Reflecting on 2025
Disney Cali and Tokyo, France, Argentina, Uruguay, India Wedding
Random Observation/Comment #918: Consistency is key! Here’s to year 17 of writing yearly reviews.
2025 felt like that Kentucky Hug. It was a warm, intense burn that settled into a deep appreciative glow, reminding me that I’m alive and exactly where I’m supposed to be.
Markets ripped again while AI continued to take over and breach all levels of uncanny valley realism. It’s all AI slop now. We’re cooked. I continued my full-time contributions to DIN within Consensys, which is a fun deeper dive into nerdy Web3 infrastructure meets AI. I’m such a tech and crypto bro.
Traveled to: Snowmass (Aspen ski trip), California (Disneyland), Marco Island, France (for ETHCC workshops), Japan with Family (Tokyo Disney, Kyoto Tea Ceremony, Universal Studios Super Nintendo World), Austin (early Phishmas), Steamboat Springs, San Francisco (Portola), New York, Pennsylvania (Easton for Stu’s bday), Kentucky (bourbon trail yumminess), Argentina (Buenos Aires Devconnect), Uruguay (Colonia de Sacramento for a day), Great Wolf Lodge in Colorado Springs, India (for an epic Jaipur wedding), Vail (ski days way too warm)
Triumphantly: Published ~84 blogposts (recaps and monthly), Completed a full drawing book (100 pages, great yearly tradition) of black and white sketches, Made 34+ NotebookLM Video Overviews with the 30 day challenge, Launched a DIN AVS, Became head of Marketing and AI for DIN, Made a lot more faceswaps that are now much easier to do, Refined my Clembot, partied at a traditional Indian wedding in Jaipur, India!, Started the basement project!, ran a 5k with Evie, saw a gorgeous sunset in Uruguay, Listened to 973 hours (40+ days) of podcasts, enjoyed a traditional Kyoto tea ceremony and less traditional Ninja experience with Evie, completed an awesome BookNook minature, completed a Gundam, Hit quads on poker night, tied winner of poker tournament, almost hit an ace on disc golf (Owl’s Den first hole), did an awesome bourbon trail tasting trip with Angus, made proof of selfies (ETHDenver, EthCC, Devconnect), listened to 970+ hours of podcasting, collected coins with a wristband in Super Nintendo world, waded through a river at Tiger Tail Beach, hopped over to Uruguay for a day trip, yoinked a frog, got a lot better at disc golf
Read / Listened to / Podcasted (I’ve consciously tried to reduce my podcast intake, but here are some new ones): If Books Could Kill (some funny reviews of popular books), Severance Podcast (while watching Severance), White Lotus Podcast (while watching White Lotus), Amy Polar interview podcast, Staying Alive with John Gabrius and Adam Palley (this is a great laugh), What’s News with You with Josh Johnson, Smart Girl Dumb Questions, Gumshoe and Dragons (love this one), Dungeons and Daddies (continues to be awesome), Long May They Run (about Phish), Once We Were Spacement
Live shows (10+): Marc Maron, Monster Truck, Dream Theater, Price is Right Live, Dom Dolla, Phish in Austin, Phish in Boulder, Josh Johnson, Danny Elfman, Offspring, Portola, Above and Beyond, Dracula Ballet
Neighborhood parties: Whisky and Cheese pairing, Thanksgiving multiple parties, Halloween party hosting, Diwali, Harvest moon, July 4th celebrations, July 4th camping, Guac fest guac-making competition, Glamping weekends, movie nights, birthday at El Jardin, more poker nights, reasons to smoke random meats, reasons to try new kitchen gadgets, more poker weekends, random kid bday parties
Experienced / Cooked / Ate: Ate a sushi omakase in SF that was so good, Made hand pies, drank the best chai ever, baklava deliciousness in the lounge, whole fish at Safta, split lentil soup, new turkey smoked congee, Secret Food Tour in Chinatown SF, Room rum in india at 5AM, authentic Rajasthani food, Tea ceremony, Mango scotch bonnet guac, journey of the egg sando, amazing sukamen in Tokyo, Jaipur food tour, homemade pizza from Sam’s dough, delicious bourbon that I poured myself with a whisky thief, amazing bife de chorizo in Argentina, cuban cigar in Uruguay, Evie became a master magic at Great Wolf Lodge
Rewatchable Movie/Show Recommendation from this year: Shogun (really can’t stand the main character because he has such a punch-able mouth breathing face), Monk (watched all the best ones because it was leaving a streaming service and has now appeared on another one. Such a good formula), Penguin (surprisingly good), Alice in Borderland (rewatched with V), Jojo Bizarre Adventure (weird one), Severance (finale was such good TV, can’t wait for the next season), Reacher S3 (still a solid watchable series), Sakamoto Days (cute anime), Resident Alien (S3 made me cry), White Lotus (“Piper noooo”), Pantheon (S2 was crazy), Zero Day (felt like 24 with just enough Jack Bauer), Castlevania (decent anime), Mr and Mrs Smith TV show (pretty good!), The Residence (I love a good Clue murder mystery), Conan Mark Twain Award (hilarious), People vs Food (youtube channel that I like to put on the background), 24 in 24 cooking show (both seasons were really good), Patriot (awesome), Last One Laughing UK and Canada (I can’t believe I know so many of these comedians, also Bob Mortimer is the best), The Pitt (cried a lot, looking forward to S2), Baccano (rewatched and crushed it), Mob100 (okay, la), 24 (rewatched first 3 seasons), Wednesday (rewatched all), Red Notice movie, Rick and Morty (still hilarious), Bon Appetit Your Majesty (cheesy Korean dramas with cooking? Yes, please), Splinter Cell (surprisingly good binge of anime), Triple Threat (I love me a cooking show), One Punch Man (S3), Stranger Things (rewatched all of Season 1 and it was one of the best seasons of TV rewatches from a decade ago. Why do I need to wait until Dec 31 for the end of S5?), Dune Prophecy
Played way too many hours of: Eleven Table Tennis (2931 but I don’t play ranked anymore, but I might start again since there are recordings), Sudoku addict (once a day for the past 6 months), Puzzmo.com Crosswords (these are great), Yahtzy (weird, but I guess I’m addicted to random choices), Pocket Knight 2, testing random games with card selection like GWENT, Balatro (although I slowed down playing after unlocking everything and now I really want v1.1 with more jokers), (Uninstalled Call of Duty because it was too much of a time suck)
NotebookLM has expanded quite a few features. It’s done a pretty good job with reading my notes and giving me a solid summary. Clembot will live on across multiple digital mediums.
This was definitely a year filled of adventure. I think I did a good job saying yes to things. Every “yes” was a new opportunity to do more and ask for forgiveness later. At every experience, I’ve wondered how I ended up in such a cool place with the chance to tell another cool story. I’ll probably be driven by this narrative for the next few decades.
I still write a bit about AI. I started a whole section:
My view on AI has shifted slightly. I think the world’s resistance to change will continue similar to the adoption of electric cars and smart homes. We have the technology, but will everyone use it? Probably not. This piece is about tech that takes its time:
The real game changers will be the tech and marketplaces that changes our habits and expectations:
Amazon - Basically anything you want comes next day with free shipping
Streaming - Shows at our fingertips with buffering seamless and now with live streaming of games
Uber - A fleet of cars just ready to take you to your destination
Uber Eats / Door Dash - Food just shows up at your door
Smartphones - All the knowledge and games in our pockets
Smart Assistants - They will answer your question and know enough context from different apps to be able to simply complete requests (20% of the time look up something on Wikipedia, 10% tell me what song this is, 10% play a song, 10% “what’s in an old fashioned again?”, 50% set a timer/alarm).
The 100 drawings per year was a great way to reflect on my epic moments. Here were my favorites:
In 2026, I’m predicting …
Market correction - Still going to call it each year. Number keeps going up because we keep getting bailed out and our debt keeps rising. I’m pretty sure Powell will keep pumping until he leaves office in the summer. Let’s see more pumping!
The Continued Integration of Clembot in Daily Life – Clembot will become even more ubiquitous, streamlining tasks and opening new avenues in both professional and personal realms. I’ll be refactoring based on some updates to new models. What’s important is categorizing the data you create.
Web3 and Restaking – Old ideas, but new token opportunities. There’s still some crazy things happening in this space that makes me happy I’m driving these projects from behind the scenes. MetaMask Card. So hot right now.
Focus on Health and Wellness – Personal goals mainly focus on a healthier lifestyle through more VR table tennis, disc golf, rock climbing, and regular exercise challenges (Maybe I’ll bring palates back). Aiming to lose 20 lbs and improve core strength with my goal weight at 195lbs.
Completing the Wan-DiCarlo cook book - I’m going to do less and focus on this one because Moms aren’t getting younger.
List of 30 App - This has been in the planning for some time and is in a good place, but I want to do it without it costing too much for hosting. We shall see!
Working on my 40-under-40 - OMG I’m going to be 40 next year. WTF. I probably won’t reach all of these goals, but I’ll be doing a year-long push to get there.
In Progress: 40 under 40
I don’t just want to experience more things; I want to do more epic/triumph things and crush it on a whole ‘nother level.
I’m looking forward to a few high level 2026 triumph moments:
Travel - At least 5 - This is always an easy one to plan considering how much I love traveling and do so for work. We already have Justin and Esther’s wedding in Busan in January. Maybe hot air balloons in Albuquerque?
Ski trips for the Epic pass – Planning more weekday travels (already planned Jan/Feb activities).
Disc golf adventures - At least 80 times (I’m a bit of an addict).
Conferences – At least 2. EthDenver, EthCC, and Devconnect are probably on the list already.
Live shows – At least 5 (definitely Phish again at Sphere). Comedy and music are such good stress reliefs
Comedy or podcast recording shows – At least 2. I really want to go to a podcast recording or the JoCo cruise.
Visit In-laws with Evie in March – This is always a good time.
Daddy-daughter trip with neighbors – At least 1. This is definitely a good age for it!
Road trip somewhere (State park) – We need to use that national park pass. Maybe drive East to Iowa? South to Arizona for Sedona? Sand dunes?
Parties with Northend Neighbors/Beefcakes – At least 50. This seems like a lot, but actually easy to do if you know how much we party. I think this year was at least 50 (once a week) hang outs.
~See Lemons Look Forward to 2026
Previous Year’s Reflections:
Year-End Reviews
I have a yearly ritual to go over my desires, goals, aspirations, dreams, and fantasies. This is a time to reflect on the big ticket items you’ve accomplished in the past year and set goals for the years to come. I’ll use this as a landing page to highlight all the years since I’ve started this blog and some of my favorite photos from each year:
(or some direct links)
