Hi, I’m Phil.
I’m a software developer currently based in San Francisco (though, I’ve lived a whole bunch of far-flung places in the last 5 years).
The phrase “in the best possible way” fits my desired personal brand perfectly. I get a lot satisfaction in presenting commonly-disliked things in a positive light. Sort of:
You know that thing you probably don’t like? What if it was awesome?
So that’s what I’d thought I’d call this place.
I used to write a blog called “Phil Travels”, back when I was 22 years old, traveling Europe by myself. It felt so good, back then, to crystalize my thoughts onto the page. I’ve taken that blog down, literally over a decade ago. I have the archives, but I’m embarrassed a lot about my youthful naivety during that era.
I was exuberant, sure, but also dumb. Do others feel that way about their 22-year-old selves? There’s no better word than “dumb” to describe that person. That’s kind of why I love getting older… you slowly learn not to be dumb.
I’ve always thought of myself as a “good” writer, but these last few weeks, while starting to write some articles for this publication, I’ve realized the following:
how rusty I am at writing long-form content
how difficult it is to sit down and write
Nevertheless! New year, new me. (I mean, yeah… it’s late May already. Shut up.)
New posts every other Wednesday, starting May 22.