Now

Page last updated: February 2026 | inspired by Derek Sivers and his Now project (my page on his Now project site). 

Key: 🆕 = newest updates

For more detailed, blog-like news, see...well...News!

Personal maxim: Optimizing for experience, enthusiasm and efficiency.  Practicing Taoist.

Education and New Skills

🆕This year:

• Coding: re-code my old high-school games/programs written in BASIC, including scan/OCR/debug/emulate the original code, create modern Flash versions for browsers, and port/re-platform some IF games in Inform. See more details below.

• Drumming: I believe enough time has passed (5 years) and a compact and convenient electronic kit exists such that I can bring this joy back into my life. Roland V-Drums are the final choice. The technology will enable skills development via digital assistants and employing online "lessons". March is the target timeframe to begin.

• Kite boarding continuing, several planned trips will provide coastal opportunities. 10-12 hours training to date, standing up, working on STAYing up!

• SLC (Sailing License and Credentials) - currently Crew Level I, completed US Sailing Small Boat Beginner Sailor Certificate and NASBLA Boating Safety Education Certificate. Aiming for a fall trip.

• Alpine touring ski skills: hoping for one good outing this year (did get some introductory outings in Nov and Dec 2025).

• Hope to line up swift/whitewater rescue training as a return to the Colorado through Grand Canyon is in October.

• 2nd language: I've been distilling the idea of language study abroad, almost certainly Spanish, in small doses - Latin America seems like the best option with Guatemala, El Salvador, or Colombia consistently confirming the best basis (most transportable). Hope to do 2 weeks this year for the first time.

• Wilderness First Responder training: did refresher course in the fall of 2025. This will suffice for the next several years.

• Coffee: I leased a coffee tree in Panama for the season. This will be cool and educational!

• On the back burner for this year: riding motorbikes, additional SCUBA certifications, wine and spirits education (WSET), and windsurfing, additional avalanche terrain travel (AIARE)

Travel

Holistic goal is to have visited as many countries as my age (I have a lot of catching up to do) which is just a simple quantification. The specific goal is a qualitative list of places and activities. To that end, 2025 was more travel abroad and domestically seeking out some classic (rock) climbs and 2026 is about getting to the last continent (Antarctica - done!) and more adventure/travel . More at Travel. Also enjoying hosting travelers to Pittsburgh whenever I am home by way of the Couchsurfing platform.

Climbing

Continuing to seek out new meccas of rock (Spain) and returning to some old ones (J-Tree) and for ice (Bozeman MT, Cody WY).

The last of the big mountain goals was Alpamayo in Peru in 2023. Along with that, since I've achieved the overall goal of 50 summits (back in 2022) I'm now content - no more mountains of serious interest, though I'm not ready to stop altogether - there will be more, just not burning desires (Forbidden/Torment Traverse, Mt. Sir Donald, maybe an 8K meter, etc.) I am planning a mountain climb in the Polish Tatras.

More at Climbing.

Adventure/Exploration

Antarctica and the South Pole, goal achieved in January! See News Oct 19 2025, Dec 26 2025, and Jan 29 2026 entries. 🆕

Reading

Definitely back into reading now that I'm "retired" (rewired); trying to read at least 24 books per year and exceeding that goal currently. Good balance of fiction and non-fiction. More at Books.

🆕Podcasts

Active: Planet Money (NPR), The Indicator (NPR), Short Wave (NPR), Adventure Game Club, Derek Sivers, Deviate with Rolf Potts, Eaten by a Grue, Financial Independence Podcast (Mad Fientist), How to Fix the Internet (EFF), In Machines We Trust (MIT Tech), The Tim Ferriss Show.

Occasional: ChooseFI, Retirement Answer Man, SciShow Tangents, Ted Talks Daily, Stay Wealth Retirement Show, The Daily Stoic, This American Life, The Minimalists, Where Should We Begin? w/Esther Perel, Invisibilia (NPR), Small Things Often (Gottman Institute).

Brainwork

The New York Times crossword puzzles (see 2 news items), 2+ years running now, still really enjoying them and getting better as time goes on. 🆕My best month with 27 solves: December 2025 and also contained my longest streak of 21-days. I decided I am officially a cruciverbalist - cause that's a cool word and I deserve it now :)

Financial Independence (FI)

volunteering with the Pittsburgh ChooseFI network to administer the group, have meetups for discussion, etc. to share my knowledge and learn from others.

Interactive Fiction (IF)

More details on the Interactive Fiction page. I dove back into this old passion of mine last year. Playing some adventures, small and large. Watching documentaries, listening to podcasts, coming up to date with the community. In the "creative" department, I'm re-developing my own, old adventures in new tools and code such as TAB, Twine, Adrift, and Inform. Began 2026 with porting my second IF game,  Xanadu, to Inform. I also created an Itch.io page and now host both Xanadu and my first IF game called Palace of the Silver Princess so that they can be played directly in the browser. I hope to get to recoding my third old game in Inform - AI tools will lend a big assist.

Personal Pantheon / Tribe of Mentors

If I could have regular get togethers, calls, drinks, or conversations with these people, they would be my set of mentors (big/broad thinkers, bright lights, mavens,  polymaths, and modern day philosophers). As it is, I am resigned to virtual relationships by tuning into their conversations and creative work via the many channels available. Derek Sivers, Tim Ferriss, Kevin Kelly, Tim Urban, Ryan Holiday, Rolf Potts, Sam Harris, Oliver Burkman, David Eagleman, Morgan Housel, Esther Perel, Jamie Wheal, Peter Adeney and a few others living and dead (Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, and Epictetus). Send me your additional recommendations!