These are my Momentos, short personal diary entries I write daily – since 2013 – and publish monthly. Some links are affiliate links.
1
Everything seems weird if you step back and try see it with fresh eyes. Basketball, people running around bouncing a ball. Weird. Decorated fake trees in our homes this time of year. Weird. Me pushing pixels around a screen all day and somehow getting paid for it. Weird.
2
Sometimes I’ll read an old Momento of mine and not be able to visualize the scene described. It’s as if that sight was seen by someone else, I have no memory of it. Makes me think vlogging is the way to go if you really want to capture such things and remember them clearly later.
3
Up a mountain getting a bit anxious and sweaty in freezing temperatures. Yellow dots on rocks and trees showing the way. I always wonder who painted those, and how. Was it some dude hiking up here with a little brush and a can of paint? How did he know the way?
4
Ever watch a popular movie and wonder why so many people like it? Love Actually is a good example. IMO, that’s a terrible movie, but many people love it. Sends me back and forth thinking there’s either something seriously wrong with me, or something seriously wrong with most people.
5
Traffic to my site down a good bit the last couple of months. I’ve hired an SEO consultant and working on improving that side of the business, had been neglecting it for too long. I’m confident we’ll bounce back strong eventually, but it will suck for a while.
6
The new Grand Theft Auto will be out soon. I’m scared of that game. I was obsessed with GTA3 in college, to the point where I was playing several hours a day and even dreaming about it. If I allow myself to play the new GTA, there’s a good chance my life will fall apart.
7
Group call with some SEO ninjas, dissecting my site. In summary, it’s quite shit in many ways. But I come away somewhat relieved, because it’s all fixable and I know I can fix it. I get excited thinking about how much better we can make this thing.
8
Most fulfilling work day I’ve had in months, taking a big step back and looking at ways to improve the site. So much we can do, so much we will do. Nothing like a crisis to shake me out of my comfort zone, get back to the creative side of things I enjoy so much.
9
I’m not a big fan of receiving gifts. For one thing, if I want something, I just go buy it myself. Second, when someone gives me a gift, I always feel obliged to give something back. This also makes me hesitant to give gifts, because I worry other people might feel the same way.
10
I’ve never learned to play a musical instrument, but I hold out hope that I will. Love the idea of being 60 years old and starting into piano lessons, building a daily practice habit, then being fairly handy by the time I’m 70.
11
This morning, watching that song performed at Shane MacGowan’s funeral, cut me to pieces. Watched it twice, cried twice. The type of thing that makes me want to start over and devote my life to music, in the hopes they’d end up dancing at my funeral too.
12
After 10pm, bursting with ideas but low on energy. I’m tempted to start recording screencasts and sending tasks to the team, but my brain is blunt right now, best call it a day, get some sleep, dive in with a fresh head tomorrow.
13
At some point I’d like to hire a customer service person, even though we don’t exactly have customers. But we get a lot of people reaching out and sharing feedback, and I don’t have time to respond to them all. I always feel a bit shitty leaving messages go unanswered.
14
First proper snow we’ve had this year, woke up to a winter wonderland, and the construction workers across the road still there at 8am chipping away in the cold. I look out at them from my warm office, then tap-tap-tap away on my keyboard to earn a living.
15
Seeing that AI tool that lets you draw an app and then it spits out the code… mind blown. I reckon there’s a small window now where people who learn to leverage this stuff will get a big head start in the race, before everyone else realizes what they’re missing and tries to catch up.
16
Spent 4+ hours today playing around with a new system and layout for our reviews. Trying not to think about technical limitations, focusing on what would be an amazing experience for the reader. If we can actually build what I have in mind, we’ll be way ahead of the competition.
17
After the Christmas Market we head to a cozy little cocktail bar down an old town street. My sparkling water looks pathetic next to the Ceviche Sours and Aeropress Negronis. I do miss the drink sometimes, but I only need think about it for a few seconds and I’m content to stay sober.
18
Another 6 hours today working on that layout. It’s been 3 years since my last big UI redesign. That lay the foundation for earning $300K this year. I’m hopeful that this latest redesign will take the business to much greater heights. But it all starts with this intense work while nobody’s watching.
19
Stuck in limbo, woke up too early and not sure I can fall back asleep. Do I stay in bed and hope to drift off, or get up and start the day? In the end I waste an hour just lying there. But I manage to have a productive day anyways.
20
I’ve learned a lot about nutrition the last several years. The more I learn, the more I realize how ignorant I used to be. Like when I went vegan for 3.5 years, without any regard for macros, thinking mushrooms were a good substitute for meat. Cringing as I remember how righteous I felt about it all.
21
A tweet that sums up my life recently…
Sometimes it’s weird to remember that we’re all effectively competing to hit the right keys on our keyboards in the right order, and that if we do it for long enough we can buy a house.
22
Trying to get a bunch of things done before the Christmas break so I don’t have to think much about work while we’re in Ireland. I’d like to be lazy these next couple of weeks. Feels like I’ve rarely have the luxury of being lazy this year, always lots to do and little time to do it.
23
I’ve had some tedious journeys. 24-hour bus rides in Brazil. 3 days on a train across Turkey and Iran. 6 days overland from Bangkok to Hong Kong. 26 days on a cargo ship across the Pacific Ocean. You’d think a 1-day trip from Andorra to Ireland would be nothing by comparison, but somehow it wears me out.
24
Proud of the healthy habits I’ve built up. Here visiting family in Ireland and I still do my squatting, stretching and 7k steps per day. And I’m eating very clean too despite being surrounded by all sorts of junk food.
25
So many ads on TV. 40 minutes running nowhere. Cats and squirrels and foxes. 6 years since I was in Ireland for Dec 25th. Turkey and ham and gravy. The king’s accent. Matching jumpers. Klaus, perhaps the best Christmas movie.
26
Friends and family at home ask how my work is going, and it occurs to me that they might already know. They could be reading my finance reports or Momentos. I feel comfortable broadcasting those details online but prefer to give vague answers in person.
27
Many overweight people in Ireland these days. Makes me feel like I’m ahead of the game, but not like I can ease off. Actually the opposite. Somehow it motivates me to go further, be more disciplined, get in even better shape.
28
On another Greenway, an old rail line transformed into a path for walking and cycling. They started building this particular line in 1899, and the first train ran along it in 1904. Seems a simple feat of engineering now, but it must have been tough work back then.
29
She thinks she’s the problem but the problem is this shitty kiosk interface. Printing a few photos shouldn’t be this hard. They must have spent a fortune on the machines and software, and they still need to have a person there to help.
30
Didn’t sleep well last night, awake early this morning, gently miserable outside, the weather matching my mood. Almost year’s end, need to get the jumbled thoughts out of my head. I make coffee then write for an hour, typed words shaping my future.
31
It sounds silly and it takes some convincing, but we persist and get the five of us out onto the patio just before midnight and light some sparklers. There’s dancing and chanting and laughter and rolling on the ground. I’m glad to be here with these people.