Hi again! Some Updates

Hi all. I thought it might be good to put out a newsletter issue with a few updates. I am occasionally asked what I’m doing this summer, and how my “break” is going.

First off, a recap:

• I took a break from this newsletter

• I took a break from Collectibles on SI

• I intended to cut back on my YouTube videos

The first two of those have worked out really nicely. And I have reduced the amount of time I put into YouTube, due to other priorities.

Health Update

Over the winter I talked about some challenges with my health. I wasn’t sure how to describe it, other than to say that I was struggling.

On May 27th, I said to my wife, “I’ve gained 40 pounds, I have no motivation, and I generally feel down all the time. Am I depressed?”

I had been depressed once before, when my foot injury ended my running “career.” But I knew that would end, and it was tied to something specific.

I had never just been depressed.

I’ve been very lucky with my mental health. This felt different. But my wife is very wise to these things.

“Have you been taking vitamin D?”

Last summer, my doctor told my I was severely deficient in vitamin D and told me to start taking 2,000 IUs per day. Great suggestion, had I remembered.

“Would that cause this?” I asked my wife.

“Probably!”

So the next day I took my vitamin D3 pill and suddenly had a lot of motivation. I took it every day after, and I got a lot done and lost 11 pounds in June.

Crazy, right?

My doctor agrees. She says some people have that reaction to it, but it’s unusual.

Maybe it’s the placebo effect. Maybe it’s just the time of year. Who knows?

I live in Maine, so we don’t get a ton of sun year-round. And let’s face it, I work in my basement and don’t go outside a lot during the day.

So while I’m not ready to be back doing weekly writing again, I do see the sunlight at the end of the tunnel.

Office / Hobby Room Update

I’ve been talking about it for a long time, but it’s finally becoming reality.

The office / hobby room.

We cleaned out a bedroom over the weekend. Next up:

• Paint that bedroom

• Move child 1 from their bedroom to newly-painted bedroom

• Paint child 1’s former bedroom

• Tear up carpet in that bedroom and put down new flooring? TBD

• Move in!

My goal is September to get all this done. It could be much, much sooner. Again, depending on motivation. Mine and my kid’s.

I can’t overstate how excited I am for this.

I’ve worked from home for over 5 years, and I’ve been YouTubing for 4 of those years. All from a small corner of my basement.

The sad thing is, I’m back in the office for work two days a week. That’s 90 minutes of drive time each of those days. This, of course, also challenges my productivity.

Buy My PSA 10 Shohei Ohtani Rookie!

I bought this raw from a Portland card show a couple of years ago. I paid $90 for it at the time, and I think the dealer had it priced wrong because when I got home I discovered that it was actually a $200-250 card.

I felt it had a chance at a 10, so I sent it to PSA. And voila:

I have a bunch of PSA 10 Shohei rookies, so I’m selling this one on eBay.

Auction ends Sunday night, July 7th.

Summer Schedule

• I’ll be making my first appearance on Jeremy Lee’s Sports Cards Live Saturday night around 10pm ET. Yes, that’s very late for me. I’m hoping I’ll be able to nap. I hope you can watch live! (If not, you can watch another time.)

• On Monday, July 7th I’ll be on Midlife Live at 9pm ET with Dan from Dan’s Vintage Baseball PC and Jake from Wax Pack Wisdom. The last one we did was the most-attended live Graig has done yet. <patting self on back> I’m hoping you’ll all show up again.

• On Sunday, July 20th I’ll be on two livestreams during Hobbypalooza on the 4 Collectors channel.

• July 31st I leave very early in the morning for Chicago and The National! I’m very excited for this, and have packed a lot into 3 days. Can I get to a Cubs game at Wrigley too? We’ll see!

• In August I dial it back some.

👻 Horror Movie Updates

Since my last newsletter, here are the horror movies I’ve watched, and their ratings (out of 5 stars):

• The Ritual: 3.5 stars

• Presence: 3.5 stars

• Jeepers Creepers: 2 stars (sad because I remember loving this when it came out in college)

• 30 Days of Night: 4.5 stars (really surprised at how much I enjoyed this)

• Event Horizon: 2 stars (really surprised at how little I enjoyed this)

• 28 Years Later: 3 stars (the weakest of the trilogy)

• World War Z: 4.5 stars (really surprised at how much I enjoyed this)

That’s 27 horror movies this year in 26 weeks. I’m on track for my goal of 52 in 2025!

Milestone

I hit 2.5 million views on my channel!

That’s it! I might be back in a month or so. Thanks for reading.