What I'm Up To - Vol. 55

Hope your 2022 is off to a great start. Omicron certainly kept us guessing. Like you, I could use a good stretch of normal. I’m running late this month and will eschew my usual format. This time just three items: highlights from January, what I’m reading, and what we’re watching.

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1. Highlights

We kicked off our year at Better Ranch with friends. My buddy, Dennis, dropped about $400 on fireworks. He asked for the biggest, baddest mortars they had. The salesman ducked into the back and came back with some plain brown boxes. No wasted effort on marketing. Just lots of gunpowder and pyrotechnical whizzbang. They didn’t disappoint. And the ranch was as gorgeous as ever.

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Wendy got me an Ooni Pizza Oven for Christmas. We picked up dough and fixings at Barley Bean and tried our hand at slinging pizzas. While I have work to do, I’ll label the experiments a success. Looking forward to pool-side pizza this summer.

Wendy and her partners hosted their first Empire Circle event for Her Best Life in the Florida Keys. About 50 high-powered leaders gathered for masterminding and fun. By all accounts, it was a huge success. Podcast + events + masterminds = a great business model when you nail the community aspect.

Wendy also did her annual retreat to Big Bend with some close friends. They ran the Big Bend Ultra 10K and Wendy placed second in her age group. Go Wendy!

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While Wendy was crisscrossing the country, I fell under the spell of Wordle.  If you haven’t heard, Wordle is a free word game created by programmer, Josh Wardle, as a gift to his puzzle-loving partner. The New York Times swooped in and bought it for seven figures but will keep it free. Personally, I think this is a brilliant move that will attract a lot of subscribers over time.  In 30 tries, I am undefeated but have yet to guess the word in two guesses. It’s a nice way to start your day. Give it a try.

At the end of the month, our publisher, Todd Sattersten, visited from Portland. We did a retreat at our ranch to plan for a book launch later this year. After working in “big publishing” in New York in the ’90s, partnering with a small publisher like Bard Press has been a revelation. Our Director of Publishing, April, and her wife, Val, joined us on the retreat. We talked books, grilled ribeyes, watched some football, collected emu eggs, and explored the ranch with our dog, Taco.

To round out January, Instagrammer, Elizabeth Sagan, created one of her artsy posts for The One Thing. I think it’s pretty awesome. Happy to have a new book friend in Romania now.

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After six weeks, it was time for my stepdad, Milt, to head home. Grandpa Milt spent most days reading in the doorway, enjoying the mild Austin winter. He relished hearing about arctic conditions in his hometown, Fargo, over the news. Taco would often sit by his wheelchair as he ripped through large-print novels. In the evenings he joined us for dinner, although he rarely eats regular food these days. Sometimes he’d nibble on a slice of pizza or pie and enjoy catching up on everyone’s day. We even got in a few games of Farkle. We’ll miss having you around, Milt!

I flew home to Memphis mid-month to help out with my parents. My mom had surgery (a success) and needed an extra set of hands. My dad started a new cancer treatment, liquid radiation. It seems to be helping and keeping the pain in check. He’s now using a walker, as a fall could be very dangerous. Cancer has progressed throughout his hips and lower spine. We now have round-the-clock caregivers, which is a real blessing for both mom and dad. If these past two years have taught us anything, it's that family is precious. Call your folks. Go see your loved ones. Hug them. Tell them you love them.

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2. What I'm Reading

Lots of reading time this month. For non-fiction, I read The Hero Code by Admiral William McRaven. McRaven lays out a series of affirmations that could well serve as a code of conduct for living. I didn’t find it as inspiring as his first book, Make Your Bed, but it is well worth checking out. I also read Don’t Call It That by Eli Altman as I’m working on a product launch for March (more on that in Vol. 56)  and wanted some marketing inspiration. It’s really a workbook, so it’s a quick browse.

January was a good month for fiction. First up was a solid psychological thriller, Rock Paper Scissors, by Alice Feeney. One of the main characters is a writer with prosopagnosia, the inability to recognize faces. This leads to some clever twists. Next up was Under the Harrow by Flynn Berry, another thriller about a woman trying to solve the mystery of her sister’s brutal murder. Finally, I picked up the 9th installment in Jo Nesbo’s Harry Hole detective series, The Phantom. Several years ago, I jumped into this series with book seven, The Snowman, and liked it enough to go back to the beginning and start fresh. The series has gotten progressively better since his debut effort and Nesbo’s growth as a novelist is evident. Complex plots and rich characters. It’s refreshing since many other series become formulaic and predictable. I expect I’ll read the last two novels this year and hope he keeps it up.

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3. What We're Watching

Netflix won the streaming wars for me this month. So, if you want to get the most out of your uncle’s account, watch these. The Alpinist is a great documentary on free climber Marc-André Leclerc. I watched with my mom and dad in Memphis and we all gave it a thumbs up. The Power of the Dog has a great script, acting, and cinematography. I can see why it’s short-listed for the Oscars but I didn’t love it. The Harder They Fall probably won’t get any nominations but it’s good fun. Idris Elba still hasn’t had a better role than his turn as Luther on the BBC series, but nails the villain in this Western. Finally, Gus got us to watch the animated series, Arcane. It’s based on the world of the uber-popular video game, League of Legends. Wendy and I both thought it was terrific. Sign us up for another season.

While Wendy was traveling, I watched a couple of movies that weren’t her cup of tea. Matrix Resurrections might have been fun in the theater but was mostly a rehash and not worth investing an evening. The Eternals was worse. First, you can’t cast two people from Game of Thrones in leading roles. It just doesn’t work. Second, I guess I’m not ready for a Marvel reboot.

We also watched the final episodes of the sixth and final season of The Expanse. Nailed the landing. Easily the best hard sci-fi series on TV. Hopefully, they will turn the remaining novels in the series into feature films.

Finally, if you’ve ever debated the “right” way to hang a roll of toilet paper, this link is for you. Time to settle every internet debate, ever.

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That's it for this month! Happy New Year! Please reply back and let me know what you’re up to!

In the meantime be well, do good deeds, and eat tacos!

‍Jay

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