s plenty, but I’ll have to admit, I’ll also really miss your one year old self too. Climbing things, doing your little foot shuffle thing when there’s too much to be excited about, making you laugh while getting you down to sleep. You brought so much joy to the past year, which wasn’t always the easiest.

I absolutely love being your dad. Happy birthday and I hope you like your fish cracker cake.

Supporting Clean Energy

Climate policy in the US has been such a roller coaster lately.

If you’re catching up, the Senate is trying to finalize an infrastructure and climate bill that includes things ranging from parental leave to the Child Tax Credit. The most significant item, in my opinion, is CEPP- which is the most promising policy proposed at significantly cutting US emissions at an appropriate pace to keep climate change under 1.5° C.

So much has aligned perfectly for this to be feasible. A House majority that might not last. The dramatic flip of two Georgia Senate seats. The persuasion of nine Representatives who were holding out.

Which is why its all the more frustrating that it seems like a Senator from West Virginia with strong coal ties might derail the whole thing.

I’m a believer that politicians are not the be-all-end-all of climate change, which might be why I’m a little more hopeful than many in the conversation. There’s a great article that The Atlantic ran last summer on how the US managed to exceed Obama’s climate goals even though none of his proposals succeeded.

But with that said… policy is still crucial. And it’s connected to how individuals conduct their lives.

There’s a narrative that the environment and economy are competing interests. But there is no economy without a liveable environment, which is why forward thinking businesses defy that narrative and push for climate action. When you put together all those that have issued statements in support it represents as much as 1/7th of the US economy.

It takes a lot of pressure to override industrial lobbying but it can happen. It just needs to be impossible to escape.

Duke City Half Marathon

ALBUQUERQUE—

This half marathon was a lot of firsts for me. First in my thirties, first in four years, first since becoming a dad, first at elevation, and so on. All in all, I was pretty happy with how everything went.

I planned to use mile 10 to kind of regroup so I could go all out for the last three, then I was suddenly hit by how much I was enjoying the run and wound up savoring then instead! It dawned on me that I might not be running much over the next several months, and tried to soak it all in. Not the best for my overall time, but great for the spirit.

So happy to have snuck in this little adventure during a really eventful season!

Back to Running

This weekend, I’m headed to Albuquerque to run my first race since 2018… here we go Duke City Half Marathon!

On one hand, it’s felt really good to get moving again. After Rhys was born, all my physical activities, sports, and exercise came to a total halt, and with the pandemic and baby-juggling, that went on for almost two more years.

At the same time, a lot of my training runs- especially in the middle- we’re a bit tough. I was surprised and disappointed with my own running pace and mile times. I know I’m a little bit older now, but I wasn’t expecting 30 to be such a cliff!

I’ve seen a lot of people share about body acceptance during this season and while my experience is a totally different context, I’ve had to be more intentional about reminding myself that it’s totally fine and to-be-expected if I’m just slower now.

Older is older, and I’m not starting each run with as much rest as I used to before kids. Plus I did a bulk of this training in the summer heat, and I used to avoid that at all costs.

End of the day, I’m just thankful to have some legs that can still carry me 13.1 miles, and just enough space in my life to keep that up. They’re the same legs that chase a two year old, and I’m happy to have them.

Late Second Trimester

When we were expecting Rhys, the third trimester was my favorite part. Some of the complicated stuff from earlier on in the pregnancy had subsided and we got a little chance to soak things up and enjoy the sorts of outings that would become much more difficult with a newborn.

We’re kind of at that stage again with the twins!

Here’s a string of some recent adventures.

1️⃣ At a recent San Diego Loyal game. Glad to have a playoff-bound team in town. Not pictured is the stadium paella I had… most extra stadium concession I’ve ever ordered.

2️⃣ At a friend’s wedding. Went from barely wearing pants for a year to actually suiting up three times in three weeks!

3️⃣ Family pool time.

4️⃣ & 5️⃣ Pumpkin patch outing of the year. One GOAT meeting another goat.

6️⃣ Deanna’s birthday last weekend. Going with the Oaxacan guayabera to be formal!

7️⃣ A shoot of a fig tree Deanna found in a city park. It probably wouldn’t grow much under the shade of its parent and in a municipal park. So let’s see what it does at home.

8️⃣ A visit from Daniel!

9️⃣ Cousin crew dance party at the new house.

Ojai Bookstore

An independent bookstore set up to be outdoors, full of rare finds, in a charming spot like Ojai seems like everything I could ask for in a place to explore.

Ojai’s charm largely comes from its perch between ranchlands and mountainscapes, but the town center makes me wish I could stay for many more meals.

Deanna Appreciation Post

Deanna appreciation post!

Things have been moving so fast lately but it’s been amazing to think about how special it is that we get to share our lives with each other and as a whole, fairly large, family. I always knew raising a family with you would be wonderful, but it’s still a treat to wake up to each day. You are giving our kids such a great look at what a beautiful life looks like.

It’s amazing how natural you are at bringing out the best in people. Rhys and the twins are lucky to have such a determined, dedicated, deliberate mama, and I’m lucky to be partners with you through it all.

Happy birthday! Let’s go have fun!

October 2021

#274 Rhys and the Money Tree

01 October 2021 // San Diego, California

And, it’s World Podcast Day! While I had to take a hiatus from my own show this year with all that’s been happening, it remains one of my favorite mediums. I think the format gives a chance to nuance messages and make things more personal that most other mediums don’t provide.

Even though folks often say the podcasting world is already oversaturated, I think there will always be room for more shows if they’re the right ones for the moment. To further drive that point home, here are some of my favorite shows that have launched since the past World Podcast Day, along with a few favorite episodes from shows I continue to keep up with:

• A Matter of Degrees

• Hood Politics

• Completely Arbortrary

• A Slight Change of Plans

• The Experiment

• Love Period

• Black Diamonds

#275 Twin Shower

02 October 2021 // San Diego, California

Injustice seeks to rob people, marginalized people in particular, of joy. This means that cultivating joy is an act of resistance in a world that has done everything it can to work against your joy. And I think uncovering the mystery of that joy will help us take apart that world, and rebuild one that’s just, regenerative, and fun.

When we better understand how to find joy in each other, we can detach our sense of people’s worth or our worth from the benchmark of productivity- a mindset that has led to many instances where humans are treated like property instead of people.

When we better embrace wonder, curiosity, and wholeness, making a difference no longer feels like a lofty, aspirational thing, but instead, a daily engagement we can wake up to every morning.

#276 Lakeside Sunrise

03 October 2021 // San Diego, California

I don’t know at what point we picked up a cultural narrative that assumes enjoying a good deed makes it a little less good, but I find it creeping up a lot of places. Perhaps it's a part of my country’s Puritan heritage, but I’ve always felt the sense that you were supposed to feel guilty for enjoying things deeply, especially while other people are suffering.

Maybe this is why folks assume that the work of advancing climate solutions, dismantling racism, or eliminating poverty are serious and somber spaces, but it's on these frontlines that I’ve experienced some of my most joyful moments.

The simple reality is that any joy you experience will happen simultaneously alongside the suffering of others. Our world is large enough that this will always be the case. And there may be times where you have to be cautious with how you communicate your joy out of respect for others’ experiences, but know that in the long run, joy is what sustains lasting and meaningful change.

#277 Lake Footbridge

04 October 2021 // San Diego, California

One of the biggest paradoxes about parenthood is how you influence EVERYTHING and yet have so little control over things when you really think about it.

Like… we deal with the impact of how we were raised for the rest of our lives. The kiddos soak up everything. You let one grown-up word slip at the wrong time and you might have to deal with hearing that on repeat for a long time to come. The stakes get higher when you see some of your own traits- including your vices- carried by your child.

That’s a lot to carry, but on the flip side? You drop a kid off for the first day of school and you realize how much stuff- in the grand scheme of their life- is gonna be out of your control. One long night with a feverish baby and you realize so much is out of your hands.

Weird combo, right? Responsible for so much, in control of so little?

My grandma used to wake up at 4am and start praying. For hours. Now that all makes sense. She had nine kids!

Kayla Craig has done the world a tremendous favor with Liturgies for Parents and her book To Light Their Way which is officially out today! This book is full of prayers for moms and dads- especially for those moments where you don’t have the words.

I’m gonna let you in on a secret, okay? I got misty eyes reading the freaking Table of Contents! How does that even happen?

Reading the list of moments big and small, personal and global, felt like taking a long look down the road of parenthood and seeing it in its wholeness. There are prayers for pregnancy and infertility, for the birth of a sibling, adoption, a new pet, and the first day of school. For when your kid is bullied or when your kid bullies someone. Stressful mornings and playtime. Gun violence and racism. Advent. Mother’s Day. The loss of a pet, learning to drive, and leaving home.

#278 To Light Their Way

05 October 2021 // San Diego, California

A healthy relationship with work is one where our work is an expression of who we are on the inside.

An unhealthy relationship with work is one where we look to our productivity to determine our sense of value and identity.

A healthy relationship with work is regenerative. It gives life to the worker. It is integrated with rest, relationship and other rhythms.

An unhealthy relationship with work is depleting. It asks for everything.

This is why I’ve gotten so much value out of the image of play. James Minchner once said that to somebody who has true mastery over their craft, it will often appear as if there is no distinction between work and play.

Because when you think about it, play is work. Whether you’re strategizing board game moves or running down a soccer pitch, you’re burning calories. You’re exerting effort. But you’re doing so in such a rewarding and satisfying way.

#279 Resevoir Skyline

06 October 2021 // San Diego, California

I know the kind we have in North America are bison, and not buffalo which belong to Africa/Asia. But can we just work out a deal to trade names at this point? Buffalo seems like a better fitting name for the fluffier ones.

#280 Coloring Sharks

07 October 2021 // San Diego, California
I’ve witnessed and I’ve been in several conversations lately on comedy and boundaries. If comedy is what it is because it breaks rules and expectations, at what point does it go too far? There is a limit, right? Or do we just take things too seriously?

These conversations weird me out, cause, isn’t the fastest way to deflate a joke trying to over-explain it? I definitely have a lot more to learn from these conversations than I have to add to them.

That said, a couple helpful things I’ve learned by listening to way too many comedians on podcasts is this: comedy is mostly just telling the truth with clever delivery. So do that, and don’t punch down.

There are plenty of ways to be hilariously irreverent and subversive with your humor by calling out the absurdity of the institutions and individuals with too much power. Or just the absurdity of life itself.

But punching down is where I think I’ve found the dotted, sometimes fuzzy line between subversive humor and plain bullying.

#281 Pie Corner

08 October 2021 // San Diego, California

I used to feel weird about making stuff that felt like fan art to me, thinking of it as a lesser form of creativity. But self-consciousness is actually a common enemy of creativity, and you should play to what excites you. So here’s a whole video on one of my favorite things about Friday: Ted Friggin’ Lasso.

I’ve heard so many people celebrate Ted Lasso for being a refreshingly feel-good show for some challenging times. And while that’s true- I think it resonates for deeper reasons than that.

I also riff a bit on why it’s been over ten years since the last widely successful comedy and why one of the biggest movie genres has suddenly gone missing in favor of cozy, gentle shows.

#282 Dee’s 32

09 October 2021 // San Diego, California

Things have been moving so fast lately but it’s been amazing to think about how special it is that we get to share our lives with each other and as a whole, fairly large, family. I always knew raising a family with you would be wonderful, but it’s still a treat to wake up to each day. You are giving our kids such a great look at what a beautiful life looks like.

It’s amazing how natural you are at bringing out the best in people. Rhys and the twins are lucky to have such a determined, dedicated, deliberate mama, and I’m lucky to be partners with you through it all.

Happy birthday! Let’s go have fun!

#283 Piecer Pumpkins

10 October 2021 // Valley Central, California

An independent bookstore set up to be outdoors, full of rare finds, in a charming spot like Ojai seems like everything I could ask for in a place to explore.

Ojai’s charm largely comes from its perch between ranchlands and mountainscapes, but the town center makes me wish I could stay for many more meals.

#284 Banyon Condo

11 October 2021 // San Diego, California

I haven’t used Facebook in ages. There are a gazillion reasons why, but the top few posts I see are by an old co-workers wife, some musician’s ad, a cousin, a distant aunt, a local news story, a Catholic news story, a sweater company, and a friend I haven’t spoken to in 3 years.

These are not my close friends, nor does this resemble a group that I think would make for an interesting group hangout. The app doesn’t really deliver on its original promise.

I’m not someone who thinks that social media is all evil. A lot of my coolest opportunities can be traced to the connections I’ve made over social media, especially Insta, which is still in the Facebook family.

It’s just a powerful technological tool that’s very new to the world.

I think of the story of how at one of the earliest moving pictures, the audience fled the theatre to escape the on screen train…

That’s probably an urban legend, but I love the image because we are barely past that stage of infancy when it comes to social media as a communication tool.

While I don’t think social media is inherently bad, I’m a lot less trusting of the social media companies. You can read up on a lot of the recent whistleblower stuff for a taste of it, but I’m not so surprised by the recent reveal.

When things become pay-for-play, the icky stuff starts happening. When the motivation for profit goes up, the quality of the platform and the safeguards against bad behavior go way down.

Our lives are so intertwined with social media now that detaching from it altogether is unfeasible for most people. And for most of us- probably anyone invested enough to make it thus far, we’ve determined that at a personal level, the pros outweigh the cons.

But there are still some things we can do to be less dependent on a corporation that hasn’t proven trustworthy.

For me, that main thing has been not concentrating all my activity on a single platform.

If you’re in the position where the ability to use social media is a necessity to share the things you create, find a method to adapt a piece of content across various platforms, one that lets you get more out of the work you do instead of creating more work for yourself.

If you’re not much of a maker, and prefer to use social media to share personal updates, and to lurk, learn, and get inspiration or entertainment, follow your friends and favorite creators across multiple platforms. Make your own behavior “evacuation friendly.”

While each of the major platforms are guilty of various problems, spreading out your activity makes it easier to detach yourself from one when it’s simply gone too far down the road of distasteful, like Facebook’s flagship site has gone for me.

I’ll admit, it’s not easy to have to build an audience in multiple places, and that makes it tough to hold a platform lightly. I still wonder what happened to some Tumblr peeps from 2009.

That said, when a platform does reach the end of its run, you won’t have to start from scratch if you’ve been cultivating others. My YouTube and TikTok crowds are small but I’m thankful there’s at enough people I catch there.

Of course, email is probably the best online way to become more independent of the social media giants, and it has been for sometime. Those e-newsletters are pretty valuable.

I honestly need to do a better job relaunching my email newsletter. But building one is the best way to keep a connection with your audience without being platform dependent. Signing up for a creator’s newsletter is a great way to be more independent from the social media giants.

Finally, Facebook’s momentary blackout was a good reminder of why it’s valuable to have an online presence that you own… basically your own website. Even if it’s not a fancy one.

My own site has often toggled in between being a blog and a portfolio. I don’t update it like I should, and it gets few visitors. However, it is a space where I can have a decent archive of all my work- from my artwork to my videos to my photo-a-day project.

Even if you just use social media to share your own personal pics and stay connected, don’t use Facebook as photo storage. If nothing else the quality of your pictures will get so badly compressed, but beyond that it’s way too much collateral for them to use to keep you invested.

Anyways, here’s to better social media hygiene. What practices have you changed as you’ve learned more about how the social media sausage gets made?

#285 Laptop

12 October 2021 // San Diego, California

I often use ‘climate communications’ to briefly describe what I do, but I like to use something like ‘eco-storyteller’ too when it makes sense.

Nature has a lot to say even outside of a crisis state, but we won’t get to really hear that without dealing with said crisis.

#286 GU Grip

13 October 2021 // San Diego, California

When we were expecting Rhys, the third trimester was my favorite part. Some of the complicated stuff from earlier on in the pregnancy had subsided and we got a little chance to soak things up and enjoy the sorts of outings that would become much more difficult with a newborn.

We’re kind of at that stage again with the twins!

#287 We Love The Cow

14 October 2021 // San Diego, California

Something pretty aesthetically pleasing about a few copies of identical book spines on a shelf. Too bad nobody’s shelf looks like that unless you’re selling the books or if you’re still into volumes of encyclopedias.

#288 First School Pics

15 October 2021 // San Diego, California

This weekend, I’m headed to Albuquerque to run my first race since 2018… here we go Duke City Half Marathon!

On one hand, it’s felt really good to get moving again. After Rhys was born, all my physical activities, sports, and exercise came to a total halt, and with the pandemic and baby-juggling, that went on for almost two more years.

At the same time, a lot of my training runs- especially in the middle- we’re a bit tough. I was surprised and disappointed with my own running pace and mile times. I know I’m a little bit older now, but I wasn’t expecting 30 to be such a cliff!

I’ve seen a lot of people share about body acceptance during this season and while my experience is a totally different context, I’ve had to be more intentional about reminding myself that it’s totally fine and to-be-expected if I’m just slower now.

Older is older, and I’m not starting each run with as much rest as I used to before kids. Plus I did a bulk of this training in the summer heat, and I used to avoid that at all costs.

End of the day, I’m just thankful to have some legs that can still carry me 13.1 miles, and just enough space in my life to keep that up. They’re the same legs that chase a two year old, and I’m happy to have them.

#289 Running in Albuquerque

16 October 2021 // Albuquerque, New Mexico

Picked a motel to stay at in Albuquerque for the marathon without giving it too much thought. 

Turns out the owner of this place is an Indian woman who runs 2-3 marathons a year and is about to turn 70.

Complementary running inspiration with my stay.

#290 Duke City Half Marathon

17 October 2021 // Albuquerque, New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE—

This half marathon was a lot of firsts for me. First in my thirties, first in four years, first since becoming a dad, first at elevation, and so on. All in all, I was pretty happy with how everything went.

I planned to use mile 10 to kind of regroup so I could go all out for the last three, then I was suddenly hit by how much I was enjoying the run and wound up savoring then instead! It dawned on me that I might not be running much over the next several months, and tried to soak it all in. Not the best for my overall time, but great for the spirit.

So happy to have snuck in this little adventure during a really eventful season!

#291 Albuquerque Sweet Roll

18 October 2021 // Albuquerque, New Mexico

The fact that we identify so strongly with our jobs is not a new observation. So often, one of the first things we ask somebody we’ve just met is what they do for a living. We frequently ask children what they’d like to be when they grow up. These things aren’t inherently wrong, but they do indicate that in our culture, work and career takes center stage. It’s easy to accept this as the norm. And whenever something is given that sort of role in culture, it becomes easy for our relationship with work to become really unhealthy.

You often hear about how travel is a great opportunity to learn about other cultures, but it can be just as good of an opportunity to learn about your own culture. As a student, I got to live for a period of time in Italy, as well as in Argentina. Both those countries have a very different relationship with work compared to the United States.

#292 One Last Look

19 October 2021 // San Diego, California

I drew this when we were waiting for Rhys to be born. Adventure was more than just the theme of our nursery. Really it’s an overarching theme of how our family faces the world.

I tried out a totally different drawing style and liked how it turned out. Every item making up the collage ties to some value or thought I wanted to pass on and it all comes together in a Northwestern campscape. We got it printed on a metallic wall hang and I’m super happy with how it came out.

I loved making this. Even though it’s been in his room his literal whole life, it made me super happy when he started pointing out stuff on there that he liked. Bear! Fish! Circle!

Now I just have a few weeks left to finish up two more.

#293 Shoutin’ in the fire

20 October 2021 // San Diego, California

Fatherhood made me consider more deeply what added value and meaning to my life. While it is definitely a privilege to be able to earn a living by doing something I enjoy, working a dream job often means you run the risk of making that job your sole identity. That can make the wins and losses one experiences at work feel like personal victories and failures. 

I noticed so often, the way I felt towards any given day was tied so strongly to how much I got done that day. A good day felt like one where a good number of things on my list were crossed off early, and a bad day might be one where it simply took a lot longer to get through one task than expected, throwing off the rest of my anticipated schedule. I wanted less of that. Especially as my kid was getting older. I wanted there to be more moments with him where it felt like time just stopped moving for a little bit, where we’d be lost in play and a state of flow.

#294 Bedroom Corner

21 October 2021 // San Diego, California

Danté Stewart has been ministering to me Tweet after Tweet for over a year, and all over again through his book and his life.

Here’s one of my favorite passages midway through reading Shoutin’ in the Fire:

“I do not want him to fall victim to the American way of dreaming, its way of believing itself to be innocent while it killed our people and turned their suffering into dreams of a colorblind America. I refuse to teach him that way of dreaming. I also refuse to teach him that dreams will save us. It neither saved us from failure nor saved us from all of the bullets and ballots and messages and policies and all the ways this country failed us. I refuse to teach him that dreams will never end in nightmares, that his palms won’t be sweaty, that night won’t seem like eternity, and that every wounded soul can be healed. I refuse to teach him to dream that way. But I will teach him how to love, and how to really love by redefining dreaming, and living, and believing in something that seems elusive.

#295 Patio Piecy

22 October 2021 // San Diego, California

Climate policy in the US has been such a roller coaster lately.

If you’re catching up, the Senate is trying to finalize an infrastructure and climate bill that includes things ranging from parental leave to the Child Tax Credit. The most significant item, in my opinion, is CEPP- which is the most promising policy proposed at significantly cutting US emissions at an appropriate pace to keep climate change under 1.5° C.

So much has aligned perfectly for this to be feasible. A House majority that might not last. The dramatic flip of two Georgia Senate seats. The persuasion of nine Representatives who were holding out.

Which is why its all the more frustrating that it seems like a Senator from West Virginia with strong coal ties might derail the whole thing.

I’m a believer that politicians are not the be-all-end-all of climate change, which might be why I’m a little more hopeful than many in the conversation. There’s a great article that The Atlantic ran last summer on how the US managed to exceed Obama’s climate goals even though none of his proposals succeeded.

But with that said… policy is still crucial. And it’s connected to how individuals conduct their lives.

There’s a narrative that the environment and economy are competing interests. But there is no economy without a liveable environment, which is why forward thinking businesses defy that narrative and push for climate action. When you put together all those that have issued statements in support it represents as much as 1/7th of the US economy.

It takes a lot of pressure to override industrial lobbying but it can happen. It just needs to be impossible to escape.

#296 Who’s That GUy?

23 October 2021 // San Diego, California

Fell asleep watching Dune and went on to have a dream where Deanna, Rhys and I were staying, perhaps living, on a high floor of an LA high rise when the building next to us seemed to be moving or swaying.

I looked outside to check and sure enough, we were in an earthquake. The visuals for this scene were incredible, like the whole building was like being on that Viking ship ride at a county fair. I remember telling Deanna to turn off the music so I could hear the building.

Despite the intense movement the whole thing is really quiet making me feel less worried, so I go down to the first floor for breakfast, but the host lady and I get mad at each other when she asks me for a signature and nothing is clear.

On my way back up, a lady is going into labor and can’t get to the hospital despite having 7-2-2 contraction. (Way to be specific, dream.)

How convenient! I thought. My wife is also very pregnant. Clearly we are now qualified and obligated to deliver the baby.

Of course she can’t get to the hospital because it’s LA and an earthquake so we really are her best bet.

In some parallel cutscene I’m trying to track down this guy I knew from middle school as an adult. Don’t know why but there’s some urgency to it.

I trace his whereabouts to the Dodger team store. Except I’m in like the clearance section because there’s a bunch of overstock items of guys no longer

I disguise myself in a really sweet long sleeve tee featuring Yu Darvish and Japanese writing/elements. What a great disguise! No one will know it’s me in an outdated Yu Darvish shirt from 2017!

I find the guy.

I realize a big part of what made this dream so thrilling were the visuals. You kinda had to be there, which is too bad, cause, you know.

I woke up, realized I was in denial about not being able to make it through Dune, then went to real bed.

Might delete later, but I rarely have dreams and for now the closest thing I have to a dream journal is apparently Twitter.

#297 Giraffe Bike

24 October 2021 // San Diego, California

Grew up in a weird time where people would use the phrase “holdin’ it down” way too often to mean doing well.

“You still holdin’ it down in LA?”

My brain faithfully entertains me with a mental image of this friend trying to manage a large, city-sized sheet of tarp.

#298 Post Station

25 October 2021 // San Diego, California

One simple thing I’ve been feeling a lot lately:

It’s time to write again.

I have to really fight for the time and space to write these days. But today I got a spontaneous feeling call from Milmer wanting to co-write a book. That feels exactly like the right sort of thing to pursue based on my creative energy lately.

It’s been a while since I’ve even brainstormed, but today, just writing out a long list of what I want people to know about climate was a great exercise.

#299 Midday Samosas

26 October 2021 // San Diego, California

The topic of how mega-popular comedy movies just vanished all of a sudden is one of those random things that always fascinates me. Partly cause it feels like it happened in plain sight without much attention, and for all the things it says about the 2010s.

One explanation is that we started taking ourselves too seriously under the weight of very real crises. The other explanation? Laughter was no longer profitable in a market that needed to go beyond one culture’s sense of humor.

#300 Smith Visits

27 October 2021 // San Diego, California

Last week we finalized the sale of our first house. It was a big move, a long process, and another big change on top of endless change this year. But ultimately this was the right decision and we’re really happy with how things unfolded for our family.

That said- it wasn’t easy! This is a hybrid explainer of our housing crisis and a video journal of how that intersected with our lives.

Happy to be in our new home now getting this place set up for newborns, and trying to take advantage of the views from our patio.

#301 Dune Bluey

28 October 2021 // San Diego, California

Good visuals help remind us that action matters and help shake off both fatalism and complacency.

Today’s New York Times front page featured a graph. Four curves showing climate change over the course of a century. One line showed the trajectory we were on at the start of the century- a rise of 4º C. The second line showed our current path, a rise of 3º C. Line three showed an optimistic projection for everyone’s current climate commitments, landing us at 2º C, which still is over 1.5º C- the level we need to stay under to prevent damage.

This visually shows us that the stuff we’ve already done has made a big difference. But that there’s still a lot more to be done and our work isn’t complete.

I wish a visual like this was shared this widely much earlier.

#302 Yellow Brick Trunk

29 October 2021 // San Diego, California

To tell the whole story of trees, we need to think about them relationally and dynamically. Trees are so much more than negative carbon points. They are members of connected and interrelated ecosystems, which often include farming and forest-dependent communities. Simply accounting for the quantity of trees planted and assigning a dollar value does the true art of reforestation an injustice.

There is beauty in the sophistication of selecting the right species, understanding how it will interact with the surrounding flora and fauna, and how it can contribute to an ecosystem’s water exchange, biodiversity, and food webs. There is a lot to celebrate when local communities take ownership of the trees in their land, understanding their value towards preventing erosion and enhancing soil health for crops.

#303 Fish Cracker Cake

30 October 2021 // San Diego, California

I’ve been saving this post for spooky season!

I’ve been an artist-in-residence with Inheritance Magazine - a platform focused on stories about faith and AAPI identity, and the first piece I got to contribute some art for was all about the Kaperosa- the white lady of Balete Drive.

Man, the Philippines has one of the richest lineups when it comes to scary, folkloric beings.

The Kaperosa looks similar to a lot of pale ghost ladies in Asian mythology (y’know, like the girl in The Ring) but she haunts a very specific location where she was attacked and killed in the 1950s. Balete Drive runs through a suburb of Manila where taxi drivers often report Kaperosa sightings as she searches for her killer.

Balete Drive is named for the canopy of balete trees that line its sidewalk. In English, those are known as strangler fig trees- trees that begin growing on the limbs of other trees, until their roots reach low enough to enter soil and then it starts to grow around the host tree. Deprived of light, that tree dies leaving a hollow center in the balete. For some reason I always thought it was an apt metaphor for the colonial mentality.

#304 Rhys Turns Two

31 October 2021 // San Diego, California

Rhys, I can’t believe I have a two year old now!

The Terrific Twos, I heard, yeah? Where they’re super compliant and only want to make your life as easy as possible? Cool, buddy, let’s do this!

I say over and over how much I love being your dad and it’s so true. Look at how much we’ve done and how much has changed between last year and now? You started school, we moved to a new place, you went on some big adventures to Washington and Arizona… I love how much you love the snow. I’m still getting used to you talking as much as you do these days. And now you’ve got this big brother gig coming up!

It’d be easy to lean into all the excitement ahead of us, cause there’s plenty, but I’ll have to admit, I’ll also really miss your one year old self too. Climbing things, doing your little foot shuffle thing when there’s too much to be excited about, making you laugh while getting you down to sleep. You brought so much joy to the past year, which wasn’t always the easiest.

I absolutely love being your dad. Happy birthday and I hope you like your fish cracker cake.

Ojaimoon

Ojai’s a pretty sweet place, isn’t it?

Last week, Deanna and I got to spend a few days at our friend Cheri’s ranch… probably the closest thing we’ll be able to get to a babymoon before the twins get here, and it was absolutely refreshing. It was great getting to catch up on years with a friend, to have Rhys run around gardens and chicken coops, and to take a long run by the Carpinteria Bluffs. Also got to hop into Downtown Ojai for a little bit. SO many great restaurants around, I wish I was there for more meals. Still loved the artist’s vibe and the fun outdoor bookstore.

Even though I live on the coast, I’m a mountain person at heart. (Though some of the best places give you a bit of both, don’t they?) The Santa Ynez mountains are a happy sight. They were the view from my dorm room freshman year. They’re in the background of a bunch of our wedding photos, and I’m still happy to swing by them in between major life changes.

It’s been a while since I lived on the Central Coast, and visiting sometimes feels like visiting a previous version of myself. But if that person could see where the road ahead leads, I’d say he’s got good reason to be excited.

Thanks Marlborough!

This week, Deanna and I sold the spot we’ve lived in the past two years. There was just no way that place was gonna fit us all once we become a family of five, it had already been a tight squeeze.

That said, this place was HOME.

There were always wild things going on the neighborhood and weird little curveballs the small space would send our way, but it was where everything happened.

It was the first place we bought together.

It was where we brought Rhys home from the hospital, and introduced him to Beignet two nights later.

It was where we stayed inside for months and months while the world outside seemed to unravel.

And it was where we found out about some twins we’re gonna meet soon.

Our adventures ahead are now meant for different spaces.

A little something from Jonny Sun’s Goodbye, Again:

“I suppose that all I hope for is for this home to remember me the way I remember it: imperfect, quiet, creaking, but always trying to be something better than it is on paper, in person, in memory.”

Tomatoes & Change

Being a dad means being absurdly proud of something as simple as eating a tomato, huh? But that’s how we are.

For real though, I love how Rhys managed to find the readiest, reddest tomato off the vine in our friend’s garden and to know right away to sink his teeth into it. I love how much this guy appreciates nature and feels at home in the open despite being quarantined half his life around Southern California’s urban sprawl.

We’ve thrown so many changes Rhys’ way in the past month. We moved from our old place to a new one. Switching from a crib to a toddler bed. Graduating from the Caterpillar Room to the Monkey Room. Adaptable. Adventurous. All traits we love to see.

The Milpas System

“This is an ancient system… it goes back to the Gran Tenochitlan Era!”

When I was in Mexico, a number of different people, inclusive lot of Zapotec farmers, introduced me to the milpa system.

The milpa way of farming takes maize, beans, squash, and amaranth and plants them in alternating patterns. The maize makes a nice living barrier against soil erosion and the diversity means a crop disease can’t easily spread.

So many locals noted that the system resembled a healthy community for humans, too, where everyone has a special role towards a common goal.

Once I heard a description of this system the term “regenerative farming” was the first thing to pop into my head. It’s an increasingly trendy term that contains multitudes of different farming techniques that keep carbon stored in soil- like crop diversification and living barriers.

But what seems like a trendy new innovation is often a return to a way of doing things before it was disrupted by industrialization.

This was a face-to-face reminder that some of the best practices in areas like public health, climate solutions, and fire management aren’t new ones at all and they have their roots in indigenous knowledge.

There’s a great documentary called Gather that really gets into this.

It’s not just a matter of making sure credit goes where it’s deserved, though that should be enough of a reason on its own. But, all over the world, indigenous communities often face opposition in being able to manage their ancestral lands, with environmental reasons often cited.

There’s more to the harmony between land and livelihood than the various technical practices that make up regenerative farming- readdressing our relationship to the land and culture are also a critical part of indigenous world views.

How to do Representation

What is representation exactly?

You hear so much about it, you know it’s a big deal, and you know I’m always gonna celebrate it where I find it, but it’s more than just showing up to see Shang Chi even though that movie slaps, right?

The stuff we see on screens is a big part of it. As a kid and teenager, I was involved in plays, theatre and all kinds of stuff like that for over a decade. I don’t think I once got cast as a lead with any romance. I brushed it off, while also wondering if skin and appearance had something to do with it- it rarely feels like blatant discrimination- but there’s always a lingering question about how much you’re held back by not looking like what someone envisioned for a certain role.

Spoiler alert, things worked out pretty well for me in the romantic realm, I’d say! But still, I’m often aware that I need to jump through more hoops to make up for not looking like what someone expected.

I’ve been asked if I know of any speakers who could share about the topics I specifically specialize in speaking about. It never occurred to the person that the reason why there aren’t many well known speakers of color in that space is because we’re often asked if we “know of anyone” instead of if we could just do the job.

That’s why I think anyone who has a piece of marginalized identity within them can contribute to representation. You don’t have to be Simu Liu. Just think of any area your life intersects with where a kid who shares that identity doesn’t get the chance to see themselves very often.

Is it in the role of an inspiring spokesperson? A teacher? A performer? An elder who listens to kids and takes them seriously? A consistent and mindful parent?

This whole thing is about breaking expectations so it can feel like switch hitting against what I’ve been told humility should look like: shrinking yourself. Instead it’s rising, taking space, and taking others with you. And that’s where I see how someone can know their strengths and seek to let them shine in a way that’s more than humble: because you’re leaving the doors behind you open for others.

Interviewing Don Carlos

You know what I love about the storytelling work I get to do? The human connections.

I think my interview with Don Carlos in Oaxaca was one of my strongest connections yet. Maybe it was a benefit of Spanish allowing us to talk with fewer barriers, or the simple fact that we seemed to share a sense of humor and a penchant for oscillating between joking and deeper talk.

Don Carlos’ story includes a three year stint in the US back when he didn’t think his farm could make it. (This our ability to joke around about Taco Bell)

Connections like these happen in a moment but stick in my memory forever.

World Suicide Prevention Day

CW: Suicide

It’s World Suicide Prevention Day, and as such, it’s late in the day. I meant to write this much earlier, but it was one of those kinds of days. One of the biggest benefits of being able to slow down more is that it helps you notice people. And when you really, deeply notice people, sometimes you might discover pain and hardship that they’ve gotten really good at hiding.

You hear about “checking in on your people” a lot, but that can seem like an intimidating or awkward thing to do. Here are a few of the things I’ve learned about helping someone in a crisis:

Don’t assume life circumstances need to match a person’s emotional experience

Remember that crisis isn’t a fixed state, and a goal can simply be to buy time until it subsides

Don’t act as if you’ve got all the answers, but do a act as though you might’ve been the only one to notice or reach out

There’s lots more to be said about building a culture that stops suicide, and I recommend checking in with @afspnational @twloha or @yellowchaircollective for solid resources.

I Voted (Again)

And… voted! Californians, don’t sit this one out.

The most pronounced political divide today isn’t the one everybody thinks of, between the usual sides. I think there’s a growing divide between people trying to make a point and those trying to make an impact.

Some laws are passed following years and years of public policy research, identifying the difference you want to make and the most proven methods of accomplishing that goal. Then there are the laws that go into effect and the candidates that go into office without any of that. They’re simply publicity stunts, meant to make a certain section of culture feel like they’re winning a war against their own.

That’s what you see when you see really belligerent behavior at school board meetings. Or when some of the candidate statements in my voters’ guides read more like Facebook rants than anything else.

The problem with belligerent behavior and large scale publicity stunts is that they’ll make you feel like we’re hopelessly divided, when in reality, we’re not quite as divided as you might think.

Take climate change, for instance. The number of Americans in full and complete denial is under 10%. But if you pay attention to the hottest debates, you’d think that it was more of a 50-50 split. That’s what happens when you give airtime to folks more interested in publicity than policy. Public health measures are similar. Things like masks in schools statistically have majority support, but are often derailed because of who actually shows up to school board meetings.

The point here? Show up. And keep showing up. Not just to the big November election every four years, but the midterms, the special elections, the city council meetings, and so on. And in non political ways too, of course, but our laws and environment are the two biggest ways to love our neighbors at scale. Use your voice and apply pressure even when your opinion doesn’t feel like a hot take. Because leaders need better feedback than hot takes.

Shang Chi

I went to go see Shang Chi last night, super pumped but also a little bit… nervous? I’d been looking forward to this moment since summer 2018 when Comic Con told me the guy behind Jung from Kim’s Convenience was about to enter the MCU.

The representation sweats are real. First stand-alone Asian super? Lead role, not the sidekick or anything? Yeah I wanted this to be goooood.

Thankfully it’s the real deal.

The choreography that goes into a classic martial arts film, bringing the elegance of dance, intensity of combat, and wizardry of film is its own art form. (Jet Li’s Fearless, anyone?) And this film is such a glorious bask in the craft for most of its runtime. But from a distinctly Asian American POV, not with an exoticized foreigner.

I was wondering what layered cultural issues they might pack into the plot and- that stuff is there. Becoming your whole self by embracing your past, the richness of your ancestry alongside generational traumas and toxic upbringings, but more important than me being able to connect the stuff on screen to academic level conversations about Asian American relations was what the 10 year old a couple rows back was taking in.

Deanna once asked me what on screen characters I saw myself in growing up, and the answer was thin. Maybe the Fresh Prince both going from Philly to Cali?

But yeah, I’m thankful for a whole generation that’ll have much better answers than that.

September 2021

#244 Moving Box Palace

01 September 2021 // San Diego, California

I talk about climate for a living and it’s been such a relentless month when it comes to that. And I’ve been at a distance from those living through the hurricane in Louisiana and Mississippi, the wildfires in Turkey, the unbreathable air in the northern states, or the climate induced famine in Madagascar.

When the IPCC Report was released the other week, declaring a Code Red for humanity, it was sobering- but not all that surprising to those who’ve been working on climate solutions up close for a little while. Working in a solutions-oriented space can be frustrating sometimes, when it feels like people put up so much resistance to change, when it seems like it takes moving mountains to get people to simply enact readily available solutions.

But, climate anxiety and a belief and passion for climate solutions co-exist. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen someone truly engaged in solutions who doesn’t feel both pretty strongly. But when you choose to actually engage the solutions rather than giving into fatalism, you get to be around those people. You get to weather days with hurricanes and scientific reports together, and you also get to be wowed and inspired by their brilliance and grit.

I suppose all this is a long winded way of saying the real treasure is the friends you make along the way, but… y’know.

We’re all living through this crisis, and there’s no way I’d rather face it than leaning into solutions alongside other passionate and engaged people.

#245 Banyon Walks

02 September 2021 // San Diego, California

Why do we keep books?

Truth? Whenever I walk into somebody’s house, I size up their bookshelf and it often gives me clues about the stuff we’ll be able to connect on.

To be fair, I return the favor.

And I do think it’s kind of a fun collage of my very eclectic interests.

#246 Flatbread After Shang Chi

03 September 2021 // San Diego, California

I went to go see Shang Chi last night, super pumped but also a little bit… nervous? I’d been looking forward to this moment since summer 2018 when Comic Con told me the guy behind Jung from Kim’s Convenience was about to enter the MCU.

The representation sweats are real. First stand-alone Asian super? Lead role, not the sidekick or anything? Yeah I wanted this to be goooood.

Thankfully it’s the real deal.

The choreography that goes into a classic martial arts film, bringing the elegance of dance, intensity of combat, and wizardry of film is its own art form. (Jet Li’s Fearless, anyone?) And this film is such a glorious bask in the craft for most of its runtime. But from a distinctly Asian American POV, not with an exoticized foreigner.

I was wondering what layered cultural issues they might pack into the plot and- that stuff is there. Becoming your whole self by embracing your past, the richness of your ancestry alongside generational traumas and toxic upbringings, but more important than me being able to connect the stuff on screen to academic level conversations about Asian American relations was what the 10 year old a couple rows back was taking in.

Deanna once asked me what on screen characters I saw myself in growing up, and the answer was thin. Maybe the Fresh Prince both going from Philly to Cali?

But yeah, I’m thankful for a whole generation that’ll have much better answers than that.

#247 IKEA Gardens

04 September 2021 // San Diego, California

What is representation exactly?

You hear so much about it, you know it’s a big deal, and you know I’m always gonna celebrate it where I find it, but it’s more than just showing up to see Shang Chi even though that movie slaps, right?

The stuff we see on screens is a big part of it. As a kid and teenager, I was involved in plays, theatre and all kinds of stuff like that for over a decade. I don’t think I once got cast as a lead with any romance. I brushed it off, while also wondering if skin and appearance had something to do with it- it rarely feels like blatant discrimination- but there’s always a lingering question about how much you’re held back by not looking like what someone envisioned for a certain role.

Spoiler alert, things worked out pretty well for me in the romantic realm, I’d say! But still, I’m often aware that I need to jump through more hoops to make up for not looking like what someone expected.

I’ve been asked if I know of any speakers who could share about the topics I specifically specialize in speaking about. It never occurred to the person that the reason why there aren’t many well known speakers of color in that space is because we’re often asked if we “know of anyone” instead of if we could just do the job.

That’s why I think anyone who has a piece of marginalized identity within them can contribute to representation. You don’t have to be Simu Liu. Just think of any area your life intersects with where a kid who shares that identity doesn’t get the chance to see themselves very often.

Is it in the role of an inspiring spokesperson? A teacher? A performer? An elder who listens to kids and takes them seriously? A consistent and mindful parent?

This whole thing is about breaking expectations so it can feel like switch hitting against what I’ve been told humility should look like: shrinking yourself. Instead it’s rising, taking space, and taking others with you. And that’s where I see how someone can know their strengths and seek to let them shine in a way that’s more than humble: because you’re leaving the doors behind you open for others.

#248 Go Loyal

05 September 2021 // San Diego, California

I did not forsee Tony Leung’s appeal being one of the big outcomes of Shang Chi, but I’m all for it. I stand to benefit in the near future from building the foundation for appreciating middle aged Asian men today.

#249 Rose Lassi

06 September 2021 // San Diego, California

Our country’s longest running war is over. I didn’t think it was possible to say a sentence like that in such a deflated way, though.

So much of what I wish I could change is out of my control. The human sized tasks in front of me look more like filling out a form to sponsor refugees, packaging together a welcome kit, and continuing to promote the spirit of welcome.

I’ve carried around this picture of a sign saying “You’re Welcome at Our Table” on my phone for three years. I snapped this in Nashville. From the window of Woolworth’s on 5th.

That just so happens to be the site of numerous lunch counter protests in the 1960s. One where John Lewis was arrested. Technically the original establishment shut forever ago, but since then a new recreation of a restaurant emerged, paying homage to the history and serving great (and somewhat pricey) food.

A heart of welcome looks like a lot of things: a Oaxacan community preparing their biggest feast in over a year during my visit, a Karen refugee showing me his favorite restaurant during a grand tour of his refugee camp, or a conversation in Nashville where the bartender and I sat at the historic counter and joked about being the only Asians in sight.

It’s something I’ve encountered the world over, from Haiti to Tanzania to Morocco. I’ve always felt like I’ve always received much more of the welcome than I’ve given, and almost embarrassingly, I’ve received so much hospitality from many with far less privilege.

I’m still looking for a better word than ‘hospitality’ to describe this. That seems too stiff. It’s more like an enthusiastic celebration of your humanity and sacredness. And it’s taught me to outright reject any language that paints a picture of us-and-them, viewing anyone not familiar to us as a threat. Any rhetoric about why some group of people will take jobs or spots in schools meant for us based on a manufactured sense of scarcity just misses me.

Instead, I want to inhale and exhale the exact opposite vibe. One I’m still looking for a word for. Something beyond hospitality. You are welcome because you are.

#250 I Voted (Again)

07 September 2021 // San Diego, California

Couldn’t have asked for a better long weekend. Highlights included finally making it to a 

San Diego Loyal game and showing up for a 4-2 win over LA.

Also, this paella is the most extra stadium concession I’ve ever ordered and it was fantastic.

#251 City of Los Angeles

08 September 2021 // Los Angeles, California

It’s not much of a secret that one of my very favorite things to do in life is to experience cultures and traditions through the firsthand stories of of people who live it.

My time in Oaxaca was full of that.

I’m excited to share to share this peek behind the scenes of what a week of community visits, interviews, hospitality, and story collecting looks like. From edible corn fungus, to the seven types of mole, to the postage stamp museum.

So grateful for people like Alier, Esperanza, and Teborino for their welcoming spirit.

#252 We’re All Climate Hypocrites Now

09 September 2021 // San Diego, California

The past two months have been such a blitz of us between needing to find a place very quickly that could fit three kids then having to go actually do them move.

Thankfully we’re kind of settled in now. I remember the last stretch of Deanna’s pregnancy with Rhys pretty fondly.

It felt like it wasn’t until the final trimester that a bunch of the complications started to ease up and we could just enjoy ourselves. We swam in the ocean with leopard sharks, went on some nature walks, and enjoyed our final date nights without having to worry about finding a sitter.

#253 Walks with Piecer

10 September 2021 // San Diego, California

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day. Naturally, what I’m about to cover deals with that topic, so if you’re not in the space for that, I’ll see you on a different post.

For others, you can be a part of helping somebody stay alive, and here are a few things to keep in mind.

First of all, it’s so easy to make assumptions about a person’s mental health based on their outside circumstances. Like if life looks one way, they *should* be happy, if it looks another way they *should* be depressed.

Circumstances are only one side of the coin. A person’s brain chemistry and a whole bunch of other things also factor in. Suicide contemplation is not so black and white.

I’ve found it more helpful to remember that within every person contemplating suicide, there are parts within them that still wish to remain alive that feel like their drowning.

For a helping person in crisis, this means one of your biggest objectives is to bring those parts to the surface. One of the most important elements is TIME. Crisis is not a fixed state and research shows that the more time you can buy for a person in crisis, the better you increase their chance to survive.

Talk. Listen. Call for help. It can be intimidating to think of the right words versus what not to say, but the main thing is to listen and not minimize their feelings.

Don’t think you’ll be the one to fix everything, but do act as though you might be the only one to reach out.

#254 Evening Lake Trail

11 September 2021 // San Diego, California

For us, kids were always part of the dream. They were part of the struggle when we weren’t sure that dream would be possible. And they remain a part of our future.

I have nothing but respect for those who have made the opposite choice, and when it comes to carbon outputs, the math makes sense. For me, however, baked into my understanding of fatherhood is a refusal to give up the pursuit of an abundant planet, alongside a clearer picture of what it takes to get there.

An oft-quoted statistic is how 100 companies are responsible for around 70% of carbon emissions. While I don’t think that reality negates all personal responsibilities when it comes to climate stewardship, it reminds me that these companies’ CEOs and shareholders have already had an outsized impact on our world, and it gives me no desire to make my decision to have or not have kids one more thing they have influence over.

Besides, a true solution to our climate crisis will take more than individual efforts.

#255 Cousin Dance Party

12 September 2021 // San Diego, California

So this week, a new reality game show was announced… The Activist, where activists go head to head to compete over social media metrics, prize money, and celebrity endorsements.

This sounds like it’d be a Key & Peele skit, but it’s real life. It would be a joke if it didn’t have such negative implications for what activism means. Way to trivialize a term when 40+ environmental activists a year are killed in the Philippines and Colombia.

Unsurprisingly, this show is getting dragged across my newsfeed and deservedly so. But if it makes you mad, consider that sometimes this isn’t so different from the nonprofit landscape at large.

Funding opportunities often pit organizations head to head, incentivizing each one to show how they’re better than others and to hold on to proprietary knowledge. Some invest more in social media metrics than proper monitoring and evaluation. This show isn’t so different, it just has Usher.

Folks in philanthropy should be aware of this and should focus in on creating opportunities for building collaboration rather than competition. If something works for one org and could make the world better by sharing it with other orgs, make that desireable!

And we need to emphasize community over celebrity. We show up because we belong to each other, not because we’re superstars. Activist shouldn’t be this glam label. We need more people to do everyday, non-broadcast things like talk about racism with family or close bank accounts that support fossil fuels instead of thinking it’s becoming Gandhi or bust.

#256 Daniel Drops By

13 September 2021 // San Diego, California

Someone recently shared, “I think the problem started when we started calling everything content instead of what it is.”

Agreed! And I wonder if we wouldn’t have leaned so heavily into the term if activities like blogging or social media weren’t initially written off as juvenile extras, but emerging spaces to show up.

#257 Alpendüler

14 September 2021 // San Diego, California

And… voted! Californians, don’t sit this one out.

The most pronounced political divide today isn’t the one everybody thinks of, between the usual sides. I think there’s a growing divide between people trying to make a point and those trying to make an impact.

Some laws are passed following years and years of public policy research, identifying the difference you want to make and the most proven methods of accomplishing that goal. Then there are the laws that go into effect and the candidates that go into office without any of that. They’re simply publicity stunts, meant to make a certain section of culture feel like they’re winning a war against their own.

That’s what you see when you see really belligerent behavior at school board meetings. Or when some of the candidate statements in my voters’ guides read more like Facebook rants than anything else.

The problem with belligerent behavior and large scale publicity stunts is that they’ll make you feel like we’re hopelessly divided, when in reality, we’re not quite as divided as you might think.

Take climate change, for instance. The number of Americans in full and complete denial is under 10%. But if you pay attention to the hottest debates, you’d think that it was more of a 50-50 split. That’s what happens when you give airtime to folks more interested in publicity than policy. Public health measures are similar. Things like masks in schools statistically have majority support, but are often derailed because of who actually shows up to school board meetings.

The point here? Show up. And keep showing up. Not just to the big November election every four years, but the midterms, the special elections, the city council meetings, and so on. And in non political ways too, of course, but our laws and environment are the two biggest ways to love our neighbors at scale. Use your voice and apply pressure even when your opinion doesn’t feel like a hot take. Because leaders need better feedback than hot takes.

#258 Boy Boy in a Box

15 September 2021 // San Diego, California

Of course I’m super excited for the twins to be here. I’ve always wanted a big family, honestly. Growing up I always thought the best thing was just a full house with lots of life overflowing. I never thought I would get to that big family in such a tightly packed way, but I love it.

I’m not going to lie, there are absolutely things I’m nervous about. Yes- we’re going to have three under three. If these twins show up a couple weeks early, we’ll have three under two, and it’s tough because Rhys isn’t so much older, he still needs a lot of hands on attention.

To me, though, it’s not so much the day-to-day chaos that intimidates me. Like, I feel like my baseline already has a good amount of chaos. Of course there will be moments and that won’t be easy. The thing that puts me more on edge, is the thought of how hard it will be to do much else. The other week, we just went out to get ramen after church, and we were talking about like, how do we even do this with three? We probably can’t. We probably have to just stay home and when someone gets down to a nap, I’ll have a short window to run out and grab takeout.

Like, I absolutely enjoy this life at home. But also, I think it’s clear enough, the other half of me is very adventure hungry. Right? Like, I’d love to be camping on the Orange River trying to take photos of the desert stars over Namibia. These things aren’t just like, leisure for me, but they fill my bucket and bring me to life. In the long run, I of course would love to have more adventures to bring kids along to and to introduce them to parts of the world, but that’s a little way off.

I want to still look for ways to have the adventures that I’m still able to have, to keep that bucket replenished enough, because I do not want to find myself wishing for this season to be over. As chaotic as it is, this is probably the sweetest season of my life, and I’m here for this.

#259 New Climate Reading

16 September 2021 // San Diego, California

You know what I love about the storytelling work I get to do? The human connections.

I think my interview with Don Carlos in Oaxaca was one of my strongest connections yet. Maybe it was a benefit of Spanish allowing us to talk with fewer barriers, or the simple fact that we seemed to share a sense of humor and a penchant for oscillating between joking and deeper talk.

Don Carlos’ story includes a three year stint in the US back when he didn’t think his farm could make it. (This our ability to joke around about Taco Bell)

Connections like these happen in a moment but stick in my memory forever.

#260 Wall Hangings

17 September 2021 // San Diego, California

I started running again, mostly for the sake of getting back in shape since I’ve done nearly nothing since Rhys was born. So I ran a little bit every week and picked it up more and more, and now I’m close to where I’ve been to run a half marathon.

I didn’t think this would work out at such great timing, especially since I’m only a few weeks away from our due date. But it looks like there’s just enough time to finish training and run my third half.

So I’ve looked a few up. Albuquerque. Denver. Columbus. Detroit.

I think I’ll go with Albuquerque. Just close enough to home to make it feasible for me to run over there quickly for a weekend, race, and come back.

#261 The Ripest Tomato

18 September 2021 // Ojai, California

Being a dad means being absurdly proud of something as simple as eating a tomato, huh? But that’s how we are.

For real though, I love how Rhys managed to find the readiest, reddest tomato off the vine in our friend’s garden and to know right away to sink his teeth into it. I love how much this guy appreciates nature and feels at home in the open despite being quarantined half his life around Southern California’s urban sprawl.

We’ve thrown so many changes Rhys’ way in the past month. We moved from our old place to a new one. Switching from a crib to a toddler bed. Graduating from the Caterpillar Room to the Monkey Room. Adaptable. Adventurous. All traits we love to see.

#262 Bart’s Books

19 September 2021 // Ojai, California

Ojai’s a pretty sweet place, isn’t it?

Last week, Deanna and I got to spend a few days at our friend Cheri’s ranch… probably the closest thing we’ll be able to get to a babymoon before the twins get here, and it was absolutely refreshing. It was great getting to catch up on years with a friend, to have Rhys run around gardens and chicken coops, and to take a long run by the Carpinteria Bluffs. Also got to hop into Downtown Ojai for a little bit. SO many great restaurants around, I wish I was there for more meals. Still loved the artist’s vibe and the fun outdoor bookstore.

Even though I live on the coast, I’m a mountain person at heart. (Though some of the best places give you a bit of both, don’t they?) The Santa Ynez mountains are a happy sight. They were the view from my dorm room freshman year. They’re in the background of a bunch of our wedding photos, and I’m still happy to swing by them in between major life changes.

It’s been a while since I lived on the Central Coast, and visiting sometimes feels like visiting a previous version of myself. But if that person could see where the road ahead leads, I’d say he’s got good reason to be excited.

#263 Ojai Babymoon

20 September 2021 // Ojai, California

“This is an ancient system… it goes back to the Gran Tenochitlan Era!”

When I was in Mexico, a number of different people, inclusive lot of Zapotec farmers, introduced me to the milpa system.

The milpa way of farming takes maize, beans, squash, and amaranth and plants them in alternating patterns. The maize makes a nice living barrier against soil erosion and the diversity means a crop disease can’t easily spread.

So many locals noted that the system resembled a healthy community for humans, too, where everyone has a special role towards a common goal.

Once I heard a description of this system the term “regenerative farming” was the first thing to pop into my head. It’s an increasingly trendy term that contains multitudes of different farming techniques that keep carbon stored in soil- like crop diversification and living barriers.

But what seems like a trendy new innovation is often a return to a way of doing things before it was disrupted by industrialization.

This was a face-to-face reminder that some of the best practices in areas like public health, climate solutions, and fire management aren’t new ones at all and they have their roots in indigenous knowledge.

There’s a great documentary called Gather that really gets into this.

It’s not just a matter of making sure credit goes where it’s deserved, though that should be enough of a reason on its own. But, all over the world, indigenous communities often face opposition in being able to manage their ancestral lands, with environmental reasons often cited.

There’s more to the harmony between land and livelihood than the various technical practices that make up regenerative farming- readdressing our relationship to the land and culture are also a critical part of indigenous world views.

#264 Reads for Goodbyes

21 September 2021 // San Diego, California

My reading list over the past month seemed to revolve around the themes of grief, saying goodbye, and choosing life in spite of it all.

Each of these was a book I anticipated for quite a while; two by Asian American authors, another by an old favorite.

I don’t exactly know how to describe what makes @jonnysun’s writing so incredible, or how it manages to be both so funny and honest in its simplicity and melancholy, but it does all that (see his ranking of the last fifteen minutes before the end of the world) and anchoring this collection of thoughts around the theme of moving made it all the more relatable.

Reading @agedungs graphic memoir chronicling the loss of his partner felt so deeply personal, yet I loved the way his journey was interwoven against the life stories of surfing pioneers who found the hobby as a solace of joy during an imperialist moment.

The Midnight Library had been on my list since I heard it announced. In many ways it seemed like a spiritual successor to @mattzhaig’s How To Stop Time, which is an all time fave. I love any piece of art that makes you feel deeply grateful to be alive.

#265 Home Lounge

22 September 2021 // San Diego, California

When their leader is assassinated, we hashtag hope for Haiti. We talk about how sorry we feel for people, mistaking men and women for their misery.

When an earthquake strikes we laud their resilience. We praise their ability to weather another storm, in the process making us feel better about it without having to change a single thing.

When that hope for a better life and resilience through every storm leads to a treacherous journey across seas, we run out of things to say. Convenient things to say.

Easier not to recognize hope and resilience anymore than to realize when we’re the ones standing in the way of it.

Easier not to recognize a country’s independence for over 20 years as a successful rebellion of an enslaved population when that would force you to reckon with your own practice of slavery.

Easier to keep a country in debt for 122 years than to trade and engage as equals.

Easier not to know this history. To know nothing of their Gold Reserve, rice dumps, and Novum Energy. Easier to stir up a panic over border crossings than to understand the completely legal and agreed upon process of asylum.

Give up the easy and comfortable narratives we’ve taught ourselves about Haiti.

#266 Pellet Shooter

23 September 2021 // San Diego, California

A video has gone viral of a middle school kid explaining power dynamics in class.

Most responses were blown away with the kid’s age. I thought the most impressive part of his clip was his clarity.

This really is the level of clarity that people should be bringing to discuss major problems we’re facing. Making it plain is a winning move.

#267 Oviedo Wedding 1

24 September 2021 // Oceanside, California

All throughout my life, a lot of the momentum towards social changes has been built up when a large group of people strongly believe they’re starting to see things not everyone sees: the unfair ways people in power operate behind the curtain.

Think of all the ways last year people felt like they were seeing experiences with racism more clearly than they had in the past. Of all the times people believed that health experts were being deliberately misleading. I picked these two examples because…

This works in multiple directions, for good and bad. Distrust in something- whether that’s media, a thought leader, or a political party, moves in the direction of challenging that institution. Good and bad leaders take turns in power, but in either scenario you can expect this.

And it comes from a legit place. Every sphere of life- media, art, work, business, has its gatekeepers. Those who decide what’s important, what’ll be popular, who to listen to. And they’ll inevitably be imperfect.

When those imperfections start to affect people- like when they don’t see their experiences reflected in your portrayal of the world, trust gets eroded. People look for alternatives. And as flawed as these gatekeepers are, they at least make it harder for the worst of misinformation and inflammatory speech to spread.

Divergent thinking becomes a badge of honor. But simply having a different perspective than the most widely accepted one isn’t always a good thing. Over a century ago, it helped invent an airplane, but divergent thinking in modern aviation disregards physics and would probably kill a bunch of people…

Unless it invents an accessible form of renewable jet fuel and greatly decreases atmospheric greenhouse gas. Then it saves a bunch of lives. See how this works?

This is one of the reasons why I think inclusive storytelling is both so important and widely underestimated. Inclusive storytelling means people’s experiences are shown, seen, and considered, meaning fewer people will come to the rightful conclusion that mainstream information doesn’t apply to them.

Inclusive storytelling is the opposite of gatekeeping, always looking for who’s missing and what stories we ne

At its best, inclusive storytelling is the opposite of gatekeeping, letting other people in.

When you have more diverse views, the harder it is for there to be divergent views.

Inclusivity makes it possible for creative thinking to still emerge, while maintaining a safeguard against the worst forms of divergence.

#268 Oviedo Wedding 2

25 September 2021 // Escondido, California
This week, Deanna and I sold the spot we’ve lived in the past two years. There was just no way that place was gonna fit us all once we become a family of five, it had already been a tight squeeze.

That said, this place was HOME.

There were always wild things going on the neighborhood and weird little curveballs the small space would send our way, but it was where everything happened.

It was the first place we bought together.

It was where we brought Rhys home from the hospital, and introduced him to Beignet two nights later.

It was where we stayed inside for months and months while the world outside seemed to unravel.

And it was where we found out about some twins we’re gonna meet soon.

Our adventures ahead are now meant for different spaces.

A little something from Jonny Sun’s Goodbye, Again:

“I suppose that all I hope for is for this home to remember me the way I remember it: imperfect, quiet, creaking, but always trying to be something better than it is on paper, in person, in memory.”

#269 Been a Long One

26 September 2021 // San Diego, California

The simple reality is that any joy you experience will happen simultaneously alongside the suffering of others. Our world is large enough that this will always be the case. And there may be times where you have to be cautious with how you communicate your joy out of respect for others’ experiences, but know that in the long run, joy is what sustains lasting and meaningful change.

When we look at altruism with a zero-sum, binary lens, we create a world where people are less likely to engage in solutions. Who wants to be constantly in an environment where people seem to take things too seriously?

I think we would be much better served if our idea of activism, of change-making, and of healing the world wasn’t one of heroic self-sacrifice, but a communal vision of joy. We don’t get involved in the hard work of justice, solutions, and liberation to make heroes out of ourselves, but because this is simply what you do when you are part of a community and other members of the community suffer. You work to restore the joy of that community.

Being able to see and unearth the joy in our work makes all of this more accessible, and all of this more possible.

#270 Afternoon Miramar Run

27 September 2021 // San Diego, California

The land beneath us contains stories, and over the past two years while I’ve had to travel a lot less in search of stories, I’ve learned how the land close to home still often contains stories that have been buried or overlooked.

Dodger Stadium is the perfect example of this.

I’ve gone to a good number of games here. I’ve spent more time driving around Central L.A. than I wish to admit, but it was only this year when I learned about the three neighborhoods and the Latino families that were forcibly removed when Dodger Stadium was built.

Part of what sticks with me about this story are how so many elements of it are still in place. And whenever an Olympic year or a World Cup comes to a city, similar things still happen.

But hopefully knowing our past missteps will help us recognize our future ones before they happen.

#271 Noah’s Ark

28 September 2021 // San Diego, California

Indigenous scientist and writer Robin Wall Kimmerer diagnoses our sense of individualism as part of the problem. In her book, Braiding Sweetgrass, she describes our “deep, unnamed sadness stemming from estrangement from the rest of Creation, from the loss of relationship. As our human dominance of the world has grown, we have become more isolated, more lonely when we can no longer call out to our neighbors.”

The antidote must be a reawakened sense of community, nurture and togetherness. Kimmerer later suggests learning from how trees “act not as individuals, but somehow as a collective. Exactly how they do this, we don’t yet know. But what we see is the power of unity. What happens to one happens to us all. We can starve together or feast together.”

Parenthood is a great way, but not the only way, to develop these instincts. Of choosing togetherness rather than heroics. Of thinking long term about how our impact will outlast ourselves. Of forming sacred bonds with one another, and with the web of creation that connects all of us. In order to protect nature, we must relearn how to nurture.

#272 Complex

29 September 2021 // San Diego, California

I’ve finally started managing a small team, and even though I don’t have a lot of experience managing others, I suppose I do have plenty of experience with being managed, which helps shape some of what I realize makes for being a good manager.

Here are a few of the commitments I’m making to myself whenever I’m in the role:

+ Not normalizing overwork. Sometimes I do work at odd hours, mostly because having really young kids makes that shift necessary time to time. But I want to be mindful that even sending a weekend email may create that expectation without realizing it.

+ Making sure that whatever somebody’s working on at a given time is a combination of what they’re interested in with the necessary busy work. Making sure there’s room to play and explore your own interests is key to having more fun with the work you’re doing and ultimately producing more creative outcomes.

+ Doing regular check ins, not just to make sure people who work for me are on track with organizational goals, but also their own personal goals.

+ If somebody’s been working for me for over four years and hasn’t been elevated to higher responsibilities (or a role more fitted for them) in some way, then that’s on me.

#273 New Climate Reads

30 September 2021 // San Diego, California

Like, well, a TON of people, I’ve been enjoying Squid Game. Both the show and the fact that it seems to have taken just one week for the show to become a mega-phenomenon. I have a few thoughts.

First, this show reminds me so much of 3%- I mean, the premise isn’t so far off, and neither are the broader themes. But the level of intensity is kind of turned up thanks to Korean cinema.

I’ve learned a bit about how at several points the subtitles grossly simplify some translations that are supposed to carry either major plot points or character development information. I suppose I can’t rule that out anytime I watch a subtitled film, but what other options do I have with the languages I don’t speak.

Finally, it’s the second time in three years that a fairly dark story from Korea has made such a splash. With Parasite, there was at least more of a throughline between the show getting such good critical reviews and people starting to flock to see it. Squid Game made the jump that much faster.

It feels really good to have a story that keeps you glued.

You Are Welcome Here

Our country’s longest running war is over. I didn’t think it was possible to say a sentence like that in such a deflated way, though.

So much of what I wish I could change is out of my control. The human sized tasks in front of me look more like filling out a form to sponsor refugees, packaging together a welcome kit, and continuing to promote the spirit of welcome.

I’ve carried around this picture of a sign saying “You’re Welcome at Our Table” on my phone for three years. I snapped this in Nashville. From the window of Woolworth’s on 5th.

That just so happens to be the site of numerous lunch counter protests in the 1960s. One where John Lewis was arrested. Technically the original establishment shut forever ago, but since then a new recreation of a restaurant emerged, paying homage to the history and serving great (and somewhat pricey) food.

A heart of welcome looks like a lot of things: a Oaxacan community preparing their biggest feast in over a year during my visit, a Karen refugee showing me his favorite restaurant during a grand tour of his refugee camp, or a conversation in Nashville where the bartender and I sat at the historic counter and joked about being the only Asians in sight.

It’s something I’ve encountered the world over, from Haiti to Tanzania to Morocco. I’ve always felt like I’ve always received much more of the welcome than I’ve given, and almost embarrassingly, I’ve received so much hospitality from many with far less privilege.

I’m still looking for a better word than ‘hospitality’ to describe this. That seems too stiff. It’s more like an enthusiastic celebration of your humanity and sacredness. And it’s taught me to outright reject any language that paints a picture of us-and-them, viewing anyone not familiar to us as a threat. Any rhetoric about why some group of people will take jobs or spots in schools meant for us based on a manufactured sense of scarcity just misses me.

Instead, I want to inhale and exhale the exact opposite vibe. One I’m still looking for a word for. Something beyond hospitality. You are welcome because you are.