--- title: "April, 2026" date: 2026-05-01 tags: - roundup - post --- I had hoped and expected that the chaos which had marked the start of the year — floors, termites, sickness, fires, ACL surgery — was largely behind us, and that I would be freed to find some sort of rhythm or backbeat with which to tether a new normalcy. And of course, this has not been the case, though for more pleasant reasons than previously: three semi-impromptu trips (all good); lots of corgi rehab (all successful); lots of sleep regression (some in the rear-view). But I was still able to do a handful of important things, like start this year's spring garden and write an overdue post on having spent four years working full-time on Buttondown. That post was titled, somewhat against my better judgment, [[the-maelstrom|in writing]]. Four years is a long time for any one thing to remain interesting, and I find myself surprised, again and again, that this one continues to be — partially due to boredom and partially due to the mechanics of RSU vesting around this time at Amazon and Stripe, and I do not think it is spoilers to say that such an occurrence will not be happening a third time. Most recently, I find myself grateful for the agency it offers me, which materializes less as the week-long excursions to foreign countries and more like the afternoon trips with Lucy to the art museum. I wrote less this month than I have in some time, and watched (and read, and played) more than I have in some time, which feels like a fair trade. Slay the Spire 2 was, against my will, eating the equivalent of a small part-time job — I have uninstalled it as of the writing of this post, and I make only empty promises about whether it will stay uninstalled. The films were, almost without exception, excellent. *Vanya on 42nd Street* in particular was the kind of discovery — surfaced, embarrassingly, by Claude — that make me grateful to have spent so much time recently with films. I hope you are doing well and I hope the sunlight hits your basil saplings for exactly the right amount of time.

Post
Software never had a soul
Write as you want to be heard
Four years in the maelstrom