2020-2024 Review

I began writing end-of-year reviews in 2015 but stopped in 2020 when life got a bit overwhelming (global pandemic, major injury, raising a toddler, demanding job, etc). Now I’m back for a five-year mega-review!

You can find my previous reviews here: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015.

There was simply too much to recap this year, so, instead of being exhaustive, I've decided to share a mini-essay about recovering from my achilles injury and then share my most memorable media from the last few years. Finally, I run through a few updates before sharing what's next for me and my family in 2025 (hint: our family is growing). Hope you enjoy!

Learning to Play Soccer Again

Getting my mind and body back to a point where I could play soccer again after an achilles injury was a major project of mine over the past 5 years.

I tore my left achilles tendon in January 2019. By the end of that year, I was able to walk and do most daily activities but lacked strength in my injured leg and my right leg/hip began to develop issues from being overburdened. I worked out here and there throughout the year but my general fitness was poor from being so sedentary throughout 2019. I was probably in the worst physical shape of my life.

A year after my injury, I began seeing a personal trainer (thanks to a birthday gift from my wife) and realized I had a lot of work to do. I could jog but my gait was incredibly unbalanced, leading to excessive loading of my right leg. My proprioception was off; my mind often thought my body was doing things that it was not (or vice versa). Finally, and maybe most importantly, I was terrified of re-rupturing my achilles. As a result, I was extremely hesitant to do anything even mildly athletic like running or jumping. I was a long way from being able to play soccer again but I was making progress!

Then, in March 2020, a global pandemic hit. Like many of you, my family and I went into lockdown. I planned to continue what I had been doing with my trainer: building up my strength and mobility while increasing my work capacity. I started doing HIIT workouts at home. In May, when it was clear the pandemic wasn't a few-week thing, I decided to pay an arm and a leg for home gym equipment so I could add strength training to my routine.

My daughter became my trainer.

By August 2020, I was going stir-crazy. My wife and I were coming off of two years that had been limited by sickness and injury so I felt incredibly frustrated for the first part of 2020 as I realized just how long COVID was going to be limiting my movements. To get out of the house, I started going on A LOT of walks. Walks turned into short runs (again my daughter was my coach). Short runs turned into longer runs (thanks, Zack), and by the end of 2020, I finally internalized that if I was ever going to play soccer again, I was going to have to get serious about running.

I gave myself a three simple running goals at the beginning of 2021:

• Run faster: hit a sub-7 min pace when running less than 2 miles
• Run farther: run a 5K (later a 10K)
• Be consistent: Run at least 60 miles in 90 days

I used Strava and Any Distance to track my pace and distance; got a Whoop to track my heart rate and estimate my metabolic output; and began by running a 1.5 mile loop around my neighborhood almost every other day. Within a month or so, I had cut over a minute off my pace. I was cruising!

Since the only thing that makes running easier is more running, I ended up running a lot in 2021 (and into 2022). I ran in the cold, I ran when the weather was nice, I ran at night, I ran on vacation, I ran on work trips. To manage the boredom of so much running, I began adding in Murphs, sprinting, hikes, and trail running to my program. Halfway through 2021, I'd hit all my goals (except for a sub-60 second 400 meter dash) and was just running for fun.

In December of 2021—after nearly 3 years—I finally played soccer again! Then again in January. The physical experience early on was awful (blisters, fatigue, soreness) but the emotional experience was glorious. I was finally able to do one of the things I love most in this world. I began playing about twice a month and eventually joined a recreational league, which met once a week. I was back...but injury prone.

I strained my calves, rolled my ankles, injured my quad, developed plantar fasciitis, and kept pulling my damn hamstrings. To save my joints, I stopped running as much but due to injury, even my soccer activity happened in fits and starts. It was extremely frustrating but I wasn't discouraged. I just needed different tools. I thought physical therapy (massage and dry needling) would help–and it did–but the real breakthrough came in mid-2023 when I took a break from soccer and started doing more serious weightlifting. It turned out that creatine, squats, and RDLs did more for my injury prevention than stretching (but stretching also helps. please stretch).

Sadly, my initial motivation for weightlifting came about because my dad fell and broke his hip in early 2023. If I'm honest, I've always been terrified by the idea of losing my mobility when I'm older. The helplessness I experienced after my achilles tear helped drive this fear home. But as challenging as my injury was, I was always confident I would get back on my feet. With my dad, at age 71, the path to recovery was less clear. He ended up healing remarkably well after his surgery and pretty quickly got back to riding his bike. He still has some bolts in his leg and uses a cane when he goes on long walks but he's mostly back to normal! As for me, I started doing a bunch of research and discovered that there are pretty simple things I can do now (like moving heavy objects around) that will help preserve my muscle mass and bone density as I age.

For you data nerds, here's the impact a torn achilles (and a global pandemic) had on my soccer activity and average daily step count:

Today, I play more soccer than I did when I was 30 years old and I lift weights more than I run. My goal is to live a long, mobile, and healthy life—while playing soccer for as long as I can. I think I'm on a good path.

Memorable Media of 2020-2024

I consumed a lot of media over the past few years, especially during the pandemic. Here are some of my most memorable albums, books, tv shows, movies, comic books, and podcasts from the past 5 years.

Music

I tried to fight my recency bias when compiling this list but failed. On the other hand, I really do think 2024 was one of the best years for rap/hip-hop as genre in recent memory. We’ll see how many of these albums stay with me as the years go on.

• Alligator Bites Never Heal by Doechii
• The Battle at Garden’s Gate by Greta Van Fleet
• Chromokopia by Tyler, The Creator
• Dance Fever by Florence + The Machine
• Dark Times by Vince Staples
• The Forever Story by JID
• GNX / Not Like Us by Kendrick Lamar
• GUTS by Olivia Rodrigo
• MICHAEL by Killer Mike
• The New Abnormal  by  The Strokes

Books

• How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith: A look at how different societies remember the more sorted episodes of their pasts. It was poignant as America was sorting out, in real time, how it chose to remember the events of January 6th.
• Money Men by Dan McCrum: A page-turning non-fiction book about the rise and fall of German payments processor, Wirecard. Relevant to my work in payments but also just a fascinating read.
• Net Gains by Ryan O'Hanlon: A non-fiction book about the analytics revolution taking place in world football. I gained an affinity for O'Hanlon's writing during the pandemic. He writes about soccer the way I'd like to write about payments.
• A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
• Three Body Problem Trilogy by Cixin Liu: I started reading this after watching the Netflix series and really enjoyed it. I read all three books this past summer. Haven't been this captivated by a sci-fi book since reading Neal Stephenson's Seveneves.

TV

• Andor (Disney+): I think this is the best Star Wars project ever made. It's essentially a heist series set in the Star Wars universe. I also liked that Imperial bureaucracy is a meaningful plot point.
• Blue Eye Samurai: (Netflix): A wonderful animated series following a brilliant person with hate in their heart as they seek revenge. Similar energy to Kendrick Lamar making hate-fueled dance music all year.
• Euphoria (HBO Max): This show is a bit over the top and unbelievable at times but Zendaya's performance is top-notch, the soundtrack is fantastic, and some of the scenes are gut-wrenching.
• Invincible (Amazon Prime): The end of the first episode of season 1 is some of the most compelling television I've ever watched.
• Scavenger’s Reign (Netflix): A visually stunning and surprisingly heartwarming tale of a few shipwrecked humans' (and one robot’s) quest for survival on a strange planet. Creatively, it reminds me of the comic series Saga, which my wife and I love.
• Severance (Apple TV+)
• Station Eleven (HBO Max)
• Succession (HBO Max)
• Young Justice (HBO Max): I discovered this series when I was bed-ridden with a kidney stone and found it to be an unusually sophisticated and intricate animated show.
• X-Men ‘97 (Disney+): Pure nostalgia blast for me!

Movies

• American Fiction: One of the few times in recent memory I recall an entire movie theater laughing hysterically. Irreverent and absurd like the Mat Johnson and Paul Beaty novels I love. Plus, the director is from my hometown!
• The Batman: I enjoyed watching a somewhat bumbling, rage-fueled Bruce Wayne/Batman find his way through a mystery. Made the character a bit more believable than the always-2-steps-ahead version that's usually portrayed these days.
• Dune 2
• Nope
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem: The perfect blend of nostalgia and a new take on the TMNT origin story. When Eye Know by De La Soul drops during a montage of Splinter raising the turtles I got the warm and fuzzies.
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: I gotta tell you, I did not expect a story about a genetically modified space raccoon's childhood trauma to make me cry in the theater.

Sports

I watched a lot of great soccer over the past 5 years. I saw Messi in-person during his first few months in the MLS. I took my parents to a consequential US-Panama game during Copa America. And I discovered three great soccer podcasts that helped me get through the pandemic (Infinite Football, Stadio, Double Pivot). But I think my favorite memory was the Argentina-France World Cup final in December, 2022. The combination of storylines and actual soccer made it one of the best finals of a major tournament I've ever seen.

• 2022: World Cup; USMNT Round of 16, Argentina/France Final
• 2023: USMNT Nations League, watched Messi live during Leagues Cup, Women’s World Cup
• 2024: African Cup of Nations, Copa America, Euros, Olympics (women's soccer gold; track & field generally was great)

Graphic Novels/Comic Books

• Batman: Beyond the White Knight by Sean Murphy: The Murphyverse is a sprawling alternative version of the DC comics universe I grew up with. I've barely scratched the surface but it appears to be one of the more well done projects in this genre.
• Daredevil: Yellow by Jeph Loeb: The story is good but the art is gorgeous.
• House of M by Brian Michael Bendis
• Superman: Space Age by Mark Russell: I think this book really captures the boomer energy that cemented Superman as an icon of post-WWII America. I also expect this type of vibe to become resurgent in media/culture over the next few years.
• TMNT: The Last Ronin by Kevin Eastman

Articles

• Children of Durbin by Ayo Omojola: Nearly everything Ayo writes is great but this is one of his greater contributions to the space, helping explain why certain trends/waves in fintech have taken place only in the past 5-10 years.
• Debanking (and Debunking?) by @patio11: The single best explainer I've seen regarding crypto-related debanking. I expect this to be a topic of relevance in the coming years given my work in fintech and with a new administration coming in.
• Everything You Need to Know About Heart Rate Variability (HRV) by Mark Van Deusen: A very useful primer as I was learning to use my Whoop to get back in shape.
• How to Maximize Serendipity by David Perell: Part of my inspiration to start writing more seriously over the past few years.
• Palantir Goes to the Frankfurt School by Moira Weigel
• To Save the World, My Mother Abandoned Me by Xochitl Gonzalez

Podcasts

1. Bandcamp Presents: The Hip-Hop Show (Little Brother) hosted by Stoney Creation: Rappers Phonte and Big Pooh talk about their history together as Little Brother. Their album, May the Lord Watch, was one of my favorite albums of 2019. And, as I wrote about a few year ago, Bandcamp generally, and this show in particular, helped me get through a hard time at the end of 2021.
2. Batman Unburied produced by David S. Goyer: This audio drama is tonally very dark and brooding (a bit too much at times, tbh) but it brought a smile to my face hearing actors like Winston Duke and Colman Domingo voice Bruce Wayne/Batman.
3. Legacy of Speed produced/hosted by Malcolm Gladwell: I knew Gladwell was a runner but I had no idea how much he loved track and field (his Jamaican heritage showing through) until listening to this series about the track and field program at San Jose State University in the 1960s.
4. Stuck with Damon Young: Fade In the Water / The Montgomery River Brawl: The banter about the Montgomery River Brawl (summer 2023) in this episode was a delight.
5. Wakanda Forever: The Official Black Panther Podcast (Ryan Coogler): Ta-Nehisi Coates, who wrote a run of Black Panther comic books for Marvel, interviewed Ryan Coogler, who directed the Black Panther films, about the loss of Ryan's lead actor and friend Chadwick Boseman. This is one of the few public conversations I can recall where two Black men talk so earnestly and tenderly about the platonic love they feel for another man. Reminds me of why I was so invested in The Last Black Man in San Francisco.

2020-2024 Updates

Health

• In 2017 my alcohol consumption went way down. In 2019, it stopped completely. I'm 5 years alcohol-free and don't have any plans to start drinking again. This is the best time in history to drink alcohol-free beer. Here are a few of my favorites:
  • Brewdog: Nanny State IPA, Hazy AF, Punk AF
  • Athletic Brewing: Pretty much anything they make
  • Untitled Art: West Coast IPA
  • Brooklyn Brewing Company: Special Effects
• Best Day Brewing: Hazy IPA, West Coast IPA
• I have almost completely stopped my anxiety-to-lack-of-sleep doom loop with the help of the serotonin antagonist and reuptake inhibitor (SARI) Trazodone.
• I had a kidney stone (absolutely awful) and finally got my wisdom tooth removed (think I was their oldest patient).

Coffee

• My home coffee set up is pretty much the same as it was in 2019 and I'm still doing two cups a day.
  • I've added a countertop vacuum to clean up after myself and switched for a Baratza grinder to the Fellow Ode.
  • I've also switched from Trade's coffee delivery service to Fellow Drops. It's a similar to Trade but more ad hoc. Fellow texts me every Tuesday and I simply reply if I want the roast they have that week (usually a wonderful selection) and they charge my card on file.
• I started roasting coffee at home in the beginning of 2021 but fell off over the summer.
• Probably the most important coffee-related development over the last 5 years has been the Coffee Dads. It’s a small group chat I started with some friends a few years ago. It started with snobby conversations about bean, brewing techniques, and equipment but quickly turned into one of my most frequent and supportive social spaces during the pandemic. Today, Coffee Dads is still active and we even have matching hats.

Professional Life

• Finix: Founded and grew Finix's marketing/comms team. Launched new websites. Became Chief Strategy/Growth Officer. Set up Finix's product design function. Hired great people who told me I made them feel supported at work. Helped raise a bunch of money for the company (including $21M for free). Had to block out the madness of 2020 in order to get my job done but still found small ways to be part of the solution. Left Finix after four years at the company, and a decade working on payments-related problems, in order to focus on new problems.
• Batch Processing: I couldn't stop thinking about payments so I started writing Batch Processing. I wrote full-time for only a few months before taking on consulting and full-time gigs at Arcadia, but in that time, I grew the newsletter to over 1,700 subscribers and 120+ paid subs. Today, BP has over 3,000 subscribers and is well-regarded in the industry, I’m told. I'm incredibly proud of my work here and think I will likely end up writing on the internet for a living at some point.
• 2024 Walkabout: I spent much of last year looking for full-time work again. I felt a bit anxious not working at full capacity. But in retrospect, I used my time to be very present with my wife and daughter, invested in a new friendship (hi Ash!), and prioritized my physical health. Time well spent! In October, I took a job leading the product partnerships team at Ramp and am looking forward to having a bit more professional fire in my belly in 2025.

Family/Social Life

• I visited San Francisco the first week of March 2020. I didn’t know it at the time, but that work trip would be my last flight for over a year, I wouldn’t see my twin sister for over a year, wouldn’t see my parents for 18 months, and wouldn't see my other siblings for nearly 3 years. My social life was already suffering after moving to a new city and becoming a father, but thanks to the pandemic, my world massively contracted. The plus side was that for at least two years, I really didn’t spend time with people I didn’t absolutely love. Since then, I’ve become incredibly intentional about seeing friends and family. Some highlights:
  • My twin sister and I planned for months so our families could spend Christmas together in 2020.
  • As soon as I was vaccinated in 2021, I got on a plane to see my parents.
  • I officiated one of my best friend’s wedding in New York.
  • I roomed with one of my best friend's in Philly at our 15 year college reunion and caught up after a long time not seeing him.
  • In 2023, I went on my first backpacking trip in years with my bestie (thanks, Colin)!
• My wife is a relatively private person so I don’t often share much about her online but on our 7-year anniversary, and during our first couples-only trip since becoming parents, I felt compelled to share my appreciation for her.
• My wife's family—her parents, in particular—were (are!) a huge help allowing me and my wife to both work from home distraction free—and helping to shape our daughter into the wonderful person she is today.
• Regarding our daughter, there are simply too many milestones and memories to recall—the past five years is the majority of her life. Instead, I’ll simply share that witnessing her consciousness come online as she navigates the world has been incredible. She’s helped me get back in touch with a childlike curiosity that has made me a better person and professional. Love you, homegirl!

2025

We’ll be welcoming a baby boy into our family this summer! Unfortunately, my wife got really sick again during this pregnancy. She's doing better than last time and we have a much bigger support network here in Atlanta than we did in Oakland, so I'm grateful, but I can't wait until she's feeling better.

If you enjoyed this, you can find my previous reviews here: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015. And if you‘ve read this far, consider subscribing: