/reader

I think all of this happened in the check-in part, so before I was actually inside the gates area. I get the impression that I was going to travel by myself for work reasons, and losing my flight meant I had to explain to my boss why, since the company had paid for it; though I wasn't really that worried about this as I was about not finding the ticket.

It's an interesting dream. Airplanes take you places, and I interpret them to be a symbol of growth. The check-in booth is important since it is a liminal area, representing the threshold between normal life and access to the mechanisms of change and travel.

My misplacing of the tickets is strange, since I'm usually quite well organized in these matters, not to mention that technology makes most of the work for us nowadays. This means that perhaps this is an important symbol here. The ticket is sort of my authorization to undergo the process of transformation. Maybe the fact that I thought I had it but can't find it suggests I'm not yet internally convinced that I'm actually ready to undergo this transformation, even though I desire it?

Another interesting symbol is the clerk. He stoutly keeps rejecting my attempts at authentication, over and over. Maybe he can be seen as a king of critic here? I wonder though if he's being a protector (protecting me from something I'm not ready to experience), or whether he's a negative influence (sabotaging my attempt at self-growth). Maybe he can actually be both at the same time? The strict, unfriendly attitude seems to suggest the latter, but the fact that I don't view him as the enemy (I'm my own enemy here) suggests it can also be a bit of the former. Though I think it's more negative than positive, as the attitude does seem to be saying You're probably not good enough.

A core conclusion that comes to mind here is that I might be stuck in some sort of loop. I know I have the tickets, but my standards for allowing myself to grow are impossibly high.

As someone who has grown up through the tumult of the design profession in technology, that really resonates. I’ve worked on lots of projects where I got tired of continually justifying design decisions with language dressed in corporate rationality.

This is part of the allure of code. To most people, code either works or it doesn’t. However bad it might be, you can always justify it with “Yeah, but it’s working.”

But visual design is subjective forever. And that’s a difficult space to work in, where you need to forever justify your choices.

In that kind of environment, decisions are often made by whoever can come up with the best language to justify their choices, or whoever has the most senior job title.

Personally, I found it very exhausting.

As Radek points out, this homogenization justified through seemingly-profound language reveals something deeper about tech as an industry: folks are afraid to stand out too much.

Despite claims of innovation and disruption, there's tremendous pressure to look legitimate by conforming to established visual language.

In contrast to this stands the work of individual creators whose work I have always loved — whether its individual blogs, videos, websites, you name it. The individual (and I’ll throw small teams in there too) have a sense of taste that doesn’t dilute through the structure and processes of a larger organization.

No single person suggests making a logo that resembles an anus, but when everyone's feedback gets incorporated, that's what often emerges.

In other words, no individual would ever recommend what you get through corporate hierarchies.

That’s why I love the work of small teams and individuals. There’s still soul. You can still sense the individuals — their personalities, their values — oozing through the work. Reminds me of Jony Ive’s description of when he first encountered a Mac:

I was shocked that I had a sense for the people who made it. They could’ve been in the room. You really had a sense of what was on their minds, and their values, and their joy and exuberance in making something that they knew was helpful.

This is precisely why I love the websites of individuals because their visual language is as varied as the humans behind them — I mean, just look at the websites of these individuals and small teams. You immediately get a sense for the people behind them. I love it!

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* * *

I started working in 1984, while in high school, busing tables part time at Schaefers Canal House in Chesapeake City, MD.

And I stopped working this day in 2025, almost 41 years later, as a senior engineer (which is surprisingly a lot like busing tables — lots of cleanup and setting the table just right for the customers to have a great time).

Along the way I worked on, among other apps, Userland Frontier, NetNewsWire, MarsEdit, Glassboard, Vesper, OmniFocus, OmniOutliner, and Audible.

* * *

My immediate plan — Exhale! Breathe. Enjoy a steak. Watch WWDC from the comfort of home next week. Get back to work on NetNewsWire.

🌲

 

Today is Sweden’s National Day, and I celebrated it with family and friends in my childhood neighborhood, Åkersberga.

It was a lovely day! We combined the celebration with a birthday party for one of my sister’s children, who turned 12. There was delicious food, cake, and plenty of joyful memories.

Sweden’s National Day is still a relatively new tradition. It used to be called Swedish Flag Day, and it’s actually only been a public holiday for about 20 years.

Because it’s still so young, there aren’t many established customs tied to the day. Our dear neighbors in Norway, on the other hand, celebrate their national day in a way that often leaves us Swedes watching with a touch of envy.

But the upside of our less defined tradition is the freedom it gives. The day is open for everyone to celebrate in their own way. I saw a news segment today where one of the people interviewed put it nicely:

I think Sweden’s National Day is fun because we don’t have any traditions – so we can keep inventing new ones.

In our family, a long-standing favorite is strawberry cake. This year was no exception — my sister and her middle child, the birthday girl Selma, baked one together. It made for a very cozy — and tasty — celebration.

Celebrations vary widely across Sweden, depending on the region and municipality. Here in the capital, Stockholm, the day is traditionally marked at Skansen — an open-air museum and zoo — with music, speeches, and a visit from the royal family.

One shared and meaningful tradition throughout the country is that municipalities host ceremonies to welcome and recognize new Swedish citizens.

While there aren’t any specific food traditions linked to the day, many people choose dishes commonly seen at Midsummer: a buffet-style meal with various hot and mainly cold dishes.

How is National Day celebrated where you live? Feel free to leave a comment and share your traditions.