I took Labor Day off. This meant I didn’t send out a newsletter last week. It felt right. I like the structure and discipline of sending a newsletter weach week, but I also want the ability to hit pause whenever it makes sense. It made sense last week. I love the Sunday afternoon / evening ritual of publishing this newsletter and thinking back over the week. I also love being able to give myself a break and leave the previous week just as it was.
Today is my daughter’s 25th birthday. I am so proud of them. Living in Seattle, working and going to school. I can’t believe it has been a quarter century since I (literally) pulled her into this world. It makes me smile to consider the woman she has become. I am stoked she is adulting, and I am also very proud of myself for successfully helping shepherd this human being from little Mogwai all the way to full grown adult.
Audrey takes a picture at the same spot every morning and shares it as a story on Instagram. My job is to always stand out of the way, so it is just Poppy and Central Park. So, I began taking a picture from behind Audrey as she is taking a picture, and sharing as an Instagram story. It is my little way of making a joke, but also express my view of the world each morning as I walk behind my wife and dog.
After two loops around Central Park each day I leave the park on 7th Ave and make my way down the bike path to Times Square, before heading over to Hell’s Kitchen and home. I park for about 15-20 minutes reading some of the stories I am currently writing. I know it sounds crazy, but I find the lights, buzz, and people of Times Square to be soothing and a sort of muse for telling stories about the intersection of people and technology.
I have been working on Poppy’s website. I wanted a place to publish pictures, videos, and stories from our daily rides in Central Park and around the city. I found a simple website template, bought the domain, and had a little art created to help invest in her brand. It still has some rough edges, and lots of stories, photos, and videos to add from over the years, but I am happy that we have a place to share the Poppy R. Lane story.
It was a rainy Sunday today in New York City. Audrey got up early to run in the 5th Avenue Mile, which she finished in 7:19. W00t! Poppy and I got up and went outside. It was dumping. Poppy headed towards the park regardless, so I followed. We did our usual morning walk in the pouring rain, but our walk is so amazing, it doesn’t matter. We were the only ones in the park, and we happened to cross paths with Audrey on the way back.
When I leave Times Square each day I head down 7th Ave to 39th Street and take a right over to 8th Ave. On the way up 8th they are building a new building over and entire block, but they have left three of the old brick buildings as they are. I love seeing the new being build on top of the old, keeping some of the character and charm, bringing a diverse mix of architecture to the neighborhood while still moving things forward.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary made the rounds this week with their definition of the word enshittification—“when a digital platform is made worse for users, in order to increase profits.” It is a hallmark of these times. It adequately describes our priorities as a country, and as the technology industry. The Web is feeling like a rundown neighborhood, desperately in need of some diversification of thought and incentives behind Internet technology.
As you get to know Central Park you begin to see all kinds of interesting details you don’t notice as a tourist. Recently there are some different fungus around the park, with a very large Omphalotus illudens, also called the eastern jack-o'lantern mushroom at the edge of the baseball fields. I love mushrooms. They inhabit our world, but they exist in an almost parallel universe to ours, and I feel fortunate to be able to experience them.
My work on API Evangelist and Naftiko is going well. Building a company and doing the work to deliver an interesting product that contributes thoughtfully to the world of technology right now is challenging, but it is something I am thankful for the opportunity to do. I am also very thankful to be living in New York City with my wife and Rottweiler. In these times I consider myself pretty fortunate to have made it this far in life.
I've been fortunate. I don't pick scripts. Scripts pick me. -- Denzel Washington
