Every time I show up to a zoom call: you’re still here!!!
I feel that way too. When I found out we were having twins, on top of a bunch of other variables, I expected an early arrival, clearing my calendar as far ahead as October. But here we are, looking like we’ll actually get all the way to our due date.
Maybe by posting this I’m jinxing that, but Deanna wouldn’t mind if that’s the case.
There are two people I love more than I’d ever imagined. One of them just showed up a little over two years ago, and now, that population is about to double.
I think of how Rhys is my guy, and how much I love seeing him do what he does and how willing I am to fight for him. Then I think about how there are going to be these two others that I love like that, but also in a way that’s very much unique to them.
If love is a guiding principle, then I guess one of the things worth noting is that it isn’t zero-sum. It’s abundant. There’s always room to expand without being stretched thin. It’s one of the best invisible things in life!
Kari Kari Pie
You know about kare kare? It’s one of my favorite Filipino comfort foods- a peanut butter oxtail stew.
One of my favorite restaurants in town did a special release of kare kare pot pie, but SADLY, they were all sold out by the time I got there.
Then I remembered, I’m a pretty decent pie maker!
Here’s my shot at Kari Kari pie.
This Chapter Ending
I love this guy so much and we’ve been getting so much personality lately. It feels like the moment we moved houses he went from having just a handful of favorite words to becoming a total chatterbox and storyteller.
We’re all excited for the twins to get here and for Rhys to be a big brother. I know he’ll be fantastic at it and at least three times a day he asks for the Daniel Tiger book about being a big bro. At the same time, I know a chapter is coming to a close. I love this dude AND I miss the littler guy I used to be able to tuck under my arm like a rugby ball.
Rhys’ baby stage came at a pretty chaotic time for the world, and at a time of so much personal growth and evolution for us. But the quiet moments of trying to stretch out a few more minutes of sleep cradling him on the couch, of watching Bluey and Tagalog baby songs together, of putting work on pause to romp around a park, of Washington and Arizona, or of long neighborhood walks meant everything.
November 2021
#305 Evening Ember
01 November 2021 // San Diego, California
‘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 Plant With Purpose 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.
#306 COP Commentary
02 November 2021 // San Diego, California
Being solution-focused is a necessity in our climate crisis, and we hope that solutions remain a priority for everyone involved—whether in Glasgow or in local communities around the world. At the same time, our core principle remains as important as ever: we need to see the people we work with as partners, not projects. We urge those in the position of high-level decision making to take this approach as well. When it comes to climate change, ecosystem restoration, or carbon offsetting, the communities most affected should be given a leading role in furthering solutions.
Abuses happen when we overlook the importance of seeing people as partners and instead treat them, and their land, as projects. We need to learn from the past and the fraught history of harm caused by the commoditization of people, their land, and its resources. We must avoid making these same mistakes again, even under the noble banner of healing our planet.
#307 Mar’s Persimmon
03 November 2021 // Vista, California
I’ve been working on climate related things for about five years now, and when it’s something you talk about everyday it’s easy not to notice some of the ways your thinking evolves over time and gains nuances.
One of those ever evolving nuances is how we talk about the connection between individual responsibility and the need for systemic change. Being a climate puritan might give you reasons to not feel so guilty, but it won’t do much to actually help the problem. On the other hand, completely ignoring your own individual efforts isn’t right either.
I could go on and on about this topic and I’m sure over time I will. But I figure it’ll be easier to share some of my booknotes, because Katharine Hayhoe and Sami Grover have written some good stuff that’s helped me process these ideas. And Michelle Nijhuis’ Beloved Beasts book was a great reminder that these conversations are often complex- and that can be seen in the history of conservation. I highly recommend all three books!
#308 Patio Set
04 November 2021 // San Diego, California
For a while my love for travel and concern for climate have always seemed a bit at odds, especially for the obvious reason that it takes gas to fly or drive places and there’s not really a way around it.
I’ve always noted that this wasn’t low hanging fruit for me. There are a lot of other climate friendly changes I could make in other areas, while offsetting my flights to at least mitigate some of the damage.
But today I saw an article about an electric plane in development, and that looked real exciting to me.
These interests aren’t actually in conflict as much as they seem. I love places. I want to see as many of them as I can, while protecting them for the people that live there. And I hope they’re able to coexist nicely still in the future.
#309 Treat Yo Self
05 November 2021 // San Diego, California
A few weeks ago, the night after running my half marathon, I found myself walking on a bridge across the Rio Grande on a perfectly temperate night in New Mexico just admiring the feeling of being somewhere less familiar, taking in the trees that grew alongside the river.
It brought back all the good feelings that come with being in a new setting and having all your senses turned on.
I love that feeling of new places. I love the freedom of exploring them. And I love getting to push myself to take on challenges like races, climbs, and travel checklists.
I love my regular life too, and while I think it’s a good thing to keep mixing stuff up, being a dad and doing work I love is nothing I feel I have to escape from. But side quests that fill my bucket helps me be the best version of myself throughout the main storyline. They’ve gotten harder to fit in the past couple years, and it’ll probably get even more challenging for a little while, but it’s always worth the effort.
#310 Pregnancy
06 November 2021 // San Diego, California
Eternals was such a fun movie experience… reminded me of how much I like history when told from a less Eurocentric POV.
What I liked:
+ Storytelling was a superpower
+ Scenes in Babylon, Tenochitlan, Amazonia
+ Lollywood/Bollywood Kumail
+ Gemma
Not so much:
+ A character dies kinda early on that I would’ve loved to see romp about the MCU for a long time to come
#311 Pregnant With Twins
07 November 2021 // La Jolla, California
A Prayer for COP26
God who made the earth with joy,
Remind us of the beauty of all you’ve made,
So we can steward it with care
So we can recognize what’s at stake through our stewardship,
So we can be drawn to you in awe and wonder.
Remind us that You have given us an abundance,
So we can stop living in scarcity,
So we can follow your model of generosity,
So we can cultivate every good thing you’ve given.
God who hears the cries of the vulnerable,
Be close to those who are suffering,
Having barely enough to eat,
Having to consider leaving a homeland,
Having to face the earliest consequences of our destructive habits.
Be close to those who are anxious,
Having to face the prospect of an uncertain future,
Having to bear the emotional toll of others’ carelessness
Having to abandon the comfort of a familiar world.
God of justice,
Restore order to a sweltering earth.
Bring about your upside-down way.
Bring our air, soil, and water to health.
Bring our systems out of greed and invasive growth.
Restore the relationships between neighbors and nations,
Bring those forgotten about into our sights,
Bring those high in power to humility,
Bring our hearts to a soft space to be made new.
God who gives us creativity and wisdom,
Stay alongside us as we respond to a crisis.
Call us out of the broken systems we’ve accepted as normal.
Call us out of the unjust consequences we’ve imagined to be inevitable.
Call us towards Your pattern where Love gives life.
Stay alongside us as we dream up a different path.
Call us to hear the moral clarity of our young ones,
Call us to hear the wisdom of our elders and those who’ve gone before.
Call us to do it all in Your Spirit of Love.
#312 Babies in the Circle
08 November 2021 // San Diego, California
If I can sum up what it’s been like to lean into the climate policy discussions happening at both a national and global level, it’s this: Lots of activity, not much action.
Yes, an infrastructure bill passed, but it’s climate provisions won’t do much without their counterparts in a reconciliation bill.
Yes, COP26 is happening, but the most ambitious commitments are structured in a way that largely echoes past goals that weren’t met at all.
But it’s not over.
Policy and governance alone don’t hold all of the keys to climate action, but they hold the keys that make it a whole lot more effective when each of us use ours. It’s easy to think that calls for climate action go unheard, and I get why it feels that way, but applying pressure works. Not perfectly, but I doubt some of the most effective pieces of climate policy would exist without the people-pressure built up over the past decade.
Applying pressure will look different for different people, but everybody’s got some lever they can pull. Do it for what you love about living.
#313 Piecer at the Baby Shower
09 November 2021 // San Diego, California
One of the odd mental images I have of what happens after you die is watching over a replay of your whole life on a big screen. I think more often than not, this mental image gets promoted by strictly controlling religious bodies as a scare tactic of sorts, but I honestly would welcome a replay like that so much.
Maybe it speaks to privilege, or my own particular fortunes, or just the fact that I’m largely at peace with all the past chapters in my life- even the not-so-great ones I look back on with a bit of pride over what I’ve been able to get through. Quite often, I get hit with a strong enough wave of nostalgia that I think getting to relive the late 2000s, my mid twenties, and perhaps the chapter I’m currently living would be sweet.
Of course, I’d also hope that somebody really great would do the soundtrack. Would I only be able to choose from deceased artists?
#314 Commentary
10 November 2021 // San Diego, California
I love this guy so much and we’ve been getting so much personality lately. It feels like the moment we moved houses he went from having just a handful of favorite words to becoming a total chatterbox and storyteller.
We’re all excited for the twins to get here and for Rhys to be a big brother. I know he’ll be fantastic at it and at least three times a day he asks for the Daniel Tiger book about being a big bro. At the same time, I know a chapter is coming to a close. I love this dude AND I miss the littler guy I used to be able to tuck under my arm like a rugby ball.
Rhys’ baby stage came at a pretty chaotic time for the world, and at a time of so much personal growth and evolution for us. But the quiet moments of trying to stretch out a few more minutes of sleep cradling him on the couch, of watching Bluey and Tagalog baby songs together, of putting work on pause to romp around a park, of Washington and Arizona, or of long neighborhood walks meant everything.
#315 Mostra Front
11 November 2021 // San Diego, California
You know how Vonnegut said something like, you need to be able to stop and say if this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is? Had that moment multiple times today.
In the morning, while helping the kiddo with breakfast, I had some old songwriter jams from high school stuck in my head. So I started bumping them for us.
Midday, I planned to go for a run, but it wound up being about 90° then. Deanna suggested I try a swim instead, which was an absolute perfect suggestion.
After dinner, I got to hang out 1:1 with my boy on our back porch on a fairly clear night. We’re further from the city and get a much better view of the stars. I put on a HONNE mix on Spotify and started blowing bubbles. He was thrilled every single one of them.
The satisfaction on his face when watching them was the actual best. I kept thinking… this is one of the best things I’ll get to do with my life. I can visit 100 countries, star in a Marvel flick, and win a Senate seat and that would still be the case. This is the best.
Oh, and the new episode of Invasion tonight absolutely slapped. The whole series has thus far slapped.
#316 Narration
12 November 2021 // San Diego, California
You know about kare kare? It’s one of my favorite Filipino comfort foods- a peanut butter oxtail stew.
One of my favorite restaurants in town did a special release of kare kare pot pie, but SADLY, they were all sold out by the time I got there.
Then I remembered, I’m a pretty decent pie maker!
Here’s my shot at Kari Kari pie.
#317 Empower PT
13 November 2021 // San Diego, California
Taylor Swift really took things from, Ugh, I have to do it all over again to Ooh, I GET to do it all over again. There’s a lot of creative opportunity in just remixing your past self.
#318 The Best Ice Cream
14 November 2021 // San Diego, California
Every time I show up to a zoom call: you’re still here!!!
I feel that way too. When I found out we were having twins, on top of a bunch of other variables, I expected an early arrival, clearing my calendar as far ahead as October. But here we are, looking like we’ll actually get all the way to our due date.
Maybe by posting this I’m jinxing that, but Deanna wouldn’t mind if that’s the case.
There are two people I love more than I’d ever imagined. One of them just showed up a little over two years ago, and now, that population is about to double.
I think of how Rhys is my guy, and how much I love seeing him do what he does and how willing I am to fight for him. Then I think about how there are going to be these two others that I love like that, but also in a way that’s very much unique to them.
If love is a guiding principle, then I guess one of the things worth noting is that it isn’t zero-sum. It’s abundant. There’s always room to expand without being stretched thin. It’s one of the best invisible things in life!
#319 uNDER dECK fiLMING
15 November 2021 // San Diego, California
YouTube will be like ‘Living in Joplin, MO on $80K a year… HOW DO THEY DO IT?’ when the median income over there is like $25,000.
#320 bIG bUBBLE
16 November 2021 // San Diego, California
There’s one other important way to build better norms on social media and that’s to balance out the power the social media giants have with the power of the public through better legislation.
I think discussions around social media regulations are important to consider when it comes to voting and public policy.
All of this is so new that you don’t really see this as a main feature in any candidate or party’s platform or list of priorities, but when you think about the percentage of time people spend on social media, the amount of influence it has over our behaviors, and the power and wealth of these companies, perhaps it should.
Every now and then, some lawmakers will call Facebook or Twitter execs to Congress to testify, and the way some of our congresspeople ask their questions is kind of revealing about their lack of media literacy.
Increasingly, I want the people representing me to have a better understanding of how these platforms work. And though there are a lot of complex questions about the role of government in all of this, I feel better about a balance of power rather than having everything concentrated in the boardroom of the social media giants.
#321 mvp bLEND
17 November 2021 // San Diego, California
There were two things I always knew I wanted out of life. The first was that I knew I wanted to do work that helped people. More specifically, I wanted to do work that helped make life more bearable for the people in our world who had it the hardest- those marginalized, forgotten about, or otherwise abused. Early on in life, I ran into people who seemed to come alive as they fought for the rights and well-being of other people. It gave me a clear image of what it looked like to be guided by purpose.
My other desire was to not get stuck doing the same thing every day. I’ve always been mesmerized with how big and full of curious things the world seemed, and it seemed like that vastness was an invitation to explore as much as possible. This clashed greatly with the typical image of a career- being hyper focused on just one small area of comfort and expertise and doing that for decades and decades until time runs out.
Both of these desires came from a recognition that life was short, fast-moving, fragile, and sacred.
#322 pREMIERE eDITS
18 November 2021 // San Diego, California
Yo, congrats to MVP Shohei Ohtani! Absolute, unanimous face of baseball.
#323 oN sOCIAL
19 November 2021 // San Diego, California
Overnight we had a false alarm of going into labor. But what a mental trip to go from thinking I might be a dad of three by the end of the weekend to trying to sneak in one more nap. These last few days are quite the roller coaster.
#324 Breakfast Laundry
20 November 2021 // San Diego, California
How do you respond to an injustice you saw coming the whole time?
“Not surprised. Disappointed and upset. But not at all surprised.”
That’s a sentiment I’ve found myself echoing each time upsetting news happens. The verdict in Kenosha. The relative inaction from COP26 in Glasgow. The unraveling of Haiti, Ethiopia, or Afghanistan.
These are all heavy and troubling, but if you paid enough attention beforehand the signs were always there. To paraphrase a Trevor Noah quip, Rittenhouse’s judge might as well have adopted him midway through the trial.
But I’ve been curious about my response- to anticipate bitter news ahead of time in order to soften its blow. I don’t doubt that it’s a coping strategy, but it seems at odds with the fact that I’m generally a hopeful person and I’ve been wondering if this learned response is beneficial, detrimental, or if it just is what it is. Oddly, the biggest reason something like the IPCC report didn’t sting too badly is that it largely anthologized thousands of reports I’ve seen over the years.
On one hand, I don’t ever want to lose sight of the truth that a better world is possible and that things don’t need to remain as they are. On the other, I think there’s wisdom in not expecting that better world to be delivered by the same systems who brought it to this point. There’s a maturity in being deliberate with your trust.
I don’t want to be cynical, nor do I want to be naive. But the most cynical idea might be the one that says these are your only two options.
I’ve come to accept that my reactions aren’t at odds with hope, and they more accurately reflect where my hope sits. It certainly isn’t in courts and conferences, though I think justice eventually remakes those things too.
One side of me is a wholehearted idealist. The other side is a strategic pragmatist. And I think I can do my part the best when those two sides play together.
#325 Waterbuck
21 November 2021 // San Diego, California
Have you heard the story about how at one of the first movies ever, the sight of a train on screen moving towards the viewer was so vivid and unfamiliar that the crowd ran out in a panic?
That story is probably an urban legend. But I think it’s also a pretty good metaphor of how we respond to new technologies. We recognize their power and feel a bit of fear, but often, that fear is over something totally different than the actual threat.
I think we’re roughly around that same stage with social media.
Most of us can probably name all the ways social media threatens to make our world a worse place. But very rarely do I hear of ways people are counteracting those concerns other than staying off of it all together. The abstinence approach can be a fine personal habit, but the reality is that social media is here to stay, and it’s also valuable and important to figure out how to live with it.
Here are a few tips:
📲Partake mindfully. To assume social media is all bad is way too reductionistic, but it’s important to have the consciousness of when you’re not getting what you really want from it.
📲Share your work/follow your faves on multiple platforms so you aren’t dependent on a single entity.
📲Use your own site to showcase your work, and don’t rely on a social network as a portfolio.
📲Connect with people via an email newsletter and return the favor by signing up for others.
📲Consider social media literacy an increasing prerequisite for being an effective public servant.
#326 Walker Yellow
22 November 2021 // San Diego, California
Not gonna lie, yesterday was probably my toughest single day of parenting yet. I told Deanna it was probably a top fiver, then she asked me if I could think of anything that came close.
Rhys got hand-foot-mouth disease, which… even the name of that virus makes ya cringe. Thankfully it’s contagion to adults is pretty rare and it just needs to run it’s course, hopefully before the twins show up. We did have a false alarm over the weekend, though, so who knows?
Rhys is a fighter, though this thing is painful! Not much interest in food, naps, or play yesterday, just lots of telling me “mouth hurts.” 🥺 Pobrecito.
Anyways, this feed is about to have lots of sweet baby stuff, so capturing these kinds of moments too so it’s not good vibes only, but all of the real honest vibes. And as a reminder that you make it to the end of these days, fall asleep to watching travel YouTubers on the couch before even getting to open the can of cheap Korean beer, and it ends up being the deepest, sweetest, most well earned sleep you can imagine.
#327 Brazilian Candies
23 November 2021 // San Diego, California
Lots of folks saying Mary Shelley was first sci-fi writer in 1818, but I bet we’re missing the real answer by limiting our searches to N. America/Europe.
India’s Rigveda (1500 BCE) has space travel.
Syria’s True History (C200) has aliens.
Japan’s Urashimo Taro (720) brings in time travel.
#328 MNGO Stop
24 November 2021 // San Diego, California
When I think of stuff I want to pass on to my kids, I don’t think in terms of ambitions or accomplishments, but values. And I really hope each of them develop a strong sense of curiosity.
This year has affirmed, curiosity is an incredible guide.
#329 Piecer Towing
25 November 2021 // San Diego, California
This week has been quite a handful, including Rhys bouncing back from being sick and three trips to labor and delivery and being sent home each time.
I think we might as well get used to a pretty high baseline level of chaos. But there’s nobody else I’d rather ride all these oncoming waves with.
I’m constantly amazed with @deanna.suzanna
At what her body can do- pregnancies are a bit more complicated for us, and yet here we are at at the very end of a full term of a twin pregnancy with 1-in-500-million odds. (Really, I’ll explain later).
At how good of a mom she is- Rhys has been through a lot lately and that’s caused us to have to huddle up more and brainstorm how to help him navigate big feelings and changes in the best ways we can. She has such good insight into knowing what he needs and what sits underneath certain behaviors and is totally natural at it.
At how much fun we have together- in spite of it all, still cracking jokes and being ourselves. Nobody else I’d rather walk into this madness with.
Our kids won the mom lottery, and I’m the luckiest of all. Sorry, Ben Folds.
#330 Meanley Stoop
26 November 2021 // San Diego, California
A discounted item usually means that someone’s getting a little bit less for the work they put in or the resources used to make it.
Always worth wondering who eats that loss and what makes it possible.
#331 Play Complex
27 November 2021 // San Diego, California
Today turned out to be one of the sweetest days I’ve had with Rhys. We got to play outside a good bit, take a walk around the complex, watch Pogo, Ben, and Jelly, and even trek to the store to get cookie dough to bake.
This week has been LONG and not necessarily the final note of this chapter of our lives that I was hoping for but at least that day was pure sweetness and a lot of quality time with Rhys.
Next week we become a family of five.
#332 Last Night as an Only
28 November 2021 // San Diego, California
After one false alarm after another, our twins will officially be here tomorrow.
Raise a glass to the four of us
Tomorrow there’ll be more of us
#333 Juniper & Kai
29 November 2021 // San Diego, California
I’ve said that our pregnancy came at 1-in-500-million odds. That’s not hyperbole. That’s the actual figure I found in some medical journals about our particular kind of twin pregnancy.
And that’s all on top of the many, many ways that our lives as parents have already overcome a lot of odds.
I made a new video highlighting the last few weeks of pregnancy and our anticipation of Kai and Juniper’s arrivals. Pretty much everything in this video already feels like it happened a decade ago.
There are so many words that could describe my past week. Astonishing. Terrifying. Exhausting. But there’s one word that really sums up how I’ve felt at the end of it: grateful.
#334 Twin Dad
30 November 2021 // San Diego, California
Yesterday was of course, an amazing and beautiful day. It also happened to be the most terrifying day of my life.
The scary part didn’t last too long, but shortly after being transferred to our hospital room, Deanna started hemorrhaging. Thankfully the doctors were able to respond effectively, but one of my earliest memories of the twins will be of being pretty paralyzed, having a hard time breathing, holding one in each arm. I’m not sure if what that was was a full panic attack, but it was a nightmare.
At the end of the day though, both the highest high and scariest low lead to the same response: immense gratitude.
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.
