The Kind King
04 Sep 2024
Back in the late 80s, my mom bought me a 386sx 16MHz computer equipped with a 2400 baud modem. It was my first computer that enabled me to connect to an online world. Back then, there was large behemoths like AOL and CompuServe but there were also independent services called bulletin board systems, aka BBSs. A BBS was somewhat of a one-to-one connection. Most independent BBSs had only one or t...
Split
21 Jun 2024
There’s a certain simplicity to the life of the harried and married with children: the nuclear family with two and a half kids. The day to day is predictably unpredictable with its routines: breakfast, lunch, dinner, work, meetings, daycare, changings, sports, mid-night feedings, music lessons, and so on and so on, day in and day out. And then we split. Divorce established two worlds. I...
Turning Fifty
01 Jun 2024
I’ve never been big about celebrating my birthday. I’m not sure why. I don’t recall any childhood trauma around birthday parties. Whatever the reason, my birthdays have come and gone without much fanfare. Perhaps a quick visit to my mom’s where I would be treated to my favourite dessert: Betty Crocker Cherry Chip Cake with French Vanilla icing. Pure nostalgia from when she’d make it when...
Shifting Identities
04 Mar 2024
In a twist on my younger self, I saw a joke recently about what you’d tell your eight year old self. Which reminded me of my mom and her collection of bells. Anybody who knew my mom knew she collected bells and if they wanted to get her a present, it would be a bell. My mom’s collection was getting out of control and she soon told people to stop. We often associate topics or things or idea...
Taking a risk
23 Feb 2024
Back in 1999, I was working as a manager in a retail computer store selling and building PC hardware and software. On the side, my hobby was playing with the web—a nascent technology that had only been around for a few years and becoming increasingly popular. It took me awhile to clue in that there were people making careers with this thing that I was doing for fun. A light bulb went off and I r...
My Younger Self
03 Feb 2024
There’s an exercise where you ask yourself what you’d tell your younger self if you ever had the chance. My answer has been and continues to be that I wouldn’t tell my younger self anything. It would be nice to learn the hard lessons earlier but who’s to say I’d listen to my future self any better than I listened to my past self? Who’s to say there wouldn’t be other lessons or mi...
Empty Townhouse
17 Jan 2024
My therapist asked me to think of a happy memory from my childhood. I remembered back to when I was five years old. I only have about four memories from before the age of six and this is one of them. My mom and I lived in this townhouse complex in the northeast end of Calgary. I couldn’t tell you where it was exactly but I remember that much. The beige townhouses were grouped in sections. It was...
Quicker Thoughts on Chips
16 Jan 2024
I think Canadians and Americans might view chips differently. Reading Dave Rupert’s thoughts on chips, I realized that I classify chips differently—namely by its primary ingredient. The Potato Chip If you ask me for a bag of chips, I will instantly think potato chips. That’s the default. And when it comes to any chip aisle in Canada, it’ll be filled with potato chips of all flavours ...
New Year, Old Me
16 Jan 2024
We have crossed over a collectively agreed upon arbitrary date line once again and as such we vow to become better people than the year before. Two weeks in, I’ve already failed and thus will throw the entire year out the window and succumb to debauchery and other toxic behaviours. Okay, not really. I’ve done the resolutions thing. I’ve tried the theme word. They get written down a...
Burnout
04 Oct 2023
I was reading Dan Mall’s blog post on Income Transparency a while back and my attention was caught by a particular section on burnout. In his post, he quotes Psychologist Herbert Freudenberger, who coined the term “burnout” in 1975 and defined it as: Emotional exhaustion: the fatigue that comes from caring too much, for too long Depersonalization: the depletion of empathy, caring, ...
Imaginary Conversations
02 Oct 2023
One of the things that has helped my mental health is recognizing all of the imaginary conversations that I have. Full blown arguments that get me angry and frustrated and at the end of the day, the only person involved in those conversations is me. Each time I notice that I’m doing this to myself, I start to say in a sing-song way, “you’re having an imaginary conversation!” Best to pu...
Not So Fast
05 Aug 2023
“The industry changes so quickly! It’s hard to keep up with everything.” I’ve been mostly out of touch with the industry over the last couple years, only working on smaller front-end projects, and not really paying much attention to the firehose of web development content being put out there. What’s interesting is dipping my toes back into the stream and seeing that—despite a...
Downtown Man
02 Aug 2023
That’s what I am. I’ve gone camping. I’ve done resorts. I’ve been on cruise ships. They all range from “this is fine” to “why are we pretending to be in an episode of the Walking Dead?” I’m definitely a city boy, through and through, though. When I travel, it’s to other cities. It’s staying in the hustle and bustle, with people and museums and restaurants and shows. It...
Mind Games
26 Jul 2023
In late 2020, I remember seeing those green and yellow squares posted across Twitter and Slack channels. Yes, Wordle was taking off. It was a fun, quick game to kick off a day or something to fill a mid-day break. Then there were all the variants like Quordle, and Worldle, and even Canuckle. Wordle was so popular it got acquired by the The New York Times. It’s still part of my daily routine....
This Too Shall Pass
24 Jul 2023
I’ve heard this phrase many times over the years. Whenever someone is going through a tough time, someone else might say “this too shall pass” as a way to let them know that this is temporary and that better times are ahead. I had been struggling with my mental health, and in a reactive state for a long time. Through a lot of therapy and a lot of journalling, I find myself in a better pl...
Fly Recklessly
24 Jul 2023
“Have a safe flight.” Taking this bus in the sky, there’s very little I can control to make it safe or unsafe—y’know, besides trying to yank open a door mid-flight. Don’t do that. It’s really up to the pilots in the cockpit to handle that. Nobody says “have a safe bus ride!” People say “drive safe” and that makes sense; you are the one in control when you’re driving. ...
Social Media Presence
19 Jul 2023
I’ve been taking some time to rethink my relationship with social media. Over the years, platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr have provided usefulness in connecting with hundreds and thousands of likeminded people around the world. It has helped me in both my professional career and personal life, introducing me to lifelong friends, work partners, and dating partners. Each platform...
Before Fifty
16 Jul 2023
A month ago, I turned 49. A week before that, I was in Pocantico Hills to visit Blue Hill at Stone Barns. It was the 50th of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants I have eaten at before I turn 50. The journey that began five years prior had come to a close. It took me a few weeks to finish writing up the summaries, editing and posting the photos, and putting it all together for the site. The i...
Getting Personal
10 Jul 2023
For years this has been a blog about web development. I no longer have any desire to talk about it and that is evidenced by the lack of posts in years. I’ve been unsure what to do with this space. I believe in maintaining personal links and don’t want the long history of tips and tricks to just disappear. My colour contrast checker is still used to this day. My articles on various topics h...
Dot dot dot
26 May 2021
The ol’ ellipses. That punctuation that denotes a pause. If ever there was something that could be used as a placeholder for the past year, the ellipses may fill that void. It marks a transition and leaves unsaid the unspeakable. It represents the digital conversations about to be had, waiting on others to say their piece, waiting on you to say yours—conversations that would be more pleasurabl...
Waited
21 Apr 2021
Just a few days after writing about the expectation of not getting a vaccine anytime soon, the provincial government seemed to be getting pushback and suddenly they announce availability of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people aged 40+. The news got announced on Sunday. I signed up for half a dozen waitlists on Monday—because a centralized, well-managed system for vaccinations doesn’t exist ...
Wait
15 Apr 2021
Throughout much of this pandemic, while traumatic, it was comforting that we were all in this together. Now, as many of my American and UK friends get their first vaccinations, they are starting to return to a normal life. They are travelling, they are visiting family, and they are making plans for the summer. In Canada, however, vaccines have been slow going and cases are on the rise. Cases p...
Uncanny
02 Aug 2020
I’m standing in line at the grocery store. My hands are full of products I don’t recognize but should be sufficient for the next couple days here. I place things on the conveyor belt, hoping the cashier doesn’t ask any questions. Of course, she does. I assume she’s asking if I want a bag and shake my head no. Thankfully, that seemed to answer her question. The few items are rung up and ...
Travelling Man
04 Jan 2020
As one might expect in trying to go to numerous restaurants around the world, much travel would ensue. And sure enough, that happened. In 2019, I travelled to: Montreal (twice) Toronto (twice) Pittsburgh Portland (thrice) Phoenix Austin Atlanta San Antonio San Francisco (twice) Napa Valley London Lima Paris (twice) Amsterdam, with a drive to Zwolle and Ghent, Belgium Barcelon...
Lost in a Moment
10 Dec 2018
I’m lost in a moment. My gaze loosens, my thoughts quieten. I’m home. I’m worried about my kids. I want them to succeed and both are struggling. I’m worried about dinner. I’m worried about shovelling the driveway. I’m worried about getting my taxes filed. I need to get my corporate taxes done in the next couple weeks. My year end was months ago and I always leave it to the las...
Go Abstract
03 Dec 2018
As mentioned in my talking about feeling uneasy, I applied for a job. Thankfully, I got that job. As of today, I work for Abstract. I’m hopping on board as a front-end developer. The company is still small enough that I hope to make an impact beyond just code. One of the things that attracted me to Abstract was the similarities to Shopify when I first started working there. It is small...
Uneasy
16 Nov 2018
I never used to have imposter syndrome. I felt confident in what I knew and didn’t know. About three years ago, a series of events really made me question my abilities. Throw in some burnout and depression and I am still left feeling uneasy and unsure of myself. Those feelings have spilled into other things: I don’t write much about web development anymore. I stopped doing conference talks....
That Time I Tried to Get to LA
27 May 2018
I’m supposed to be spending a week in Los Angeles. Instead, I’m getting thrown around a tin can in the sky. The original plan was to head out on Tuesday but I had a free day and decided to head out a day early. I normally have decent luck when it comes to travel but such is not the case this time. Almost immediately after changing the flight, I started getting notifications of weathe...
That Time I Ate at Five Michelin-starred Restaurants in a Week
21 Apr 2018
Not every idea is a smart one. I’ve heard stories of how difficult it is to get a reservation at an upscale restaurant. They’re booked for months. We had ten days planned in San Francisco, Kitt and I. Her speaking at Imagecon and then us attending Smashing Conf the following week. The San Francisco Bay Area is home to a plethora of restaurants including seven 3 Michelin-starred restaur...
Rattled
22 Jan 2018
I have come of an age when those that pass away are closer and closer to my heart. Each death rattling me unnervingly more. May it never get so close as to shatter my heart entirely....
One Change Changes Everything
18 Jan 2018
Six years ago, I didn’t drink coffee. If I recall correctly, it was Robert Nyman who insisted I have a latte when I told him I didn’t drink coffee. It was likely a year or two after that before I had another. It’s only been in the last three years or so that I’ve drank lattes (and cappuccinos and espressos) with any regularity. The idea of buying an espresso machine probably felt out ...
Not So Reflective
09 Jan 2018
It’s the new year. Not all that shocking to you, I’m sure, unless you’ve been busy for the last few weeks. But here we are. Many are posting their retrospectives of how their year went. Or they’re posting their theme word for the year or their resolutions or their goals. I’ve tried resolutions and themes. A year is a long time to stick to such a thing and—inevitably—things happen....
Attempting Deeper Work
18 Mar 2017
I’m in the midst of reading Deep Work. I’m about two-thirds of the way through and while it’s probably a bit hasty to jump into a review, I have been thinking about what it means to how I work and what I want to work on. The concept behind the book is that for the knowledge worker, success comes from the ability to think and work deeply on something. Basically, to get into a state of ...
What’s Next?
27 Apr 2016
The writing was on the wall. For over a year now, I’ve waffled, hummed, and hawed on what I wanted to do. Last May, I left Shopify. For a brief two months, I filled my time up with conferences and relaxation before taking a position at Xero. Going into Xero, I was apprehensive. It’s probably not the feeling you want to have going into a new job but it was a good offer and I had hope that my...
Aligning Your Values
17 Mar 2016
I read a good book recently called Managing Oneself by Peter Drucker. Originally published in 1999, the short book is a quick and easy read. In it, Drucker asks 5 questions targeted to knowledge workers and their careers. What are my strengths? How do I perform? What are my values? Where do I belong? What should I contribute? The book posits that these are the questions you shou...
The Great Japanese KitKat Taste Test
17 Mar 2016
I recently made a trip to Japan and for some inexplicable reason, I decided to buy every flavour I could find. By the time I came home, I had 12 different kinds to try. My household decided to do a taste test to see which ones were the best. Maybe surprisingly, there was some variation in what people liked. Here are the results: Flavour L (Aged 8) H (Aged 12) J (Aged 41) D...
Reinvention
24 Feb 2016
We humans like to categorize things and we make no exception with other humans. We typecast them, stereotype them, and place them into boxes. A Gemini, Type A personality, Alpha, INFP. As if any of these can accurately sum up the totality of a person. You’re a designer or a developer or a researcher or a content strategist. Or maybe you’re a bit of everything. How long have you known ...
Applying Product Management to Your Life
21 Feb 2016
After having done product management for a time, I was asked whether the principles of product management could be applied to ones own life. It’s an interesting question and one I’m finally making some time to explore. First, we have to define what a product manager does. In a company, they’re often wearing many hats as they work with various teams to get something shipped. In the co...
How I Manage My Finances
10 Feb 2016
Money is such a taboo topic but shouldn’t be. Money is, good or bad, a very important part of our daily lives. While I’ve had some rough times with money, through luck and hard work, I managed to get myself to a good place. There are, in my opinion, some very basic tenets to how I manage my finances. Increase Revenue Decrease Expenses Manage Cash Flow Increase Revenue There...
Spontaneity
06 Feb 2016
I sometimes wonder if I’ve become too rigid with my time. Ask me if I want to go out some evening and chances are I’d have to say no. Between kids and travel, I didn’t really have the time to be spontaneous like that. Now that I’m not travelling as much, I’ve added the gym, guitar practice, and writing to my regular schedule. Most often, when I try to be spontaneous with friend...
Habit List
13 Jan 2016
I don’t really do new year resolutions but sometimes I start up new things and one new thing that I decided to start doing is using the Habit List app to track and, more importantly, maintain certain habits. Since my theme for this year is Movement, both in exercise and in writing, the items in my list are geared towards that goal. Exercise, 5 days a week Plank, every day Stretch, eve...
Simplicity and Comfort
03 Jan 2016
About a year ago, I came across this wonderful interview between Jack White and Conan O’Brien. The full interview is over an hour long but the first 10 minutes are filled with a number of wonderful points. The first of those is simplicity. Jack White talks of his apprenticeship as an upholsterer and observing the minimum number of staples to consider something upholstered. Too few and the fab...
Movement
02 Jan 2016
It’s a new year. I’d like to say that this is a point at which I start reflecting on the past year and the year ahead but truth is, I’ve been introspective of where I am and what I’m doing for some time now. So much so that I’m starting to get sick of being in my head. For me, 2015 was a transitional and emotional year, one that I’ve had a tough time putting into words. I’ve felt...
What does success look like?
10 Oct 2015
Brooklyn Beta was a lovely conference for five years running. My favourite part of the conference was the time between sessions where I could talk to all the great people in attendance. When BB announced a Reunion meetup, I jumped at the chance. Yes, I hopped on a plane, and rented a nice AirBnB place to spend a few hours with thoughtful people. I was not disappointed. (I was hungover but tha...
My Second Mid-Life Crisis
04 Oct 2015
Over 6 years ago, I separated from my then wife, choosing to live a separate path—albeit an overlapping path as we co-parent our two boys. This was my first crisis. Now, years later, I find myself struggling with something different. Growing up, seeing what those around me did, I saw a familiar pattern: you work hard and consistently until your 60s and hope to have enough saved up to support ...
A Career in Transition
09 Mar 2013
For nearly 15 years, I’ve called myself a web developer. The twelve years of this blog’s existence is a testament to that. I’ve written hundreds of blog posts that document my trials and tribulations with web development. In those 15 years I’ve had job titles like Technical Architect, Project Manager, Lead Designer, and even Director of Technology. Underneath it all, though, I just b...
Reflective
28 Dec 2011
It is once again that time of year where I reflect on the year that has passed and contemplate the year the come. Professionally On a professional level, this has been a fantastic year but still not without its ups and downs. This year capped my second and final year with Yahoo!. Yahoo! has been a great experience for me and exposed me to an environment that I hadn't worked in before. I was...
Of bits and butterfly effects
10 Nov 2011
I've never been so vain as to think I'll have much impact on the world. I never wanted to be president. I never wanted to be a doctor. I'll almost assuredly never go to war to fight for my freedom and the freedom of others. Way too much responsibility. Instead, I grew up making virtual things. Apparently, even making physical things was too much. I push bits around as if I'm doing something pro...
Unsure
01 Nov 2011
Getting older is a humbling experience. Watching other people get older is sometimes equally so. I have an older brother who is almost nine years older than I am. When my parents divorced, I was only 3 years old. My brother moved with my dad and I stayed with my mom. I don't remember the divorce. I don't remember much of anything before the age of 5. As a result, I've considered myself an only c...
Onward
04 Jan 2010
It's so easy to wallow in self-pity when things don't go right. As much as 2009 sucked on all levels, it wasn't all bad. As much as I want to sulk, the fact remains that I live a charmed life. Through some karmic luck of the draw, I've got a lot to be thankful for. Personal Projects This past year was a year of simplication and basically had me letting go of all my personal projects—at lea...
Failure
04 Jan 2010
It has been a year marked with a series of failures and while I feel some urge to explain it all, I think it will be better off left unsaid. This post is a stick in the sand to remind me of what has happened. Onward we go, for time gives us no other choice....
'Hooligan
09 Nov 2009
I just signed and returned the paperwork. As of November 16, I'll be an employee of Yahoo!. This might seem like a bit of a surprise for those aware that I started at Squarespace just seven months ago. Unfortunately, six months into it, the requirements of employment changed and I was no longer able to stay on. Suffice it to say, I think the folks at Squarespace are fantastic and I believe they...
Less of Me
08 Sep 2009
I fear actually saying this out loud. I certainly don't want to jinx the progress I've made but, at the same time, I'm excited by the change. I'm trying to lose weight. I used to be slim. In my early twenties, I worked on my feet all day. I also didn't have a car. Therefore, I walked to and from work. And to the store. And to anywhere I needed to go. If I wasn't walking, I was on my inline skat...
Being Square
24 Mar 2009
The snow is melting. Spring is upon us. It's that time of year for new beginnings. And there are definitely plenty of new beginnings around the Snook household. On top of all the other things that have been happening, I've decided to make some changes, too. After three long years, I'm leaving the life of freelance. What's old is new again, it seems. I'm going to be working for someone else. As o...
Reflections
01 Jan 2009
It's that time of year when people see the big number roll over and decide to reminisce over good times and bad, and talk of where they plan to go until the big number rolls again. This blog post will be no exception. On the Personal Front It's interesting to look at last years pontificating. In some ways, things haven't changed. I am getting better at managing my time but in a weird sort of way....
Evaluating the past year
06 Jan 2008
Another new year is here and is customary by many at this time of year, I'm evaluating how things have changed from a year ago, what worked and what didn't. Personal Personally speaking, this turned out to be a fantastic year. My wife and I got to adopt again, this time from Kansas. We now have two healthy and happy boys and we couldn't be happier about it. I'd like to think we're done having ki...
Merry Christmas
24 Dec 2007
I'm just about to head to bed after now that Santa has placed all the presents under the tree. My almost 4 year old son heard Santa's bells earlier and I don't think he'll have an easy time getting back to sleep. I'd like to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas. (Happy Festivus for the rest of ... you.)...
Snook++
20 Aug 2007
Things have been crazy busy for the past couple weeks and for good reason. I've mentioned before that my wife and I were in the process of adopting. Last Wednesday, the day we've been working towards for almost two years had finally arrived: to be parents once again. Lucas Adam James has become the latest addition to the Snook clan and we couldn't be happier. Our deepest gratitude to the birthmo...
Why I Left 9rules
25 May 2007
With all of my preamble on sharing ones side of the story, I felt the need to share why I left 9rules. I wanted to share it because a few people have asked about why I left. I want to avoid and correct any misconceptions. Whether or not this was the right thing to do remains to be seen. In the beginning Like any story, we need to start at the beginning. I joined 9rules back in 2005. I asked to...
Looking Back and Forward
26 Dec 2006
I've been trying to look back a what has happened over the course of this year. Examine what I've done and set up a plan for the future. My apologies if this post is a little long but it must be the holiday feelings of sharing. Freelance Looking Back This year has been fantastic from a professional point of view. I was able to go freelance full-time back in January and really take a chance t...
Frenetic Freelance
01 Nov 2006
Deciding to go freelance full time back in January was a liberating experience. But it's times like these that I miss working in a stable day job. Making the decision It was a both a tough decision and an easy decision to make. Going freelance allowed me the opportunity to work on my own projects and choose the clients that I get to work with. It was tough knowing that I have a wife and son tha...
Upon My Return
11 Oct 2006
Wow, that was a nice vacation. Nothing like spending a week in Disney World. With a two year old. A two year old who thought that napping was overrated and couldn't possibly close one's eyes for a moment while there. Despite the lack of sleep, it was actually a fun trip and one I'd gladly do again. Well, maybe I'll wait a few years until the kid(s) are older. In any case, I'm back and ready to....
On hiatus
26 Sep 2006
I'll be taking a quick break folks. I'm heading on vacation next week (yay!) and between preparing for that and getting last minute work stuff done, I haven't been able to post anything new this week. Therefore, it'll have to wait until I get back. Hope to see you all back mid-October....