Letter to the Reader

I'm not sure how or why you ended up here, but I'm thankful you did.

I've been ruminating on the purpose of this site for the better part of a week. Is it a place to document my career? Somewhere to scribble down random thoughts? An excuse to spend more time tinkering with React and Astro?

The answer is probably "yes."

But I think it's also something more.

For years I've thought about writing letters to my kids. Something they could read someday that would help them know their dad a little better. I always meant to do it. I just never made a habit of it.

Maybe this can be that instead.

Part notebook. Part journal. Part scrapbook. A place to collect stories, lessons, mistakes, ideas, and whatever I'm learning at the moment.

I also hope this feels a little like sitting across the table from someone over a cup of coffee.

The conversations I enjoy most usually aren't about just one thing. We might spend ten minutes talking about software architecture or whatever technology rabbit hole I've wandered into that week, then catch up on how the kids are doing, what we've been building lately, a sermon that has been on our minds, or a manager who changed the course of our career. The conversation wanders, and that's what makes it enjoyable.

I imagine this site will do the same.

Some pages will be technical. Others will be about the people who have shaped me over the years. There will be stories from my career, notes from projects that went well, lessons from projects that didn't, and probably a few rabbit trails into hobbies that have nothing to do with software.

I'm not an authority on any of those things. There will always be people who know more than I do, and I hope I never stop learning from them.

I'm simply writing down what I've learned, what I'm learning now, and maybe a few things I've forgotten until something reminded me.

If something here helps you solve a problem, encourages you, makes you smile, or simply makes you think a little differently, then I'm glad I took the time to write it down.

And if my kids read this years from now and feel like they know their dad just a little better, that'll make all of this worth it.

Welcome. I'm glad you're here.