Intro to My Site
I have stalled the creation of this site for quite some time. At the point of writing this intro paragraph, it is September 2020 and I definitely intended to create this website around this point in 2018. I have evolved a bit as a person since that time, so I’m somewhat happy that I didn’t start at the back then, but at the same time, it would have been nice to see my progress throughout the years.
My goal with this site will primarily be as a place to dump my thoughts and ideas. At the moment, I have a few primary focuses that I’ll go into detail about here.
General Topics
Tech
I am currently a software developer (reason for the .dev TLD) and the road that led me to this career started somewhat early in life with my interest in general tech. If I see anything that interestest me or have any ideas, I’ll try and put it up here.
Urban Planning
Growing up in most parts of the US, you often end up stuck in a suburban environment. It’s somewhat entrenched in American culture that this is what everyone should strive for and that it’s the ideal way to live: a big yard, big house, multi-car garage, and a white picket fance. I take many issues with that school of thought including the many, many inefficiencies which go along with having this being a standard way of living. Anyone who reads this will see my dislike for the wasteful nature of car focused infrastructure that leads to waste in more ways than it would seem on the surface.
Social Observations
Walking around different areas often, I often find myself observing behaviour patterns in people. I will notice things and often end up forgetting them, so I would like to have this to hold me accountable for keeping track of these observations and posting them to see if they’re common and if they’re things others have noticed.
Architecture
With architecture, I am actually talking about two types of architecture: building architecture (the natural assumption) and software architecture. I have an observational interest in building architecture. I enjoy going to places and observing the style of the area and absorbing the history of that area through the style and materials used in that building.
I’m more familiar with software architecture. I often find myself thinking of entire (software) stacks to build out and wondering how they would work out, so putting them up would kind of hold me up to actually drawing and fleshing out ideas that I have…maybe one may actually come into fruition. That’s TBD, I guess.
Media Review
I consume a fair amount of media and often find myself still listening to entire albums repeatedly. I often don’t document my feelings on albums and/or songs and would like to use this site to make that a more common thing. Most media I review will likely be music albums but I’ll probably end up reviewing TV shows and movies as well.
Urban Adventures
Exploring urban environments has always been a fun thing for me. I used to do neighbourhood tours with a former roommate of mine where we would pick a random train station and walk around the area. I’ve since forgotten what I observed in most of these neighbourhoods and would like to make sure I write down what I think of the various areas I visit
Environment
Environmentalism is something that I think is far too often glossed over. It’s something most people (living in the developed world) would have heard about, but the methods taken for actual improvement would often require change that many don’t want to take. Often times, what people think is going “green” ends up being a net negative or isn’t doing as much as they expect it to. Part of the reason I am not a fan of car culture and the American suburban lifestyle is that they promote a dramatically more wasteful lifestyle than what could be had with some more efficient planning and changes. I will hopefuly get to go into more detail as this site progresses.
Summary
This blog is not meant to be taken as pure fact. Most of it will just end up just being my ramblings about topics. I may occasionally put in the effort to take a more research based approach on some posts here that will have actual sources, but that will be far from the norm. Hope anyone reading this enjoys.