Welcome!
January 1, 1970, the beginning of time...Ok, it's actually August 11, 2024
I've been learning more about this personal internet stuff lately and really liking the idea of it. I started with downloading an RSS feed reader to my phone and subscribing to some interesting programming blogs that I found on marginalia, some I've followed in the past and also adding a few YouTube channels that I follow that have certain qualities that fit the personal internet style (Dave's Garage is and example that fits that feel for me).
It's honestly been so refreshing and I find myself more excited to check my RSS feed than I was to check Instagram or YouTube before, because every time I'm confident that if there is something new on there, it's likely to be a personal, thoughtfully produced gem.
So, here is my shot at creating my own content. My goal is to be candid and share the knowledge I do have and discoveries I make. Topics that interest me are:
- Software Development (I'm a software engineer)
- Video Games (often combined with Software Development)
- Cooking
The styling of this blog will definitely be improved over time. My plan is to create a new stylesheet with every blog post so that the progress can be observed over time, and backport any major QoL improvements to old posts. The current design is inspired by Donkey Kong Country (I write this as I listen to a DKC relaxing music playlist :D ). Here is the styling I have for code blocks:
public static void main(String[] args) {}
Overall, I'm super excited about this and want to just get posting. When I initially decided I wanted to start this blog, I began brainstorming all sorts of ideas on how to make it easier to post, and even started writing a tool in Go that would use templating to "compile" my blog post pages into static HTML and auto generate the RSS file (I already gave it the name ECstatic). Maybe one day, but for now, I just want to write and there is something charming about using vanilla HTML and CSS this way.
That's all for today! Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog. I want to end off by listing some ideas for posts that I have. Have a good night!
- I built an arcade cabinet 6 years ago and never really set up the games in a polished way that guests can just play them. I want to make my own simple games. It would be cool to be "targetting" a platform with a fixed resolution, computer spec and control layout. I'd like to document that experience.
- I got into reading lately and would love to write up some book reports on what I read (next post!)
- In February, I got laid off from my software development job. I'd love to share some advice on what I learned on how to cope with this situation, how I (tried and mostly succeeded) to stay positive, how it actually improved my life, even some weird emotions I felt, and the practical step I took to eventually get a new job.