I was away for a few days with Ellen in Tuscany visiting our good friend Xenia (I have written about Casetta before) and making some new friends.

We were planning to help pick olives, but the warm weather made the picking season early.

So we drank, we ate ( a lot of bread and olive oil), we walked, we told stories.

At one point we got to talking about writing and the fact that I write everyday here on my blog.

People are so surprised when I say I write here on my blog every day.

Seth Godin says – ‘the secret to writing a daily blog is to write every day. And to queue it up and blog it. There is no other secret.’

The early inspirations for me were Fred Wilson and Brad Feld. Seth Godin is another.

Seth just had his 7,000th post.

The best business decision I have ever made is to start journalling here on my blog. As Seth says, the discipline is priceless.

It helps me think. It keeps me mostly honest. I have endless opinions, but searching for links is research…trying to remember which smart person said what a month ago or year ago helps me check my work and rethink a big (often loose) hypothesis.

When I get recognized, the thrill is fantastic. Yesterday, Morgan Housel included me on a fave financial reading list. Thank you Morgan.

The only metric I count are the daily subscribers and the open rate. Thanks everyone for reading and encouraging me.

As for the markets…not much has changed since I left New York. Donald Trump is still taking credit for the rise and oil is now joining the party.