Pssst…
Hey you.
Yeah, you.
Sitting there with your coffee or your bourbon or your coffee with bourbon (no judgment, we’ve all been there)
Let me tell you a story about how I became the world’s most expensive idiot for approximately 72 hours.
So there I was, feeling all high and mighty about my digital collection, my domains all lined up like good little soldiers, when I get an email…
Not just any email.
The kind that makes your stomach drop through your ass and keep going until it hits the Earth’s molten core.
“Your domain has expired.”
The Silly Goose Society domain. Gone. Poof. Some domain squatter probably snatched it up faster than a seagull on a french fry, and now they want…
Wait for it…
$8,000 to give it back.
Eight. Thousand. Dollars.
Just kidding. It was only $500.
For a domain I could’ve renewed for twelve bucks.
(This is the part where you’re allowed to laugh at me. Go ahead. I’ll wait)
Expensive mistakes are like getting punched in the face by reality wearing brass knuckles made of your own stupidity.
But you know what? That’s exactly why The Silly Goose Society needs to exist. Not in spite of spectacular fuck ups like this, but BECAUSE of them.
Also if you want the timeline of this fail it looked something like this…
>January: Domain renewal notice arrives
>Me: “I’ll handle this later” (Morgan Freeman narrator voice: he would not handle this later)
>February: Second notice
>Me: Still procrastinating like a champion
>March: Final warning
>Me: Chef’s kiss of ignorance
>April: Domain expires
>Me: Surprised Pikachu face
Cost of being a forgetful dumbass? $500 to buy back what was already mine. Five. Hundred. Dollars. That’s like. I don’t know? A really nice vacation back to Scotland for me, or approximately 600 cups of overpriced coffee, or (and this hurts) the GDP of a small village somewhere…
So here’s what’s happening.
The Silly Goose Society is coming back. Same domain. Same ridiculous energy.
Because if I let one expensive mistake, okay, one MONUMENTALLY STUPID expensive mistake stop me from bringing back something that actually matters?
Then I’m not a silly goose. I’m just a regular goose. And regular geese are assholes.
The new philosophy stays the same but gets sharper…
Work hard, play harder, fail spectacularly, laugh about it, then get back to work. Make art, make mistakes, make dinner, make enemies, make friends but whatever you make, infuse it with that special brand of controlled chaos that comes from not taking yourself so seriously that you forget to live.
Your boss needs that presentation? Give it to them, but make it memorable. Your client wants creativity? Serve it with a side of unexpected delight. Your family needs support? Be there, be real, but remember that sometimes the best medicine is absurdity administered at exactly the right dosage.
Here’s a little secret you might need to lean in close for…
Being silly was never about being unprofessional. You’re SO professional that you transcend the boring bullshit and arrive at something actually meaningful. It’s about doing the work but refusing to let the work drain your soul like some corporate vampire.
The Silly Goose Society is about looking at failure (like, say, losing a domain worth a few hundred because you forgot to click “renew”) and going: “Fuck it. We’re doing it anyway. Better this time.”
Sometimes you gotta dust yourself off. Yeah don’t have to. But have you ever heard a goose sneeze? It’s the most hilariously serious and unserious thing at the same time.
New hang out coming soon. Same silly energy. Zero domain renewal amnesia.
Welcome back to The Silly Goose Society.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go set approximately 47 calendar reminders for domain renewals and maybe cry laugh into a pillow for a few minutes.
Honk honk, motherfuckers.
Stephen Walker.
P.S. If you’re the person who bought my old domain and is trying to sell it back for $500, I respect the hustle but also you can go step on a LEGO.
P.P.S. The first rule of The Silly Goose Society is: Always renew your domains. The second rule is: When you forget the first rule, make it part of the story.