What I'm up to - July 2023

✨ What I've been up to

We finished moving back to NYC last month. I made a quick stopover to Canada for Tailwind Connect, where I met some interesting people and learned some new CSS techniques. I also visited Puerto Rico for a few days.

The book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community was a fantastic read. One thing I'm thinking about is telephones versus televisions - telephones are bidirectional while TVs are one-directional. As a society, I think we under-appreciate how shift from telephones to TVs has driven a move toward more parasocial relationships. Social media followed this trend - it started more telephone-like, promoting social relationships, but moved over time became more TV-like (epitomized by Tiktok) where people consume rather than create.

🤔 Things to share

• Articles : Cities and Ambition. How Parking Ruined Everything. Stop Talking to Each Other and Start Buying Things: Three Decades of Survival in the Desert of Social Media. How to Do Great Work - "... the right strategy is to not plan too much".
• Books : Watching the English.
• Apps : Anki, Preply.
• Coffees I'm drinking: Heart Honduras Encarnación Enamorado.

📫 What I'm up to this month Booklet, a new Contraption Co. product, is welcoming its first users this month. Stay tuned for more details.

**📍 Where I'll be **

• July 10-14: San Juan, PR 🇵🇷

(Let me know if we overlap!)

📸 Photos

Last dinner in Chicago

Puerto Rico