Quote of the Day


For today’s quote, I opted for this one by Thomas Merton. His writings have had a profound impact on my life. It seems quite fitting to share something from him.

To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands,
to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to the violence of our times.

Raindrops on petals

Raindrops on petals

morning calmness 
the rain gently falling
life's graceful moments

Summer heat has been running strong this week. Today was a respite. 20 degrees cooler than yesterday with a gentle rain. A nice bit of relief.

I took this photo just outside of my office this morning. It seemed perfect. I enjoyed the moment, at least.

I hope your day went well. I know life’s pretty miserable for this of you on the East Coast. May the smoke clear quickly for you all.

Do search algorithms have a sense of humor?

close up photo of cat with its eyes closed

Yesterday I set up a YouTube livestream and, as part of that, needed to whip out a thumbnail. Canva is my go-to tool of choice for such work. As this is for a preschool choir, I searched templates for “youtube children choir”, and THIS shows up in the results:

I found this…fascinating…and absolutely hysterical. Maybe the global AI is just trying to brighten my day.

Some thoughts on the job search

female candidate doing hand shakes

I’ve spent most of the past year working part-time and doing some freelancing. It’s been fun! But I’m also seeking a permanent FTE role. This has been fascinating.

I have my resume out on LinkedIn, as well as a few other job boards. I was pretty selective, as I’m not even close to desperate. I’m looking for perfect, with a small delta. Results? I’ve had a few interviews with great teams and great companies. Few. Mostly, though, I’ve received spam, scams, and just misdirected communications. I’ve lost track of how many opportunities to sell insurance or pre-paid legal services. A few crypto scams. And then there are all the opportunities in New Jersey, California, Florida, and, today, Dallas. And these aren’t hybrid roles. They’re onsite (required). I’m in Seattle. Perhaps the recruiters need better search functionality. I don’t know.

It is somewhat frustrating, but, you know, first world problems.