The Chat Room We Lost
The internet moved from communal chat rooms to curated self-expression. Why it stopped being a place you meet strangers and became a place you perform for them.
Notes
I write about the overlooked, the contradictory, and the quietly absurd.
The Promotion Nobody Wanted
Tech startup reviews keep saying the same thing: no direction, endless pivots, misunderstood priorities. Promoting builders to management keeps breaking them.
The Checkpoint, Not the Destination
The blank page isn't lack of ideas. It's doubt about their worth. Writing from the middle of learning instead of waiting for a finish line that never arrives.
The Wall Owns Itself Now
Street art sits between expression and property damage. Still caught between admiring technical mastery and questioning who pays the cleanup bill.
The Billion-Dollar Local Club
Soccer once belonged to neighbourhoods. Your street, your city, your pride. Then globalization found the sport and the local club became a billion-dollar brand.
The Jockey and the Absurd
A friend with betting slips in one hand and philosophy books in the other. Horse racing and existentialism both confront forces you cannot control.
The Cultural Discomfort Trade-Off
Dutch and Swedish offices prize directness. North American workplaces wrap everything in softness. Why direct and indirect cultures keep offending each other.
The Metric That Ruins Everything
Software teams track everything: time on page, clicks, conversions, engagement. Then someone picks the metric that matters. That's when things start breaking.
The Algorithm Has Better Boundaries
Therapy promises a safe space to heal. Clients leave sessions unsure if they were heard or processed. Why some now prefer the algorithm to their therapist.
The Playlist Ate Music
Streaming promised every artist a global audience with no gatekeepers. Then the algorithm became the new gatekeeper. How playlists replaced labels.
The Business of Belonging
Every June, corporations discover queer rights. Rainbow logos flood feeds. July arrives and the rainbows vanish. The economics of annual visibility.
The Machinery of Modern Work
Modern workplaces promise meaning and flexibility. The tools meant to enable the freedom seem to do the opposite. How remote work became the new assembly line.