All posts by: natevalentin

Decide and Proceed

The hard thing about planning, researching, or editing is that these are safe reasons to delay....

We Who Are Your Closest Friends

I have managed my own website for almost 20 years now. And during that time it has been many things. Mostly it has served as a sandbox. This is where I got my start. This is where I experiment. This is where the familiar tension between creative expression and withdrawal is evident just by reviewing......

An Orange Shirt and Discomfort

His shirt was bright orange. It was loud. The only thing louder was his voice. He was cheering on one of the athletes from the other school. Thunderous claps came from his hands. Judging from his uniform, he was a garbage man. The swim meet was held at a private pool in a nicer part......

Half-naked and Alone

What is it inside of us that will allow us to put ourselves in an un-winnable situation? Or better put, what was it inside of him? What is it in children and even less often in young adults that allows for this?...

At 37, I know…

Today is my birthday. I should write something because, when it comes to content creation, this is about as consistent as I have been over the last few years. As I close out one year and move into the next I pull on the same introspective threads as I do every year… This year, however,......

Day 16: Snowden and Growth

I watched the movie Snowden last night on Netflix. I probably should have gone to sleep but instead I watched it. Now you can say what you will about him and if what he did was right or not, etc. However, the underlying theme to the movie, and his story in general, is that he......

Day 15: I Know. I Know.

I said it was over. I know. I woke up, walked through the house and into my office around 515 this morning. Here I am peacefully sitting at my desk and Aiden comes in… “Dad, they killed a opossum and brought it inside.” – Ugh. This is not a, it is fine moment. There is......

Day 14: 3 More and the End

Today is day 14. It has been two whole weeks of posting every single day. Look at that; we made it. I have alluded to this before but in March I wrecked on my OneWheel. I just started riding it again consistently, with a new wrist brace mind you, these past two weeks. And on......

Day 13: Africa and a McFlurry

Today after school, Beckett and I got a McFlurry and then FaceTimed my Mom. It was nice. I watch YouTube while I am on the elliptical. It feels like a fair trade and I don’t beat myself up about consuming that content if it is in service of working out. Today, there was a video......

36: The Hardest Year Ever

This post was originally posted on 8/30/2020, on my other site The Untucked Life. I have since shut that down and moved all of that content to this site. Today is my birthday. 36. Four days ago I was sitting in an IT closet waiting for a tech from the cable company… they were two......

Subscribe for more.