I am believably, importantly, worked-for-this happy.

This is a table, being sat upon by a thing called a Rocket Sauce, which was purchased by me, using money, on my first Monday morning of full-on, balls-out self-employment, on June 5 of 2017.

Let’s recap.

Mar 5, 2009: Zune focus group. This isn’t important, but I’m just happy for the reminder that all things go the way of the Zune.

Oct 18, 2010: I wrote the first line of PHP for an app called Gatekeeper. Tiny little security plugin for a new-and-shiny e-commerce company called Shopify.

Feb 13, 2011: First day at Threadless. (I am actually currently wearing a shirt with their logo on it.)

Aug 28, 2011: First line of Ruby written for Gatekeeper. My PHP framework had taken to emptying out the database at its whimsy.

Jan 13, 2013: First line written for Locksmith. Gatekeeper was built on the Shopify of yesteryear; Locksmith was built for the Shopify of today.

Apr 8, 2013: First day at Enova. (I do not own an Enova tshirt.)

Jan 18, 2014: I wrote draft 1 of a document called Code By Humans — a thesis for a style and pattern of work-doing that … is going to be very important, and I’m not going to talk any more about that right now, but this thing is very much alive.

Sep 29, 2014: First day at Apple. (I do own an Apple tshirt.)

Feb 21, 2017: Angry at lack of own ambition/aspiration.

June 2, 2017: Last day at Apple.

June 5, 2017: First Monday on my own. These sentences you’re reading were written with an Apple keynote in the background, as I listen as a customer, proud as shit of what I did there and what they’re doing now.

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This is also a table, except it is a table on June 26 of 2017, and it is in our home, and interrupting your view of it are my tools. There is a rhythm to the days, and you can see a little of it now. You can’t see the smoothie behind the mug, though, the same 875cal smoothie that is my breakfast every single day.

Twenty days in.

If before I was fighting with one hand tied behind my back, then now I’ve got both hands in front of me, and also Neo’s whole kung-fu-in-30-minutes-or-less thing.

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No picture. It’s June 29. I’m in Milwaukee. It’s 7:54pm, we just got out of the gym at this Westin that’s been open for all of 28 days, and I swear I’m gonna hit the publish button on this before dinner. My cousin’s wedding is on Saturday, and we’re the photographers. I never listen to podcasts, but there are fifteen highway hours between here and Denver, and How I Built This has a lot of really resonant ideas in it. Or, maybe better, the stories it contains are harmonies, for the strains that Abe and I are juuuuust beginning to render clear. Lines of sound, dancing further, further down the halls.

I am happy. We are building. I am The Fort Co. Technology, Ltd.

I am happy.

🆙