Some lighter stuff

Here are some emails I sent recently. I thought I'd just paste 'em in here since it'd be easier than making a really nice blog post.

This one was to a friend to explain the EG conference in Monterey, which is not only "just like TED," but started by the guy who started TED and then sold it. It starts off with a reference to Nicholas Negroponte...

yeah, he was slick. he was looking like james bond, pimping a couple of ladies before we interrupted him. hehe. not really, he's totally cool. I tried to extract some wisdom in our short conversation, but all i got was that he wished he had spent a little less time working and a bit more with family. when my friend asked if he thinks he would have accomplished all he has if he did, he said, yeah probably. either way, working "a little less" would probably be "working 3 times as hard as i do now" for me. It was cool though cause he was relaxing and taking it easy, not worrying too much about networking or anything else. but i guess you can do that when you're a superstar. all the leads come to you.

other than that, the conference was amazing. really great to see people from all different perspectives there. i felt a little sheepish at first since i "snuck a free ride," but people were really welcoming since we were so inquisitive and excited abuot the whole thing. it's just like ted, but you pay way more attention since the dude is 15ft in front of you and steve wozniak is in the row behind. pretty nuts. I just feel stupid for not having a "cause" that i could get people excited about so they'd give me ideas and such. When they put the videos online i'll tell u which ones were good. a lot of times the really unexpected guys will be the best. this dude from the discovery channel was an amazing speaker. just nuts. all the people were nuts really. if you see anyone on that list u want me to tell u more about then i will.

oh yeah, we also chilled with tim feriss (4 hr workweek), who was practically our age but totally amazing. Having read the book, julia expected him to be arrogant, (i haven't read it so i didn't know) but he was pretty cool and actually enjoyed talking to us. we almost got him to come over to our house, but he got caught up somewhere else, and left us a really long message about how he was sorry he couldn't make it. crazy man. you're there and u're like a superstar.

amory lovins - amazing person. julia took a class with him at stanford (he was a guest lecturer), and he's apparently this amazing dude with photographic memory and a track record of getting stuff done. he's just way too smart. i'm so glad he's working on environmental issues, cause he's making an impact.

the illustrator (mark pachter) was amazing, josh bell's violin was really cool to see up close (but not as impressive as the recording i have with henryk c. -- i can explain in more detail later), the egyptian dude zahi hawass was nuts (everyone was laughing at/with him)

this "behavioral economist" dan auriley was really funny (and he came over to our house after), there was this super-girl entrepreneur (who made this headset that you can control a video console with, also came over to our house), and david pogue (NY times tech guy) reminded me of steven colbert. berkeley breathed (author of opus, the comic) was really dirty, and D'amboise was really artsy feeling, but a bit old to be talking for that long.

overall, crazy. not that i needed a motivational boost, but it made anything seem possible. everyone was amazing and so accomplished, yet at the same time, so human. talking to them afterwards reminded me that they're just people and that the change I hope to make is totally within reach, it'll just take time.

As a side note, I kinda wished some of these people were aiming their talents at slightly more "fruitful" projects instead of being the world's best dilletantes. But that's a side note.

anyways, the lesson is, stay motivated, you'll get there for sure

Interesting how often I use the word "crazy." Here's an email about a bike crash that I sent to friend who recently got in a very serious crash in Korea.

how are you doing? i haven't heard much since kevin's last update. have you been moving around at all? i see you keep evading me on chat

i wanted to share a funny story. 2 days ago, i went out to bike on a cloudy day. i went up the usual route up sepulveda then decided to go down coldwater since it start to rain lightly. i was being really careful, but around the last turn, just as it was straightening out, there was flash of 3 instants. one was the front tire slipping out. 2 was the bike instantly metamorphosing from an extention of my body to an uncontrollable mass of aluminum, and me flying above it. 3 was my face smashing into the ground.

i got up and was scared i really hurt myself, so someone called the fire dept, which came in 2 minutes (from the top of the hill). they ambulanced me out just in case, and i got some stitches and xrays at sherman oaks hospital (the one with the big red cross that u can see from mulholland). i guess i got lucky, but damn, it's so easy to make a mistake...

i thought of u for most of the time, of course. i'm doing better now, but my arm hurts and it's tough to move it. anyways, here's a picture. thought u'd enjoy.

i hope things are lovely over there, and that you're enjoying the incredible gratitude you can only experience when recovering. don't lose that sense even after it's better. life is great.

much love (to kevin and mom too)

And here's the pic I attached. Somebody called me "jamface"