April 2024 Readings and Writings

What I've been reading & writing this month

I’m experimenting with end-of-month round-ups of writing I’m doing outside this newsletter and interesting articles I’ve been reading. This month, a pro gamer tells you to stop being a scrub, a designer teaches us essay opening moves, and a sex worker examines how she built business acumen.

Other writing

In addition to the newsletter, I’ve added notes to my digital garden: my public notebook of random thoughts and collections. This month, I’ve been thinking about using data effectively, asset allocation, and writing as a social practice.

Also, inspired by a conversation at a local dev group, I put together a small collection of resources for developers who want to start learning about design on GitHub. Stars, PRs, and comments are appreciated.

Choice reads

🎮 Scrubs and Scrub Behavior - “A scrub is a player handicapped by self-imposed rules that the game knows nothing about. A scrub does not play to win.” I” 've been thinking a lot about what kind of scrub behavior I’ve observed in myself and others and what I can do to eliminate it.

🤑 Fools and their Money Metaphors - I’ve been on a big Venkatesh Rao kick and reading old Ribbonfarm essays. This one felt apt for including what I’ve been talking about recently: our psychological relationship with money.

✍️ On Opening Essays, Conference Talks, and Jam Jars—This is a big level up that I’ve applied to everything I’ve written on this Substack this season. Writing interesting openings not only helps me engage the reader but also compels me to write a more compelling piece to fulfill the opening’s promise.

👩🏻‍💼 Allea’s thread on business agency - Using capital is a skill, and it’s one that you don’t pick up from books. People who grow up in more privileged situations are privileged because they have access to mentorship and coaching that you can’t buy. As someone who has lived through it, I am always hungry for more. I “grew up poor, made some class jumps, now I feel lost, confused & alone” content. Whatever genre that is, I am here for it.