This is not the first time I have tried to start this blog. I started a while ago by searching for a nifty WordPress theme that sang to me. I hopped from theme to theme and enjoyed seeing how the same content could feel different when displayed differently. The makers of the blog template demo sites deceived me into thinking that my site would look that good if I just shelled out 24.95 for the Astrid - Modern Clean and Elegant Wordpress Theme. I quickly realized that curating content is hard. I had a renewed appreciation for all the thoughtful content creators whose morsels I voraciously devoured without considering - understanding really - the planning and production required for compelling content. The main motivation for starting this blog is to create content of my own that will hopefully be useful and captivating. I have benefited so much from the content of others, and I would like for others to someday say the same of mine.

At the same time I was trying to start a blog, and failing, I was going through a change professionally where I began to code more. I am mathematically trained and have worked my entire professional career in aviation on the ATC side of things. (If you don't know what ATC is, then I apologize, in advance, for the alphabet soup of my aviation-related posts. I will try my best to include references) I became interested in web programming when I started to develop tools with GUIs and realized the GUI with the greatest reach is the browser. This lead me down the veritable rabbit hole that is web programming. I can't begin to describe how much I have benefited from all the tutorials, blog posts, podcasts and other didactic material about almost any tech subject imaginable. I would like to contribute to tech teaching by posting the way I understand a certain topic. We all learn in different ways, and I hope that my explanations will resonate with someone and make their entry into the topic easier.

Another purpose of this blog is to corral my wide array of interests and force myself to focus on one by writing a blog post about it. There are many times that the thought "I wonder if..." or a "I wish I knew more about ... " crosses my mind, but I don't explore further. The posts will be my medium for exploring an interest further by teaching what I have learned. I am, at best, a dilettante on the subjects I will write about, and my goal in not feign proficiency or become an expert. My goal is to package that information and be another web interlocutor between information and the minds interested in that information. Training in medical profession is usually done with the philosophy of Learn one, Do one, Teach one. I think this is an effective way to learn, and while I apply the first two steps to the topics I like, this blog will help with the third.

This blog will also have my personal thoughts on many issues. I am happy to live in a time where the net of ideas that one casts can have a global reach. I am excited by the possibility of identifying people with shared experiences despite having dissimilar backgrounds. On the flip side, the same technology that has the power to connect, has the power to isolate. I have seen, but never experienced personally, how the fiery outrage of the webverse can descend on an individual for a comment, inflict damage and quickly pivot the mediatic eye to the next outrage. I live in a bubble. I will continue to strive to extend the boundaries of that bubble by letting myself be guided by information and empathy; the latter guiding the path, and the former clearing it.

The intellect should always be the servant of the heart, never its slave- August Comte

Music is a big part of my life. Aside from playing musical instruments, there is no place I can go outside of an anechoic chamber where I would not be surrounded by it in some form. It evokes emotions, creates culture, synchronizes people, represents a cause and has a way of burying itself deep inside, to the point of oblivion, only to be instantly resurrected by a phrase or a particular pattern of notes. It is a form of expression that engages all of my senses, and my internal monologue takes a back seat. Every blog post will have a song associated with it, but not necessarily related. It is just the song that I was listening to when writing that post.

I am happy that you have visited my blog.

Here we go.