//Congratulations, Jared and Chihiro! May your marriage be filled with adventures and patience.
Theme of the Month - Japan Trip with frens and Hurricanes
The questions/thoughts that led me to the posts for Oct 2024 were:
How can I use Notebooklm audio overviews for my research process? How would it look in a fully AI generated video?
What do you do if you have low energy or feel under the weather?
How was my Alaskan cruise from 2016?
What roles face AI automation?
What political issues do you think about?
Hurricanes are devastating. I’m glad my parents in Tampa were able to survive a few of them with minimal damage. I suspect our future will have higher percentage chances of wildfires, freezes breaking infrastructure, hailstorms damaging roofs, and floods destroying property. Not sure what else we can do about it.
I am fresh (literally landed 6 hours ago) off this trip from Japan for Jared and Chihiro’s wedding and I can’t think of anything else to write about this month except how awesome Japan is as a culture and lifestyle. This trip was in itself a Cooper reunion of just really good friends that stayed very clever and curious. It’s great how time has passed, but we can just vibe and resume like no time has passed at all. These are my people.
7 days, an album of literally 1500 selected photos, 35 google restaurant reviews, 2 secret food tours, and 10 lbs heavier - I am grateful to be surrounded by love. A deep thank you to Jared and Chihiro for including me in a celebration of their union. I felt humbled to witness a ceremony with such deep roots of tradition inside the shrine in Nara. It was really badass.
Also many thanks to Dennis (my brother from another mother) who had the same itinerary of walking, eating, walking, eating, repeat until fat. I’m glad we didn’t eat the chicken sashimi. I’m glad we both have a tremendous appetite.
Even though I want to get to 50 countries (currently at 45) by the time I’m 40, I’m okay with just going to Japan realistically 2 more times with friends and family. All my trips will be to Japan from now on. Maybe I’ll have my 40th birthday in Japan. I’ll probably live in Japan for more than 3 months at one point. If it wasn’t clear… I love Japan. Let’s go back. Like right now.
The blogposts I’ve published this month were:
What an incredibly interesting free RAG tool with chat and audio conversation generation. I think the format and nuances are really incredible.
Do an energy audit and consider what you’d do for the next few hours to keep you in high spirits and productive. If I’m ever in a slump, you’ll see me going outside or working out.
This was pre-child travels, which was filled with so much more energy. It was nice being the hottest couple on the cruise walking around in slippers and sipping mimosas at both 7am and 7pm.
Am I fearful for my job? Probably not. I think I’ll be able to adapt and use the tools to my benefit. I do feel like I’m a bit on the edge with a war in the Middle East and fewer tech job openings.
Elections are coming up soon! Go out and vote! I do find it all a little surreal how much I’m in a bubble and how other people feel the same way. At the end of the day, the result is mostly inconsequential to my taxes and day to day life.
Some ideas for Nov 2024?
[Travel Advice] Japan for Foodies - There were so many edible goodies across Nara, Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo!
30 More AI Buzzwords - Latest buzzwords from reading some different research papers and looking at headlines.
30 Reasons Why I Cook - I realized this is such a big part of my life and identity. I really enjoy the process and the outcomes.
30 Mechanism Design Examples - Consider how different incentives are created to lower costs and increase engagement from the community to fulfill key product value.
30 New AI Careers - Rethinking our post-labor economic jobs. Let’s all switch to the gig economy.
Reflecting on 10 years of writing lists of 30 - I still love writing lists of 30! It’ll define my whole life.
30 Future Decade Goals - We split the next 30 years into goals per decade as mapped out by Evie’s age. This was a great activity in long term planning for her ages 6-16, 16-26, and 26-36.
30 Ways to Stretch Time - Wealth doesn’t mean money, but time. It’s our only limited resource.
30 Things I do for Self Care - We all need to figure out what restores our energy and keeps us sane.
Kicking off “Her Life in Lists of 30” - I think I have enough material from my monthly lists of 30s to cover this and launch it in 2024. Maybe I’ll find a publisher for this book? I think I’ll be happy with more substack subscribers than a single book defining a decade. If it’s popular, maybe I’ll do a book tour!
Thank you for reading and I hope everyone stays safe!
Please suggest a list of 30 and I’ll write it! I’ve written 290+ lists of 30 and only publish ones that I think other people would enjoy. It’s my fun brainstorming routine.
—