What a difference a month and a half make. The last time I posted, SARS-CoV-2 (henceforth “Coronavirus”) was starting to become a significant news story, but I hadn’t the slightest idea what would be in store for the 45 days. Since then, many states have ordered citizens to stay home to help stem the tide of the disease.
This whole ordeal became very real for me when my friend Jeff contracted and subsequently passed due to Coronavirus. It’s difficult to think of even now. The emotions that well up are hard to process. Jeff was a beautiful human being who saw the best in everyone. He, as a friend of mine put it, “collected friends like he was shot out of a cannon.” I’ll miss him dearly.
But we go on, don’t we?
My wife does the heroic task of venturing out to collect necessities, bound up like a bank robber. Though all she’s trying to do is grab some groceries.
We’re lucky enough to both be able to work from home. We’re both still employed with a very low risk of losing our jobs. I’m thankful for this. I know that out there; many others are struggling. Their struggle is sadly necessary. I hope that as a nation, we can do the right things to protect people’s lives and livelihoods. What those right things are is up for debate, of course, but my wishes are for us to, collectively, find the right path.
I’m meandering through this now. Much like the rest of life right now. Until next time.
If you ask me, the Dodgers were the best team in baseball in 2017. And then there was banging on trash cans.
It’s a curious thing being a Dodger fan these days. The team has been rolling for the better part of a decade. It’s won the most games of any team since Dave Roberts took the helm. But yet, every Dodger fan is sinking in a quicksand of fandom.
The Dodgers should’ve won it all by now. Perhaps without that banging, they would’ve.
The Dodgers come into 2020 like a juggernaut. A stacked lineup and roster depth for days, designed to withstand injuries to even the most key of players. Cash in reserve for days. Prospects that can come up and make an impact immediately—or be traded away at the deadline for whatever holes emerge.
And yet there is a sense of restlessness. This team can win it all. They should win it all. Will they?
Right now, I’m sitting in a hotel room in Austin. We came down from Dallas to attend a friend’s wedding out in Dripping Springs, and while we’re here, we’re doing the greatest hits of our time in Austin. It’s not the stereotypical spots, but the spots that are special to us.
Austin is still tops lists of the best places to live, and being here the past day and a half reminds me why. But while listicles will talk about the tech scene, the cultural institutions, or the food and music, what I love most about coming to Austin is the vibe.
What I think makes Austin unique is that everyone here feels that and projects it forward. Nearly everyone is in a friendly or good mood. People are enjoying themselves, and it’s something that you can sense pretty much anywhere.
All that is to say, I miss Austin. We’re unlikely to live here ever again, frankly. I’m a bit sad about that. The future is coming fast for us, and there are great opportunities ahead of us. I hope that wherever we wide up, we can find a little bit of that Austin vibe.
This website is not perfect.
I have the drive to build precisely. I fail constantly. In the past, hell, decade, I’ve redesigned my website countless times. I have folders on my machine dating back years with abandoned redesign efforts. A lot of that would have rotted no sooner than it launched.
I’m taking a new approach to this. And it’s not revolutionary. It’s what I do every day. Constant improvement. Make the thing a bit better every time I touch the keyboard.
What this means is that there is a lot on this site that I would prefer to be different. I want the design to be more eye-catching. I want to take the cover photos myself. I would like to have content that highlights what I’m reading, listening, and learning.
I would have liked to spend more time dialing in the code. I’m already not super happy with it. But instead of that, I’m going to push forward. I’ll change things in the future. But I won’t let it sit and rot.
I don’t currently have a to-do list for this site, but I will be making one. But all that said, I was able to write this post and to publish it. You can read it.
For now, that’s enough.
The open web is a husk of its former self, conceded to the corporate ventures whose aim is to collect as much data as possible and leverage it in the most profitable manner possible. I want to reclaim my portion of it that dream of an open web of sharing ideas, culture, and imagination.
That’s the goal here. I’m not looking to get hired, or a speaking gig, or a book deal. I want to get back to basics.
As I write this, I would consider this redesign to be about 90% there, but resistance to reach total completeness increases exponentially the nearer it gets.
Though, the reality is, this can never be complete. The nature of this is an inevitable change to technology, to people, and my whims. With that in mind, I will aim to finally publish this in some form very soon, with minimal touch-ups as I prepare it for launch.
I’m not happy with the result, but I will never be. Designing for oneself is an artistic act, and dissatisfaction for me in that sense is foundational. But again, that’s not the goal. The goal is to take back my part of the web.
And with that, I will pledge to improve this site steadily and to contribute to the content regularly. To not let it die.