Being Boring

A hodge-podge of updates, sealed with love 💌

Closing Qrono

A few weeks ago, Andrew and I shut down our startup and returned the leftover money to investors. I’m still processing everything; I’m in a dream. When I think back on the past year, the memories are far away and fuzzy, and they dissolve as I try to look closer at them.

I’d like to write a retrospective like Andrew did, but I’m not sure my brain can conjure anything sensical yet. Stay tuned.

Writing Advice

I just started Sasha Chapin’s excellent writing course. It's making me reflect on the most significant inflection points for my writing. 

One inflection point was advice Devon Zuegel shared on a podcast: 

I realized I have knowledge that’s obvious to me but interesting or unknown to others. So these days I share observations from traveling, and thoughts on putting yourself out there, coding bootcamps, tethics, and more. 

Boring-ness

I used to fear being boring until I realized that sometimes boring-ness is comforting. When I’m going to sleep or feel low energy, I often listen to Cal Newport’s Deep Work podcast. The podcast is repetitive; Cal and his co-host answer questions about productivity and focus for 30 minutes. And sometimes they discuss intentionally mundane topics like Cal getting an AC unit installed. But for some reason, I find the episodes calming and enjoyable.

When I was growing up, I used to love Law & Order: SVU, even though every episode has the same structure (the intro is a crime…then there’s an investigation, where they are suspicious of the wrong person…then they find the real culprit…then the culprit stands trial and is usually convicted). That didn’t stop me from watching episodes with my mom and brother regularly. Sometimes we’d even watch episodes we’d already seen!

Photo of the Week

My favorite cafe is full of plants and hipsters. Laptops aren’t allowed; I’ve been going there a few times a week to read Marie Curie’s biography, which is becoming one of my favorite books.