I'm baaack! Social media, content updates, Connect.Tech, and art
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Hey folks, it's been a while! I missed you during my whirlwind 2 years at Shopify. Now I'm back to (hopefully paid) freelancing and (sadly unpaid) content creation.
I'm getting back into the swing of things, starting with this newsletter...
The state of social media #
I have learned the unfortunate news that LinkedIn is apparently hopping for professional social media. Luckily Mastodon is still a solid place for my fellow nerd engagement. I'm also on Bluesky but use it mostly for 💩 posts (so beware). Anyway, this means I need to learn how to use LinkedIn better - if you have tips, please share!
My web perf content from the last two years #
One of my accomplishments at Shopify was to build our web performance blog at performance.shopify.com. I built the site and wrote several blog posts. The Optimizing Performance page organizes the posts by Core Web Vitals metric. Much of the content still applies to the general web, so check it out! Some of my favorite posts are:
- Debugging common causes for slow loading in Shopify Liquid storefronts
- How to optimize Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) on Shopify sites
- Announcing new Liquid features for better web performance - this one is a favorite because it's a feature I built in the platform to help drive significant improvements in LCP
Returning to Connect.Tech in Atlanta #
I'm excited that I'll be at Connect.Tech again this year after a 2 year hiatus. I'm teaching a workshop on web performance as well as speaking about lab testing vs real user monitoring but with a clickbaity title. Use the code SEEMESPEAK to get $100 off the ticket price!
/Offline #
One of my favorite newsletter-like blogs is written by Melanie Richards. She brings her whole self to her blog, and I especially enjoy her creative side. So I've decided to bring in a few non-tech notes from my offline life here.
- I'm re-reading Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert in my constant quest for trying to make my art more of a habit. I was blown away the first time I read it. It's still an inspiring read, though I think it is better suited to when you're struggling to inspire yourself to get started.
- I recently finished reading Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard by Doug Tallamy. It's a great introduction to the whys of native gardening. It can be a bit preachy, but if you can look beyond that, understanding the ecological science can be inspiring for your own native gardening journey. If you want more of a how and are in North America, then Prairie Up: An Introduction to Natural Garden Design by Benjamin Vogt is excellent.
- Sign-ups for the winter classes at my local arts council are this Friday. I've been attending the open figure drawing sessions, and I think I'll sign up again. It seems many people prefer static long poses, but my preference is shorter, dynamic, active poses. I have not found a better option yet though.
What are your favorite offline pursuits? How do you maintain those hobbies while they compete with everything that distracts us so easily?
This newsletter is reader-supported. If you buy a book from one of the links above, I'll earn some coffee money. You don't pay a higher price, and Bookshop.org supports independent booksellers.