In what would end up being a series of events culminating in a total disregard for finished thoughts and ideas, this post attempts to put it all together and perhaps shed some light into why some of the essays here (can I call a blog post an essay in an attempt to elevate it?) my seem half-baked or maybe do not come to terminal conclusion.
I feel that perhaps a lot of ideas do not come to a terminus. After all, if every time I contemplate a thought, if I wait for it to be “finished” then it would never be published. I am not sure what philosophers of old or new do with this. I know that they continue to expand, elaborate or even change some ideas. Just not sure how. More on why I don't know in a future essay of [title to be determined but based on my self-detriment-ing behavior to prove I am smart].
The events
Event #1
I was driving to work, something I rarely do since I have been WFH/Remote for over 10 years, and I decided to catch up on some podcasts. I have so many podcasts subscribed to in PocketCast and I just do not make the time to listen to them. Except Windows Weekly which is entertaining and informative - it runs for two hours and it a change of pace from music. But other podcasts take a backseat. 🤷♂️. But this day, I had about a 30-minute drive ahead of me, open up PocketCast and see what I have that I could finish in about 30 minutes. Scott Hanselman's podcast Hanselminutes tends to be sub-30 minutes. Let's see what he has. he runs a super varied topic and guest list, which is cool. Also, This Developer's Life by him and Rob Connery. They've had some good ones and a few that drag on, but there was one titles Reboot which sounded interesting. At 51 minutes, a bit longer than I wanted, but I had the drive home. Let's see. It was great. I actually forwarded it to my wife and children. Take a listen, I think it's incredibly powerful in a way that reminds us that life is never “just this” and that Reboots or starting all over can happen at any point in our lives - whether 25 or 55, even 75. That was good. But not the point…I it they discuss a Brag Book which got me into writing (since you need to put things into the brag book and that requires writing). The brag book reminded me how much I like to write. I pretend to journal, this blog, a book that I would like to author which I have a basic storyline for, handwritten letters or cards to friends and family...I like writing. The act of and the physical component.
Event #2
In a serendipitous event, I am back in the car. Back to a podcast. This time I try another episode of This Developer's Life. I wasn't feeling it this morning, so I went to Hanselminutes and scrolled through the recent episodes and came across Blogging for Developers with Mark Downie. That's the person that he worked with on the blogging engine das blog. Sure, let's listen. It's an amazing listen. Echoing so many of my own thoughts about how our words are given away to others for free. You should really listen to it. And as someone that reads blogs, I think it might strike a chord with you.
In the episode he says some things that resonated. In fact, if I were a believer, I would think it was God sending me one of his messengers and I ought not ignore it, less I look a fool at the Pearly Gates. He talks about how bloggers have a list full of posts in sitting in draft. I instantly realized, not bloggers, he was talking about ME. Scott Hansleman hacked into my computer and saw my 11 posts in draft since as far back as 2022. He's got da skillz, for sure. I was taken aback that he would take interest in my blogging endeavors. He's seemingly a very busy person. He's stopped blogging, rarely shows up in Community Standup, has a full-time job on TikTok and…wait. Fuck Me. He's talking about bloggers in general, not me. :( Hmm…well, he's not wrong.
Send It.
Forget the drafts, send it into the void. Let's see what happens. Probably nothing. Because no one is actually reading my essays, I just like to hear myself think and write. It's also good practice. And maybe one day it'll help someone. Or make someone laugh.
And so, no more drafts.
It's Hard
OK - maybe some drafts. But not half-written posts. Topic holders. I get ideas of things I would like to write. Ideas I would content are worth putting out so that when the rest of the world figures it out, I can say: I said that in 2024. (e.g., I've been shitting on Micro Services™️ as a standard since someone thought it was a good idea as a standard practice). But the moment I actually started laying down the words, it gets published.
Warning
But it would be unfair of you read some gibberish and was wondering if I was drunk when I wrote it. (that's a topic…). I've created an unfinished tag, maybe I'll rename it. The tag now kicks off a warning that what you're reading is a work in progress and well, be aware (it's cool when you can code things like that into your blogging platform). Maybe I should notify people when I update it. I know how, I am developer!