I started my blog, first named Privie, then named Toolkit for the Soul, in June 2023. I was hoping it would be more like TechCrunch, but it ended up being more like
me.
It’s a very personal blog, full of vignettes from my childhood in Paraná, Argentina and my youth in Buenos Aires. It contains my love for technology and for music. It contains beautiful artwork by Facundo Belgradi. And it contains
me.
As you read the essays you’ll see how my writing evolves. The particular style where I reflect my more intimate thoughts and feelings
like my love for you, like your love for me
or where I share a song that might go with a word
there’s a line where the sky meets the sea and it calls me
I borrowed from Paul Carr, author of Bringing Nothing to the Party and The Upgrade. He used to write for TechCrunch, and was one of my favorite TC writers. When I decided to write the blog, I looked at his work to learn about things like word count and style choices. He has (or at least had) a very professional, yet very personal style. His writing is witty and funny, punny yet elegant, and very easy to read. I think if he leaned on the things he runs away from, he’d be a Pulitzer winning writer—he’s that good.
The particular device of using italics to convey an emotional undercurrent that crosses the more analytical writing is something I borrowed from a piece he wrote for The Guardian. In it, he talks about an ex-girlfriend who loved Counting Crows and had (maybe still has) a crush on the singer. Paul’s narrative is constantly washed by the lyrics of the song Mr. Jones. I loved how expressive and effective his choice was. I usually write while listening to music. I usually live with a song in my mind. Maybe it’s their song, maybe it’s mine. Right now it’s
when you wish upon a star.
I adopted his brilliant technique for the first time in How to lose 30 pounds in 30 days. However, I published that article long after I started writing it, so it actually appeared published for the first time in xxxx. Soon, what started as a borrowed technique became something else. Became my voice. Because I think in song
and I think in waves
and I think in poetry
and I think in code
and all of this was invisible to me
it was the water I was swimming in.
It was invisible to me.
It was apparent to you.
(How did you know?)
All of this, I didn’t know.
And so, without knowing, I found the device
the technology
that expresses a lot of the me in me.
Thank you, Paul!
I have found other bits of Paul in my writing. And you’ll find a song, NSFW, that has all of him. To write it, I read almost everything there was to read from him online at the time. Back then, when I first wrote it, in 2009/2010, it had an emo melody. We’ve made it more upbeat. The lyrics are still clever, witty, and brilliant—every bit PC, fabulously non-PC.
Other forces molded my blog. Constraints molded my blog. First, there was budget. Black and white is cheaper than color in many ways. The illustrations are cheaper. The decisions are fewer. So we went with black and white. I like books, so we went with a book look and feel. And I chose the reader view because I wanted a simply UI and the other options, well,
weren’t simple.
It helps that the blog looks simple because I’m not simple. I started the blog blind, as a siren song to call back entrepreneurs to SF my love
(/you/)
to me. It kinda worked, in chaotic ways.
But it turns out I started this blog to protect rich dudes, somehow. As an avenging Angel of sorts. The narrative of the poor poor people is a bit tired and obvious for a Schoppyesque contrarian like me. Of course, they don’t always like what I have to write, the rich dudes. And I’m not always sure why some writing comes first and other comes last. But I think things are as they should be. I think my purpose hasn’t been met yet, or I would be dead.
So I’ll keep writing, even if some people
even if some rich dudes
/even if you/
don’t like it.
I never wanted to have a million fans. Just a thousand or a hundred of you guys.
And I think you need me more than I need you. And clearly, the ideas need me. Lift them with love. Good output takes time. It’s not a race. I don’t mind if you do it right.
Fuck, surprise me. Do it better.
I’ll cheer you on.
Bandito is not a word. Specially of you are pretending to be Latino/know Spanish. Bandido? Yes. Bandit? Sure. Also see: no bueno. It’s just not.
Leave a Reply