While I’m not quite ready to close the book on 2025 just yet, I’d be lying if I said that I haven’t at least been mentally mapping out the eventual 2025: My Year in Writing article. But then it dawned on me; I’ve written a list for 2023 and 2024 but not for 2022. The cause is simple; I didn’t think of the idea until 2023. With that said, let’s right a historical wrong and give a highlight reel of the early days of my semi-professional writing journey. As always, these articles are in no particular order.
- It’s Okay to be a Capitalist: An article I wrote where I simply desired a more honest business world. Do we really need more CEO’s who stand at a podium and use soft flowery language? Fuck your vision, let’s de-stigmatize the word profit. There is nothing wrong with wanting to make money.
- How The NFL Can Fix Its Offseason Problem: Let’s be honest; NFL players tend to get themselves into some legal hot water in the offseason. In this article, I’ve recommended an actionable solution that the league can take to curtail this trend. If the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award is a thing, then why not create the Adam PacMan Jones Criminal of the Year Award as well? Stars will get the point when they start hauling in league-minimum paychecks.
- In Critique of New Year’s Resolutions: Seriously, stop waiting until an arbitrary date on the calendar to make a change in your life. After all, life is far too short. Also, one is wise to beware the Self-Improvement Industrial Complex. Gyms, anti-smoking kits, fitness equipment all suspiciously tend to go on sale in January but then wind up on Craigslist or in landfills by St. Patrick’s Day. Be smart about your goals, people!
- An Ode to Podcasts: My love-letter to the medium; I went from a casual podcast or two per week to listening to nearly every self-improvement and business podcast I could get my hands on. While the type of podcasts I’ve listened to has gradually shifted since then (it’s far more political now), the habit itself has endured. I fawn over long-format podcasts in this article, which aged particularly well.
- My Book Got Rejected by My Favorite Podcasters…and I’m Still a Fan: Speaking of podcasts, here’s a story of me getting absolutely dunked on. To this day, I still do not have a single negative thing to say about either podcaster (and still actively listen to one of them). Take your work seriously, and soon others will as well…
- An Ode to Hideo Kojima: I won’t lie, this is little more than a glaze-piece for the absolute GOAT of video game directors. The Man Himself is like Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, James Cameron, and George Lucas all rolled into one. His post Metal Gear Solid success with Death Stranding only reinforces this. Nothing is ever what it seems to be at the surface with Kojima. Literal doctoral dissertations have been written from his work. Outside of SquareEnix’s Tetsuya Nomura, and the independent Toby Fox, nobody else comes close to Kojima.
- Boxing Has a College Football Problem: A catchy title that labels an uncomfortable truth in boxing; you aren’t allowed to lose and still have a career. In both sports, going undefeated is basically an unwritten rule. One loss with a lot of supporting context might be forgiven. However, two losses means the end of the limelight. Hence, this is why so many marketable boxers pad their records against nobodies. Show me the incentive and I’ll show you the behavior.
- Don’t Make Fun of a Charismatic Networker, You’ll Wind Up Working For One: We as a society need to stop trying to shoe-horn young people into STEM or trying to mold them into a personality archetype. Case in point; can the CEO of JetBlue fly a plane? Probably not. Some folks are naturally charismatic people who can cross social borders to get things done and there is nothing wrong with that.
- The N-Word Nobody Wants to Talk About: That’s right, I’m going to use the hard-R on this one. Nuclear. It was true in the 1950’s and it’s still true today; nuclear power is by far the cleanest and most sustainable electricity-generating resource that we have. It’s nothing short of shameful that we haven’t built way more of these reactors simply because we don’t want to see the benefits. Get your heads outta your asses, people!
- An Ode to Radicalization: One of my foundational pieces; in both writing and in life. January 6th and No Kings have made it abundantly clear that I’m never going to run out of canaries. I repeat; I will never run out of canaries. Why should I dedicate time to do something that others are willing to do for me?
- In Critique of “Your Brain Works Differently”: Another foundational work of mine, and I link to it quite often. This phrase has been thrown at me as a pejorative for most of my life. However, those trying to weaponize the phrase overlook one key thing; they’re right and it’s a goddamn superpower. Who else writes the way that I do?
- Thoughts on the Special Sauce: Speaking of unique thoughts; this is perhaps my bedrock article. It’s literally the reason why I do what I do; I sincerely believe that I have The Special Sauce when it comes to writing. Let your Special Sauce out into the world; mankind will be better off for it.
- An Ode to Jeff Bezos: Face it, he gave us Thanksgiving back folks. As recently as the early 2010’s, Americans were stabbing each other in Wal-Mart checkout lines for $50 off a TV. Amazon has rendered in-person shopping obsolete, and I’m grateful for the reduced pandemonium. “But he’s a billionaire!” Yes Karen, and do you know why he’s a billionaire? Because he took a risk and created services that help hundreds of millions of people. Deal with it.
- Stop Looking for the “Perfect Job”, It Doesn’t Exist: Ah, back in the days when I still had BlueReddit. My father imparted this wisdom on me long ago, and society has only proven him more and more right has time has gone on. If the POTUS or a famous rockstar on a major record-label tour isn’t the perfect job, then chances are your job isn’t perfect either. The earlier you accept that harsh truth, the easier it’ll be.
- Dubbing Philosophers: Seriously, who gets to decide who is-and more importantly, isn’t- a philosopher? What criteria do they use? Maybe 100 years from now lazy pot-smoking college freshmen will have to learn about the 21st century philosophers such as Jay-Z and Elon Musk. Personally, I care far more about what Elon has to say about society than some tweed-jacketed professor who’s never left the academia bubble.
- An Ode to Inexpensive Hobbies: You don’t have to spend a lot of money in order to enjoy something. Reading, writing (call me biased!), working out, and other such pursuits are all low-cost and highly constructive ways to spend one’s free time. Don’t let someone hobby-shame you!
- The Case Against Memes: And how could I not include the biggest piece of writing that I released in 2022; my book! While I stand behind the message of the book, I admit my sequence was backwards. The typical career path for a writer is to spend several years blogging then write a book. However, YAH BOI chose to hit the reverse button on that.
This website started in 2022 as a check-the-box exercise that my publisher made me do. I wrote a few articles for LinkedIn (though refused to give them free work), but was still trying to figure things out. 2022 was my least productive year from a posting standpoint; I only wrote 42 articles during my rookie days, and my topics drifted wildly. I was far more philosophical and less political than I am today. Now, I have a much better idea as to what kind of writer that I am and to what my brand as a writer is.
If writing is a drug, then 2022 is when I first plunged that dirty needle into my arm…
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