Personal

1 Started: 2018-01-27 Finished: 2018-01-28 I started my modern non-fiction journey only a couple of years back, with Antifragile and Thinking Fast & Slow. (I’d only read older, motivational self help before then, Ziglar, Carnegie etc) I made the mistake of thinking everything was as wonderfully dense, yet rambling and well written. I was sadly mistaken. I realised that just like fiction, most non-fiction wasn’t worth my time and that just like most fiction, non-fiction followed a beat; a predictable path. ...

Started: 2018-01-24 Finished: 2018-01-24 The book had so many parallels to what I’ve learnt at DGPLUG that I decided to do this book’s notes here, instead of over at the home blog. I want to grow and become known enough to find my thousand true fans. I was lucky then, to find this book that has the exact same premise. You don’t really find an audience for your work; they find you. But it’s not enough to be good. In order to be found, you have to be findable. ...

(This is a rambling, introspective post, with no particular point to it, other than a reminder to my self to do better.) Kushal Das, wrote a lovely piece on inclusivity and generosity of spirit. What hit me though, (ergo this note to myself), was his thundering twist of a climax He goes through the post talking about how his life’s been one roller coaster of highs and lows and people pulling him down like crabs in a barrel, yet other mentors pushing him hard to do his best. ...

Kushal Das, on developing his writing chops … It boiled down to one thing. One has to write more. This is no short cut. So, I tried to do that throughout 2017. If I just look at the numbers, I wrote 60 blog posts in 2017, which is only 7 more than 2016. Austin Kleon, on trying to get his son to draw … Several times a day since October, ever since the Halloween decorations went up, my two-year-old son Jules has asked my wife or me to draw him an “x-ray.” (That’s his word for skeleton.) … We’ve drawn hundreds of skeletons for him, over and over and over again. He flat-out refuses to attempt drawing one for himself. ...

Dad was what Brett McKay calls, both a good man and good at being a man. I could write reams about my father, but I wouldn’t know where to start. He gave me life and then has been my sustenance ever since. He’s the source of everything that’s good in me. ...

“When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.” — Erasmus Most of my tech knowledge, I taught myself. Ok, small correction. I have been taught. By people. By people, living and also the eminent dead. I learnt philosophy is just thinking intentionally, and a good way to live, from a Roman Emperor. I learnt about personal finance from a guy who distilled his own life experiences and 20+ years on radio. I learnt about investing from some guy. And then I went and learnt about the importance of Mental Models in life, from the same guy (as did the CEO of Dropbox.) I’ve learnt about the importance of community and giving recently, from a guy I’m in frequent touch with. The only reason you’re reading this, is because I learnt Markdown from the guy who wrote it. ...