What I Was Up To Then

I sucked at this in 2018

I still love the idea of a /now page, but I haven't updated it for nearly a year. My intention was to update once a quarter. So what happened? Well, I did not anticipate having to share bad news. Shortly after my last update, some bad things happened. I still don't know how to share bad news on a broadcast medium. I guess if you want to know, I am probably okay sharing with you in some private channel.

This year started with anger, sadness, and more self-reflection than typical new year's resolve. It took many months to get over that. Even now as I am writing this in a Starbucks in Stockholm, I am slightly tearing up remembering the first few months of this year. I am still angry about what happened. My hate fire is still burning, but I have put it in a stove, set a kettle on top, and have been making some lovely tea.

I would not recommend working at Spotify.

The last year

I started a new job at InVision on my 1 year anniversary of living in Sweden. You might not have heard of the company, but your designer friends most certainly have. I am working as an engineering manager. I have done several types of management: startup co-founder, engineering lead, project manager, and product manager. But I had never been a line manager. I figured out what I wanted to do next next, evaluated my skill gaps, and concluded that was the work experience and skill I would most benefit from gaining. I am happy working at InVision.

I spent 3 days in New Mexico just thinking with a group of people who also wanted to spend 3 days in deep thought. I need to write more about this incredible experience, but Steve got it started.

I spoke at several conferences, but the final thought in a talk I gave 2 years ago kept haunting me as many data privacy and unethical technology scandals happened this year.

I have spent more time in the gym this year than any previous year. I did an intense 3-month program with a trainer and spent the rest of the year training at Barry's Bootcamp five times a week. My fitness goal used to be to look like an Abercrombie model. These days, my goal is to be like Jack Lalanne, a lean, well-muscled man even at age 70.

I released my first Fitbit smartwatch watchface for LGBTQ+ Pride. It includes flags from over 10 queer communities. If you have a Fitbit Ionic or Versa and are reading this on your phone, tap here to get the watchface.

Arthur and I purchased our first home in October! Home ownership has been a dream of mine since the first time I watched HGTV as kid. It's pretty amazing as-is, but we are imagining some kitchen and bathroom renovations. I can't wait to finally paint and wallpaper some walls.

Arthur and I also celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary in October. We were too poor to take a honeymoon when we got married and then just never got around to it. We took our first spare-no-expense vacation by going to the Maldives. It was one of the best weeks of my life. 14 years has not felt like a long time to love Arthur. I hope for many, many more.

This past week, we hosted Arthur's family in Sweden for Thanksgiving. We had 22 people for an evening of gratitude. I have never felt more grateful in my life.

This past weekend, Arthur and I attended TEDxStockholm. The talks were incredible and left me inspired to get back to writing. I drafted so much in the first three months of this year. It's time to get back to my daily writing habit and publish those thoughts. I started with this update.

Thanks to Taylor Davidson for the /now page tip.