The people of Ukraine are putting their lives on the line to defend their country, freedom, and democracy. You are sitting here stressed out about your damn mundane life. Get a grip, motherfucker.

I used to rock CK & DKNY. These days I rock AE (Amazon Essentials).

Novelist Kristin Bair launches “Get It Done, Dammit,” a virtual accountability workshop designed to help writers get the work done. She has written three novels and her fourth will be out in early 2024. She knows a thing or two about getting shit done. If you are a writer who is struggling to get your work done, register today.

Congratulations to Marcin Wichary. His monumental, two-volume, 1,216-page Shift Happens: A book about keyboards is being backed for almost half a million dollars. He has been working on this book for many years; therefore, he definitely deserves it. It will be a great book. If you can afford it, go back it. It’s a bit of a luxury for me. By the way, check out the conversation with Robin Rendle about the book. I have followed Robin’s writing for a while now. It was nice to hear his voice.

My thanks to Matti Tanskanen for buying me two cups of coffee. He shares:

Been enjoying your work for a long time. Thanks for providing design and typography inspiration throughout the years!

I really appreciate it. I also updated my Buy me a Coffee page.

Money, time, and resources are wasted because of one incompetent idiot. I am so sick and tired of that shit.

I gave myself a baldhawk—a mohawk to cover my bald spot. I have been shaving my head ever since I started to bald. It’s time to do something creative. Worse to to worse, I can just shave it all off and become a monk again.

I worked for a leader who valued talent over product. She chose an open-source product and invested in her employees to build out the platform we needed.

On the flip side, I worked for a leader who valued product over talent. He was willing to pay a shitload of money for a proprietary product, but he wouldn’t give an hourly employee a small raise. The differences in leadership styles were astounding.

Leadership plays an important role in our job. A great leader can make our work enjoyable, motivate us to push ourselves, and value our contributions. An incompetent leader can make your life a living hell, demoralize our spirit, and devalue our contributions.

I have been through it all and learned to navigate different terrains. Surviving is a must when you have to raise your family.

When I redesigned this blog in the past, I would share it on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. With Visualgui 2023, I didn’t share it on social media platforms. I just posted here. That was it.

I haven’t touched Twitter and LinkedIn in months and I haven’t missed them. I have returned to Facebook to post clips of my kids skiing and rollerblading. I am not sure why I am doing it. Part of me wished my mom was still here so she could see her grandsons. I will stop using Facebook in the near future.

I am getting tired of social media. I am not getting any benefits from them. I am going to just focus on this blog and that’s it. This is my little corner on the web where I can just drop whatever on my mind. I also enjoy reading personal blogs via RSS feeds. I hope to see blogging coming back this year.

Erin Jones and Mauricio Chamberlin Verify:

Yes, warming up your car before driving in cold weather could cause long-term damage to the engine. Most vehicles built after 1980 no longer need to warm up before driving, and experts say driving after 30 seconds to a minute after starting your car is a best practice.

Good to know.