GTD #25: Memory Blender

Didn't run this month but rediscovered my love of cycling. Just as important, I'm confirming that yoga has consistently been the easiest way for me to stay in shape and I'm passionate about it. Running has always felt like a grind that I had to challenge myself to push through, but lifting weights and yoga has always felt right. The yoga comes from my childhood love of martial arts and anime; it's physical and mental discipline without putting up hands. Running felt like something I should do, like it's healthy and good for discipline, but it's not at the heart of who I am or what I care about. Maybe that's why I've been dragging my heels to complete this project. Of course I'm a lazy bastard, but I never really did want to be king of the hill, you know? It's like how some people don't want to be doctors but it seemed like what they should do, so they spend years in school forcing themselves into a mold they never liked to help patients they don't really care about. And yeah, sure, they're doctors, but if it wasn't for them, what was it all for?

Three years in, I'm finding daily joy in yoga but I'm dragging my ass just to run one marathon. Can't be an industry leader in an industry I'm not excited about. Well, maybe you can. But as Skepta said, that's not me.

Cycling gives me a feeling just like surfing - effortless carving, connecting with nature and others. Sendō continues to be the vehicle that pushes me towards my passions and the world. Let's go!

October 1st, 2025 to October 31st, 2025

Long story short: I became a WFH deadbeat because life got too hard for an emotionally unstable yuppie. Now I'm trying to redeem myself by running a lot and talking about it. Hopefully you find this entertaining enough to subscribe, tell a friend and take on The Challenge.

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Nothing super long this month, but I'm proud to have hit 15 practices. For me a good month would be 20+ practices, the majority being 30 minutes or longer, and at least once hour long session. Mixed it up a few times with vinyasa flows but mostly an ashtanga month. When I took a couple weeks off in the middle of the month I really felt the lack of mobility, and I developed a pain in my hips. I wasn't living healthy so that's part of it, but it's so clear how crucial yoga is to my general wellbeing. Can't afford to let off the gas. Running doesn't excite me, but yoga at least is something I can respect and enjoy in some moments.

Tulsa King is a an excellent show on Paramount Plus. It stars Sylvester Stallone as a New York mobster who spends 25 years in prison because he refuses to snitch on his gang; but when he gets out, the mob wants nothing to do with him and sends his ass to Tulsa, Oklahoma. There he's got nothing but his wits and uses that to build an empire. This is certainly a show that's by the books in many ways - old gun, new crew, pulled back into the same old nonsense. But Sly has such a fun charm in this show, because yes he's playing a mobster, but this is a mature man who's lost most of his life to a cause that didn't appreciate it, yet he's still trying to walk the right path. He's got this laidback, silly charm to him. This is another Taylor Sheridan banger, the guy behind Yellowstone, and while this is another machismo show, there's a lot more wisdom than bravado here. Guys admit their mistakes, ask for advice, and when people get angry or explosive, it's not seen as cool but foolish. I've ripped through several seasons of this show in the last few months, Season 3 is currently on-going and so far, so good!

Don't go anywhere! Sendō: GTD will be back after a short break.

The Outsider Who Redefined Surfing

Laird Hamilton is one of those rare athletes who changed their sport without ever really competing in it. Born in 1964 in San Francisco and raised on Oʻahu’s North Shore, Hamilton grew up surrounded by the power and mythology of surfing—but from the start, he approached it differently. While most surfers were chasing trophies and tour points, Hamilton was chasing moments: bigger waves, new frontiers, and the limits of what a human body could handle on water.

Rejecting the competitive circuit, he built his career around innovation and adventure. He pioneered tow-in surfing, which allowed riders to tackle waves once thought impossible, and became synonymous with big-wave surfing at places like Jaws (Peʻahi) in Maui. He’s also credited with popularizing stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) and experimenting constantly with new equipment, techniques, and even fitness regimens that blended balance, breath, and raw power.

Hamilton’s career has been less about fame and medals, and more about the philosophy of mastery—doing things his own way, on his own timeline. He embodies a kind of restless creativity that treats the ocean as both canvas and teacher. In an industry often defined by sponsorships and contests, Laird Hamilton built a life around self-reliance, discipline, and fearless exploration—proof that the purest version of success isn’t always measured in trophies, but in the size of the waves you dare to ride.

Back to Sendō: GTD! Hope you learned something new.

Unedited manic ramblings, typically after a run.

10/8/2025

First update of the month, huh? Truth is that I've been pretty useless lately. Just need to be consistent with the right things to get out of the black hole of my internal world. Four yoga sessions this month, OK start to things. I want to hit at least 20 days this month, and at least 10 runs, so we'll need to stay on this thing. My disdain for my job has made me such a blah person, but the only person that could've made a change is me, so here we are. What's next?

10/14/2025

Not my finest month. Got another yoga session in today at least, so aiming for at 20+ sessions this month and at least 5 runs. No progress on runs; it's still hot as hell in Texas! Middle of October, it's 95+ in the middle of the day. I hate to say it but I know my time in Texas is in the end game. Not quite sure where my main estate will be on the eastern seaboard, at least I've got the vision of where I need to live, where I want my second home to be, it's just the fun part of getting the money to make that happen. At least I know what I want my next cars to be as well. Stupid shit, I know. But I need to keep motivating myself.

10/20/2025

It's been a quiet month for running, that's for sure. But that's OK - life is getting better. I mean, my head is on the chopping block in a lot of aspects in life, but I'm feeling just charismatic and hopeful enough that I might be able to get my way out of this one. Or maybe not, and it's the end of the adventures for the kid. Not sure what I've gained in all of this time-wasting, but my hope is that I can take some of this freedom and open-mindedness and joy and merge my inner world with the outer world, and make it fun for myself and my friends and family. I may not be able to change the world, but I can give my family a wonderful life. All this rambling just means that I'm trying again. You hear me world? Today, I'm trying again. From here on out, it's only short breaks in the war of life.

10/27/2025

Not a lot of updates this chapter but not a lot of meaningful progress in my life. Ultimately I've never been good at living in the real world. I was motivated, pushed, encouraged by others to be present in life, especially in college and the years afterward. I'm so grateful for my college friends, I was really a deeply insecure weird nerd and they helped bring me out of my shell. But what I regret is that I didn't turn back towards the people in high school and earlier who were my friends and pushed me forward in life. I just shed them, because I was ashamed of who I was, a weird nerd, and I didn't want to be associated with weird nerds. Funny enough, I was still in the weird nerd after ditching my friends, now I was just alone. It's not as melodramatic as all that, but the point remains is that I've been carrying around shame and self-hatred, even as it's become more subtle. I may not be cutting myself but keeping myself in a stupor 24/7 is just as harmful, and just as disrespectful to all of the sacrifices that my family made and all of the kindness and goodwill that others have given to me.

I loved the idea of superheroes and alter egos. The person I didn't want to be disappeared and a version of myself appeared that was helpful to the world, that had fantastical powers, that had a purpose. I felt how Peter Parker felt on a spiritual level, and I didn't have any solutions other than videogames and anime. But here I am again, living in the real world, back on my bad behavior because I've been too cowardly and lazy to live as myself. I think about how strong my mom is, how strong my partner is, how strong so many people are across the world because they show up and live as themselves, doing the best they can. I haven't even done that in these last few years.

Sendo has been the lifeboat. It's been my secret, my superhero alter ego, that's kept me writing, that's kept me pushing to be creative in the real world. I had hoped that somehow this website would spread like wildfire and make me rich, and that's how it would be successful. But instead I'm looking at it like this; this site is a successful is if I take everything I've learned and built and done here, and apply it to my real ego with everything I've got. That'll lead to real change. That'll lead to true happiness, and kill the need to be stoned and disconnected in order to tolerate this world.

That ain't the way. Let me show you the way.

10/30/2025

This project, this idea, this organization has changed my life. It's kept it going at least. This is something I've always wanted - the dojo means atelier; a place of my own where I can develop into the person I need to be. This site continues to improve, and this month I've made progress on my training app, something that's been in the back of my mind for years. I'm writing more and more, and learning to write different types of things. Or rather, this is something I know I should've been doing, and lately I've been able to focus a bit more to work on them, and that's exciting. I didn't run once this month, but for once I'm getting that it's OK. I really don't like running, and while the pursuit of an ultramarathon motivated me over these last few years of being a lazy deadbeat, it hasn't electrified me. But it's gotten me closer to writing about, and being passionate about, the things I really care for. Midori Sendo won't make me a million dollars this year, but it's the vehicle of self-improvement that'll lead me to a million dollars next year. Exciting, right?

Here's an article about the creating of the PlayStation startup sound. I was editing a video for my cycling project and found this really interesting:

How Takafumi Fujisawa Created the Original PlayStation’s Startup Sound

In a special guest post, Game Informer interviews the creator of the audio clip that preceded some of gaming’s greatest adventures.

PlayStation.BlogJeff Cork

10/31/2025

Halloween! Spookiest day of the year. Closing out the month without a single run, but I rode my bike a few times this week and that's been enjoyable. Today was a fun morning; after a couple early AM calls I needed to reset my brain so I hit the trails behind my neighborhood for twenty minutes. It's finally chilly here in Austin so I threw on some jeans and a sweatshirt, got the helmet on and hit the road. It's a fat tire electric bicycle, which means I can throw myself onto any road surface and generally be fine, so after making a couple quick turns off my block, I ended up on the maintenance trails used by the water company around here. These are tight, narrow gravel roads in between neighborhoods and farmland, with pockets of mud and loss terrain hidden all over. It's kind of like a hidden network around the neighborhood, and it's usually populated by lost cows and deadbeat teenagers, so it's a nice escape on a chilly midmorning session. Huge mud puddles though, as I reached the end of the dirt road at the end of my street, I dropped down about a foot onto the maintenance trail and a nice, sticky geyser of brown mud shot right into my crotch. Should've kept the fenders on, because that mud splattered all over my jeans, sweatshirt, helmet, even got a lil on my tongue I think. There was a maintenance worker in a high-ves vest chilling in a chair at the entrance of the trail; he was staring at his phone up until I hollered as that geyser went up my pants. Then I almost fell over because the gravel of the maintenance trail was much looser than the dirt I was riding on, so I lost traction and hopped off the bike. Tons of fun; I love how spontaneous the adventures with this bike can be.

See you for the next one.

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