#WorkFromHomeDay!!!

Privilege is real. When I first graduated from college, I was definitely not in a position to "start my own thing." I had few savings, I lived in an expensive area, and I needed a job that would pay me now. I couldn't afford to "start something" that would probably fail, and definitely not be profitable for at least few months.

So I took a job at a startup. It was a daily deal site, like Groupon. And, like Groupon, it spent a lot on advertising. My daily ad spend was $13,000 -- and I didn't even know enough to know that was absurd. 

By the time that company ran out of runway, I had enough savings that I finally was in a position to "start my own thing" -- and it's been awesome!

So you've been asked to give a speech, talk, or assembly. And you want it to be memorable. You want your audience to think -- to feel something. To question their entire worldview, perhaps. 

Now you just need a topic.

Skip the boring cliches. No one wants to hear you talk about abortion, the death penalty, gun rights, or minimum wage. These are huge and broad topics, and you're not an expert. You'll put your audience straight to sleep.

This week, I bared my soul in the semifinals of Mars Studios' songwriting contest... and I lost. But I had a wonderful time competing, and I got some helpful feedback from the judges. 

And, due to the lyrics of one of my songs, I was reminded of the most hilarious review anyone's ever written on Amazon.

I had no interest in watching a show about teen suicide. But after seeing so many articles praising the Netflix original, 13 Reasons Why, I decided to check it out. I mean, supposedly it was one of the best teen dramas of all time. 

The show was kind of boring and not that good. But it had its moments, and I was able to find some value in it. Including the controversial rape scene, which critics say was too graphic and emotional and explicit. 

I had the opposite reaction. This was exactly the rape scene that teen and preteen girls need to see.

"I'm tired of using the typical hi or hey to start conversations on chat apps. What are some interesting and unique ways to start chats with women?"

This all-too-common question has come up enough times that I thought it was worth answering. And I'm going to be blunt.

I'll come right out and say it: I'm not sure how I even made it to the semis. It's not that I don't have confidence -- I do (#ChooseBeautiful). It's more that every single songwriter in the first round was incredibly talented.

But regardless of how it happened, it happened. I progressed to the next round -- and I was incredibly lucky to have two good friends drive all the way to Capitola from Mountain View to cheer me on. (Maybe that's what I'll write my next song about! I'll call it "Over the Hill," or, "Basically Long Distance," or something.)

"I'm socially awkward."

"I have, like, zero social skills."

"I don't want to go to the party because I never know what to do at parties."

We've all heard -- or even uttered -- such phrases. Maybe when you hear it, you feel sympathetic. But when I hear it, I feel slightly annoyed. "Socially awkward" is a choice. Saying you have "bad social skills," to me, sounds like saying, "I'm bad at basketball," when you haven't played since middle school.

I came to Southeast Asia to scuba dive and surf -- so after completing my Similan Islands Scuba liveaboard, a cruise into the heart of Laos on the Mekong River, and a surf-and-turf adventure in Malaysia, I hopped on a flight to Sri Lanka.

On arrival, I took a taxi to Negombo, the “cool” part of Colombo. The next morning, I rode the scenic train to Galle, a 15th-century Dutch fort on the southwest coast. Walking through the old Dutch hospital and along the stone city walls, it almost felt like I was in Europe… except on the Indian Ocean. ​

Another day, another adventure -- this time, in Sigriya, Sri Lanka. After two weeks at Elsewhere Surf Camp (when I arrived, I'd only planned on staying for one -- go figure :P), I did an elephant safari before heading up north to the Cultural Triangle.

Asked this question recently, it only took me about half a second to realize there is only one right answer: