Trying really hard to savor it— today was one of those days where it really felt like I know how to do my job.

For years I would not say I was one of those people with a non-stop, robust internal monologue.

I think I was just… wrong about that.

I would like to announce that I am wearing linen every day for the rest of my life. I am not accepting questions at this time.

Three hour flight delay is a real waste of a good hair day.

Today’s lyric caught in my head:

If I could bottle my hopes in a store bought scent/they’d be nutmeg peach and they’d pay the rent.

Am I anxious or hungry? A memoir.

My friend and I are so millennial that I can tell which of their calls they didn’t mean to make and just not pickup.

JBGB’s opened up not far from me. We had some great Italian heroes from there the other day and got the dogs some bones. I was definitely happy. But today I had the chicken cherry bomb sausages and 🤩😲🤩.

Now I need to resist the urge to buy a Les Paul Gold Top with P90s, a ES-335, and a semi-hollow Tele Thinline (or G&L semi-hollow ASAT).

It has been brought to my attention that 7 years ago today the Jess and Jason show happened for the first time. And somehow, on the same day, 6 years ago, we showed off our first working version of Allovue’s product to superintendents to rave reviews.

New cookbook day

Should have cleaned up before pictures. Missing: my amp, which is in the shop for as much as five weeks. Needed: more books, a light for the bookshelf, and probably another plant on the bookshelf. Overall, pretty happy with where things are about 16 months after I took over this room.

Why is no sound coming out of my amp?

Uh oh, why is my rectifier tube with bent pins sitting at the bottom of my combo…

So I think I’m going to move this light bar to the other corner and get some kind of light fixture on my new (to the office, this was the cookbook holder) office bookshelf. Any recommendations?

I think I should be concerned about web consolidation at Automattic, but mostly I am just happy there’s a good steward for the companies that they have been acquiring.

A lesson I need to learn over and over again– I can get significantly better at anything with a shockingly small amount of practice. There’s just no shortcut to putting in the work.

Yesterday my friend came to me for advice. Afterwards, they told me that I was, “…a wonderful friend… I’m very grateful for you.”

My response was, “It’s a mitzvah to exercise being a friend.”

Here’s what I meant. Strictly, a mitzvah is a commandment–something we’re told we must do (or must not do). But a mitzvah is also a blessing. Each time we perform a mitzvah, it is an opportunity to act with meaning and to achieve something important. Performing a mitzvah is a holy act, whereby holy I mean that it is separated from normal. It is a chance to act with distinction from the mundane.

I am not always the best version of myself. None of us are. I don’t always take the opportunity to seize a moment to act with intentionality and purpose. So when a friend comes to me for support and I’m able to provide it, wholly, honestly, and without flubbing it up because I misread the cues or just am not who they need, it’s deeply fulfilling.

What is better than offering some part of yourself to strengthen others? What higher purpose can there be?

I am glad to hear that I was a good friend, but I am happier to have had the opportunity to be that friend. I wish I had more; it’s something I’d like to get really good at.

Taken from my DayOne journal, but I decided to share it publicly after some consideration.

“And when people say, ‘what can I do?’ I’m like, ‘EVERYTHING!’ You can do anything and it can helps.”

Congrats, You’re A Climate Reporter Now - by Charlie Warzel

🤔it’d be nice if this combo amp was on a stand that angled it up a bit.
🤔it doesn’t fit on any stands because it’s semi-open backed, heavy, and wide.
🤔I wonder how much it would cost to have someone convert this to a head and then buy a vertical 2x12…

I need none of this.

It’s not really odd at all that we’re letting the world burn

Do real names reduce the need for moderation and introduce civility in online conversation? I used to think so. In fact, I changed all my online names to my real name back in college in part for this reason. I don’t hold on to any of those original “handles/monikers/nicks” I used to have.

But as the user-generated internet has grown, I’ve changed my mind. Facebook is filled with people who have their “real” identity, tied to their “real” family, and their “real” friends but act horribly to one another. They spread misinformation, fight about politics, are nasty, and reveal horrible truths about their personalities constantly. Services like Nextdoor or Citizen are filled with aggressive racism.

Real identities don’t increase shame or perceived risk of acting horribly to one another. Instead, the power of the internet to create connections and grow communities radicalizes us. If our behavior or views are deplorable or deplorable-adjacent, we find a pocket of the world that amplifies and rewards our behavior and disconnect from the world that rejects our behaviors.

Civility comes from having no choice but to find ourselves intertwined with others. Civility is a long game that the internet let’s us opt out of, and it’s destroying us.

Reflecting on “Abolishing Online Anonymity Will Not Tackle Abuse”

The Providing Feedback section in this article about Teaching Elixir is well worth a read, regardless of what language or framework you use.

It’s a lame, unattributed quote from a Tumblr post, but this just hit me where I needed it:

You haven’t met all the people who will love you.

Speaking of great things from Tumblr…