A few minutes before midnight on July 19, I started year 49 of my sojourn on this side of the sunrise. I probably would’ve blogged then - I’ve been trying to start each year doing the thing I want to be doing for the rest of the year as a sort of magical intention - but instead I was going over my lecture for the morning and then getting ready to sleep.

Working on my writing and academic speaking followed by rest? Not a bad plan. Let’s see if I can keep it up through dissertation deadline (now 30 September) and everything else going down.

I’m hopeful for year 49. Parts of 48 will not be missed, but for the most part it was a good year to set up with payoffs in year 49. Here’s hoping they all come through in the best ways.

“Data is the sword of the twenty-first century, those who wield it well, the samurai.” Jonathan Rosenberg, former Googler

This is the story of someone learning to wield data, and not just the electronic kind. Follow at your own risk. This microblog will be eclectic, ephemeral, and possibly confusing. It will also, however, be a snapshot into what life is like inside my mind.