I just got back from a healing retreat at the indescribable utopia of Valley View Hot Springs (if you know, you know). It was transcendent: a return to bliss in my sensory body in a year defined by pain; a reminder of my deep love and gratitude for this land where five generations of my family have lived; a re-rooting into myself, my values, my purpose, my joys.

I off-the-cuffed the term “Expeditionary Performance” to Kristine a year ago, and she immediately grabbed a hold of it, kept bringing it up and loving it more with every mention. It immediately resonated as a gathering place for most of what we’d been up to since founding Control Group together.

I’m losing track of what to share anymore—what I’m supposed to say, what’s worth trying to communicate, or even possible to...

I’m writing this to share about my health and upcoming surgery. I’m probably trying too hard, reaching for a pithy blog-post-weight philosophical truism to share. But also, I’ve been facing the question of what to communicate how, when, to whom for three and a half months, and… here I still am. Anyway, if you don’t want to read the rest of this meandering, mildly flatulent quasi-diary entry: I’ve had a lumbar 4/5 disc hernia since 2022 or earlier, causing constant acute pain/discomfort since April 2025, to be addressed July 29 with anterior disc replacement surgery, followed by a 12-week recovery.