Archive

Hey everyone! It’s been a while since my last newsletter where I recapped my Taiwan trip. Here’s what’s been going on in my world.

Leaning into AI

Yes, I’m (cautiously) on the bandwagon. AI is pretty cool. It’s nowhere near perfect, and it’s not the best tool to solve every problem. But large language models create an amazing amount of value. I’m finding ChatGPT to be a great assistant to bounce ideas off of when I’m brainstorming. I rarely find something to copy and paste from ChatGPT wholesale, but as a tool for thinking, it’s slowly becoming a more interesting destination.

Having written some prompts, it’s clear to me that more than ever, precise language is important, which is why reading and writing are still such critical skills. I’m watching the space closely (and have been dabbling in development experiments with AI, too).

I write these words 31,000 feet above sea level, en route to San Francisco from Taipei. (And I edit these words jet lagged in Austin).

Two weeks went by in a blink! My time in Taiwan has changed me – and the changes slowly unravel as thoughts, questions, and glimpses of inspiration.

This was an incredibly important trip. Spending time with family, learning a new culture, struggling with a language, and discovering more of myself, I’m convinced that international travel is life-changing and necessary.

I’m sure that many of the following messy thoughts will percolate and shape into more coherent writing in the future, but in the spirit of sharing, here they are, half-baked.

Hello friends and family!

My last letter from a few weeks ago feels like it was eons ago as 2023 is well underway. With a visit from my brother (2x) and my parents this month, our place has been full of fun.

A Quick January Recap ❄

January has absolutely flown by. With my brother Kaamil and parents visting, I’ve found myself dreaming big and taking practical steps in equal measure. In both energies, I’m pursuing a life that allows me to be generous to the fullest extent possible, while learning and adventuring as much as I can.

2022 has been a year of growth, enrichment, and dedication to my craft. It was one of those years where it’s hard to remember where the year went, but on reflection, quite a lot happened!

Overall, the year was one of growing my knowledge and growing my roots – reading, exploring, and finding confidence in new routines. It ended spectacularly, yet quietly: by a burning fire, underneath a starlit canopy, as we camped beneath a cool Texas sky.

Things that Happened

• I contributed to larger and more important projects as a software engineer at Litmus, from Rails upgrades to Chrome Extensions. And I got to meet my colleagues in person!
• I attended my first Ruby conference, RubyConf Mini, in Providence! I’ll definitely be headed to more tech conferences this year.
• This newsletter launched! Consistently publishing updates on a medium that feels right is a big deal.
• We adopted Tuki, our cat. 🐈‍⬛
• I started rock climbing in earnest this year, and have enjoyed the progress I’m making.

The Hideout 🏡

This is one of my favorite times of the year. It’s restful, reflective, and energizing in its own unique way. It’s a time to take stock of what’s happened in the past year and set some goals for the year to come.

I imagine it as my hideout, an escape from the external, into the world within. I’ll emerge from the hideout with my next newsletter – my 2022 year in review!

Feeds and RSS: My New Content Diet 📢

Happy Holiday season!

This year, I was able to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with my family north of Boston, after going to RubyConf Mini in Providence, RI. There I got to meet many of teammates in person for the first time. I’m super grateful for the experience, and even more grateful for the people I get to work with.

With all this travel, I was away from home in Austin for most of November. This December has become a time for reflection and reset for me, beginning with my routine and habits.

🎉 Confetti - the best habit tracker ever

Hello hello!

This letter I’m musing on a work meetup in Chicago and some things I’ve learned from video games lately!

Real Life Meetups are Real Awesome 🏙

Last week I was lucky enough to meet some of my colleagues in real life for the first time since I started at Litmus in August of 2021. This meetup was for peeps working in the midwest and south of the US, so while it wasn’t a full company meetup, I got to meet so many friendly faces. Chicago was a super fun destination and it was incredible to get to know my teammates, eat great food, go on tours, and rock climb!

Hello friends and fam!

It hasn’t been much time since my last letter, but sometimes, just a few days of travel is enough to spark a burst of energy. New York City certainly did that for me last weekend.

I saw a Broadway show, took the ferry, saw Harlem, Williamsburg, Long Island City, and ate dollar pizza (if you know me, you know that this is a requirement for any trip to the city).

However, much of my time was spent catching up with friends new and old. It was everything I wanted and needed. And for the conversations I had, I wouldn’t trade a minute.

Hello friends and fam.

While I’d love to always share my wins on this newsletter, that would be disingenuous, and would make this no better than good ol’ Instagram.

This issue is one that describes some not-so-rosy times, and I think they’re important to honor.

Summer is over here in Austin, which by most measures, is a great thing. There’s a new crispness in the air. The pace is quickening. This August/September, I allowed myself to focus on my craft without any distraction. That’s led to some beautiful growth. But Fall beckons for more socialization, more sharing, and fuller days.

Hello hello,

Happy Fall. It’s that time of year when everything feels in transition, whether life is changing dramatically or not. It’s still nice and hot in Austin and feels like a warm New England summer (my favorite season).

Recently, I’ve been acutely aware of how infinitely deep every single topic goes. People spend lifetimes understanding, dissecting, reading, writing, watching, and building in one space, for one niche. When I’m exposed to stories about those people, I get an immediate jolt of energy. The infinity of learning is so motivating.

With that, I’ve noticed myself gravitating toward certain areas, certain aspects of web development, literature, and physical activity. When I was in college, I said yes to everything, burning myself out at times. But now, I’m finding myself saying “no” to the mediocre stuff, and “heck yeah” for the few things that bring me joy or that I’ve defined as a professional priority.

Heyyo! 👋

Welcome to my newsletter! Incase you’re curious about why I decided to start this thing, read on. If not, feel free to trash it. 😁

Over the past year, I’ve naturally strayed away from sharing on social media, for a variety of reasons that you’ve likely heard before. With a significantly reduced (but not eliminated) endless scroll, my life is more focused, productive, present, and full. Somewhere along the way (within the past year or so), I realized that I was missing an outlet to share my life developments with all of the people I care about (that’s you!)

So I decided to go sufficiently old-school – email. A newsletter is awesome because it’s easy to ignore incase you’re busy (unlike a text), but can also be distinctly personal (you can reply directly to an email). An email is a blank canvas and can be structured in almost any way. It doesn’t have any gamification like social media, and is understandable for anyone to use.