Sep 22, 2018“that our future may be found in the past’s fugitive moments of compassion”A chapter-by-chapter recounting of the hope I find in A People’s History of the United States. People don’t think of this as a hopeful book, but I’m finding so much hope in every chapter. Maybe it’s because my book club just finished Hope In The Dark; maybe Solnit’s thoughts on hope should be a precursor for any who fear…History4 min read
Aug 9, 2018Learning Web Development in 2018An update to so you’re convinced that learning web development might be cool but you literally have no idea what even. I wrote that one in 2015, which was a whole different world. I know a high-schooler working a receptionist job at my coworking space for the summer. Sometimes she’s…Web Development4 min read
Mar 13, 2018You are a monolithYou are a monolith towering over the landscape there are thousands of rooms in your body; it takes days to get from one end of you to the other Stop. Breathe. Appreciate your inner vastness Climb from the edge of your scalp to its peak. Clamber through the intricate terrain. Take it slow. Take it in. So much unutilized headspace. How did we not notice this before? Your kingdom is unknowable endless dynamic. Go wander its forests. Exalt on its mountaintops. Document every evolving species spawning in rift rivers and desert valleys.Poem1 min read
Jan 12, 2018Advice for quittersTips for learning web development on your own I mentor for an online dev bootcamp. I recently had a student drop out of the program. He was feeling frustrated by the curriculum, and thought maybe he could learn better on his own. Here’s my parting advice to him. I wish you all the best. You have…Web Development3 min read
Published in CloudBoost·Jan 7, 2018Toward a more engaging way to ask questionsIntroducing the react-quizzical component The scenario A new user signs up for your app You want to get some basic info from them to help them get started You don’t want them to get bored and leave This is the scenario we had with Entire.Life. When people first signed up, the first…React4 min read
Published in Entire Life·Dec 31, 2017Advice from the futureA pep talk from me-a-year-from-now. For present me, but for you too. Each year, in Susannah Conway’s Unravel Your Year workbook, she invites me to step into the shoes of me-a-year-from-now and give some advice to present me. …Life Lessons2 min read
Dec 24, 2017Christmas PrayerThis morning in church I wrote a poem/prayer instead of listening to the pastor. If you lean Christian enjoy a meditation routine you may enjoy starting your Christmas meditation with this. Then you can call your silence “Centering Prayer” or “Contemplative Prayer” instead of “meditation.” It’s all pretty similar. O…Christianity1 min read
Published in BitClass·Oct 6, 2017Reading “How Bitcoin Works,” Chapter 2 of Mastering BitcoinMy summary & reactions to Chapter 2 of the book Mastering Bitcoin. You may want to start with my synopsis of Chapter 1. First things first: an apology I misled you in my last post. I advertised that I was reading the 2nd edition of this book, but I had in fact read Edition 1. …Bitcoin8 min read
Published in BitClass·Oct 2, 2017Reading through Mastering BitcoinLisa and I have decided to read through the book Mastering Bitcoin. Why are we reading this book? We’re both programmers, and we’ve both been curious about bitcoin & blockchain since 2010. It’s time to finally dig in. Why is now the time? Because: I have been given a couple months by Citrusbyte to dig in…Bitcoin5 min read
Jul 11, 2017How I respond when someone says that we can best meet people’s needs by leaving healthcare up to the free marketI don’t really believe there is such a thing as “the free market.” A market isn’t something that exists in nature; it’s a construct of human societies, and we all agree on the rules of it together. And ever since Europe invented nation-states a few hundred years ago, we have…Healthcare2 min read
