Other articles


  1. Fantasies

    At the monastery yesterday, the monk explained how people form images of others in their minds, and those images crystallize. For example, older family members may treat you as if you were still a child, because in their mind they still see you as a child.

    Change and attachment

    This …

    read more
  2. Lottery Ticket

    "You can't win the lottery without buying a ticket" - wisdom shared with me this week.

    Buying a ticket

    I have spent my adult life minimizing risk in favor of the safety of routine. I have bought few "lottery tickets," whether for small and large "jackpots." When I have, it's usually …

    read more
  3. One Year of Fellowship

    I am approaching one year in a 12 step fellowship. As fate would have it, I also just wrapped up Step 12. While not easy to write about publicly, I want to take the opportunity to reflect on my experiences in the program.

    Hitting a bottom

    A nasty breakup led …

    read more
  4. The Only Harmless Great Thing

    For my science fiction book club I read this novelette (note: a novelette is shorter than a novella). In the meeting I was surprised to hear that a few members couldn't finish it. I rarely stop reading a book - though there are countless unfinished books on my shelf.

    Anyway, to …

    read more
  5. Indecision

    Indecision plagues me. I am planning a trip to a conference for my team, and have to pick the hotel. Thankfully, the conference recommends a few hotels. Not so thankfully, the options are mostly identical.

    Why not choose?

    Let's start at the beginning. I believe there's a spectrum of indecision …

    read more
  6. Travel Practical Tips

    As a follow up to my travel guidelines, I want to share some practical tips from my experience.

    Research ahead of time

    I'm paying a nice chunk of change to travel, so I will invest some time in planning ahead: tourist attractions, tourist pitfalls, etc.

    Reddit and youtube travel vlogs …

    read more
  7. Travel Guidelines

    I am traveling in Europe, and feeling inspired to reflect on some of my guidelines for travel. These are not hard and fast rules - they are guidelines, or philosophies.

    Don't go back for seconds

    In Barcelona there was a restaurant that served the most incredible hummus (in fact the restaurant …

    read more
  8. Django Database Performance Tips

    I've wanted to share this for some time now, but felt that it would be too large an undertaking. So I will keep it straightforward and avoid diving into metrics: I encourage you to test out the suggestions for your use cases.

    Note that I presume familiarity with web development …

    read more
  9. Senior

    I was recently promoted to senior software engineer. Which warrants an examination of, what does it mean to be senior?

    Please note that this is a personal answer, based on my own experience - there is plenty of excellent literature on the subject. The key differentiators of seniority may change between …

    read more

social