about

the basics

I have been working professionally "in tech" a software developer of some shape or other for ... about 10 years.

I like it. It suits me. It's the kind of work I do on my own time when no one is waiting on me.

I've put down roots in Ontario/Canada. It's as nice a home as I've ever known, and I'm thankful that I get to live here. Not that I've travelled very much, so I'm sure there are a million * million other places that are just as better.

Aside from maybe a little extra dash from the eccentricity jar, I'm your standard-issue nerd. I love playing video games and listening to electronic music, tinkering with computers, servers, and software. Linux, especially, has been a breath of fresh air for someone who likes to fully customize their desktop and terminal experiences.

rip & tear & learn

Before I went to school for programming, I got my first taste of the awesome software-transforming power of code by modding Doom. Especially when scripting functionality using Action Code Script, which has a syntax like C. This in turn made it a good gateway to accidentally learning about "real" programming languages, and realising that hey actually programming and solving problems on a computer was really rewarding, and it turns out that people pay for these skills!

JM meets his first linux grognard

Near the end of graduating, I was lucky to get a student placement at a really cool linux shop working in embedded software -- this is where I met my first mentor. He was an old school OpenBSD contributor who had the coolest terminal workflow I had ever seen. He set me up with my first .vimrc and showed me the ropes with various other packages that would become my daily drivers in the years to come (git, the GNU coreutils, and other fundamental CLI tools).

This appreciation for the philosophy and aesthetics of the Unix developer flow played a big role in my inclination toward becoming a software developer. There's something about working in the terminal that looks and feels so cool.

like my fav text editor I'm modal lol

I don't put much stock in a unified online persona/brand/etc, so you won't find explicit links to my other websites or socials here. When you find me on Bookwyrm, I'll be talking to a different audience and with a different voice than when I'm on Midnight Pub, for instance. So personally, I don't see a point in linking these personas besides vanity.

Other than all that, I have interests in drawing, writing, playing with my 2 cats and 1 dog, and the unflinching adoration of my peers. ;p

Just kidding, I actually love constructive criticism.

my damage

You may have noticed I can write in a somewhat idiosyncratic way. Who knows where that comes from. Maybe because I was told to avoid cliches in writing and I took that to mean being somewhat chaotic is preferable to being boring.

Mostly I just find it fun. Like you know when you're listening to someone speak and you know how the sentence is going to end, and you're both just waiting for the audio to finish? That's when I like to peel off a thread to use that idle brain time to try and sub in something a little more interesting.