Reading List

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Refactoring English: Month 11

New here?

Hi, I’m Michael. I’m a software developer and founder of small, indie tech businesses. I’m currently working on a book called Refactoring English: Effective Writing for Software Developers.

Every month, I publish a retrospective like this one to share how things are going with my book and my professional life overall.

Highlights

  • I’m running late on my book.
  • A great blog post inspired me to think more about convenience shell scripts.
  • The game Oxygen Not Included is fun.

Goal grades

At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to accomplish. Here’s how I did against those goals:

IndieWeb Book Club: Oct 2025

I've never participated in a book club so I don't know if I am doing this right. I don't know how the conversation would go in a group setting and I normally lean to sharing my experiences as a way to connect. I've recently learned it isn't something people are keen on. But since this is my personal blog I guess I get a pass.

Zachary Kai proposed the book The Creative Act by Rick Rubin and I was immediately drawn to it.

I managed to borrow the book from my local library and a few pages in I immediately regretted it! I wanted to highlight with pens, add bookmarks and notes to so many things! Right now, it isn't on my budget to buy (even) more books so I had to resort to taking photos of passages that I loved on my phone.

The Creative Act felt like a conversation with your most supportive friend. It is also what you would say back to someone who wanted some encouragement on following through practising their art. My inner critic wouldn't stand a chance against the lovely encouragement from the book and I love how I stumbled upon this challenge just when I quit attending my art classes.

I've been struggling with not having the skills to put into a canvas the things I see in my head and I've been feeling silly and discouraged.

Many tips and encouraging words also apply to things outside art - even feelings I have about this blog and my recent adventures on doing live tech talks. The constant revisit of materials, the feeling of imperfection and incompletion and fear.

The goal of art isn't to attain perfection. The goal is to share who we are. And how we see the world.

Thank you for the initiative Zachary!

AI is Dunning-Kruger as a service

On January 6th, 1995 two bank robbers in Pittsburgh confused law enforcement by not making any attempts to conceal their faces but instead brazenly looking at security cameras as if they were invisible. The reason is that they actually thought they were. Clifton Earl Johnson had convinced his fellow in crime, McArthur Wheeler that covering […]

Uppsala Half Marathon done!

Around this time last year I came to Uppsala with a friend to check out Rosendal Day - a day organized by the neighborhood I had just bought an apartment in. On the walk to Rosendal from the station I realized it was also the day of the 2024 Uppsala (full and half) Marathon, the runners and spectators gathered on the route through the middle of the city.

Uppsala Half Marathon done!

Around this time last year I came to Uppsala with a friend to check out Rosendal Day - a day organized by the neighborhood I had just bought an apartment in. On the walk to Rosendal from the station I realized it was also the day of the 2024 Uppsala (full and half) Marathon, the runners and spectators gathered on the route through the middle of the city.