January 2025 Update
I am reviving my blog. As I'm not doing a low-buy year, I have changed my handle to one more apt: Everything New. Everything feels new right now, for me and for everyone, and I hope the name change and posts speak to the current moment, personal and broader. Instead of doing a no buy this year I am focusing on 222 goals related to travel, work, personal development, and my interests over my first 30 years of life: yes, I am turning 30 in October and I am trying to make a year that honors–a temporal rather than geographic monument to–who I've been and plan to be.
In addition to tracking these goals, I wanted to return to this blog as an outlet for cultural criticism. There are a few posts from my previous stint that my boutique readership likes to remind me of: my analysis of the Wall Street Bets phenomenon and this essay on the plush discounts that my credit cards afford me are oft brought up by my longtime fan, though if I may suggest a personal favorite to interested readers it is this short meditation on the geography of advertisements. With, as the perspicacious must admit, the world not lacking in advertisements and credit cards, such cultural analysis finds a culture yearning to be analyzed. So I hope to talk a little bit about those things. Productivity, self-help, personal finance, culture: blogs, so often made of these, have a certain allure, no? And I, so allured, am returning.
To start off, I am going to post a brief summary of the goals that I accomplished this past month. This will start a monthly series of such posts so that I can track my progress and relay any insights therein gleaned.
Go to a zoo
On January 1st I went to the Oregon Zoo. I added this goal because I thought it would be an easy and fun one, and I think that your goals for a year should be about having a good year, not about being productive, and so a lot of my goals are leisure goals. Most of my goals look more like this than anything else, and I like that I set such goals intentionally because I like the intent behind them: the intent to have fun.
Sensory deprivation tank
I’ve always been fascinated by sensory deprivation tanks, but I think that’s because there was a Hawaii Five-0 episode where someone got tortured in a sensory deprivation tank, and I think there’s something morbid and fascinating about the fact that a torture device has been repurposed as the height of wellness. I found it very relaxing and I’d recommend trying one.
Advanced Excel tutorial
This is a work goal, but also a personal one as I often use spreadsheets to pilot my life, be it through budgets or travel itineraries. Which is to say I’ve already mastered most of the features that one would consider to be “advanced” in Microsoft Excel, but there are a few esoteric ones I wanted to learn. I watched some YouTube videos on VBA and Userforms, as well as some of the more advanced functions like INDEX and MATCH. After watching these tutorials, I played around with these features myself and made a little “cookbook” of sorts, with examples of all of the features I learned and how to use them.
Learn Power BI
PowerBI is Microsoft’s dashboarding tool. Popular with my company’s clients, this was a work goal of mine. I have, since completing this goal, made a number of updates to dashboards currently in use by my company’s clients, so I feel safe marking this down.
Learn baking
I had a baking day with my mom. I had never baked before, but I made seitan buns and brownies and am proud of how they turned out. I definitely want to do more of this as the year continues.
Travel abroad
In the month of January I visited Mexico City and Bogota because the air quality was bad in Los Angeles on account of the Eaton and Palisades fires. I hadn’t traveled abroad since 2019, and so traveling abroad was one of the first things that I had added to my list of goals this year. I had expected to get to this later in the year, but the state of Los Angeles presented something of a disguised opportunity.
Xavier Renegade Angel
Xavier Renegade Angel is a fast-paced and slick cult tv show from the aughts that’s become quite popular in my corner of the algorithm: “Are you so dumb you even answer rhetorical questions” “I don’t know do you” is a clip from the show I see memed about a good bit so I decided I should watch the full thing. It’s good. Nothing quite like it - except maybe other aughts Internet comedy or the work of Ryan Trecartin, maybe some of Undertime Slopper’s recent stuff on TikTok.
Stay at an airport lounge
Another day in the life of a credit card hacker! People who know me know I obsess over credit card points. My AmEx card gives me free access to the Centurion Lounges, a great benefit during domestic and international travel. For international flights, where you should get to the airport three hours early in order to check your bags, lounge access is plush as hell. I stayed once in the LAX Centurion Lounge, and twice in the Mexico City lounge. In the Mexico City lounge I got a complimentary shoe shine: everything really is cheaper when you are rich.
Study Spanish abroad
There are only two languages wherein I feel I can express my thoughts at length and those are English and Spanish. I only ever studied Spanish in high school and university, and have never lived with Spanish speakers or in a Spanish-speaking country. This year I wanted to improve my Spanish by speaking Spanish in a Spanish-speaking country, and in January I did so by going on a number of dates in Mexico City. Dates, especially successful dates that run for hours, are illuminating lessons into a language, and I do feel much better about my facility with the Spanish language having gone on them.
Visit South America
Prior to 2025, I had traveled internationally (in chronological order) to Africa, Europe, North America and Asia, leaving only South America, Oceania, and Antarctica. In January, I visited Bogota, Colombia and now only have two continents left on my list.
Look rich
I bought some nice boots and a nice leather jacket in Colombia, as well as a good suitcase and a wallet. I wanted to improve my wardrobe and have something high-end to wear, and I am happy with my purchases in Colombia.
Go to an aquarium
Similar to my zoo goal, the point is to have a fun year, not to maximize productivity. I wanted to go to an aquarium. In Mexico City, I visited Acuario Michin, a large aquarium housed in a luxury mall. This was one of my dates so I learned a lot of fish-themed Spanish vocab.
Go to a jazz club
I had always wanted to go to a jazz club but never had. So I went to an Elvis night at Jazzatlan in Mexico City. I highly recommend it: great vibe and a wonderful mocktail menu.
Go on a ghost tour
This is another goal that seemed dead-center in the sweet spot for “easy to accomplish” and “fun to do.” I went on a ghost tour of Coyoacan, the rustic Mexico City borough that Frida Kahlo called home and it was one of the most miserable experiences of my life! But, it’s a long story. Ask me about it.