chaosplay
code, family, travel, and art
Featured
Starting a Portrait Photography Business
For the past few months, I’ve been trying to get my photography side hustle off the ground. My initial assumption was simple: people are always …
Photography vs Programming: a Minimalist Perspective
As I build my photography side hustle while working full-time as a software engineer, I keep returning to one idea: minimalism. Both fields pull me in …
What Would You Do When You Retire?
We’ve all heard the classic question: “What would you do if you won a million dollars?” It’s a fun daydream, but let’s be honest, most of us know …
LLMs and an old dev
A lot of developers seem to be afraid of generative AI and LLMs because it may replace their jobs. But as an older developer who sometimes has a hard …
Photography in the age of Generative AI
Generative AI has made my job as a software engineer much easier, but it’s also a bit scary. The question everyone is asking is whether AI will …
Parenting is hard
Only when you have the wrong expectations. It is so easy to know what the right action is, but sometimes so hard to do it. Ayden is having a rough …
How to find the other end of deck drains?
In our backyard lay a series of deck drains that perennially harbored standing water. Despite my best efforts, tracing the end of these drains proved …
American flag is better than Texas flag
Ayden: Baba, American flag is better than Texas flag. Me: How come? Ayden: Because it has more stars!
Every day is a vacation
I think a lot of people would love to live their life as if they are on a permanent vacation. Before I was married, I didn’t make a lot of money …
Time to plant
Yesterday, I ordered some tissue culture and planting supplies. The indoor plants market is huge. There is a lot to learn. There are new terms, new …
Heroes
Follow up to my last post, the people I admire the most are usually startup founders or business people. And then creators of open source software. …
What you should do with your life
“What should you do with your life?” This is the question I almost ask myself daily. I am still not sure what my long-term goals should …
My heart is growing bigger
Driving to Ayden’s first Monster Jam show, as the AT&T Stadium came into view, he was getting excited. His heart was probably beating …
Why Midlife Crisis?
I am not sure if women experience midlife crisis but I know several men who have experienced or are still in the middle of a midlife crisis. I have a …
Don't buy the house
We just recently bought a beautiful single-family home. Before this, we lived in a townhouse. And before the townhouse, I had lived in apartments. …
10 Years Goals
There is a saying that we overestimate how much we can do in days but underestimate how much we can achieve in years. Nothing makes a father as proud …