It’s been over a year since I last hosted a dinner.

But when my friend Sherry told me she was in town, I thought it time to bring ’em back. And then I found out my buddies Clay and Phil also in town, so double-bonus.

It’s funny – I’ve realized more and more that the job of a host is very simple:

1. Curate
2. Set expectations (in my case, a stronger focus on the personal size combined with an irreverent approach)
3. Get the hell outta the way

Food is nice. Ambience is important (we were in the “Swords & Pistols” room). But the people who show are key.

I am pretty grateful of knowing so many dope-ass humans.

Oddly enough I got this email today too:

Go host your own dinners.

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I recently realized that in the hierarchy of heuristics that makes me instantly tune someone out, *bluster* is near the top.

The most thoughtful people I know are forceful yes, but never in a cocksure and abrasive way.

Loudness is fake confidence, and I don’t need fakers in my life.

I’m not a negative person, but I have realized that a lot of bonding (especially with someone you don’t know well) happens in the negative (aka complaining/kvetching).

The weather. The traffic. Politics. This sucks. That sucks.

I’ve always found it a bit tough to empathize at that level (hey man, I’m outchea living my best life!) – but something to consider when building relationships.

People bond in the negative.

Kinda crazy how fast it changed over.

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I think one of the most important life skills now is filtering people’s opinions.

Endless number of them, pretty few useful ones.

Our recent SEO post generated ~700 comments across twitter, reddit, hackernews, and more.

95% of them were making assumptions that were just flat out wrong.