20 years

Twenty years ago today, I launched this site — having had at least four previous sites on different domains — and I’ve been publishing here ever since.

Back then, in 2004, I was still at university, studying Computing Science. I’d met a girl not long before, but we weren’t together yet (it would take almost another two months for that to happen), and while I’d already released some open source software, I hadn’t published any fiction yet. Since then, I’ve done a few things.

And probably some other things that I’ve forgotten, because age doesn’t come alone. Here are the top five things I’ve learned in that time, which the twenty-something child I used to be had no idea about.

  1. There’s no substitute for just doing the work, day after day, year after year.
  2. The best strategy is almost always to avoid conflict.
  3. Quitting the news enhances happiness.
  4. Mental health is a very real thing, and you never completely heal from abuse.
  5. Becoming a parent changes everything.

If I’m still here in twenty more years, and able — in faculties and circumstance — then I’m pretty sure I’ll still be writing. Some of you have been around for the whole thing so far, and perhaps you’ll be around then too. I hope so. It’s nice having you here.

Thanks for reading.