what I’ve created –
what I’ve watched –
- Mickey 17 – Unexpected and absolutely fantastic, Bon Joon Ho will always be one of my favorite directors.
- The Last Samurai – An Incredible all time classic type. Appeals to the deep desire for adventure and awakens the masculine heart and reminds us of the real battle to fight for and with. Can’t wait to show my sons this film.
- Hostiles – Larger than life, heavy but beautifully captured. Wish there was a bit more from the native perspective or more dialogue with those characters. Feels like this will age into a classic. You either have the character for what it takes or you don’t. True authenticity and development. Big fan of Rosalind Pike’s transformation of inner strength. Loved the natural open skies and knowing they filmed on a real location.
- 28 Days Later – A pleasant encounter with the undead. Great plot and motive, excellent execution and journey. Not too gory, plenty of tension, I’ll probably make this my kids first intro to zombie movies
- 28 Years Later – Fantastic. Had zero expectation or standard but wow. Modern zombie films are incredible… or at least this one is. Characters– intricate, strong independent moral agency. Tone– tight up until the fire montage near the end. World– real and immersive to the point I forgot I was watching a movie, isn’t that the whole point? Sound design– seamless and enveloping, better than most films I’ve seen. Soundtrack– all time best, I saved about half immediately after watching. Costume/makeup/locations– perfect. Editor– to be praised. incredible timing. The “boots” montage early on was truly amazing and the first cue that I’d love it. Glitch cuts on kills really brought it to life but also made it feel less gory than it was which I appreciated. Not for the whole fam but I loved this.
- Grand Piano – Great rewatch, would rate this as one of my all time favorite thrillers
what I’ve listened to –
- #Lie2Me – Pigpen
- I’ll find the dark – Varials
- .futureofwar – Dead Poet Society
- Murder Your Memory – Title Fight
- I Just – Kdfromthepack
travel hack –
A “red-eye” flight that requires a 3am wakeup is better than a flight that ends at 3am.
Airlines rarely flag your “personal item” if you put shoes on the outside and it saves lots of space within your pack.
what I ate –
Shaved steak strips from trader joes make one of the best tasting fastest meals. A new “must buy” every trip.
Tijuano Tacos – A nice taqueria in Tijuana that had some bomb barria.
Lighthouse Coffee – A chain in Santa Barbara that provides good coffee, wifi, and food. Worked there twice this month and enjoyed it both times.
Mrs. W’s granola – A homemade delicacy I didn’t know I needed.
quote I liked –
“The worst that can happen is not crashing and burning but accepting terminal bordem as a tolerable status quo. Boredom is the enemy not some abstract thing. – Tim Ferris
“Man does not fight for what’s ahead but for the love of what’s behind him” – G. K. Chesterton
Success is being excited to go to work and being excited to come home.” – Will Ahmed
“Many of the moments when you think, ‘I wish I had handled that better,’ or ‘I should have seen that more clearly,’ aren’t really about poor judgment. Often, the root cause is either rushing through the task or skipping basic self-care. Get an extra hour of sleep. Stop trying to do so many things at once. Go for a walk or get a little exercise. Take a breath and actually think for a minute. You can do a few things well. You can’t do everything well if you keep scattering your attention across seven different priorities, you’ll keep making mistakes that your rested and thoughtful mind would never make.” – James Clear
“Running one mile has more in common with running a marathon than sitting at home. Investing $100 has more in common with being a millionaire than being broke. Writing one sentence has more in common with writing a book than never writing one. It always feels small in the beginning and the big goals seem far away. It’s easy to talk yourself out of the early attempts because they feel kind of meaningless. But every race starts with one step. Every fortune starts with a small deposit. Every book begins as one sentence. The real question is not “What is my current position?” but rather, “What is my current trajectory?” Doing nothing builds nothing. Put yourself on the path to something better. Start small, but make sure you start.” – Kayla Henry
“With the decline of the inward reality of the Christian faith, an increasing tendency to stress the only thing left, the outward form, developed. And whenever there is a form devoid of spiritual power, law will take over because law always carries with it a sense of security and manipulative power.” (On fasting in the modern western church) – Richard Foster
It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly… who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat” – Teddy Roosevelt
“Art goes beyond language, beyond lives. It’s a universal way to send messages between each other and through time” – Rick Ruben
“If we can tune in to the idea of making things and sharing them without being attached to the outcome, the work is more likely to arrive in its truest form.” – Rick Ruben
“As human beings, we come and go quickly, and we get to make works that stand as monuments to our time here. Enduring affirmations of existence. Michelangelo’s David, the first cave paintings, a child’s finger-paint landscapes– they all echo the same human cry, like graffiti scrawled in a bathroom stall: I was here” – Rick Ruben
what I’ve learned –
- If I’ve become too caught up in my work, career, or whatever and I’m too “busy” to take a few days off to go spend time serving I’ve lost the point. I believe it’s important to set up life to be flexible enough to take some time off and spend a week in Mexico hanging out with orphans or serving the community in whatever need. May I always be reminded to re-focus and see what is true. It’s all a gift. I’m lucky to have been born in the environment I’m in. I’m lucky to have the opportunity to grow and transform into something new. I’m lucky to breathe clean air and drink clean water and live past 38 years old. I did not “earn” any of this. It’s all a gift from Him, I’ve been trusted to steward this life and everything in it.
- Drive slow, drop the windows, take the scenic route, eat something weird, do whatever it takes to break habits and molds and “norms”. Life is more than autopilot and repeats.
- Symphonies are one of the most restorative and peaceful environments, it’s always worth going.
- Always host the party, you never know which will be your last and it’s worth doing while you have the ability.
- Invest in quality time outside of a work environment with the leaders you’ve chosen to follow. Sharing a roadtrip, room, meal, and service, shows more of who someone is and gives a deeper insight to what they believe AND who they are that a brief encounter wouldn’t otherwise provide.
- Spending a day or two a month in a new environment, whether it’s just a day working at a new coffee shop or biking at sunset on a road you’ve never seen, is life-giving. Expand the horizons and life fully, taking advantage of what you have access to.
- Nothing changes if nothing changes. I realized if I did not change my actions I would likely enter 2026 as roughly the same person I am today. Sure I’d probably hit my marathon goal and have some good laughs on instagram but my screen time would be high, my sleep bad, I wouldn’t have read the books I’ve bought and want to read, I wouldn’t be in “healthy” shape, etc. I think we sometimes need a hard reset and there’s no reason to wait till Jan 1 to change your life. It’s a constant adjusting, fine-tuning, polishing, and re-balancing. In the midst of change controlling what you can begins to matter even more.
- When your work, home, or life feels tossed or messy, we must remember that our circumstances do not define us. While it may feel or even be true that the waves of life are crashing from every direction, it does not dictate the way we carry ourselves, what’s true about our identity, and how we respond. There is always space to change your perspective:
- I GET to walk across terminals at LAX looking for my bags or a bus to get my body loose and my steps in.
- I GET to walk around at the airport after flying across the country to see friends and family.
- I GET to move into a new home even though I wasn’t ready to move and wasn’t expecting to and I’ll still have what I need.
- I GET to pay the mechanic to repair my car that I love and get to take with me on adventures.
- I GET to do hard things and prove to myself I can.
- I GET to do scary things and test my courage.
- I GET to be sad about something I was hoping for.
- I GET to be thankful for things I wasn’t expecting.
- It’s all His provision and a privilege for me.
what I wouldn’t try again –
Running over 6mi without a goo. Did 9mi along the Santa Monica boardwalk and deeply regretted not having any goo. I feel best running with goos every 3-4mi or 30-40min.
I know not to drink water from the dumps in Tijuana but I should’ve been more careful. I now know I can’t even brush my teeth with that water. The devil couldn’t get me so he got my stomach instead.
how life is beautiful –
Listening to real stringed instruments tune together and play Beethoven’s best was surreal. One of the most peaceful moments of the year.
Exploring a museum with someone you love will always be one of the most fun experiences for me, it was beautiful to re-visit the museum of natural science I grew up in as an adult.
Filming with special needs children will always be a highlight of my life. It reminds me of some of the “why” I do what I do.
Spending a week in Tijuana serving orphans, families in the dump, and sex workers who are trapped was incredibly eye opening. the last night we got to send a small team out in the red-light district (30k sex workers in about a four block radius) to bring coffee to the sex workers and to connect with them in hopes of bringing new life. Most stayed back to worship and pray while a few went out. During worship I realized we were literally charging one of the darkest depths of hell with nothing but a bucket of ice water. It was about 30 of us vs 30 thousand. We were in the pit of the lions den and our war cry is YOUR NAME IS THE HIGHEST. YOUR NAME IS THE GREATEST. The workers are few, the harvest is ready, and we are the smallest army charging hell.
