My 2023 was magnificent, culminating with a punny blog title so perfect and succinct that it can literally never be used again. Here is my Recap of 2023… abridged.
In screenplays, you often get an early glimpse of the hero’s professional, personal, and private life, setting the stage for their growth throughout the story. While heroes in films don’t usually blog about it after, if one were to do so, here’s how mine would look for the story of the year.
❤️ Personally – Married my love in late fall. It was a dream come true. We were surrounded by friends and family in the Moli’i Gardens on Oahu, Hawaii, under a full moon. We recently received our photos and will share them on social media soon, for now please enjoy this special video produced and shot by Mark Arista:
Rachel and I met in Hollywood six years ago and she’s more than a star. We’ve traveled far and wide, in the last week of 2022 packing for Hawaii. That year was constant go, always moving, from weekend trips to a storage unit outside of the city and then traveling across the country, east to west, then north and south, all while working. This year was different, a constant push to get through everything timely and in transition. The hope is that 2024 is more of a pull, pulling back for some relief. But wherever we go next, it will officially be as a married couple.
🧰 Privately – This website! Gotta say, ChatGPT really helped me revise and dial this thing, I was very rusty after a long hiatus. Remarkable what a virtual private tutor can teach and create for us from just another subscription, though I originally learned most of WordPress and Elementor from tutorial creators on Youtube. If we are not seeing this already, expect a rise of self-taught trade professionals thanks to this convenient, limitless knowledge base. All that said, this could have been made in four focused weeks, not loosely over that many years, so I honestly recommend hiring out, you will be happier and save money. If you are curious or have a site yourself, drop me a line and share yours in the comments!
🇺🇸 Professionally – At FailArmy we produced a long-developed compilation that featured the best fails of every state in America. It published the week before July 4th to an incredible reception, and the fans wanted Europe next. Not just the 27 countries of the European Union, but the full 44. So we did, found all them, even a cat eating a USB cable for Luxembourg. And it did better than states. This channel has a very particular audience, so it was nice to see a lightly editorialized style pay off and show promise. There was also a follow-up of the states format shortly after… I’m not sure which counts as the sequel and which is a spin-off, let me know in the comments which is which.
🏄 In late 2023 I also published my highest-viewed Youtube video ever. I was filming surfers one morning at Pua’ena Point, when on my way out I crossed paths with Caroline Marks, the 2023 Women’s Champion of the World Surf League. She was showing up with a friend, boards in hand. The point was ripping, as it was Thanksgiving weekend, a day after all eyes of the surf world were on Maui, at a wave known as Jaws, for this first XXL swell of the new winter. I waited a beat after she walked by, then turned around and headed back through the trail to unpack my gear. The opening shot of her made it my new top video.
Youtube Shorts are perfect for exposure and growth, so I’ll posting one wave every day of the year. I have 331 subscribers on January 1, 2024. They will probably all be surf videos, but there’s a lot of waves in the metaphorical ocean here and I look forward to ride the tides of 2024 with all of you– let’s make it a year of unforgettable adventures and growth.