Masemoji - ecstatic

Blessings on Blessings

I don’t have New Year’s resolutions; if I feel strongly enough about something I prefer to address it the day of. However, I do get excited about a new planner for the New Year. I rolled with Moleskine last year; it kept me on top of things, but I’m giving Nomatic a chance this year (the mint one). Let’s be organized in 2017.

A New Year’s tradition that I picked up last year is to recap the calendar year by highlighting things I’m grateful for. Sometimes you feel like you’re not making progress or nothing exciting is going on, but you won’t feel that way when you start writing down what you appreciate. I write down everything from people I had a chance to meet, to new experiences, accomplishments, gifts — anything and everything. “Blessings on blessings,” like Kanye said. Here’s an abbreviated list of things I wrote down in 2016.

  • Traveled to Indonesia and made stops in Jakarta and Bali, with a memorable hike of the Batur volcano and visit to the Sacred Monkey Forest. Also spent a night in Tokyo doing karaoke.
  • Went to the Aspen Jazz Festival and saw Stevie Wonder perform; also enjoyed some hiking and biking in the mountains.
  • Invested in my art collection, with additions of Flyboy by Hebru Brantley, Mousemask Murphy by Ron English, Kaws Companion by Kaws and Bearbricks. I had a chance to meet Hebru and visit his studio in Chicago.
  • Fair-Haired Dumbbell is up, up and away.
  • Basketball camp was a success in Whippany, New Jersey.
  • Detox water is nationwide, with three flavors in the pipeline.
  • Working with Ryan Leslie and Superphone
  • Made the playoffs, earned the 5th seed and beat the Clippers in the first round
  • Re-signed with Nike
  • Made it back to Asheville, NC to visit my alma mater, Christ School and catch up with teachers and staff
  • Jon Scheyer’s bachelor weekend in Chicago
  • Hung in the Hamptons with the Levines and met some interesting people
  • Launched my website
  • Family is living: Miles signed a new deal with the Bucks, Madeline got an internship with Deloitte, Marshall signed a deal with the Knicks.
  • Moved to a new apartment in PDX, #eastside
  • Met the Bon Appetit team and had a great dinner; had another great meal at Alinea in Chicago
  • Great trip to San Diego with my teammates
  • Meaningful new relationships with people like James Plumlee, Silas Sao and Doug Young – people with a vision.