Joe 5.0…

• Week of 19-25 January.
• Monday, tea, photo and notes processing, weekly backups, nap, bumped into Paul in Vredehoek, blogging, Michael came to fetch the aquaponics book.
• Tuesday, last day of Mia’s school holidays, dropped off a laptop, fetched Mia, we found her some new school shoes (size 4) and tekkies (only had to visit 5 shops), scones with jam and cream, music appreciation drive with The Cure and Roxette, wine tasting at Glen Carlou, a swim, a walk and a very recently harvested mostly Chardonnay tasting from stainless steel tanks in Franschhoek with Nikki, dropped Mia at her gran’s house, Mia was a bit sad that school is starting, but I figure she needs to get swimming again, nice sunset drive back to Cape Town, Georg made me watch some Homeland S4 – so we did some Cape Town scene spotting, nice day.
• Writing Your Way to Happiness
• Wednesday, Mia’s first day in grade 3, meeting in Sea Point, swim, took my bicycle for a service, afternoon at the Batstone pool on the roof of the Cape Quarter mall… nice space, Modern Alchemists Meetup at Miao in De Waterkant… I kinda like De Waterkant, Georg gave me a lift home, swim, broccoli salad, a drink at Carlyle’s, found some dark chocolate M&Ms at the party-Engen.

• “Chase the vision, not the money, the money will end up following you.” — Tony Hsieh, Zappos founder and CEO

• Pro tip: it might sound like a good idea to take the December holiday to work out what you want to do next, but financially it’s not that smart… that scene from Rushmore with Bill Murry underwater in the swimming pool.
• Thursday, drove to the office via Kloof Nek road, first day on the new project… can’t tell you much about it yet, but there are nice sea views from the office and 100Mbps internet, sunset Promenade walk, a quick salad and a ginger shot with Cath at Plant Cafe… funny – seems like as I’m getting off the tech startup kool-aid fuelled hamster wheel – Cath is getting on, a swim at home.
• I managed to figure out what I want to do this year – and what I don’t want to do. Maybe chasing the crazy tech startup stuff is not the best route… maybe having some stable running project, with a venture builder model on the side makes more sense.
• Joe 5.0 – depending on how you count, today was the start of my fifth job/career cycle. 1) Two jobs in Stellenbosch, 2) two jobs in Cape Town, 3) the Frogfoot, Amobia and Teraco days, 4) then the TrustFabric and Gust Pay days. The new project actually has a product people understand and want and soon it will have customers and employees, very refreshing.
• Friday, work – employee number one, a walk around Sea Point, Hilah’s birthday drinks at Up Yours (rooftop bar above Yours Truly) in Kloof Street with Paul, Claus and Janey, a drink at Yours Truly, grabbed a slice of New York Pizza, 31deg heat after 22:00, a swim at home, woke up at 2:00 and took another swim.
• Claus suggested I make a presentation for Mia about after school activities and things she can learn and what she can do with them… career paths etc. Choir vs robotics vs touch typing vs drama class.
• Saturday, fetched Mia, minor dentist disaster – had to go find one after 13:00 on a Saturday – sense of humour failure about Naulene not communicating things again, drove to Franschhoek with Mia, swim, afternoon walk, 22yo French Chardonnay.

• “Same shit, different Friday.” — Paul

• Sunday, swimming, AfrikaBurn theme camp registration (creative writing) – managed to get 22 creative crew tickets, moar swimming, afternoon walk, picked some figs, dropped Mia off at her gran’s house – Mia borrowed the Roxette / Look Sharp CD *grin*, nice drive home, pizza at Carlyle’s with Georg and a triple whiskey Dom Pedro, watched some of The Campaign again.

• “Can’t is a real C-word.” — The Campaign

Have a fun week, crazy kids.

Spaceship Earth…

• Week of 12-18 January.
• Monday, tea, cleaned the house with Mia and Francis to the tune of some Sisters of Mercy (after Jacques recently reminded me how we used to listen to them on Scuba trips), dropped Mia and Francis at their mom’s house (after spending 10 days with Mia), meeting, Caffe Neo, nice sunset Promenade walk, swim at home, broccoli salad, watched Gone Girl with Georg… meh.
• Tuesday, lunch at The Red Sofa cafe in Vredehoek, Al’s birthday drinks at Van Hunks with Lientjie, Hilah and Georg, fun evening.

• “To not give a fuck about adversity, you must first give a fuck about something more important than adversity.” — from here

• “The idea is to die young as late as possible.”

• I sometimes look at older blog posts or my personal website from long ago and I think, who was that guy? This kinda explains it…

  20-Year-Old Hunter S. Thompson’s Superb Advice on How to Find Your Purpose and Live a Meaningful Life…

  “The tragedy of life is that we seek to understand the goal and not the man. We set up a goal which demands of us certain things: and we do these things. We adjust to the demands of a concept which CANNOT be valid.

  When you were young, let us say that you wanted to be a fireman. I feel reasonably safe in saying that you no longer want to be a fireman. Why? Because your perspective has changed. It’s not the fireman who has changed, but you.

  Every man is the sum total of his reactions to experience. As your experiences differ and multiply, you become a different man, and hence your perspective changes. This goes on and on. Every reaction is a learning process; every significant experience alters your perspective.

  So it would seem foolish, would it not, to adjust our lives to the demands of a goal we see from a different angle every day?”

• Wednesday, took out the garbage – because like this blog, it needs to happen once a week, swim, found a lock for my bicycle (thanks Mia) and cycled to The Yard for some pulled pork tacos and a beer and a Deluxe latte… hipster yum, cycled through the Company’s Gardens and had a cool idea for a treasure hunt game, booked a (free) bicycle service, haircut at Yogi’s… cool guy, told me the story of how the shop has been in the family for four generations, nice haircut, tried to find Bullion bar, but failed, cycled up Long street and stopped for a fresh juice at Orchard, cycled up the hill back to Vredehoek in probably 36deg heat, swim and another swim, braai at home with Georg, Excelda and Karla.
• I think I’d like to do more than one project this year – doing just one thing is risky. It’s nice to have a primary project, but also nice to have some interests developing in parallel over time.
• Which Wes Anderson Movie Are You?

  I’m Fantastic Mr. Fox.
  “Animated and wild, you’re loved for your crazy antics and out-of-the-box ideas. You always come in at the last minute to save the day and would do anything for your loved ones. Although your sense of curiosity can sometimes get you in trouble, you’re always able to solve every problem in the end. The bottom line: You truly are fantastic.”

• I’m starting to think Mia should get her own blog.
• Thursday, came up with a name for a new business (OctoTel), some Carrier Ethernet research, processed some notes, a long walk up to the King’s Blockhouse and back to the Murray & Stewart Quarry, bumped into Mantooth, wrote a long sad retrospective email, watched Fight Club again with the knowledge that Bob and Marla don’t exists… so Jack Durden was basically dying of cancer and invented three personalities? The Paper St house does not exist, Project Mayhem does not exist.

• “Prepare to evacuate soul.” — Marla

• “Welcome to the 21st century, Buck Rogers.” — from This is the End.

• Friday, business meeting, breakfast in Camps Bay, early supper with Nikki at Plant Cafe… great salads, a G&T at The Mother’s Ruin gin bar… not bad, a drink at Hilah’s place, Aces ‘n Spades with Nikki, Hilah and Paul, until they closed, loads of fun, as always.
• How to have a happy life… only keep good memories. I think this was one of Jacques’ theories. I can look at my TV screen saver for a few minutes and think the last two years have been awesome – easy to forget the hard and bad parts with a few photos of good memories.

• “Whenever I draw a circle, I immediately want to step out of it.” — Buckminster Fuller

• “You must choose between making money and making sense. The two are mutually exclusive.” — Buckminster Fuller

• His life, he said, was an experiment.

  When he was 32, Buckminster Fuller’s life seemed hopeless. He was bankrupt and without a job. He was grief stricken over the death of his first child and he had a wife and a newborn to support. Drinking heavily, Buckminster Fuller contemplated suicide. Instead, he decided that his life was not his to throw away: it belonged to the universe. Buckminster Fuller embarked on “an experiment to discover what the little, penniless, unknown individual might be able to do effectively on behalf of all humanity.”

• Saturday, swim, veggie burgers for lunch at the OZCF market at the Zille Villa with Nikki… nice new layout, nap, swim, a drink at Chris’ birthday braai.
• Sunday, lunch at Malu’s in Noordhoek with Nikki, Hilah and Paul, shucked my first oyster, home made burgers with anchovies and jalapenos in the burger meat, yum, nice sunset drive back via Chapman’s Peak, drinks and pizza at La Vie with Aiden, Camilla (who is going to be living in Tanzania for 6 months from the end of the month), Nikki, Georg and Excelda, watched Interview with a Vampire again.

Have a fun week, crazy kids.

A magic 8 ball kinda week…

• Week of 5-11 January.
• Monday, rainy day – last day of holiday, Mia did some Dvorak touch typing training and watched an (un)healthy amount of Clone Wars, I found Naulene’s last letter to me and read it again – I understand it now – it made no sense at the time, took Mia for a fairly long walk around Vredehoek, bumped into Milton, broccoli salad for supper, helped Mia find Wally a few times in her Where’s Wally book.
• Life seems really full compared to ten years ago – I was looking at the rate at which I create photo albums and it feels like there are so many more events in a year.
• Tuesday, up at 6:30, tea, Mia watched Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom again, shook a magic 8 ball about a tricky decision – it said: “Forget about it” (thanks magic 8 ball girl!), swimming at gym with Mia – she did a 26sec 25m butterfly, dropped Mia at her mom’s house – for Francis’ birthday party, I told Naulene I read her last letter again and gave her a hug, a beer with Michael and Jordan at Rick’s, watched When Harry Met Sally again with some Moreson Cabernet Franc – must have seen the movie about 10 times and only now I see the 2nd relationships theme.
• No more GUST.
• So many movies Mia needs to see when she turns 13.

• “…or C, desperately want to talk to me, but trapped under something heavy.” — When Harry Met Sally

• Marla and Bob are not real.
• Wednesday, walked to the gym (for the first time), admin and emails, first 1km swim of the year, phone chat with Ernst, Devil’s Peak area walk with Georg, a beer and a swim at home.
• Remember, everything has already happened.
• I’m very keen to build an aquaponics farm in 2015.
• Weeks like these you go back to your startup-ideas.txt file.
• I started thinking up names for startups 11 and 12 this week, maybe even 13.
• Thursday, fetched Mia and Francis, they decorated some biscuits with icing, we watched some old Asterix and Obelix movies, some aquaponics research, marathon hair washing and hair drying and detangling session with the girls.
• I’ve kinda stopped using the ringtone on my phone.
• Friday, watched Paddington with Mia and Francis at the Waterfront – pretty good, lots of familiar London sights – there was a line in the movie ~”it took my heart a bit longer to arrive” – kinda made me think that it takes a while to get used to London and the culture and feel at home there, Deer Park afternoon with Jonathan, ice cream, King’s Craft beer, burgers, nice day, picked up some dark chocolate on the way home, chair races, bath, read, sleep… had an idea for Gust at around 1:00 and could not sleep for an hour.
• Saturday, a failed outing to the Oranjezicht City Farm market at the Zille Villa – only starts next weekend, I made us my own version of the Daily Deli Full Monte for brunch at home, swim, Moreson Chardonnay and Rummy Cub – Mia cheated and made up her own creative rules, Francis was smart enough not to play, nap, very nice afternoon on Little Beta Beach with Mia, Francis and Georg and some Moreson bubbly – Mia kept two hula hoops going at the same time – very impressive, broccoli salad while watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull… that atomic bomb scene is pretty cool, watched Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, bath, read, sleep for the girls, watched The Interview… entertaining, that Katy Perry tank scene is hilarious.
• Never thought I’d say this, but I’m tired of holidays and G&Ts for now.
• Sunday, Deer Park with Mia, Francis, Wouter and Xander, fresh juice at the Erf81 market in Tamboerskloof, had a nice Matilda soundtrack sing-along down Kloof road with Mia and Francis (who also knows the words now), nice braai and a swim at Wouter’s house in Bantry Bay with his sisters and their kids, Clifton 4 to 1 beach walk and back, Glen Beach and awesome sunset Camps Bay beach walk, watched some Cosmos at home with ham and pineapple pizza for the girls, bath, read, sleep, great day.
• Nice read: “I don’t want to start another company until I find a problem that I care about.”
• How to fall in love.
• Tune of the week: Katy Perry – Firework

Have a fun week, crazy kids.

Half the perfect world…

• Week of 29 December 2014 to 4 January 2015.
• One more post in a series of slow, and let’s face it, pretty boring blog entries. I’ll try find some more interesting things to do and write about soon.
• Monday, fetched Mia and Francis, watched Big Hero 6… nice movie, Vergelegen play area visit, Bikini Beach and a walk around the harbour with Jacques – 2nd time he’s seen Mia, fish and calamari supper at Harbour Lights, dropped Mia and Francis off at Naulene’s house.
• Tuesday, great lunch and wine tasting at La Motte with Nikki, drove to Cape Town while listening to Pachelbel’s canon (Mia hates it) and had a late afternoon nap, Georg woke me up with braai meat for dinner.
• Wednesday, gym, swim, NYE braai at home with Georg, Al, Jacques, Marietjie, Dan, Wouter and Michael John, perfect wind-still summer night, memories of listening to Depeche Mode 101 (Everything Counts), Wouter poking his digital thermometer in the braai meat and watching the fireworks display from the Waterfront.
• I took (only) ~4100 photos in 2014 – but, there are some good memories: Death Star Lego building, leaving Stellenbosch, Seedstars World in Geneva, the Guinness factory visit in Dublin with Jacques, Mia winning the best swimmer trophy in her grade, many Cape Town walks, visits to Betties, Rooiels, Hermanus and a Hemel and Aarde Valley wine tour, Mindstorms EV3 Lego building and programming, watching Swan Lake and The Sound of Music with Mia, many hockey match and swimming gala visits, Bakoven and Clifton sunsets, new house in Oranjezicht and many weekend market visits, Sea Kayaking, Chardonnay Festival, 8 days at AfrikaBurn – and Mia’s learning to ride a bike at AfrikaBurn, Kalk Bay weekend, Cederberg weekend, two weeks in Joburg with Ernst and Anton, Techstars in London, BST in Hyde Park, Science Museum IMAX with Mia, watching Matilda, Oxford visit with Jacques, Greyton holiday, many Lions Head walks, new Vredehoek house and housewarming party, Guy Fawkes fireworks in London, visits to The Camps Bay Retreat, Ellerman House, Babylonstoren, Lourensford and Vergelegen, The Lumineers at Kirstenbosch, best man at Ernst’s wedding in Joburg… and all the events I forgot to take photos at.
• Thursday, pool time, big nap, made bloody marys with Jacques, watched (about 1/2 of) Thor… uber lame.
• Friday, up early, Jacques started his travels back to London, fetched Mia, watched The Cat Returns, pizza for supper.
• Jacques’ week in Cape Town was good fun. Thanks for taking all those photos Jacques.
• Saturday, swimming, Dan fetched my mountain bike, watched Flash Gordon, watched Hal’s Moving Castle and Whisper of the Heart again, pizza for supper again.
• Sunday, more swimming, Lions Head walk with Mia and Nikki (Mia: 4, Nikki:1), burger in a bowl for supper, nice (Ghibli movie) weekend.
• Tune of the week: Everybody’s Talking by Madeleine Peyroux, from the Half the Perfect World album.

Have a fun 2015, crazy kids.