Intro

Blogs are so dead in 2026. So I start one, because I’m a contrarian.

So like the title said, blogs are so dead in 2026, but I thought screw it, I’m going to set one up.

This is not my first stab at this, and the reason that none of the others exist now has absolutely nothing to do with my total lack of staying power or ability to concentrate on one thing for more than a day or two before I lose interest.

This effort is broadly inspired by all the people whose blogs I read regularly, but especially Ludics’ - whose infrequent writing is offset by his sheer poetry and almost psychotic disdain for poor software engineering practices, which I barely understand but still hugely entertain me.

Thanks, Nik, for being such a great writer.

2025 was the year I started getting therapy.

2025 was also the year - as a result of the therapy - that I found out I have ADHD.

(The last 3 months have been spent unwinding all the ‘everything is ADHD’s fault’ mindset and starting to understand why I failed to deliver on almost all my objectives for 2025… but still).

It’s safe to say that discovering I have ADHD at 55 years old is a culture shock, a fantastic answer to all the challenges I have faced over my years, an explainer for the challenges and the teetering, chaotic systems I have assembled to pretend to manage them all, and a realistic reminder that you can find out interesting new things about yourself when you’re supposed to be gradually sliding down the slippery slope into mental obsolescence.

Thats for a future chunk of writing, though. I have many, many thoughts.

I’m a writer, and I’m using this thing as a method for sharpening my writing. I’ve tried to pretend to myself that I’m a coder - but I’m not. I assemble rough chunks of code from time to time to achieve minor things, then rapidly abandon them when it all gets too hard. AI is my spirit animal for that, and that, too, is the subject of future writing. AI polarises opinion more than anything else right now. My take is varied depending on what time of day it is or the task I have in front of me. (Or indeed, how burnt out I’m feeling about the topic of the day).

That said, this blog is hosted on a local server, using Docker and a bunch of scripts.

I use that server for a bunch of things, and change them as frequently as I change my mind. I’m competent at making the server work, reasonably secure, and flexible enough to suit me.

But i’m not overly technically minded.

I have goals for 2026 - largely unchanged from 2025, if I’m honest - but the only thing that is on my mind right now is sticking with therapy and gradually ungluing myself from all the negative self talk that stops me doing anything of real substance.

Yeah, ‘Real Substance’ is part of the reason why I’m doing therapy; us ADHD types have a problem recognising anything of value, even if we bust ourselves trying to get something done. The value fades and the negativity creeps in around the edges.

So… that’s it for the moment.

Let’s see if this thing dies on the vine.

I present all these things on a platter, as if to explain who I am.

This is not my intro, nor is it the message on my tombstone.