Hey, thanks for following my updates.

This marks three weeks in a row, so I’m definitely on a roll now. Knowing you’ll see this has been a huge help is committing to share these updates. I also love getting replies. It’s kind of like being penpals, but without having to read my actual handwriting. You’re welcome.

All right. Ready for what’s new?

Cool.

📅 Here’s what’s up this week:

• 🎧 Listening to: Beauty Slap by Permastank, featuring one of our GMB Trainers on the trombone.

• 📖 Reading: The Burning White by Brent Weeks and Team of Teams by Stanley McChrystal.

• 💭 Thinking about: Yesterday was the all-Japan collegiate championships, so I spent a lot of time thinking about the future of Taido and what needs to happen now so we can have a strong organization and highly skilled students twenty to fifty years from now.

• 🚗 I spent five hours this morning getting a new Japanese driver’s license (pic here).

It feels weird jumping through the various hoops to get a license when I have no intention or desire to own a car again, but having an additional form of local ID is always helpful, and I’ll be doing the same thing in a couple of weeks to exchange my pretty HI license for a boring GA one. This kind of life admin pops up at least a couple times a month - sometimes as a very minor task and sometimes requiring me to block out a whole day to manage.

I’ve gotten used to a lifestyle with minimal ties to specific times and locations, so things like visiting a physical bank branch or filling out paperwork at a government office have come to feel a bit foreign. Guess it’s one way to keep myself grounded…

👫 Humans:

• 🥋 Congrats to five American Taido students who passed their black belt exams last week.

• 🎂 Happy birthday, Shiloh. 

✈️ Travel:

• 🍑 I’ll be in Atlanta November 7th-14th. If you’re around, I’ll see you there.

That’s it for now. More in a week.

~ Andy

PS: What’s going on with you?