Off days
I was talking with my manager during our weekly one-on-one and I brought up that I was having an off day. It was one of those days where I just couldn't get...
Lazy Sunday
This has been the first quiet weekend in a while. It has been very nice, but the thing with quiet weekends is that sometimes I do not know what to write...
Your first ninety days
I recently completed my ninety-day survey at Stripe, which was a surprise because wait, I've been there for ninety days? So, here's the thing. Being new in...
Levers
What are the obvious ways to make your life better? I bought an electric bike, and this was my first week commuting with it. It was extremely rad; my commute...
On call
How do you explain on-call to a friend? I mean, they are your friend — they are smart and kind and patient. When you fumble through the first inexact...
What should developers read?
We had someone new join the team. This is always exciting. He asked if there were any books he should read to get more information: about our stack, about...
The Singer Addresses His Audience
August 2005: I am given the most precious device I have ever owned: a half-busted MP3 player. I think it had sixteen megabytes, which is a number that seems...
How we build things
They're building a massive office building across the street from our office, and its construction has proved a source of endless distraction and fascination...
When Your Friend Asks You To Run In A Dog-Friendly 5K Starting In An Hour, You Say Yes
My legs are tired as I write this! On a moment's (well closer to ten moments') notice I ran the somewhat unfortunately named Furry 5K with a friend. There...
Happy little accidents
You've probably heard this anecdote before, right?: A very large government bid, approaching a million dollars, was on the table. The IBM Corporation—no,...
Kino
If we have spent an extended amount of time together, we have probably talked about Murakami. (Sorry.) And if we have talked about Murakami, and you haven't...
Duffel bag
What does your best morning look like? I ask because I have been thinking a lot lately about morning routines! This is the first week that I've spent...
It's good to be wrong!
Here is an essay I liked a lot: I’m going to be honest: I’ve had a hell of a time getting my head around React. More than any other technology I’ve touched...
What I learned on my summer vacation
I am so happy to be back in Seattle, where it is filled with warmth and sunlight and dogs who are experiencing the world as if for the first time. I know...
Airplane mode
I'm in Seattle for another twelve hours — back in town briefly for a friend's bachelor/bachelorette party — before heading back to San Francisco. It is...
How to play tourist
Here's what you do: First, go for a bike ride. It does not much matter where you go on the bike ride; you can take the Embarcadero if you want, going from...
Thank you, faster and faster
I’m writing today’s note on a flight to San Francisco, where I’ll spend the next three weeks onboarding at Stripe as an engineer on the Sigma team. I am...
All Villanova's fault
Due to a great amount of luck and literally no amount of foresight or knowledge, I won a bunch of March Madness brackets this year, netting almost a thousand...
52 Years
I've been bingeing old episodes of Conversations with Tyler and he had a quote that's stuck with me all week (emphasis mine): COLLISON: Right, right. I think...
Vernorexia
If life in your mid-twenties is an accumulation and nurturing of a bouquet of simple pleasures, I have added a new flower — dockless bikeshare. Hm, that's an...