1SE - Winter 2024

When I started this 1 Second Everyday project, I recognized that throughout the years, many happy memories could one day become sad memories - reminders of loved ones passed, beloved pets, traumatic events, estranged friendships, ended relationships. The purpose is to remember what is real, not what is ideal.

This winter was the Winter of the Butterfly. The long, warm blooming season brought them in droves and I enjoyed experiencing their daily visits, watching them spend their whole day sucking the nectar of the Gregg's mistflowers. Eventually, the world got colder, life left the garden and the butterflies flew on. And so did I. The life I knew for 8 years came to an end and I transitioned to a new home, a new neighborhood, and a new future. Like the butterflies, I've found a temporary waystation for the season. Like the garden, this waystation - an airbnb - is open to many travelers from all over and since I live here as a more permanent resident than the others, I get to learn the ins and outs in the hopes of replicating a similar waystation in the future. This summer, I plan to find and buy my first house and to convert it into a home for myself and a waystation for travelers. And yes, it will probably have its own butterfly garden eventually!

Travel life was quite incredible this season. Seeing NYC for the first time was nearly as difficult to comprehend as seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time, and in many ways, they are not dissimilar in scale, just in opposite directions. We also got to travel with my grandparents around the western Caribbean and through the entire Panama Canal, which at times felt like sailing through a giant grave given how many died excavating it. I tried to imagine Mark Twain sitting next to me watching the gargantuan New Panamax ships pass from lock to lock and what he might have to say about it all. I'm sure he would have preferred the leisurely route to the land traverse he took through Nicaragua.

Given the change in circumstances, I've suspended some hobbies (gardening, bonsai society, Hòn non bộ, fancy cooking) and picked up some new hobbies (indoor climbing, ebikes, book clubs, film club, regrowing long lost hair) and some hobbies continue virtually unchanged (gym, trivia nights, board game nights)... c'est la vie!

I will never regret the brief moments it takes to remember to capture these seconds and I will forever be thankful for ALL of the memories. Cheers to another scorching summer!

1SE - Winter 2023

Every six months, I post my biannual 1SE update and the kind of cool thing about that is that every six months, it gives me a chance to reflect and to envision what projects/hobbies/goals I want to focus on in the coming six months.

Last October, I did some serious thinking and decided that it was time for me to cash out of Mosquito Nets USA, the company I started at age 20 and operated for over a decade. My last day was Dec 31 and the company will continue under new ownership, but for basically the first time in my adult life, I'm not currently a business owner - at least, not for a few more weeks.

In the interim, I decided to become a bit more connected with my local community, so I became a member of Phoenix Bonsai Society and the Central Arizona Butterfly Association, and I started an unpaid internship at a local ice cream shop, slinging scoops and learning about brick & mortar operations.

In the garden, I built my first version (1.0) of a Hòn non bộ landscape pond and expanded the butterfly garden in order to become officially certified as a Maricopa County Pollinator Pathway core garden. I'll be starting on version 2.0 of the Hòn non bộ pond this summer.

On a personal note, last week marked 15 years since the passing of my maternal grandfather. I still miss him a lot and would give anything for a few years of 1SE videos with him, but I'm really thankful for the memories stored in my mind. 5 years ago, on the 10th anniversary, I wrote a blog post about how angry and disappointed I was in my younger self for not really being there in his last few weeks of enduring cancer, but last week, I felt very different and no anger towards my younger self... but I still wish he were here and know that I will feel that way for the rest of my life.

I'm really encouraged to see some friends have recently started their own 1SE projects and I am really excited for that, as I think this project has been one of the most impactful life habits for me personally. Consider trying it for yourself for a few weeks!

1SE - Winter 2022

Six more months of friends and family, digging and planting, and exploring the Southwest.

My hands have become extremely rough the last few months, but I love spending time in the yard and slowly transforming barren ground into a butterfly garden. My 8 year dream of planting a jacaranda tree is complete and just in time for blooming season.

In the comments below, you can find the 1 Second Everyday for Summer 2021. I did not post it publicly in October because of some sadder moments but it documents my summer of making stuff at Phoenix Forge and connecting with friends old and new.

Thanks to everyone for the great memories and for being part of the journey of life

1SE - 2019 to 2021

Six months ago today, my last childhood dog, Cooper, died. I knew his time was coming, but the actual day came unexpectedly.

As the pentobarbital coursed through his veins and slowed his shallow breaths, I reflected on how quickly his life had come and gone. Only thirteen years earlier, when he was three months old, I had pulled him out of the frigid water of our swimming pool where he had slipped in while chasing Scrappy around the pool decking; I can vividly remember his tiny face peeking out of the oversized bath towels wrapped around his shivering body.

One at a time, the days had added up to Cooper’s lifespan. Having moved out a few years ago, I was sad that I missed so much of his later life, but very glad to be there with him at the end. In his last few years, I had periodically captured dozens of candid moments of his life for my on-again, off-again 1 Second Everyday film project; I frequently revisit those clips.

In 2019, I had resumed 1 Second Everyday, but when Covid hit, life - mostly work - became so frenetic and busy that 1 Second Everyday became No Seconds Any Day. The day Cooper passed, I realized that I needed to document life with more discipline. If I don’t document life – all the mundane, inane, and urbane parts of it – then I will never truly remember large portions of my life and I will certainly miss many of the finer, less noticeable details. If not for this project, I would not have all those clips of Cooper's life.

So this is the project as it exists now – the six months before Covid, the six months missing, and the six months since Cooper died