Begin Again

Let's see what's going on inside my brain

I wrote my last proper blog post (The Angry Weasel Decade in Review) almost exactly three years ago. I wrote a few articles for Test Project in the interim that I’m pretty happy with, but as much as I really like writing, I just haven’t had time.

I miss it.

Eighteen years ago, I stated that I’m not a blogger. And then, for a long minute I was a blogger, and now I’m not again. Yes, I post a weekly Five for Friday (inspired by Tim Ferris’s “Five Bullet Friday”) post at my original web site, angryweasel.com, and I’m amazed when people tell me they look forward to those posts - but it’s nothing like the writing that I’ve enjoyed sharing in the past.

I miss it.

Over the years of blogging - and eventually writing and contributing to books, writing about software became part of my identity - part of what I was sort of good at in the world. Something I was proud of. We all have things that we used to do that we want to do again someday. In fact, I have a lot of those - writing - and sharing my ideas and opinions in the hope of inspiring a conversation that gives me more ideas and opinions is something that I realize I need to be my best self. Writing is therapy, and I’m overdue for some treatment.

I get a little of this therapy from doing the AB Testing podcast with Brent, but lately work has been so bonkers, and there’s so much other stuff going on in the world, that I need another outlet. So - as you probably know if you’re reading this, I committed on Twitter (and Mastadon) that if I got 50 subscribers, I’d post here every other week, and if I got 100, I’d post every week. Those aren’t huge numbers by any means, but I feel like if I’ve committed to that many people that I’ll find the time to post…something. I have 35 subscribers so far, so that target of 50 is probably achievable in the short term. I may as well take some time in anticipation to get my fingers warmed.

Whether it’s this post (probably not), or a future post where I actually say something important, I’d love your feedback. I’m so rusty at writing, that I can pretty much guarantee I’ll write a boring post from time to time - and quite possibly frequently in the short term. It’s ok to tell me if I’m boring, and it’s ok to tell me if I say something that you don’t agree with. If you know me, you know I’m a huge fan of Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson. In this book, Johnson describes at length how ideas grow out of other ideas, and I hope this new blog of mine can become a place where some of my ideas will inspire better ideas from those of you who take time to read.

We’ll call this a prequel. See you soon for the main event.