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A running log

Status

Little updates on what I'm building, learning, and messing with lately. Newest first.

  1. Jul 26, 2026 12:01 AM

    The museum is officially up and open.

  2. Jul 25, 2026

    Three hours in a car to sit for three hours at the airport, to fly home for six. It's a long day.

    But going through some footage from the trip, I found that in one of my one-minute videos I'd caught a lizard running right across the top of the water. Go see it over in my one-minute videos.

  3. Jul 24, 2026

    Just finishing up the week down here in Costa Rica, and my goodness, have I fallen in love with the rainforest. Can't wait to put the video together and share it. In the meantime, I've been dropping little clips from the trip into my one-minute videos.

  4. Jul 22, 2026

    This 45th birthday trip to Costa Rica has been like no other. Canyoning down 100-foot-plus waterfalls, whitewater rafting, the wildlife, the rain. The FOOD. Oh man, the food.

    The coolest room I've ever stayed in, the best outdoor shower, and honestly one of the best public bathrooms I've ever been in.

    Heavenly. That's the word I keep landing on for this trip. Heavenly. I also bought an absolutely ridiculous sloth shirt. We stayed at Pacuare Lodge by Böena, deep in the heart of the Costa Rican rainforest.

    Costa Rica, Pacuare Lodge rainforest
    Costa Rica, Pacuare Lodge rainforest
    Costa Rica, Pacuare Lodge rainforest
    Costa Rica, Pacuare Lodge rainforest
    Costa Rica, Pacuare Lodge rainforest
    Costa Rica, Pacuare Lodge rainforest
    Costa Rica, Pacuare Lodge rainforest
    Costa Rica, Pacuare Lodge rainforest
    Costa Rica, Pacuare Lodge rainforest
    Costa Rica, Pacuare Lodge rainforest
    Costa Rica, Pacuare Lodge rainforest
    Costa Rica, Pacuare Lodge rainforest

    P.S. Check out the timelapse of the rainforest literally breathing.

    The rainforest breathing. Pacuare, Costa Rica.

  5. Jul 21, 2026

    Posted a video about the museum to Facebook and Instagram, and the feedback has been amazing. It's awesome to hear from so many people. And if you saw that post AND you're reading this status update right now, what a champion. Thank you for being so awesome.

  6. Jul 19, 2026

    It would be cool to whitewater raft. Complete. Video coming soon.

  7. Jul 18, 2026

    Heading out to Costa Rica for a week to celebrate my birthday. The thing I'm most excited about: finally checking whitewater rafting off my It Would Be Cool To list. I always pictured it somewhere like Denver with a few friends. Instead, we're staying deep in the rainforest, and the only way to reach the resort is a 90-minute whitewater rafting trip in. Sometimes the list finds you.

  8. Jul 12, 2026

    Just got back from Chula Vista Resort in Wisconsin Dells, and I can't recommend it enough. We spent a day at Land of Natura, basically a giant floating obstacle course. My tip: get there right when it opens and hit everything before the kids show up. Within 90 minutes it was packed. Loved all of it though, a great summer vacation day.

    We brought our eBikes along and rode everywhere, and ended up outside riding around until almost midnight. Can't do that in the city.

  9. Jul 6, 2026

    Spent the day adding new rooms to the museum. There's now a Music exhibit for a decade of open mics and covers, The 5th Star, a Reality Dating Show cameo from 2012, Halloween Camping, and an About page that finally explains what this whole thing is. Plenty of new corners to get lost in.

  10. Jul 5, 2026

    Got out to try to catch some fireworks. It was so dense and foggy that it played more like illuminated clouds than full fireworks, the whole sky lighting up from the inside. A different show than the one we came for, and somehow better for it.

    Fireworks glowing through heavy fog, like illuminated clouds

  11. Jul 4, 2026 Later that day

    I got knocked out in the first round, and this turned into the first bags tournament we've ever played in the rain. Everything got soaked. The bags were sticking, then they were sliding, and people were wringing them out before every single throw while everybody else huddled under the tents to watch. It was awesome. Ryan took the whole thing.

    The 7th annual tournament, the first one in the rain.
    Ryan with the trophy
    Joe lifting up Ryan to celebrate the win

  12. Jul 4, 2026 Earlier that day

    Since COVID, we've hosted a bags tournament for my mom's birthday. My sister works for days beforehand to get her house ready for everyone, and then we play the All-In version of bags in a giant, 32-person single-elimination bracket. I finally made it to a championship match once. Last year, my uncle knocked me out in the first round.

  13. Jul 3, 2026

    I used AI to scan a folder with over 30 interviews, transcribe the audio files, then combine the separate "Joe track + their track" transcriptions into one single, giant file. This way I can import all 30 interviews into a NotebookLM and keep it searchable in the future.