the mario blog

These last few weeks have been pretty reflective for me. As part of that, I went and watched three different movies in theatres - Lincoln, Argo and Silver Linings Playbook. They were all excellent. Go see them while they're still in theatre.

Actually, I highly recommend you go see lots of movies in theatre - period. Not on a date, but by yourself.

There is a certain magic to watching a good film in theatre. A good film oftentimes tells a story about a very specific yet interesting part of our lives or history. Beautiful and important stories are everywhere, not just in the movies but in real life.

I find that watching a good film in theatre reminds to pay attention to those stories.

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the pill pocket game

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 12:10:00 -0800

Ever since his last vet visit, Otto has been asked to consume a pill or two every day.

The medicine actually seems to be working. Feeding him the medicine, not so much.

Hence, I was pretty excited when I heard about so called pill pockets. You put the medicine into the pill pocket, close it, present it to your cat and boom - he/she will think it's a treat.

Here is how that worked for Otto.

Step one.

I present Otto with three treats, one of which is a magic pill pocket.

Step two.

Otto devours two of the three treats. Of course, he identifies and ignores the one treat I actually needed him to eat.

Needless to be said, he is not amused and questions whether he'll be ever able to trust me again.

How do you feed medicine to your pets?

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Back To Montana

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 10:16:00 -0700

This is news. Probably surprising news in many ways. It surprised me.

Here it is.

I am moving back to Montana next year.

So is IdeaMensch.

And so is Otto.

It's not quite decided yet in what function, but one thing that is for certain is that I'll be teaching at the University. There are other opportunities that will uncover themselves in the coming months. And of course, we will continue to grow IdeaMensch out of our Missoula headquarters.

Here is the backstory.

I came to America as a sixteen year old kid. I thought I'd be surfing on a beach, yet instead I ended up moving pipes on a ranch. In a small town. In Montana.

And I fell in love with the state. Its mountains, its rivers but mostly its people. I've never met more friendly, more down-to-earth people than Montanans. They made me feel so welcomed, I decided to extend what was supposed to be one year of high school exchange and try to stay in America for good - much to the unliking of my mother.

I went to college in Missoula, which only confirmed my sentiments about the place.

Unfortunately upon graduation there weren't too many opportunities for me to continue growing. So I left.

Seattle, LA, Portland, LA, Europe and LA again were my stops. I did a lot of wandering. I spent ten amazing years in Advertising. With the exception of my time in Portland, I always sort of felt out of place. In my mind it was a sacrifice I needed to make in order to grow professionally. To this day I believe that to be true.

My time at WONGDOODY and R2C Group helped me develop an actual skill set other than my broken accent and ridiculously good looks. I couldn't be more grateful for Ben, Pat, Tim and Michelle for believing in me and for giving me the opportunities I had.

It was an amazing ride, yet I was never quite satisfied with the impact I was making. Nor did I ever grow accustomed to LA. Which is what led me to IdeaMensch and which is what led me to this crazy road trip.

This spring, I stopped being successful and started making a real impact.

It has been the most rewarding journey of my life.

Now I am at the tail end of a 48-state road trip. At the end of this sucker, I will have been to every state with the exception of Alaska.

I have a pretty good idea of what's out there now.

After having seen all that, I happen to believe there to be two places that are made for me.

Montana and Oregon.

And if you had asked me three months ago, I would have told you that I'd probably be moving to Portland next year, especially since I already have a condo there, great friends and my red scooter (which I promise to pick up on the way Ryan). I love Portland, always will and probably will come back at some point.

But Montana called me.

There are various reasons.

Various situations where I can make a real impact on a place that I love - surrounding both the University and the local startup scene.

It just feels right.

So I am going to do it. What the heck.

There are many things to do before I leave.

I need to find someone to rent my room in Santa Monica.

I need to talk Otto into separating from Spencer.

I need to find someone who will help Gregory.

I will have to say goodbye (which by the way is always just temporary) to the many amazing friends I made in LA.

But I am going back to the place I fell in love with when I first came to America.

Back to Montana.

Get your waders on.

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Are you getting better or worse?

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 17:17:00 -0700

I believe that in order to grow in life, you need to be willing to put yourself in uncomfortable situations. It's not a fun thing to do, nor is it necessary the easy thing to do.

But the only way you grow is through resistance. It's the same with growing muscle. You don't get buff by sitting on the couch. You grow your muscles by overtaxing them which encourages them to grow. Ditto with your brain. You don't get smart by watching TV.

I love the idea of being comfortable. There is a large part of me who wants to understand how to settle down and be happy.

Yet...

I've probably slept in or on 50 different beds or floors in the last 100 days. It makes for some interesting shots on Instagram, yet when you look on the inside of me - I do crave comfort.

It's a pretty human thing.

Actually, I believe that when males are put in a situation where they have enough food, sex and television - we, to varying degrees, take the foot of the pedal and start growing beer bellies.

That's what I do, and then I pretty much hate myself for it and go and do something crazy. People have a hard time understanding that, and try to put some label on me. "Oh Mario..."

I got that when I moved to America, I got that when I moved from LA to Portland, from Portland to LA, when I did my Ironman, when I moved to Europe and when I decided to drive across all lower 48.

I am not complaining.

This has nothing to do with the grass being greener on the other side for me, but everything to do with the fact that I can't figure out how live in balance.

Right now I am constantly uncomfortable, which I believe has helped me grow tremendously from a personal perspective yet isn't a sustainable way of life.

When I get done with this trip, the key will be for me to not just settle down. I need to figure out a way to add an element of daily discomfort into my life (open to suggestions, except yoga) which provides the motivation for continuous growth. That element probably shouldn't be another road trip across America nor does it have to be an Ironman, some sort of ultra marathon or a move to Africa.

I need to stop jumping from one extreme to the other, and figure out a healthy middle path. One that can provide comfort and opportunities for growth. That's my challenge.

Think about your life.

Do you have too much comfort, or too little?

Are you getting better or worse?

Are you ok with that?

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tired

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 10:53:23 -0700

I was going to write a post about this yesterday, but I didn't. Too tired.

When we got home (aka our hotel room) after our Milwaukee event, I felt really tired. We have traveled for 45 days now, 20 states, 19 cities, three events per week, huge ups, and downs. Adam and Will are doing great, the chemistry is amazing. There have been arguments, but the air was cleared after every one of them. There is no negative energy. We've pretty much shared beds and floors for the last month and a half yet every day we get up excited - ready to work our butts off and go to bat for people with ideas.

I know I need to write more and I need to pick up the camera more often, but right now the goal is just to get through the day, every day and put on as many awesome events as possible. Everything else is secondary.

I am tired. This feels like really hard work. But I bet I'll look back someday having to pinch myself that we did this.

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the problem with every day being different

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 08:27:29 -0700

Eleven years ago, I distinctively remember telling one of my professors in college that I was looking for a career where every day is completely different. When I worked in advertising I told people that what I loved was how every day was different. Well, turns out - I was lying. Now every day is different. Quite literally. I sleep in a different bed/on a different floor every second day. I pretty much eat something completely different every day and every meal of the day. It's usually not healthy. Every day I am surrounded by three of the same people and fifty to a hundred new ones. And i guess my work is different every day, even though it's hard for me to quantify that. But it must be, because every day I am worried about something completely different. Right now, I am worried about our speaker lineup in Minneapolis. Normally it's easy to find speakers and hard to sell tickets. In Minneapolis it's the other way around. We're selling tickets even though we have no speakers. Oh, and I am slightly worried about our new passenger who we're dropping of in Des Moines before heading to Carl Blake's pig farm. Because turns out, the Element only has four seats. And now there are five of us

So I guess I'll take that back that I want every day to be completely different. I don't want to be bored with what I do, but it will be nice to have a steady bed (maybe even to myself), a kitchen to make healthy food in and a time every day to work out. That will be nice.

Be careful what you wish for Mario.

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on trying

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 11:59:22 -0700

Some day I or someone else will look back on my life, and I or they might or might not think that I lived an interesting life. But I am pretty certain that it will be rather clear that I tried very hard. And I guess that's what it's all about. You're either trying something or you're not. That applies to living an interesting life, losing weight, getting faster, being nicer, eating healthier or making a bunch of money.

There is no guarantee in life that you'll succeed at anything.

But you can always try.

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the cruel reality of our food system - animal transports

Sat, 28 Jul 2012 11:16:00 -0700

We have spent the last week driving through the Midwest. Two things have stood out.

One, it's very dry. This region needs rain - badly.

Two, we have seen a disturbing number of animal transports. Cows on their way to either feedlots or slaughterhouses. Dozens of cows jammed into the back of a semi truck, two levels deep. Whether you buy your meat at Wholefoods or Fred Meyer's - just about every cow will make those two trips twice in its life - the slaughterhouse trip being the last one of its life.

I took the above picture somewhere between Kansas and Oklahoma. It is at least 105 degrees. The brown stuff running down the side of the cage is crap (literally) running down from the second level of this truck. All the cows in this truck are obviously scared for their lives, rightfully so. They're freaked out. Oftentimes they have to travel for 100s oor 1000s of miles in these conditions. It is terrible.

If you look at the picture, you can see a cow looking at me. That breaks my heart. This has been the hardest part of this trip. Seeing dozens of animal transports, every day. Looking them in the eye. I want to look away, but I can't.

I am not a vegetarian, but I know that at some point of my life I will be. I have to be.

I am strongly opposed to factory farming, and really the only way I can control the conditions the animals I eat is by killing them myself - and I know I am not brave enough for that.

I think most of us would be opposed to exposing any living being to these conditions. Most of us have too much compassion to let that be. Yet most of us, including me, choose to be ignorant. Every day.

I am sorry.

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in boulder worrying about wichita

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 08:26:00 -0700

We've been on the road for about three weeks now, and while incredibly rewarding - this is also by far the hardest thing I've ever done. We're passing through four to five states most weeks, cover 1,000+ miles, sleep in a different bed or on a different floor every couple of days and are constantly trying to go from zero to 100 in cities where absolutely no-one has ever heard of IdeaMensch. It usually works, but when it doesn't - it hurts like hell.

So far so good.

We're all getting along, we're meeting amazing people, we're doing something that matters. There is no security, no familiarity and every day we start by catching up on something. I know there's probably incredible upside in there somewhere, but I am not thinking about this. Right now I am in Boulder worrying about Wichita.

By far the most rewarding experience has been the incredible people we've met along.

America is incredible.

And I am doing well.

You can follow our journey at http://im48.co/. I post something every day.

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Otto

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 10:09:00 -0700

It's my last day before heading out on a 4-month road trip. I am scared as hell, excited, nervous and all that probably comes with very unreasonable endeavors like this.

I'm also a little sad.

A sadness I really haven't felt since I said goodbye to my parents when I came to America.

Why?

To say goodbye to Otto for four months.

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I care for this little fellow. For the past seven years, we've gone everywhere together. Portland, LA, Europe, six different apartments - Otto has always been by my side. I've never gone for more than two weeks without seeing him.

I know he'll be in good hands with Spencer. And I've made sure for someone good with living plants to come by and get him some cat grass. Thanks Rali.

I'll sure miss Otto like crazy.

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