happy roman new year ants1,
Yes I’m a little late this morning, this ended up being a lot more than I thought. Fair warning, it’s a lot longer than you thought too. HAPPY NEW YEARS AND ENJOY ANTIES!!!
comments 💬
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Without further ado, some comments from human I love (hils).
reply to: merry merry my friends
“i'll have to get honeycomb as a topping next time” -AY
“I like your notion SO much” -JB
reply to: NLPR
“Hey! I’ve been reading your newsletter.” -RA
“You’re just a ray of sunshine.” -TM
“I love your blog, we don’t get to talk as much and it’s nice to see what you’re up to.” -AM
“I’ve been reading every week, I like it.“ -LF
“Friendship hygiene! I’ve been reading your blog by the way, I like getting a little slice of you.” -MH
“Get me indoctrinated.“ -EL
These are all in quotation marks, but I know for a fact that I’m misquoting some of you. It has been a tremendous joy seeing some of you after a year and your first words to me are that you’ve following along. I haven’t used social media for the better part of 9 months and this is only virtual avenue to keeping people I care about up to date. Glad it’s working.
update life 📈
Escape Room to celebrate Danny! Everyone say Happy Birthday Katazui! It was my first in-person Escape Room followed up with some fiyah tacos.
We hung out in the parking lot for like an hour after caught up in conversation. It was great!
Game night at Min Jea’s, thanks for hosting bud. Good to see some friends - expected and unexpected.
God I’m so washed at Smash.
Roman stayed with my family for a couple days. I enjoyed chatting about cones and cooking for my dude. Cones are useful for more things than just party hats!
Visited the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple and Murugan Temples in Maryland with my family. The temple food was a lil lacking I won’t lie, but it was nice going to a quiet spiritual place.
Inspired by the temple food. Me, my mom, and Roman whipped up some poori. Learned a lot of little things about how to make it well, excited for the next batch.
Dinner with Amber and Kelly - a lot of just realizing being in our mid to late 20s is weird. Good, but weird.
I met this girl at Lollapalooza. She subscribed to my blog. She responded to my blog on a regular basis. Now we hung out. After today, three times in one week. I think it’s safe to say that Chi is a good friend now!
Noodles and ice cream with Jake and Lauren. Lauren has been one of the most unexpected and natural friendships that I’ve kept from college and Jake is just awesome. Such a cool couple to see when I’m home. Also Jake if you read this, I want to be like you when I grow up - you’re so centered and yourself, I’m jealous in the best way.
Family night which was mainly me and my sister heckling Ratatouille and The Polar Express.
Catching up with Christian Yun at his place for a bit, long overdue solo time. Love you man.
Meeting up with old friends and new friends for New Years eve. I got just what I wanted, catch-ups with old friends. Bonds with new ones. And some goofiness to take into the New Year.
I cannot believe I stayed up till 6AM with these fools, that’s crazy.
Teddy and the Bully Bar has a great Sunday brunch deal. Good food, a solid DJ, and unmatched vibes from the group. Lauren and Jake reappear. A special appearance by Roman and Celie. All joined by the lovely Alex, Kabir, and Chanel. Same time next year?
Mykim and Tram, the lil squad that has my whole heart. Thanks for a cozy catch-up complete with floofs and love. Nothing but good good things to say about both of you. It was open, vulnerable, with an undercurrent of laughs. See you both in June (I hope)!
break ice ⛏
I haven’t seen y’all since last year. Ha. Ha. Ha.
icebreaker:
“What kitchen appliance are you?”
my reply:
A food processor, because I only kind of know how to operate myself and I like to mix things together!
Alternatively…
icebreaker:
“Do you do New Years resolutions?”
my reply:
Kind of. It’s a good time in the year to reflect, often marked with old friends and a slower pace of work. This is the first year I’ve written down some stuff that I want to use to measure my year. It’s a little crude, but I’ll see if I can keep it up and if I like it.
words 🗣
2025 was an re-exploration of things that I like and a reflection on what I’d do if no one knew about them.
I love sharing with my family and friends, but I find myself unconsciously performing when I get accolades from people. Usually I do it by sharing my activities nonchalantly.
“Because you know - that’s what I do. I’m the guy who does stuff. Why would I not do stuff?”
It’s not always as nonchalant in my head:
Would people like me if I didn’t do all this stuff? Yes.
Am I doing stuff because I want people to like me? Sometimes.
I like to create things. And even if all the people turned away and the lights went off, I'd probably still be taking a glass blowing class or blowing hours in a ceramics studio.
Do I like doing stuff? Yeah.
Will I try to more stuff that I like? Definitely.
read 📖: for the nostalgic Star Wars nerds
After school, I was home alone and my parents didn’t want me running around with no one home, lest I get injured or kidnapped. In retrospect, I regret not sneaking out during this time period… alas!
I would finish my homework and I’d often find myself watching the VHS box set of Star Wars. I was young enough that I hadn’t fully developed my hatred for Episode 1 yet. When I finished the series for the 3rd time I found myself craving more. More of this world.
We were donating some clothes to The Salvation Army and walked around after. I found what I was looking for. My first taste of the Expanded Star Wars Universe, the entire Thrawn Chronicles sitting on a shelf. And I loved them. It was a fun read then and it’s still fun now. Thrawn is a fun villain, Leia actually learns how to use the force, Mara Jade is a competent conflicted badass, and Luke isn’t a weenie. Then they released the new ‘canon’ trilogy. Ugh.
If you’re looking to enjoy some nostalgia and block out the existence of Episode 7-9, give Star Wars: Heir to the Empire a read.
watch 📺: for the friendzoned
There’s been some banger content on YouTube. I’ve been watching a lot of highly produced, well-acted things from talented creators this year. It’s honestly replaced so much of my media time.
One of the main culprits are Mikey and Wyatt. They made skits with their rotating cast of actors and your new favorite cringelord, Mikey. They recently were able to add their fully produced show Friendzoned to TubiTV.
Just remember. It’s not real. It’s not real. It’s not real.
write 🖋
I’ve been going through an existential crisis through 2025. I honestly was really scared for a lot of this last year. I’ve been exploring a lot, developed some habits I’m really proud of, and have started to trust myself a lot more. A lot of the time I’m still uncertain, but might as well move forward while we’re here!
-
There is an urge to make this edition of NLPR special, because it’s the first one of the New Year. So I’ll oblige, by adding in that dose of reflection that I yearn for at this turn of the year. I won’t pretend to be cooler than the New Year, even though I want to.
That being said, this edition of NLPR is special. It marks 43 straight weeks of getting this out. Every. Single. Week. Before this March there was 12 issues that got sent out over the course of 10 months.
For me this has been indicative of a general trend towards consistency in my life. It’s led to feelings of boredom, deep existential dread about how my time is being utilized, and acceptance of the passage of time.
I’ve found myself echoing the same conversations with friends. Happiness in the consistency. Feelings of confusion with why we can’t accept the peace. Feeling more comfortable with ourselves. Noticing misalignment in our values and our actions and correcting them. And simplification.
-
I have a few things that I’ll do in lieu of just a resolution:
express some gratitude, because I didn’t do any of this alone
clean up
define a big goal for the year
define some values
list of my existing habits
list the few habits I want to add
list a challenge
say goodbye, until next week
gratitude
There’s one person I really need to thank here. Mom. You try to see me. Thank you.
To my family, for moving things forward and showing up. You’ve set an example that I’m happy to follow. The urge to complain dissipates with age as I follow the path to taking care of people that you’ve all displayed.
My friends that have reached out, that reply when I reach out, that make sure to bring the energy while staying vulnerable. I love you, you hold me up.
The people who have left my life over this year, I’m thankful for the parts of life we got to live together.
To the people who questioned me. I took you seriously, maybe not right away, but I asked your question to myself and I learned. I’ve adjusted and even if I don’t always love the messenger, I love the person that’ll ask the question.
-
I’d like to refine the practice of this by doing hand written letters, I did it for my birthday a few years ago and it felt so so good.
clean up
I’ve taken the advice of Jesse Itzler, to clean up the year before it starts. I did not get all of these things knocked out, but they’re in progress!
No unread texts
No unread emails.
There are two unanswered ones.
Bills all paid.
There’s a few things to chase down
A refund for a set of AirPods that never arrived.
A tax return from the state of New Jersey.
An insurance claim for my new glasses.
This list was triple or quadruple the size before, so let’s go!!!
big goals
I have a few:
Release the silly book for funsies: triathlete-99.
Play test my board game with 50 different groups and pitch it.
Run the Banff Half-Marathon.
Join a volleyball team for a season.
values
don’t tear people down
be direct
critique only people who want to be critiqued
people aren’t st00pid, look for the reason behind why they say or do a thing
people can be st00pid, look for the simplest reason for why they say or do a thing
less can be more
things take time, more than you’d think
something is always traded, if you don’t see it - you don’t know what’s going on
actions > intentions
apathy is the enemy
follow your instincts
it’s about the leap of faith. it doesn’t always matter where it’s going. it matters that you get on
enjoy things like you’re a kid
anxiety isn’t bad, fear isn’t bad, jealousy isn’t bad. they’re signals
scales of love
I’ll live for you → I’ll kill for you → I’ll die for you
existing habits
consistent
morning pages (journaling 3 pages in the morning)
meditation
calling my mum
calling at least one other person to check-in
writing this every week
no alcohol or substances
no social media on my phone
inconsistent, but present
reading some passages every morning to frame my brain right
going on a walk
gratitude list to close the day
sleep by 11PM
habits to work on
make the inconsistent consistent.
stretching/working out 3 times a week. I was on it, then I went on a few trips. I should keep it low maintenance enough to be sustainable and recruit others to join me when I’m out of town.
cook. I was making >50% of my meals at home, but I haven’t really cooked in my new apartment. I enjoy cooking and baking a lot. I know if I start, the momentum will carry forward. in service of this, Ashif I’d love to come shopping with you on Sundays more often, until you move to Queens at least.
record with Adam twice a month.
learn to take compliments and thank people for them.
remember to ask questions, and stay curious. I worked on answering with more about my life through 2024-25, I should not lose the curiosity that makes meeting people magical.
go on a date once a month! they’ll be fun!
a challenge
If you’ve made your way down here, I have a moneymaking proposition for you. You know that I curse like a sailor. I enjoy the way certain words feel when I say them. I also like my words having impact and having an articulate way of expressing myself. So in support of that, no more cursing. If I curse around you and I notice, you’ll be getting a dollar per word.
If you ask for the dollar and consent to let me smack you, you’ll double your return and get two dollars per word! Otherwise, you’ll get your dollar.
This deal expires on December 31st, 2026.
goodbye
Let’s have a good year everybody!
I’ll see you next week,
1 Ants are in a hil. The hil in question? The humans I love category ❣️
