Tag: the well

Five Things

Here are five things that are swirling in my head:

• This is America from Donald Glover (Childish Gambino) is interesting, you’ll have tons of easter eggs in the video and song. Another striking thing is how profoundly different the content is from his personal life and his career pre-Atlanta. Did living in Atlanta and doing the show change his sensibilities? Probably. I would love an Oral History on the creation of Atlanta. Also, how much of this success is attributed to the mainstream (white) acceptance garnered pre-Atlanta? If it were post-Atlanta Donald, does any of this happen?
• I recently saw Tully and loved it. A couple of things stuck out:  I believed that childbirth is the end, like a fairy tale, and this movie walked me through how that is not the case. Yikes, I needed an education. Mental health and sleep are linked, and both are critical to your well being. I’ve noticed the difference post-depression, personally and with better sleep I produce better, bar none. Three, there were no villians and the movie stuck you in the grey area, this felt human, more so than the box office juggernaut, Avengers: Infinity War (loved this one too, but for popcorn reasons).
• The soft racism of “new” tech is grating on me. I dealt with far less of it when I worked for all Trump supporters (seriously) in old tech. Now working with startups I am more apt to get questions about my musical taste than professional expertise. Talking to black folks mid-career and hearing similar stories. Making me think about a pivot, but I wonder, to where?
• Coming back “online” after a depression episode sucks because you feel like there is so much to catch up on. I have three medium articles (2 product, one personal) and an email that needs to go out to everyone. Also, still producing this video series after 8 months of tweaking, testing, and changing (so different than last year, I hope you’ll subscribe). Oh, I still have two things out here, one for Jopwell’s The Well and another on my Medium Page.
• Reading technical books this month. I finished Steering the Craft and started working on the exercises. They have helped my writing already. Ursula K Le Guin was a master, may she rest in peace.