I rewatched No Time to Die last night. Fell asleep during the opening (tired, not bored) and woke to find my wife actually paying attention. She hates Bond movies. I was surprised to find that she watched this one entirely without me pushing. This is her favorite, which tells me everything about where the franchise needs to go and why the smart play is tweaking themes we’ve recently seen. Paloma. Nomi. Felix and daddy Bond. The N Peal knitwear finally clicked for her. Side : I’m keeping the Rolex Explorer, so the NTTD Seamaster will have to wait. There’s always 2026…

Tonight was a celebration. Family came over to pop a Freixenet as I accepted an offer this week. Tech again. But incredible money. And here’s the thing: I’m actually excited about going back. Tonight was Canapés. Bubbles. Age statement port. Great company. Dubai chocolate. General happiness. It reminded me this needs to happen more often. “It really is a good life.”

What 2025 Taught Me

The elephant: I’ve been absent here. I like breaks and the space to get perspective. It’s not what algorithms reward, but who’s reading this with that in mind?

2025 was experimenting: structured podcasts, different collaboration models, various formats. All to see what lands. Here’s what I know now:

I love writing. That’s my why for this project. Primary function. Video can be fun. Collaborating is super fun. But my battery is low for structured content. That’s what I do in the day job after all. I have two young kids who deserve the best me… Short-form video or unstructured long-form. That’s where I live.

It should be someone’s job to promote on social, but probably not what should I be doing in the long run, but more on that to come…If you’re looking for me… I’ll be outside, touching grass.

Collaboration is Key

Collaborating with Vance and Company has been a major highlight. The guys have been incredible and we’ve ended up with a polished product. We’ll do more, even if it looks different given time zones and daddy duties. Season 1 of the podcast was a win.

2 more episodes to drop in 2025.

Shedding the Filter

Christmas rocks. It’s an opportunity to shed all cool and just be a fun dad and husband. A proud Disney adult, which brings me and the kids closer together. In trying to connect with people, I have filtered what I wasn’t comfortable sharing or selling. And that’s the passion points so I got middling results. I’m doing it differently. I keep distance but stay honest. That’s my voice. I don’t value hot takes or lists of five. I’m Bourdain meets Bond.

The likely outcome is I grow this by doing what I know how to do: working within an existing system and building it properly.

Hired Gun

There’s a massive but muddied difference between being an entrepreneur and an investor. I am the latter. The fact that I long to be the operator is why I’m good at what I do. An executor with vision…thats why I win in the market. No more apologies. I’m a hired gun and a damned good one.

The through line is : My wife watching Bond without prompting. Me being excited about tech again, and the compensation that fuels the lifestyle. The realization that I’ve been filtering myself in trying to be something that fits this new digital realm. All of it points to the same truth: stop apologizing for what works.

I write. I show up radically honest, for better or worse. Always more better than worse. I grow things my way, and succeed. I fail or get middling results when I do them someone else’s.

New Adventures will carry us through December to mid next year. Luxury holidays on the calendar. Mounds of content to edit. Work resumes in mid January. This is good. Old school blogging again.

T2LA continues on my terms, starting with Luxe Christmas. Think Personal Blog +

I could grow this faster doing some other method…I’m always up for suggestions and pointers, but I have no apologies.

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