GTD #26: Hellfire Parade

What a month! The highlight was visiting Big Bend National Park which runs along the Mexican border in Texas. It was amazing: epic desert canyons, tough hikes through the mountains, beautiful nature all around. Even put my fingers in the Rio Grande and there were wild horses meandering along the river. Wild horses!

When I think of paradise, it looks like the southwest. My mind felt calm and there was a deep sense of peace that permeated my body. I would recommend that anyone visit Big Bend, although the smart time of year to go is in spring. It wasn't insanely hot in November but I saw a lot of humbled people on the trails. The bummer was that one of the main attractions, the Hot Springs Trail, was closed because of the government shutdown. But we saw plenty of epic views, especially the Window Trail, which leads you into the slot canyons. A warning though, the trail is longer than you think and most of it is in the direct sun, so be careful.

I even bought a walking stick painted by the native people, though I spent more money on stuff made in Taiwan. I'm not a hater, I just thought it was funny that I got several shirts, a cowboy belt, pocket knife, knife holster for the belt and vintage flip lighter, all made in Taiwan, deep in Texas along the Mexico border.

We stayed in the town of Terlingua, the main stop outside of Big Bend. Like many desert towns, it looks partially abandoned until you get up close. There's well-stocked restaurants, tourist shops, gas stations, and general stores along the main road. You could check out the Starlight Theatre for live music, VENGA for coffee and supply runs, La Kiva for drinks, Show Me Pizza for pizza...there are a few spots tucked away in the desert. As you wander away from the main road you'll see cabins, tents and casitas spread out along the desert floor where you'll most likely sleep for the night. Man the stars are incredible.

It is dusty and dry but life becomes simple and once again I feel like I'm living out my Red Dead Redemption dreams. I feel restored and inspired. I got a lot of yoga in this month, got some weightlifting and bike rides in, but I've really got to bulk up and eat better. This website has grown and it feels incredible to watch it come together. Thank you to everyone that has supported me along the way. I can't give up! Who knows what's next?

November 1st to November 30th, 2025

Long story short: I'm training hard and talking about it. Hopefully you find this entertaining enough to subscribe, tell a friend and take on The Challenge.

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Didn't ride as much as I should've this month, partially due to a flat tire, but it absolutely was more fun than running. It's just so effortless to jump on a bike and start moving, and yeah you still have to warm up, but the time to doing something fun is so much shorter. Next month I'll aim to do at least 10 rides. It'll be tough to squeeze them in before going home, but it'll have to do.

Found lots of new places in my neighborhood while riding around, but sooner or later I'll have to buy an e-bike rack to really see the city. Loving the e-bike life so far, excited to enter the road of drop bars and "real" cycling as well.

Pretty good with my yoga this month - pushed for more longer sessions and did more sessions than last month. Fell just shy of my 20 session goal but I feel stronger and I've got a bit more clarity rolling around in my head. No magical breakthroughs, no spiritual awakenings, just remembering the lessons I've already learned. And realizing that holy cow, thank God I'm doing yoga daily because I typically feel comfortable in my body, but it's making me sad that I can't convince my family members to try this as a way to help them too.

The Jujutsu Kaisen - Hidden Inventory / Premature Death OST absolutely slaps. The movie came out a while ago and I've enjoyed several tracks on the accompanying album but this month I've been able to listen to it from start to finish. It's a mix of frenetic jazz, rock songs and lots of bittersweet melodies like you'd hear in Spirited Away. It's really shown me that music and sound design are a crucial part of worldbuilding. It's an inspiration for creators in a beautifully packaged form.

My Hero Academia is finally coming to a close and this season has been incredible. Just finished the epilogue episode a few days ago, and I think there's another bonus episode coming next week. But what a show! The story, the characters, the action: it all makes you tear up. The writer is an absolute legend because it really does surprise me how emotional I get watching the show. It's a legitimately inspiring show, and this isn't just about superheroes beating people up, it's an examination of how emotions, good and bad, are carried throughout our lives and across generations.

I haven't watched a single full episode of Breaking Bad this month, but I've rewatched most of the entire series, including Better Call Saul, through YouTube clips. I forgot how great this show is, and while the action is delivered quicker through clips, it's still worth it to watch the show as is; slow, steady, every action counts and is to be obsessed over. What a cool show, from the way it's shot to the subtle details of character motivations and actions.

Bum Life - Charley Ager, Whistler Ski Bum reminds me of "old" YouTube and the early 2000s nostalgia of Handycam footage. It felt novel and weird and interesting - if you had a camera, you were either working on a student project or you were getting paid to make something, so people's feeling about cameras were totally different. In the same way that I watch videos of people from the 80s or 90s and they feel different, it's the same way watching this video - it feels like that time. Weird. It also reminds me of the skate video era, just free-spirited silliness captured on camera.

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

A Life Played in Full Volume

Lee Morgan grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Philadelphia, the kind of place where most kids didn’t end up famous. But from the moment he got a trumpet in his hands, it was clear that he wasn’t built for the ordinary path. He practiced obsessively, absorbing everything he could from the records he loved, and by his mid-teens he was already outplaying musicians twice his age.

At 18, he was invited to join Dizzy Gillespie’s big band. Most people that young would have been overwhelmed, but Morgan wasn’t wired that way. He approached music with a mix of joy and swagger, and audiences felt it. He didn’t just play notes — he punched the air with sound, making the trumpet feel like a living, breathing character.

His breakthrough came with The Sidewinder in 1964, a track that blended blues, gospel, and hard bop into something raw and irresistible. Radio stations put it on heavy rotation. Kids who didn’t even know jazz suddenly knew the name Lee Morgan. Record executives scrambled to bottle the magic, but Morgan wasn’t interested in repeating himself. He followed his instincts instead of the marketplace, which is part of what made him great and also part of what made him hard to manage.

His life wasn’t smooth. Addiction derailed him for years, and for a time he disappeared from the spotlight he worked so hard to earn. But he fought his way back, slowly and painfully, and the music he made afterward had a new emotional weight. Albums like Search for the New Land and Live at the Lighthouse showed an artist who had been broken open and rebuilt himself. There’s maturity there, but also vulnerability. It’s the sound of someone who has looked in the mirror and decided not to back down.

Morgan died young, and tragically, but his story isn’t really about the ending. It’s about what he accomplished while he was here: a kid from Philly who trusted his own individuality enough to ignore the safe route. He didn’t shrink himself to fit expectations — he made the world readjust to him. Musicians still study him because his playing had a fire that can’t be taught. Fans still love him because you can feel a real person inside every note.

Lee Morgan reminds us that success isn’t a straight line and brilliance isn’t always tidy. You don’t have to be perfect to matter. You just have to go all-in on who you are.

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

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Unedited ramblings, typically after a run.

Please feel free to skip to the end.

11/3/2025

Month is off to a good start with two yoga sessions in.

11/4/2025

35 minute yoga session this AM and got a solid afternoon bike ride in.

Important video I found:

11/7/2025

Cycling has been a game changer. I just need to start lifting weights way more frequently, and this is the combo I need to escape the cycle. This is what it's all about. The only issue I'm struggling with is the best way to track my lifts. Maybe I just need to be patient and upload all of my workouts into one app, but I've always been a Notes app lifter. Maybe I'll just go back to that and follow my own 12 week plan, starting today. It would be nice to be yoked for Christmas.

11/10/2025

Been cycling and lifting weights and doing yoga. Rocking a mustache for the time being as I shaved the bottom of part of the goatee. No clue what I'm doing facial hair-wise but it's been good to change it up. Was social yesterday, wonderful dinner at an Italian restaurant. I did a terrible job at being a normal human being, but it was again good because it's showing me where I need to improve. I'm officially out of time - I need to evolve into the next version of myself, now. The level's been cleared for ages and it's time to move forward. I rejected the outside world because I didn't feel like I belonged, but when I look at all of the nerdy stuff that I love, those creations were the result of people being their own weird selves and putting themselves out there, so I have absolutely no excuse. It's time to find what I love, express that love in the world and meet likeminded people. I'll find the way.

--

Maybe it's because it's winter, but I'm feeling the cold hand of an indifferent world wrap it's hands around my throat. I know I've wasted all of these years, I know I've been a coward. I had a horrible meeting just now but the real thing is that I haven't given a shit about my job in years and now I'm alone in my company, just like I'm alone in my life and this world. And it's all my fault: yes I was afraid of the outside world and I didn't want to deal with, and I know I shouldn't have thrown down by sword and given up. But the pain of all of this is good; the deep acceptance that I ain't shit feels good. I feel even more depressed but I feel that I can't keep going any longer like this, it's time to grow up. But that 'growing up' doesn't have to be the death of self, it's really about finding what really motivates and inspires me. This job never did, so I became an absolute bore. And now I feel like it's too late. But I know it's not.

Ugh...

I feel so down. I'm scared, I'm overwhelmed, I'm disappointed in myself, I'm angry. But what comes next?

11/11/2025

11/11 is the original 6/7 because I always get excited every time I see this date on the calendar. Though honestly I feel old, I hadn't heard of this trend until I saw the South Park episode referencing, which is the first time that's ever happened to me. As a perpetually online person, I thought I saw it all. But anyway, what's important is that I've got the design finally in a form that's nearing production. It looks so good, and focusing on cycling over running already makes so much more sense. Just got to crank out high quality articles during 2026 and start shooting as much video and photo as possible. Keep the mind sharp and let this be the vehicle for my creativity.

11/17/2025

Spent the long weekend in Terlingua and Big Bend National Park. Absolutely awesome time. The desert is so peaceful to me, every time I go on a trip I feel like I learn something new about myself in the absolute silence of deep nature. This was a good time of year to go - it's not insanely hot and there weren't a lot of visitors at the park. Terlingua is cool: it's your classic desert town were everything looks half destroyed or abandoned, but when you get up close, there's all sorts of odd little shops and restaurants and cool places to see. It's a seven hour drive from Austin, which isn't that bad. Plus the view that you get on the way there is absolutely worth it: first you pass through the stunning beauty of the hill country and watch as it gives way to sparse towns and then, desert and canyons. It is truly the Wild West in modern day times. The silence, the space, the rough-and-tumble people, it's all so cool. And the coolest part is the mix of the desert locals, who ain't poor like you think, and the tourists that descend onto the town before they make their way into the national park.

Big Bend is cool; it's right along the Mexican border so you can reach the Rio Grande and even cross it into Mexico if you want. There are a couple different big hikes you can do: The Window, Lost Mines and Hot Springs are the big ones. We did The Window and part of the hot springs trail. Stuck my hands in the Rio Grande river which is cool. The the Window hiking trail that we did passes through the Chisos Mountains, and there were warning signs for bears which is neat. I will say that the Window trail has minimal coverage for most of it, so be prepared. Saw one couple vomiting on the side of the road. At least they were together.

Saw a coyote outside of our casita one morning which was really cool. He got spooked and ran off when I opened the door to say hi but it was a magical moment. Best part though was seeing wild horses along the Rio Grande, just meandering around, eating grass and having fun. So epic.

11/18/2025

I want to work on my writing more, so today I'm following an exercise to write a creative piece that's under 500 words. Here it is:

It's Friday morning in the final week of summer, meaning that it's the last gasp of freedom for kids in Eagle Pass, Texas. It's the last day where you can wake up whenever you want to (more or less), hang out with whoever you want and play Fortnite until 10, maybe 10:30PM. PM! Again, more or less.

So with a general sense of dread and self-defeat, eight-year-old Brian Matthews has given up on summer. He's curled up in his go-to hiding spot: the narrow space behind the living room couch where he keeps his Nintendo Switch. It's dark and comforting, and even though he's pretty much an adult, he does feel better when he's down there. Besides, this is a moment of crisis. Even though his parents both left the house for work, Brian feels trapped.

After today, Brian knows he'll spend all of Saturday shopping for school uniforms (pretty much the ugliest stuff you could design for a human being) and then on Sunday, it'll be the church service that never ends, then he's forced to hang out with Bad Breath Billy because their parents are friends, and then he has go to sleep because of the great death: back to school on Monday. It doesn't seem right. Brian is lost in thought on what to do with these final moments of freedom as he curls up behind the couch, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Literally anything," Brian whimpers as he clasps his hands in prayer, "God I'm begging you, please make literally anything happen so I don't have to go to school on Monday. Please."

He squeezes his eyes shut as he hears the slow, steady shuffle of steps up the stairs leading to his front door. He hears the creak of the railing as wizened hands grip them for dear life. A violent coughing fit and a very audible string of swear words.

Grandma.

It's already over, Brian realizes. When his parents aren't home, grandma comes by from her ancient adobe on Farmingdale Lane to watch him, which is reasonable, but she listens to the TV at an insane volume and only watches Judge Judy for hours at a time. The longest session he's personally witnessed was six hours, twenty-three minutes. It's insane. Most importantly, it means that he can't use the TV to play Switch, which means that he'll have to play on Portable mode all day when he's literally stuck at home.

He hears the screen door swing open and his eyes shut squeeze shut. Prayers, mostly rambling, pour of his mouth in a stream as he hears the doorknob of the front door twist and the door groans open wide. He hears one step forward in Orthopedic shoes, then another. The screen door makes that whooshing sound as it glides closed, the front creaks open, and immediately after that, a giant crashing thud. She mumbles something incomprehensible to human ears, then a deep, weirdly long sigh giving way to a primal howl. This continues for several seconds, echoing around the living room, then immediately stops.

Brian opens his eyes. He's facing the wall on the ground, back turned to the door. His breath is still as he listens for a sound. Any sound.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

--

Now look, this isn't good but I just wanted to try write something short, which I haven't done in a long ass time so this is pretty cool!

11/19/2025

The front tire of my e-bike has gone flat and seems like the valve stem is loose. Ordered a $5 tool from Amazon to fix it, hopefully this is the solution. I don't have a e-bike rack yet, so I'm gonna have to figure it out at home.

On the plus side, 35 minute yoga session today. Need to keep ramping up my numbers but this makes 10 sessions for the month and I'm pushing for 10 more.

11/24/2025

Been a few days since I updated the blog side of this but man! The changes continue and it feels better. Big things are that I dropped the Party page for now to focus on the core business, completely redid every Shop item and tightened up the Research Library. Nothing is quite ready yet, I still want sample prints of this original collection of six items, and I know GTD, this blog, needs to keep evolving. But I'm stoked, and today I hit 13 yoga sessions for the month, and they're getting longer. I'm going to try another hour+ ashtanga yoga class at East Austin Yoga, it's time to challenge myself.

Haven't ridden the bike in a few days as I got a flat in my tire inner tube, which meant I had to remove the tire and the tube and replace it. Fun project, something new I had never done before, and it made it me fix the brake calipers on my front tire, which had been wrong from the beginning, but with the wheel off the bike, I had time to focus on this. So two things done to the bike, it's helped me understand the bike a bit better. Maybe someday I'll have a Service section of the site so this could be good training and experience! But man I will say, putting the new tube on the tire and getting it to fit on the rim was really difficult and annoying. I ended up doing it kind of a sloppy way, and my tip for next time is going to be using dish soap to lube up the rim so it's easier for everything to slip into place.

See you for the next one.

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