Grateful for all of our company's early supporters. Every call with advisors who have done what we're attempting, peers who are on similar paths, and clients who are excited to grow together invites such possibility.

It feels good to take a step back and know that people are cheering us on.

There's going to be so much to build. There's already so much to build. Sometimes it can feel overwhelming and full of FOMO -- because there are so many potential ideas to be working on. And sometimes it's so expansive and abundant -- I know I'll never run out of things to work on. The more important thing now is to find ideas to work on that have legs: ones that help others, ones that others will compensate us for.

- lived in Taiwan and Malaysia on sabbatical. saw 6+ countries.
- moved back to Boston
- started LokBros Studio with my brothers
- wandering mode -> building mode

I go through phases of reading lots of things online vs reading only books. I've accepted the swings in my mood and curiosities, and I'm happy to follow wherever that goes. I've noticed a few things about my tendencies when I'm in different phases:

Online reading mode: I tend to write a lot more short form -- whether that's here or on social media. I tend to collect more ideas and I get excited about producing things.

Offline reading mode: I find myself journaling more, or in pockets of deep work where I might be connected with a few people having deeper discussions, but not a large swath of people. I'm interested in storylines, longer and more intricate journeys. This reading mode is generally one where things in my mind percolate more slowly and more deeply.

Neither is truly superior to the other. They're just mini seasons of reading consumption, and I'm grateful when I'm content with both of them, whenever their inspirations strike.

The Rails ecosystem still feels like an underrated space for the those intersecting business and technology. It feels like it sits between low-code and some of the "code-heavier" stacks -- even ones like NextJS. It's web fundamentals, written with one of the most expressive programming languages, and a dash of productivity magic. What's not to love?

I think I understand some of the frontend folks' qualms with Rails. It doesn't provide the same spunk that JS frameworks do. Kaamil and I have more fun building frontends in Svelte than in leveraging Hotwire.

Perhaps that's an experience thing, but Turbo can't be used for everything, and Stimulus can feel a little TOO minimal for certain interactive bits. The Evil Martians standard is inspiring to us -- leveraging InertiaJS

Recently, my brother went on a trip to India. Some people there imagined him to be a very accomplished creative – an imagined version of him that he felt wasn’t quite him yet. He came back from the trip saying that he wanted to be a “a person.”

“But Kaamil, you are a person,” I would say as he laughed. The legibility of his identity in question as he transitions into our family business, he felt the gaze of onlookers harshly.

It takes muscle to be generative. Shipping with high velocity is a skill. It's not something that one can simply do. It takes time to ramp up, to set expectations, and to become accustomed to a certain pace. What feels "intense" will feel like nothing after showing up to the desk consistently enough. Things do get easier, with applied focus.

I can feel my progress -- just as I feel the infinite-ness of the journey ahead.

I was scheduled to speak about nomadic sabbatical at one of my favorite events. I think the host was excited too. But the venue (actually a space I love and know well) said they wanted to avoid the topic. It didn't fit with their year's "megatrends." Yikes!

Been reading Derek Sivers. Feeling concise.

A hard day’s work feels so good. Theres something about simple honest work done repeatedly and with little fanfare that had a quality of magic and purpose to it.

Optionality creates equal parts excitement and exhaustion.

Having a strong family is the greatest thing one can ask for. It’s worth being grateful for if you have it. It’s worth building it if you don’t.

Inspiration can come from any corner when my mind is open to receiving it. I think leaving intentional slack — space in my day, can create it.

Dad and I somehow we found ourselves looking through all of Dada’s old things.

What a scholar he was. He published pamphlets of work. Had books in a mind-boggling number of languages. I can’t help but think that I’m trying to carry his legacy on with my attempts at writing the pamphlets of today — online essays.

Growing out of projects like Scribble.place, The Spoonful Stovetop is my little corner of the internet to log my thoughts far before they're ready to be incorporated into coherent essays or shared widely with the world. It's my public-yet-private playground to practice hitting the "post" button.

While it's mostly for me, it might be vaguely interesting for you! And if it is, and you somehow see this post buried far at the bottom of the chronological pile, say hello: saalik@thespoonful.blog