I'm (maybe) bringing the blog back

Okay, as with most things in my life, a simple youtube video or mention of something on a podcast is enough to either get me fully hooked, or bring me back to an old hobby I once forgot about.

Writing on a blog has to be one of my oldest hobbies, which is why it fizzled out. If I was as pedantic in high school as I am now, I probably would've saved some of my old blog posts. From TechnoCastle on Blogspot, to building my wordpress blog - which happened to be my first website build, and the thing that got me to where I am - I used to write a lot. It started with technology reviews before graduating to fullblown op-ed's on the Startup Ecosystem in Jakarta (which fun fact, landed me a job at Tech in Asia).

Even sitting here writing this post now, it seems like writing was really what brought me peace, and gave me a way to let go of some of the thoughts I had racing in my mind. I honestly didn't even give a shit if anyone read it. So why did I stop?

I could go with a myriad of reasons. Life got busy, I started getting paid to do other things, I found other outlets, I made more friends. A part of me also felt like my evolution as a human would cause my blog to be a confusing place. What does this guy write about? One minute he's talking about Apple stuff, then suddenly we're talking about CLI tools about the linux command line. They all could be valid reasons, or they could be excuses.

So why am I back? I know I never fully left. I had a few posts here and there, and I have some in the drafts that I'm probably never going to post. The real reason I'm back? I was listening to Acquired's episode with Ben Thompson of Stratechery and it got me thinking. A blog doesn't have to make sense to anyone else, since I don't care if anyone is reading it anyway? I have a lot of thoughts, and a lot of opinions. It's more of a place for me to put all of them. Also mostly for me to look back on 5 years from now to be like "oh yeah I did think that way didn't I". Also, don't get me wrong. I'm not expecting anyone to read this or to eventually monetise this ala Stratechery. Ben does some solid analysis, I word vomit. I just didn't want to start journaling, because my writing style is more suited towards writing as if someone else is reading it, and I already had a blog anyway so might as well.

Another micro-thought I've been having. As we're getting more and more dependent on AI for a lot of tasks, we're all slowly losing the ability to write from the heart. I myself am guilty of constantly pasting my words into chatgpt to refine them, especially when I hit it with the "please change the tone I know this sounds passive aggressive and dickish, that's not my intention" prompt.

So let's start with what this blog isn't going to be. It isn't going to be something refined. I'm not pasting my posts into ChatGPT first to make them more "SEO friendly" or to appeal to a wider audience. In fact, in the past with blog posts, I would keep it in the drafts, come back to it a few days later with fresh eyes, and refine and clean it up to make it more readable. I'm not doing that anymore. My mind is chaotic, and this blog will be an accurate depiction and reflection of that.

So, what will I write about? Well, to put it bluntly, whatever I feel like writing about. However, to give myself some guidelines, more as a reminder than anything, here's what I've been into lately and what could lead to interesting topics;

• The state of AI and how it's impacting our daily lives
• Running a business in the technology sector and anything that goes along with that
• Kitchen tools like nice Japanese knives and carbon steel pans
• Watches, I'm a huge watch nerd now.
• Thoughts on TV shows and movies that I've seen recently.
• Maybe some technology related stuff, like the tools post I wrote in the past.
• Hopium and the sad state of the Los Angeles Clippers

I guess that's all I can think about now. Who knows if I actually end up writing anything.