Welcome to the Blooper Reel

I recently came across this clip from the Changelog podcast's interview with the author Cory Doctorow that I changed my mindset when it comes to this blog.

I then read Cory's essay The Memex Method where how goes through his process when it comes to blogging and how his blog acts as an extension of his memory which also contained this quote:

There’s a version of the “why writers should blog” story that is tawdry and mercenary: “Blog,” the story goes, “and you will build a brand and a platform that you can use to promote your work.”

Virtually every sentence that contains the word “brand” is bullshit, and that one is no exception.

I'm not a writer but I've been putting way too much pressure on this blog and what it's supposed to represent. I've been leaning towards creating a brand rather doing something useful.

I keep learning new things, reading books and articles, listening to podcasts and watching videos. Sometimes I learn something new and I'll write it down in a notebook or type a note in a folder I keep on Dropbox.

There have been times when I wanted to look up that thing I learned in the past and I can't find it or when I do, there is no context surrounding the note and I can't remember why I thought it was important in the first place. Again, Doctorow mentions this issue and a solution in the form of blogging by writing for an audience.

The genius of the blog was not in the note-taking, it was in the publishing. The act of making your log-file public requires a rigor that keeping personal notes does not. Writing for a notional audience — particularly an audience of strangers — demands a comprehensive account that I rarely muster when I’m taking notes for myself. I am much better at kidding myself my ability to interpret my notes at a later date than I am at convincing myself that anyone else will be able to make heads or tails of them.


Writing for an audience keeps me honest.

This site is going to be more of a reflection of what I'm working on and what interests me. I'm not sure that is going to look like but it's going to be more fun to write and hopefully read as a result.