minimalist

less is more? the less the better.

if u have less content, u can choose the higher quality content. sometimes better present 1 good picture than 10 mediocre ones. sometimes better 10 mediocre ones. easier to focus on 1, i guess

i feel like i have a limited amount of keystrokes nowadays. a limited number of taps with which to impact the world around me. combination of trying to do too much work in too little time, and a history of repetitive strain injury. i'd better make great use of those keystrokes.

today i read a private blog post i made in 2014. you guys will never see it. i was an unrefined version of myself. i had the fire, the drive, but not the prioritisation. not the impact i wanted. i was too self-centred. you'll never hit your goals in the right way if you care too much about what other people think of you.

i've learned.

i don't write blog posts by dumping shit on the page anymore. that doesnt make anyone happy.

the fire of motivation comes and goes. it's a fire, of course it does. i had a few bad months where i didn't do shit and played hearthstone all day. anyway it's finally back and i won't let it go so easily this time.

i used to write all this shit that didn't matter that much. i wanted to keep every thought i had. i wanted to execute perfectly. if i lose thoughts they might never come back right?

i used to put off things bc i wanted to do them perfectly. i wrote long blog posts reflecting things i learned because that made me feel like i was making progress. 90% of the stuff i wrote maybe even 99% didnt make a difference. my first job was a brutal lesson that you spend a little too long on something and you're fucked.

i used to have people motivation. i used to be more excited about doing things for other people. where's that gone now? it's back, temporarily. maybe the best of me comes out when i have reasons to do things

i'm not gone yet, guys. the old davy is lurking somewhere behind a fog of shitty adulthood. wisodm teeth removal, 3 dentists and 5 fillings, 401k, rent, paid vacation, vaccinations, power bills, balancing social life with the unending tide of work the works. i'm not gone yet guys

on the topic of people motivation, shout out to my sick girlfriend emma who has better people motivation than me and everyone else and outperforms my gifts every time. gotta step up my game man. once emma told me to say no to people and stop worrying what they think of you. once she made me brownies while i was halfway across the world. what a life, man

i think im truly happy. man it's been awhile since i could say that

one last shout out to eunice, who is fighting for her life while i go around enjoying my days like my friend's not having her spirit crushed

after months of messing around, i feel like the best of davy is back for real. i know the feeling doesn't stay for long, so let's make use of it while we can.

watch me, guys. i'm gonna take on the world again, and this time i don't even have 1 minute to lose.

fucking davy stop losing minutes

asdf

yo, it's been awhile.

what year is it again? 2016? 2017? oh yeah, new year's. i guess it's 2017.

haven't blogged for forever. work is fucking busy and there's barely a chance to breathe in between submitting code at 4am and attending 10am meetings. sometimes it feels like a constant fight to stop myself from getting dragged down by my responsibilities.

but humans, as always, are amazingly adaptable, and learn to deal with whatever adversity life throws at them. not all that surprising, right? if you do something a thousand times, you're going to be fucking good at it by the thousandth time.

sometimes work stresses me out. i asked my manager, how do you deal with it, you probably have 1000x the stress that i do. my manager said, your ability to deal with stress increases over time. makes sense, right? you'd better hope your ability to deal with stress is increasing faster than the rate you're being promoted.

sometimes it's valuable to look back and have a good picture of what you did. so here's my extremely compact picture of what i did.

notable events, 2016:
- moved to san francisco
- started working
- paid rent
- got approved for 2 credit cards
- got denied for a lot of credit cards
- opened yet another bank account
- made 5 paypal accounts while attempting to pay rent
- started playing ddr
- got unlimited dropbox free space (anyone want free space?)
- made macarons, in various forms
- started taking selfies
- more consistent latte art (maybe 60% success rate now?) also other kinds of latte art
- made meat pies
- went university recruiting in pennsylvania
- lost a bet, had to pay for an $80 meal
- won a bet, got free carton of milk
- declined some 10am meetings because they were too early for me, sorry coworkers
- skipped some 12pm meetings because i cbb
- lowered my quality standards so i could get more work done
- woke up 5 minutes before i had to interview someone
- woke up 5 minutes after i was meant to interview someone
- realised i am fucking lucky
- met a lot of interns
- mentored a bunch of people
- got mentored by a bunch of people
- started getting spammed by linkedin recruiters
- bought about $3000 of stuff on amazon
- wrecked myself for my job
- made the best birthday gift of my life
- learned to drink hipster coffee
- increased the size of my "free time todo list" by 10x
- consumed unearthly amounts of mango green tea
- consumed unearthly amounts of japanese curry
- waited 1.5 hours in line to eat ramen, many times
- loved my job, and my company
- started swearing a lot more
- carried a person, literally
- joined a church and developed my faith
- did work for my job at 4am with other people
- was late for my meeting with my manager; many times
- did many escape the room's and failed them all
- told people not to schedule me morning meetings so i could sleep
- made gifts for interns
- separated 3 eggs, many times
- gave people interview practice
- watched someone roll sausages at 3am
- became an official CMU alumni
- turned my apartment into a cafe
- pretended to be a shark and did shark dances
- made an edible wine glass and filled it with wine
- flipped an omelette
- screwed up countless meals
- screwed up countless desserts
- watched people relay a 1 hour long ddr song
- gave gifts i was really proud of
- revisited a lot of people from the past
- held my colour
- went to a wedding
- called my parents every week
- called my australian friends occasionally
- met the most fucking amazing people in the world
- had the happiest days of my life

useful learnings:
- there is nothing more important than communication
- fearlessly and aggressively pursue people in order to build friendships
- selfishly value every single minute of your time
- don't take out your feelings on other people
- some people's time is worth more than others'
- express your preferences and stop being a doormat, occasionally
- stop trying to do everything, 'cause you can't. let other people help
- intentionally fail some things so you have time to succeed in other things
- some people are a sub-optimal use of your time and that's ok
- don't do stupid things when you're not in a good mental state

hope you guys are doing alright. i think going to different places and becoming close to different people is one of the coolest parts of being alive.


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