Tough day? Watch this!

January28

I love this, I watch it a lot :)

Scotland: Mgmt Meetup and Unicorns!

January16

Scotland is an amazing country and I had such a blast ending my two years of travels there for the last ~6 weeks! I really want to go back when its summer, not that winter is bad, but definitely very dark, windy and cold (and maybe extra magical). I had a great time with Mom and Tony who visited right after I got there.

After they split I caught up on a lot of work, went down to London for a lot of work and a lil fun, then an in person management meetup for work, and then a great 10 day break before I headed back home to Arkansas for Christmas. The last 10 days were amazing as Lindsey, Joel, Laura, Lori, Rose, and Steve all visited!!!! Really amazing end to the year! Random pictures below!

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Hemmingway Is Awesome!

January7

My brother got me on a bit of a Hemmingway kick, loving him :)

“They say the seeds of what we do are in all of us, but it always seemed to me that in those who makes jokes in life the seeds are covered with better soil and with a higher grade of manure.”

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2013 Book Summary

January5

With all my traveling 2013 was a fantastic year for reading :), I read 137 books this year which is 9 books shy of my 2012 record of 146. For a list of all of them plus mini reviews go here. Now onto the best of the year…

If you only read 3 books this year I recommend the following:

1. The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism – An utterly amazing book written by a young autistic boy about his autism. Please please please read this!

2. Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture – As a kid who grew up playing wolf 3d and doom this is a must read for anyone who did. A very well written story about the johns and the industry at the time.

3. Vince Flynn’s CIA/Military theory series that stars Mitch Rapp (around 12 books). Such a great series of books and I can’t recommend it enough. Almost as good as Clancy and it dominated my January last year. I’m so sad that he passed away this year.

Best Business Books

1. Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works – An amazing book and one I hope to read every few years to refresh. The best book I’ve read on business strategy. Both practical examples and big picture approaches.

2. Dave Ramsey’s EntreLeadership: 20 Years of Practical Business Wisdom from the Trenches – A great podcast too and just full of nuggets for small business owners.

Best SciFi / Fantasy

1. Brandon Sanderson is a god, he is so good! This year I read Steelheart which is this kinda post apocalyptic future with super villians; and Rithmatist which is just so awesome I can’t explain it. Both are must reads!!

2. Joel recommended The Mote in God’s Eye and I loved it. Crazy sci fi with a twist.

3. Pandora’s Star and the Commonwealth Saga. A huge space epic that is weird but if you stick with it you will love it :). Think wormholes and crazyness.

Real Life Shit

1. Dark Pools: The Rise of the Machine Traders and the Rigging of the U.S. Stock Market – Super well written and a must read for anyone who wants to know why wall street and bankers are destroying your savings/future. We need more regulations on this area of finance!!

2. The Billionaire Who Wasn’t: How Chuck Feeney Secretly Made and Gave Away a Fortune – Amazing story about billionaire Chuck Feeney and how he grew the business, and then how he gave all the money away secretly :). Great read!

Special Topic Of The Year: Sailing Solo Around The World

I got really into sailing books, especially those around the world as it sounds really fun. So I have 3 books I’d recommend as being the best in this genre so far.

1. A Voyage For Madmen – “In 1968, nine sailors set off on the most daring race ever held: to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe nonstop. It was a feat that had never been accomplished and one that would forever change the face of sailing. Ten months later, only one of the nine men would cross the finish line and earn fame, wealth, and glory. For the others, the reward was madness, failure, and death.”

2. Maiden Voyage – “Tania Aebi was an unambitious eighteen-year-old, a bicycle messenger in New York City by day, a Lower East Side barfly at night. In short, she was going nowhere—until her father offered her a challenge: Tania could choose either a college education or a twenty-six-foot sloop. The only catch was that if she chose the sailboat, she’d have to sail around the world—alone.”

3. Across Islands and Oceans – “Across Islands and Oceans is the memoir of twenty-five year-old James Baldwin and his epic two-year, solo circumnavigation in Atom, his trusty but aging twenty-eight foot sailboat.”

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Running Summary 2013…

January5

IMG_3362

For 2013 I ran 713 miles over 111 hours, with my longest run being 15 miles. That is a real slow mile pace but that is partially because when I do treadmill workouts my watch can’t track mile splits and just divide the miles over 10 min which isn’t really accurate. This was a pretty weak year since I was traveling so heavily. I also had a really weak end of year because I did a walking pilgrimage, got injured, didn’t want to run in the icy wind of Scotland the last few months, and then a cold. 2012 was about the same for similar reasons.

I’m looking forward to running in 2014 and having a little more routine :). Apart from just building up a bit more my only plans are to enter some races, and trying to bet my fastest mile time. And the first annual Ben-Joel-Jester race at the end of year :)

This is bwb’s personal blog, so he can share his thoughts with the world, however scary or silly they might be. Plus family and friends can track what I am up to, and where I am in the world.

I am pretty simple. I love Mangos. I love the ocean (although mostly at sunset, as I’m a ginger). I love to travel, eat exotic food, do long bike rides, read, and use my imagination. At some point, I decided it was better to be a pirate captain than an admiral. I am a globalist and see the entire world as my responsibility and playground. And I am married to an amazing woman who makes life even more fun :)! And we are now the proud parents of Calico Jack :).


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