March 2023 - Life Update

Hello! It’s been a while. After spending February in head's down mode in Here* (apart from my birthday and a mini-trip to Ireland), I’m here at the beginning of March ready to sync with the start of the month.

🤓 What I've been doing

Here is now Nearly, and it’s in beta! After toiling away and fighting with SwiftUI and iOS's APIs, it’s arrived. We’ve rolled it out to a few users and now the fun begins. It's surreal to see people using a product you've made. I can't describe the feeling, but giddy comes to mind.
For the first time, I visited Ireland. I guess it’s because it’s so close that I hadn’t visited before? Well, I’m not sure why I hadn’t been, because it’s stunning. After a couple of days in Dublin, we rented a car and drove for miles across the Irish countryside. Driving on the right (left) side of the road made me feel like I was at home.
I turned 28 and celebrated it with friends in Nottingham. Often my birthday becomes a serious time of reflection, and after getting over being in a mood about my age, I realised how good I have it right now.
Last time I wrote about learning Elixir. This was a distraction. While I know it’s something I’ll come back to later, it doesn’t help in the immediate term with work on Nearly. Instead, I’m focusing on Swift to make Nearly a best in class app.
My gym offers combat classes, so I’ve taken up Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It’s quite weird having somebody you’ve never met before strangle you on the first class. But that’s all part of the fun. Recently, I had my first sparring session and I had a blast. It's oddly meditative in that you have to pay complete attention or you're on the floor in a chokehold.

📚 What I've been reading

Red Roulette, Desmond Shum: I visited China in 2015 and have a lot of interest in the Chinese state. This book tells an insider’s account of the inner-workings of China and its corruption during its meteoric rise in the 00s. If you’re curious about China, give this a read
The New New Thing, Michael Lewis: Michael Lewis doesn’t miss. He’s written some of the most captivating stories of our times, like The Big Short, The Fifth Risk and Moneyball. And about twenty years ago, he
Wanting, Luke Burgis: A book that dives into Rene Girard's Mimetic Theory. The idea that we imitate what our desires come from what other people desire, so we simply imitate them. It's a book full of examples of this, but I don't feel it warrants its length.

🔮 What's coming up

I’m moving! To somewhere a few roads away. So I’m staying as a member of the North London metropolitan elite for a little while longer. In fact, I’ve moving further up north!
And because I'm moving, I've very little money (deposits are very expensive rn!). So my head's back down building.