Ketosis is the new Linux…

• Week of 18-24 July.
• Health week, 1/3.
• I’m trying to see if I can do a 10kg transformation (muscle gain + fat loss) in 3 weeks. It’s a bit nuts, but let’s see.
• Monday, podcast walk to the office, busy day, left the office after dark, phone chat with Mia, keto supper, some reading.
• I think my t-shirt should say: hacker for good.
• Tuesday, up early, TiTea, gym, visited the #TableTopTuesday crew at Strolla again – catch up chats with Max, Dave and Heleen, office – two interviews, haircut at Wim Coiffeur – probably the best haircut I’ve ever had – like something out of a Wes Anderson movie, sunset walk to Clifton, cooked a healthy veggie meal for Wouter and Zander, tinkered with a blog post, read a book.
• At the end of the day you should be excited to be alive.
• Wednesday, 24h fast day, swim, steam bath and cold showers, Lean Startup Coffee at Truth, catch up chat with Max and Max and Chregan at Origin, office, rainy day run back to my car, did some reading about co-living trends, I updated my Health Hacking posts.
• Be fearless.
• What are you hungry for? (not a food question)
• By recording everything you are missing everything.
• I’ve been trying a few different podcasts. I like Bulletproof Radio.
• Thursday, office, interviews, updated the Octotel website and wrote a newsletter for the ISPs, we installed 100Mbps fibre for Pieter vH – he sounded super happy, dinner with the Treeshake Network at Mr Chan in Sea Point – cool group of people – Dave, Heleen, Johann, Tim etc – super geeky, always nice to be around smart people, good fun.
• Dave had an interesting comment, he thinks it’s actually good to be a bit jaded with your day job.
• Ketosis is the new Linux – I sat next to a guy who has been on a keto diet for 6 years – obviously a Slackware kinda guy.
• INBOX ZERO! – it’s been a while.
• Friday, TiTea with turmeric and matcha, gym, a few cold showers, office, I ran out of podcasts to listen to, fetched Mia, our usual biltong stop, drove to Cape Town, cocktails and mocktails and cheesecake at Strolla with Georg and Mia, Mia and I went to go see My Fair Lady at Artscape – all dressed up, good fun.
• Saturday, Mia and I attempted to go and open a bank account for her again at Standard Bank – Thibault Sq – rocked up with all the right paperwork, but no – brain dead logic, matcha flapjacks with coconut blossom sugar and a raw organic cacao jar at Sheckters RAW organic – yum, BIA machine visit – Mia is now 156cm 46kg, device upgrades and backups, nap, Mia made a birthday card for Georg, we fetched Anton from Van Hunks, Georg’s 40th birthday party at Ricks with all the usual suspects, lots of fun, thanks Georg – happy birthday, time well spent.
• Sunday, tea, Day of the Tentacle Remastered – such a cool game, sunny winters day, Mia watched old Hardy Boys episodes while Michael and I did some aquaponics hacking – we ditched the bell siphon idea and finished all the plumbing – works well now, I cooked a super healthy lunch with some keto mousse, nap, cocktails and mocktails and pizza with Georg and Al and George at La Vie, more keto mousse, we watched The Royal Tenenbaums again (and skipped a few scenes), Mia really liked it, kinda forgot to iron Mia’s school clothes – bad dad.
• Fun weekend with Mia.

• “I’m not talking about dance lessons. I’m talking about putting a brick through the other guy’s windshield. I’m talking about taking it out and chopping it up.” — Royal Tenenbaum

Have a fun week, crazy kids.

Robotics, Wes Anderson movies and writing in bars…

• Week of 11-17 July.
• Monday, dropped Mia off at an EDRO robotics workshop in Woodstock with some left-over pizza as a snack – winning at this dad thing, office, fetched Mia from robotics, a healthy lunch at Suprette, sunset walk to Clifton with Mia, more Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, a drink at Caprice and more IJFA while I updated my blog, Col’caccio’s with Mia and Dan – we chatted farming and off-grid living.
• Coffee is a drug.
• Tuesday, Earl Grey tea with Mia at Superette, dropped Mia off at her robotics workshop, bumped into Dave and Max and had a chat at Strolla (TEN / Treeshake Network), office, fetched Mia, paleo lunch at Food Fitness Factory in De Waterkant and some plumbing supply shopping, tea with Eugene, some aquaponics tinkering with Michael – we added a snorkel to our bell siphon design – needs more work, Mia finished her Indiana Jones game – cool ending.

• “To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time.” — Leonard Bernstein

• Wednesday, dippy egg soldiers with Mia at Superette, dropped Mia off at robotics, catch up chat with Max at Rise, Angelberry stevia froghurt around the Civic Centre, wayleave meeting at the City transport department, office, sunset promenade walk (10k steps).
• You hunt, I’ll gather. I read this and I thought, somehow we’ve build a society where it does not make rational sense to have children.
• Eight Hip Stretches That Counter the Effects of Sitting All Day

• “By 2030, there will be a 40% greater demand for water than the supply of water available. We’ve got 15 years to solve the water problem.” — The businesswoman running 1,040 miles across 7 deserts for water

• Thursday, podcast drive to the office, pastrami breakfast at Kleinsky’s at 13:00ish, had a Newlands Spring Passionate Blond craft beer at Savruga in the Waterfront – I sat at the bar and typed up this Mindful Hedonist article which I’ve been meaning to write for ages with a Drive movie soundtrack.

• “The new needs friends.” — Anton Ego

• Friday, up early, gym – seems my wrist has healed again, office, Mondiall burger with Jacques and Niel, vitamin shopping, after work drinks on the roof, back to the Savruga bar for some writing – when the barman start to know you…, Cape Town Club with Philippa and friends, Ricks with Al, Hilah and Josh, Van Hunks.
• Paleo diets and multi-vitamins are so 2014.

• “You think you’re looking for an opportunity, but that opportunity usually comes in the form of a person.” — It Takes a Village to Raise an Idea

• What would your t-shirt say?

• “Create meaning for people.”

• Saturday, woke up at Hilah’s house, breakfast and Bloody Marys at Manna (the whitest place in Africa), took a walk down Kloof Street and had Porn Star Martinis at Asoka, we went on this mission to find Outrage of Modesty, House of Machines, Alexander Bar, dropped Hilah off, in bed early, watched The Royal Tenenbaums again – after listening to the soundtrack in the car over the last few days. Nice to hang out with Hilah, time well spent.
• Sunday, super chilled day, sunset promenade walk with Paul, drinks at Winchester Mansions with Hilah and Paul, phone chat with Mia, watched Life Aquatic again.
• Tune of the week: Paul Simon – Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

Have a fun week, crazy kids.

Birthdays and snow globes…

• Week of 4 to 10 July.
• Monday, my birthday, podcast walk to the office, lunchtime walk, quick catch up with Paul (who was having tea at our house when I arrived home) – somehow it felt like the end of a very long weekend, fixed my bicycle, took a sunset bike ride with Philippa along the promenade (my first cycle since I fell on my face at AfrikaBurn), we stopped for a drink at Strolla in Bantry Bay, dinner at Tash’s house with Philippa (Little Tel Aviv alpha female club) – chats about keto diets, birthday cupcakes with a candle to blow out – thanks! – had to cycle up the hill in the cold to get home – makes you feel alive I guess.
• I might soon expand my dinner conversation past a) growing vegetables without soil, and b) eating only fats and protein.
• Seven new people started working at Octotel this week, two in our office.
• I bought some adventure games for Mia (and me) on Steam: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, LOOM, Day of the Tentacle Remastered, Grim Fandango Remastered, The Dig… all for ~R175. Bargain.
• When We Were Kids – AfrikaBurn

• “I want to be proud of what I do.” — Tash, about careers.

• “Cocaine enthusiasts soft rock.” — Paul, about Fleetwood Mac

• Tuesday, rainy day, podcast drive to the office, lunch special at Goloso with Pieter – we chatted innovation games, some blogging and red wine on a cold rainy night at Shin Thai, in bed early.
• Wednesday, podcast drive to the office, catch up chat with Joseph, some aquaponics tinkering at home with Michael – Anton joined us, after I bumped into him on a promenade cycle – the new pump works much better.
• Thursday, podcast drive to the office, Shrek flapjacks for lunch, fetched Paul, awesome Chardonnay tasting at Caroline’s in Strand Street – including four Grand Cru French Chardonnays, Paul’s birthday dinner at Hussar Grill in Mouille Point with Al and some great red wines.
• I generally think I get a bit grumpy round about this time of winter.
• Friday, some strange and interesting lucid dreaming, podcast drive to the office, interviews, a quick lunch with Paul, fetched Mia, we got some biltong, fetched Mia’s phone, a walk around Jan Marais Park in Stellenbosch – I figured I was a bit tired of the snow globe by the sea – so we should hang around the snow globe in the winelands for a while, a drink at Stomme Jonge, a drink at De Warenmarkt, calamari and tiramisu at De Cameron (old favourite) – a few interesting dinner questions, back to Cape Town, Wouter made hot chocolate, Mia and I played a bit of Grim Fandango, 11h sleep.

• “If you’re depressed, you’re living in the past. If you’re anxious, you’re living in the future. If you’re at peace, you’re living in the present.” — Lao Tzu

• “Bad decisions make good stories.”

• Saturday, more Grim Fandango Remastered, Shrek flapjacks at Sheckters RAW organic gourmet with Mia (Matcha flapjacks), a sunny promenade walk – general Ward 54 snow globe thing to do on a sunny Saturday, I did some aquaponics tinkering while Mia played Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis again – I managed to get most of the plumbing done after Michael dropped off some parts, another one of Paul’s birthday dinners at Charango in Bree Street – Mia took her laptop along and played more IJFA – the tuna tacos were really good, 11h sleep.
• Nice hanging out with Mia. She’s cool.
• Mia says her spirit animal is a chameleon.
• Sunday, mid-winter summers day, tea, IJFA, I introduced Mia to Shazam and installed a few apps on her phone, lunch at The Camps Bay Retreat with Mia – she linked it – she forgot to save and had to play a big part of the game again – which I think was cool – she could have just quit, Al joined us for a beer, a walk around the garden with Mia, an epic nap, nice sunset, fetched some certified docs from the Camps Bay Retreat (which Al brought, and I forgot), pizza at Col’Caccios in Camps Bay with Mia – Mia preprepared four dinner questions and they were very good – including: What things did our civilization do wrong?, gelato, time well spent.
• Tune of the week: The Prodigy – Stand Up

Have a fun week, crazy kids.

Birthday weekend in Hemel en Aarde…

• Week of 27 June to 3 July.
• Yeah, this post is late, had a bucket load of notes to process.
• Monday, dropped Mia off at a school thing (she arranged a sleep over with a friend), gym, sauna, cold showers, podcast drive to the office, a walk around the Waterfront, a Newlands Spring beer at Quay 4, moules frites winter special at Den Anker with Paul – very good mussels and Belgium blonde beer, chats about how love needs to be a struggle and how Cape Town girls are probably too busy for dating because they are making cat suits at home, gelato, time well spent.
• I finally caught up with listening to all the episodes of the Tim Ferriss show.
• Sulking stems from a form of magical thinking.

• “Be lesser, do more.”

• “It’s profoundly counter-intuitive for us to think of ourselves as mad. We seem so normal and mostly so good to ourselves. It’s everyone else who is out of step… and yet maturity begins with the capacity to sense and, in good time and without defensiveness, admit to our own craziness. If we are not regularly deeply embarrassed by who we are, the journey to self-knowledge hasn’t begun.” — Alain de Botton

• Tuesday, woke up at 3am in my work clothes – you would think I’m grown up enough to not do this kind of thing anymore, podcast walk to the office, lunchtime walk – found a heater for the aquaponics farm, ice cream sandwich from Crumbs & Cream, left the office after dark, winter special dinner at La Boheme with Gery, Wouter and Stephen… nice to see Gery – he still wears both his AfrikaBurn wristbands – nice Dorrance Chardonnay, tiramisu, time well spent.

• “You have to enjoy your life. Life is an adventure.” — Gery

• Wednesday, I was feeling a bit under the weather, coffee with Gery, dropped some stuff at storage and fetched Mia from the movies, aquaponics shopping at Builders Warehouse with Mia, got some biltong, storage visit, podcast drive to Cape Town, assembled two metal shelves for the aquaponics farm with Mia, we watched That Sugar Film… worth a watch.
• Stephen suggested I look into stretching my pec minor muscles to relieve shoulder tension – so I bought a broom and started doing this in the morning. Works well.
• S.O.L.H. – works well as a general disclaimer. It’s fine to change your mind.
• Note to self: go get lost in Japan.
• Thursday, dropped Mia off for a holiday programme outing – we worked through some interesting questions on the drive there, like – why it’s important to be calm and what it means to be reasonable, drove to Cape Town, interviews, lunch with Philippa at Simply Asia – we solved most of the world’s problems, Techstars Cape Town demo day at The Lookout, Techstars event on the 31st floor of the Absa building with Cath and Paul, Aces with Paul and Laura.
• Two of my office photos ended up here.
• Friday, drove to Hemel en Aarde valley with Paul, stopped for a springbok pie at Peregrine farm stall, braai with Al, Hilah and Paul – Al booked the same cottage as last year, birthday cake and candles – thanks!
• Saturday, chocolate cake for breakfast with a Crowded House soundtrack, weekend market at Hermanuspietersfontein, wine tastings at Bouchard Finlayson and Sumaridge with Paul, Al, Hilah and Lientjie, awesome lunch at Creation – eight course food and wine pairing – Michael, the wine maker opened some of their flagship wines for us, Claus and Daniel (aka Sim City and Sim Farm) joined us for drinks at the cottage, Al opened two bottles of Graham Beck Cuvee Clive, fun evening.
• The Bouchard Finlayson Chardonnays are nothing short of spectacular.
• Note to self: book a house in Hemel en Aarde for my 40th. I still have not been to Spookfontein.
• Sunday, took a morning drive with Al, wine tasting at Domain Des Dieux with an Edith Piaf soundtrack with Paul, Fleetwood Mac and Pearl Jam drive to Cape Town – chats about Point Break and a pretty scary story about how one of Paul’s girlfriends actually almost killed him, peperoni pizza at La Vie, phone chat with Mia, super weekend – time well spent.

Have a fun week, crazy kids.