I once spent an evening building a date-sharing tool in plain HTML because using React for it felt stupid. It ended up being 3KB. That's probably the most honest summary of how I think about software.

Most of my side projects start the same way: I get annoyed that a tool doesn't exist, or exists but is bad, and then I disappear into my text editor for longer than I'd planned. Sometimes the result is useful to other people. Sometimes I accidentally end up on a speedrunning leaderboard because I was trying to beat a game without using its main mechanic.

The through-line, if there is one, is that I'd rather spend an extra week making something genuinely nice than ship something that sort of works but feels bad.

What I actually do all day

I like automating the stuff that gets in the way of the interesting stuff. Running a music competition means tracking submissions, tallying votes, posting results—so I built a bot to handle it, and now I can focus on actually competing (where I consistently place a solid 5th).

I'm less interested in automating the creative parts. You can't automate getting a mix to sound right, or finding a good photo on a street walk. Those things are slow on purpose. That's where the fun is.

The goal is usually: make the tool disappear. If you notice the tool, it's probably not good enough yet.

Some things about me that don't fit anywhere else

• Breakfast is six eggs. Non-negotiable.
• I find factory tour videos genuinely relaxing, especially semiconductor fabs.
• I once won a photography competition mostly because I was the only one who read the rules.
• I have strong opinions about peanut butter and raspberry jam sandwiches.