Welp. That awkward 5-year silence.

Hey there, 2017 is calling, and she wants her experimental hat-trick back.

Thanks to this work diary, I was able to track a whole chunk of pre-COVID life doing the things people do while in grad school – I had a ton of life changes and jumped head-first into a ton of emerging tech work.

Writing consistently in a 4 year period (2016-2019) felt sort of back to the future-esque! I was able to dig up archives beyond this wordpress – a Tumblr reading list and this was during my early days in UX where I reposted about “filter bubbles” a social media related study that was so gripping, it deserved its own Ted Talk.

Imagining that version of myself from the past – what was pre-pandemic me thinking of then? Where was I physically? I can tell you, being locked down and living life away from the bustling city, in the hills of Connecticut (not the coastal towns) is life-changing. I learned to love hiking among other things.

– Welcoming the new but familiar Leaving NYC for a smaller city can be disorienting. We moved to West Hartford, CT, where they say NYC yuppies planted their flag and ultimately opened “the doors of gastronomy to new horizons.” Trust me I am not typically this dark, but I went to find 100 things to do in CT before you die list, and I became a fan of New Haven pizza. Look it up.

– Unlearning and re-learning. Moving to a new city, with a new job and even a new set of culture and norms, is akin to a shedding of the old self and hitting the refresh button. I was working in a very exciting space – in IoT (Internet of Things)! And I was also learning to take my time personally at home, and gardening and pruning plants in the yard, with hiking trails to discover in the weekend.

– Cut to Pandemic life. This part was a blur. I don’t think I even felt any urge to blog. Things were so confusing for sure and all I remember is was all about this zoom connections slash streaming-era. I lost many people I loved and heard the most horrific stories. The only positive experience that came out of it? We got a puppy.

I cannot write more than this if I am being honest. Still dusting off my typewriter fingers (my brain is too overstimulated lately, maybe that’s why). Going for more of scrappy reporting here, maybe it can turn into a note to future self type of writing one day.