I know I never post anything on this site that often, mainly because with the pandemic and everything in my otherwise mundane boring life, there really isn’t anything new to report. As some of you know I did dabble a bit in cryptocurrency a few years back. You can read more about it here. Anyways, the value of the crypto I got went up a bit so I decided to form some NFTs. You can find my rarible page here filled with the swirlystickman artwork that I created a while back and trademarked and licensed. And if you are wondering what the hell an NFT is, there are various means to search for info on NFTs through your normal internet search engines.

Again, I am always fascinated by new technology, and while I still believe cryptocurrency, be it Bitcoin, Ethereum, Doggy dogg doggystyle coin or whatever the hell it’s called, is still pretty much speculation at its best, one cannot deny that cryptocurrency is finding its way into the mainstream financial sectors especially with its public listings and the buzz and news around it.

NFTs are finding its way into the mainstream as well as a way to digitize art and distribute it. Again, who knows where all this is going and I certainly wouldn’t want anyone to put all of their nest egg or financial savings into this one entity, but crytptocurrency and NFTs are something I don’t mind dabbling in with caution. It’s all about taking calcuated risks that one feels comfortable taking.

I haven’t put a price on my NFTs, and to be honest I don’t know if I ever will. I wonder if anyone will even offer anything for them, or I may just let them sit there and rot. Again, I’m just experimenting a bit in the NFT and crypto world with no real aim or ambition. It’s all just some fun.

So with that said, I hope everyone is staying safe and sane. You can check out my NFT page on Rarible if you like. And as I always say, try to find a way to laugh at yourself even if it means making a silly little NFT profile of your silly little symbol.

Did the old year even end? In all seriousness I hope everything gets better in 2021 to make up for a somewhat lost year from 2020.

I’m testing out some new stuff on this site and had to replace my twitter feed, mainly because I was just being lazy or non-observing or both before I realized the old wordpress format wasn’t working with my old twitter feed. Not that I really care much about these things anyway.

I hope everyone is staying safe during these times. Always remember, somehow things could be worse than they really are and that things can always get better (maybe).

Four weeks ago my father passed away, and I was reminded of what it was like when my mother died 13 years ago. I feel extremely fortunate to have had two wonderful parents for such a long time. Not many people get to have that.

It is difficult to know that my two best friends are no longer here to speak with me and give me comfort, but, alas, this is an inevitability that happens to us all.

Over the last few weeks I spent a good deal of time in my childhood home and came across many old pictures and even a few home videos. The picture above is from our family visit to India when I was ten years old. I was participating in a Hindu ceremony, hence why I was soaked with water.

A substantial part of me will be forever missing after the death of my father and with the longstanding absence of my mother over these past years. I don’t think anyone really stops grieving after the loss of a best friend, but I will cherish the great memories of the past and take comfort in knowing that I brought some joy to my parents’ lives.

During my time in my childhood home I collected various letters and notes my parents had written and received over the past 45 years since coming to the United States. One note that my mother wrote probably in the early 1980s was in a diary she kept, and it read loosely, “Weep and you will weep alone. Smile, my dear, for if you smile the world will smile along with you.” Those words greeted me here after my arrival back home.

And just like that 2019 is almost over and I am almost 40 years old. I am grateful to have spent a full year in the Pacific Northwest and able to make trips to Europe, Colorado, and Georgia this past year.

A lot has happened this past year and I am grateful for the stability my life in the Pacific Northwest has offered me. I am looking forward to more adventures and even hope to do some more skiing this winter.

Onwards to 2020 and I hope everyone has a safe and happy Christmas and new year!

Ich meine nicht andere Menschen auszuschliessen, indem dieser Post auf deutsch geschrieben wird, aber es ist kaum (und schwer) zu glauben, dass ich in dieser Woche vor 20 Jahren anfing, Deutsch zu lernen. Ich war damals 19 Jahre alt, hatte lange Haare (die schon weg ist lol), und musste irgendeine Fremdsprache für das Studium raussuchen. Und ich bin bis heute ausgesprochen dankbar, dass ich auf die Entscheidung gekommen bin, die deutsche Sprache zum Teil meines Gehirns hinzuzufügen.

Ich war zu der Zeit Student an der University of Georgia und am Ende des Herbstsemesters 1999 wollte ich Deutsch und Internationale Wirtschaftslehre als Hauptfächer haben. Danach hatte ich die Gelegenheit in Heidelberg zu wohnen und zu studieren und ich hatte auch die Möglichkeit in Tschechien zu arbeiten.

So viel hat sich in meinem Leben verändert, indem ich nur halt entschieden habe, mich der deutschen Sprache zu widmen. Zwanzig Jahre später darf ich sagen, dass ich zweisprachig geworden und kreuz und quer durch Europa gereist bin. Und das Allerwichtigste ist, dass ich eine ganze Menge Freunde in Europa habe, die ich mit Sicherheit nicht angefreundet hätte, wenn ich Deutsch nicht gelernt hätte. Und natürlich bin ich ewig dankbar, dass ich meine Verwandte in Deutschland besser kennenlernen konnte und dadurch bis heute eine sehr nahe Beziehung zu ihnen habe.

Was auch für mich sehr wichtig war, ist, dass ich durch das Lernen der deutschen Sprache viel Mut entwickelt habe, Risiken einzugehen und neue Chancen und Möglichkeiten in Angriff zu nehmen. Ich musste selbstsicher (und ein bisschen verrückt) sein, plötzlich mit 25 Jahren Medizin studieren zu wollen. Es war ein harter Weg, aber ich darf heute sagen, dass ich Arzt bin. Und nachdem ich mir die deutsche Sprache zum eigenen gemacht hatte, wollte ich noch eine Sprache zum Gehirn des lieben Abenteurers hinzufügen. Zwar arbeite ich immer noch daran, völlig fliessend auf spanisch zu reden, aber es macht auf jeden Fall Spass, mit anderen Leuten auf spanisch zu reden, auch wenn mein Wortschatz einigermassen eingeschränkt ist. Mindestens fällt es mir leichter durch Mexiko und Südamerika zu reisen.

Tja, wie gesagt, es ist unglaublich, dass ich seit fast einer Hälfte meines Lebens auf deutsch rede. Ich könnte ewig darüber schreiben wie stark geprägt mein Leben von Deutsch und Germanistik wurde, aber ich bin mir sicher, Ihr liebe (und arme) Leser und Leserinnen langweilt Euch schon. Ich will halt schliesslich sagen, dass das Leben ein Hauch ist. Nutz’ jede einzige Chance, neue besondere Erfahrungen und Erlebnisse zu sammeln, bevor es schon weg ist.

It’s hard to believe that it is already June and I have some major trips planned. I will be returning to Colorado for the weekend in a few days and I am looking forward to meeting old friends and climbing and hiking in the warm sunny weather. I think the 5.10d that I struggled up recently will help me for the Colorado altitude.

In 2 weeks (!) I will be in Germany and as you can imagine, I am completely thrilled for this and excited as can be. I still have to work out a few plans but 75% of the trip is pretty much set.

Das Warten hatte eine zu lange Periode aber hat sich auch gelohnt. Ich freue mich darauf, wieder in Europa zu sein und alle meine Freunde und Verwandte in Deutschland zu sehen. Ich bin auch froh, nach Tschechien zu reisen. Die Vorfreude steigt!

Everyone who knows me, knows how much I love basketball despite not having a single fiber of talent whatsoever to even make a layup. And yesterday there was quite a bit of news that got me thinking “with the NBA, hell, you don’t even need reality TV.” (just do a quick search on Dirk retiring, Magic quitting, and DWade retiring, and you’ll have a bunch of cool things to read AND watch for a good 4-5 hours.)

But I digress, the Atlanta Hawks proved EVERYONE (including me) wrong in drafting Trae Young, who will certainly develop into a really great player with all the strides he has made this season. Plus, John Collins has come along great, and ATL will most likely have two top 10 picks in this year’s NBA draft.

A part of me wishes I could be in Atlanta for tonight’s final season game and I do regret that I was not able to attend any Hawks games this year (both away and at home). Simply put, moving from Colorado to the Pacific Northwest and all the various travels and changing jobs etc. etc. etc. couldn’t enable me to attend any NBA games this past season. I plan on changing that come next fall, now that I have settled in well here in Washington state.

And oh yes, I will splurge the money and be sitting courtside. As frugal as I am (when you get rid of $238K in med school debt in 2 years, you know no other lifestyle) this is one of the few things I go all in on with my money. A buddy of mine from my residency days and I usually attend 2 or 3 games a season just to hang out, and plus NBA basketball is, simply put, REALLY AWESOME. Imagine being one of the 450 best people on the planet at a particular skill or talent. That is what the NBA is in terms of all the billions of basketball players on the planet. Truly humbling.

So yeah, watch out! The Atlanta Hawks will be for real as long as they pick well in this year’s draft and continue their development as a team and as a franchise. Tony Ressler and Jami Gertz have been wonderful owners to have, and plus having Travis Schlenk as the general manager and Lloyd Pierce as the head coach puts this Atlanta Hawks team in a great position to continue to develop individual young players into a viable team for years to come.

It has been a LOOOOONG time for this, but I am finally going back to Germany and Czech Republic to visit some wonderful family members and friends who I have missed tremendously these past three years. Normally I like to trek over to Europe once a year, but since 2016 too many things like work stuff seemed to get in the way.

Fast forward to 2019 which is a bit calmer for me now and, hence, I will be able to make this trip come June. My trip will commence on 17. June and end on 7. July.

I am really looking forward to coming to Germany which will include stops near Düsseldorf and Frankfurt. Hopefully, I will be heading over to Stuttgart and Berlin as well before I conclude my trip in the beginning of July in Prague.

As always I know that I am an extremely fortunate person to be able to have lived abroad and still have to opportunity to travel worldwide as well. It is something for which I am grateful.

And just like that, we are already done with January of 2019. I’ve settled in well here in Washington and have even gone up to Canada to do some skiing. I’m going back this weekend so that should be pretty fun. I also am officially in the last year of my thirties so let’s see what lies ahead as I get older and wiser.

I hope later this year to return to Europe as it has been a while since I have visited friends and family in Germany. In the meantime I’ll do some exploring out here in the Pacific Northwest and have fun at it as well.

 

Well,  just shortly after my arrival in the Pacific Northwest, I am heading out on one final trip abroad to South America to round out the year. Before my flight to Chile, I will spend one day in my second home in Athens, Georgia visiting friends.

 

Chile will be country number 28 on my list of countries I have visited. The quest to 50 countries goes on.  I will have to brush up on my Espanol a bit.

After a few days in Santiago de Chile I will fly over the Andes mountains to visit Mendoza Argentina and see my friends there while Die Toten Hosen kick off their Argentina tour.  My stay in Argentina will of course end in Buenos Aires where I have many dear friends.  It will be fun to be traveling around a little bit in South America for about ten days.

Life is about journeys and friendships.  Time to go fly up in the sky.