šš½ / Hi ya, buddy! ä½ å„½å?
I like to share. Maybe Iām too much of an over-sharer. Especially things Iām learning, new insights Iāve gained, experiences that have shaped me. But when it comes to the space of an about page, my mind draws a blank. Initially, this was a short blurb that Iād copy and paste to LinkedIn, but then it sounded too much like a bio you find on the sleeve cover of a hardcover book.
Instead, Iāve left this area for writing about myself in one, long page. Feel free to stay, or not. I have plenty of sufficient writing that I think is useful for most people. If you do decide to stay, brew some tea or coffee, make yourself at home, and enjoy this mini autobiography.
š / In The Margins
Timeline
- 1990: born in California
- 1992: moved to Berkeley
- 1996: started playing the piano
- 2007: embarassed myself in front of a Model UN conference by trying to be funny, but not myself
- 2008: moved to San Luis Obispo for Cal Poly
- 2011: studied abroad in Munich, Germany and caught the travel bug š
- 2012: graduated college, moved back to Berkeley briefly, then moved to Santa Clara for a job as an engineer for a medical devices company
- 2014: quit the medical device field, moved to Chicago to learn how to code, moved back Santa Clara for a job as a software engineer, started a weekly newsletter āThe Jear Bear Newsletterā
- 2018: Changed jobs, still working as a software engineer
- 2022: got engaged š
At the heart of it, Iām making things
When someone tells me theyāre doing something for their resume, I cringe. Iām not here for a participation badge, Iām here to make things. And sometimes, those things are useful.
I find that I enjoy learning. Thereās ups and downs, especially when Iām out of my comfort zone. There might be times where I feel like giving up, because something is too difficult. Iām reminded to keep a growth mindset and allow myself to be malleable and flexible rather than rigid and set in my ways. Of course, itās a spectrum and you canāt qualify that for everything, so pick and choose.
I went to school for making physical things, but I fell in love with making digital things more. I still love the craft of metalworking and woodworking, but I certainly craft more code nowadays. Sometimes for the benefit of code itself, but more likely for the benefit of the people who use it. I especially enjoy making things in collaboration because knowledge sharing is a powerful tool. Some of the software projects span across different domains, from my day job doing BioTech, neurogaming, data visualization, and mixed reality apps.
My personal pursuit of creativity
I feel most alive when Iām chasing my creative spark. From making holiday cards for a group of strong and weak ties, writing content, practicing music, baking something sweet enough, to cooking something gourmet. I used to think I was a jack of all trades, master of none. But Iāve stopped that line of thinking, and have changed my tune to being multi-faceted. Many times, we get stuck in one identity, like āIām an engineerā, and thatās how you see your life. The people who inspire me have diversifying roles, like an engineering manager and pilot, a supply chain manager and a musician, a tech writer and a chef.
Sometimes Iām afraid to start. Thatās when I return to āAn Invocation for Beginningsā, where the first step is to start small, keep it routine, and do 1% more the next day. And the best time to start is when you ask yourself with a āshouldā question. āShould I start working out?ā āShould I start writing this idea I started in the shower?ā And when I use the word ābutā, itās usually a personal excuse that is irrational, like 99% of the time. āIād love to start baking, but I need the kitchen to be speckless firstā.
Lifeās Maxims
- Return to a Beginnerās Mind. Starting from a beginnerās mind opens yourself to new and radical ideas. Having an expertās mind rejects new ideas and sticks to what they know.
- Feedback should be actionable, specific, kind (and consensual)
- Professionally be a problem solver. Personally, use the āHelped, Heard, or Huggedā Framework
- Be comfortable being uncomfortable
- Consistent exercise is better than no exercise
š§š½āš» / Colophon
In other words, how the site is made.
Tech Stack
This website is built with Astro, Tailwind, Github Pages, and Netlify. The previous site was built using Jekyll, Sass, Bourbon, Neat, and Netlify. I wrote a short blog post about this here.
The domain is registered with Hover.
Typography
This website uses āBrother 1816ā, a font by Ignacio Corbo and Fernando DĆaz of TipoType.
I love using Futura when I have time to go to the letterpress shop at San Francisco Centter for the Book.