I genuinely enjoy reading other people’s updates, and it was depressing when my 2015 Facebook “Year in Review” was, like, three posts, two of them Instagram repeats. What happened to original content and life updates? This isn’t Facebook, but there is no better place for life updates than your very own blog. Plus it’s healthy to intersperse the tech-y posts with personal ones.
So, here are a few of said updates in no particular order:
- NYC, I love you, but I’m going to leave you (probably). I plan to head back to Pennsylvania and spend a few months learning the ways of the family farm, then I’ll migrate to Utah and live/work in Alta for a season (though rumor has it one season quickly turns into eight). Skiing is the one non-work, non-eating/drinking activity I am truly passionate about, and I’m too snobby to make time for it on the east coast. That being said, I change my mind about these things every few months, so maybe I will still be here.
- I keep buying books and need to start reading them. There’s something about just having books that is wildly satisfying, but I may sing a different song when it comes time to carry them down five flights when moving out of my apartment.
- I want to work in the service industry. Maybe that seems random and unnecessary – I have a great career already – but for the amount of time I spend at bars and restaurants, I want to experience the other side of one. There’s something appealing about being physically exhausted at the end of the day and dealing with all sorts of people; this computer time is getting to me. Cue quarter life crisis.
- I need a new coworking space. My space for the past couple of years, New Work City, closed in May, so I moved to a new one in a new neighborhood. I decided to try a private office which has been great for online teaching sessions, but it’s lonely, expensive, and above 14th St. A move is in order, and I think that will help the quarter life crisis issue above.
- My brother got me a Fitbit for the holidays. Friend me at [email protected], and I will crush you (probably).
- Paying for health insurance sucks, but Oscar seems pretty cool so far.
- I love seasons and am very excited about all of this snow. Winter, welcome at last!
- I’ve had a few fantastic clients over the past year, and thus made some work I’m very proud of. I figured out a process that really works for my projects, and I am teaching it through the Tackle Box.
- I wrote an opinionated article that was published on CSS-Tricks. It kicked off many things for me, not to mention drastically increasing my Twitter following.
- I started the NYC CodePen meetup, and it’s been really fun.
- I have figured out the following things about myself:
- Money is a main motivator when it comes to my work with the web, and I’m not into side projects.
- I don’t need to feel jealous and guilty when I see other people’s side projects on Twitter.
- I am not a productivity tactics kind of person (e.g. GTD, accountability groups, etc). My priorities and projects change a lot, and that’s fine.
- I am quite extraverted. I recharge when I am with people, and time alone is draining.
- I like writing and am good at it when I put in the time. But that’s the thing, putting in the time.
- I have a go-with-the-flow style of goal setting, and it works for me.
- I have adopted Simplenote in place of Evernote, and it’s a good choice.
- It’s hard to make good friends in New York. So, I’ve taken to flying solo and talking to lots of random people. Conversations with East Village locals are my jam, and a delicious neighborhood eatery has become a home away from home.
- I am in the process of developing political opinions. Traditionally, my arguments for ignorance have been “I don’t have an opinion because I don’t know enough” and “when it comes time to vote it’ll be an obvious decision anyway.” I think my arguments come from impatience and an unfortunate need for instant results and gratification. Not excuses. Hey, that’s kind of an opinion, right?
- I hate Medium. Sure, it’s pretty and all content-centric and gives your writing more exposure, but I am totally grossed out when every article on an issue of Sidebar is from Medium. I find the personality of an article’s medium (whomp whomp) as important as the article content itself, and Medium has no personality. That’s definitely an opinion!
- I keep a document called “Mornings” where, whenever I go through a phase of feeling down about whatever, I list five things I’m thankful for and five things I want. Self-helpy tactics like this generally make me cringe, but it’s effective. I think that Law of Attraction stuff has some validity.
- The Dohm Sound Conditioner is a life saver.
- The design of the current notlaura.com is three years old, and I’m still really happy with it. And I get lots of compliments. Thanks everyone! Those are very meaningful.
That’s all folks!