An amoeba is more complex than any machine that humans have thus far made.

The real world has gotten so strange that writing fiction almost feels more serious at this point. About half of the macro stuff is on autopilot anyway, because nothing stops that train. View quoted note →

I’m going to end up doing a full year without going to bitcoin conferences, by design. I skipped Nashville, skipped MENA, skipped all the European ones. Nothing against them. Just wasn’t feeling it. I did the Oslo Freedom Forum in June, but that’s not a bitcoin conference. The last actual one I did was Madeira in spring 2024. Sometimes it’s good to take a break and refocus rather than phone it in and say the same things again. The things I said before are still valid, so why say them again, you know? I’ve been traveling to visit family and friends instead.

Gm. One of the cool things about the oldest area of Cairo (which has both medieval and Ottoman era architecture) is that historically and artistically relevant areas are directly mixed with life as usual where people live and work. For example, this alley has a bunch of local art students making sketches of old architecture, while there are also active businesses in the area like a home accessories shop.

I have some fomo about the New Jersey drones. Like, as soon as I leave New Jersey for a couple months, that’s when all the cool shit happens. 🤷‍♀️

I keep seeing people try to predict what the MSTR premium over NAV “should” be, as a valuation question. However, the answer doesn’t truly exist, because it’s recursive. The current state of it is an input back to itself. It’s arbitraged, in other words. As long as there is a sizable premium, MSTR will continue issuing securities until demand is saturated for a period of time. A high premium tells MSTR to keep issuing more securities, which in the long arc of time pushes the premium back down. A low premium tells MSTR to slow down or halt security issuance until a premium re-emerges. And gm.

I now emerge from my reading coma having finished Wind and Truth. View quoted note →

“The Prophet of Pain gave warning The punishment due Take heed of the early morning In time it was seen true Four winds calling to Zamora Four winds of deceit Four winds to the ghost of Tara Four winds of defeat Bow down to the thief of all men The will to be tame Bow down to the thief of all men Only one time, only one to blame I led the life unchoosen Gave the lesson to the broken I heard the words unspoken Gave the lesson to the broken I led the life unchoosen Gave the lesson to the broken I heard the words unspoken Gave the lesson to the broken The beast in the skies had risen In time it would come The lands had began their schism All bow to the fallen one”

My upcoming client report is the hardest one I’ve ever written, since Wind and Truth just came out today and all I want to do is read that. All 1300 pages of that. 😭

Christmas time in Heliopolis.

Of course bitcoin had to hit $100k at 5am local time when I was asleep. Not the worst thing to wake up to, though.

Saw this cyberpunk art by Sofia Sanz the other day and can’t stop looking at it. The buildings especially. There is an Impressionist aspect to them that makes the lighting look so cool. https://sofiasanz.artstation.com/

This is great news on the privacy front. View quoted note →

My father in law checks the bitcoin price more often than I do now.

One time I went with a bunch of friends to a famous old mosque, known for its rich history and architecture. It’s built on top of Saladin’s fortress. Women have to cover their heads with scarves in mosques, so I bought one of those out front. The problem was, I was wearing my prescription sunglasses, and had lost my normal eyeglasses. So I kept my sunglasses on to see properly inside, and the combo made me look like some wannabe discount rapper or something. Anyway, gm.

I mentioned in a prior note that I saw Ghost again. Now I got new pics of her. The underground garage cat. Protector of cars, and who also likes to jump out from under them and spook you. View quoted note →

A rather rare rainstorm in Cairo this morning. The city gets about two inches of rain per year.

The finale of Arcane is coming out now (middle of the night US time but 10am in Cairo). So I’m like: