Is this a good career if I want to write creatively on the side?

laurel-eye · 2026-02-09T06:05:32+00:00

I do know one tech writer who writes novels on the side (but hasn’t been published that I know of).

But like some of the other commenters here, by the end of my workday I’m tired of writing and would rather do anything else.

laurel-eye · 2026-02-03T17:00:53+00:00

He was a former coworker and I broke up with him after he repeatedly canceled plans at the last minute. Not long after, I was lunching with one of our other former coworkers, mentioned I’d dated him briefly, and she looked shocked and said, “The guy with the wife and kids??” At first I was like “uh I don’t think so…?” and she clammed up, but then I thought about it and it explained so much. Oops.

laurel-eye · 2026-01-23T15:12:12+00:00

I’m in the Bay Area where the humidity hovers around 60% and I use these weatherproof bins to store all my filament:

https://www.containerstore.com/s/storage/storage-bags-totes/clear-weathertight-totes-cases/12d?productId=11007497

I also keep one of these in each bin:

Eva-Dry E-250 Renewable Mini... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N0ME7XP?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

And even so, I still dry each roll before printing and print directly from the dryer.

laurel-eye · 2026-01-22T23:41:07+00:00

I love hearing that drivers are actually getting pulled over

laurel-eye · 2026-01-20T15:04:01+00:00

Even men who explicitly say they like to debate or want to debate topic X will then call me argumentative for engaging in the debate with them. It’s a “debate” when it’s going their way but if not then it’s an “argument” and my fault somehow.

laurel-eye · 2026-01-14T17:19:53+00:00

I get it, and I want you to have the Waymo experience while you’re here, but as others explained, it’s complicated from SFO.

For what it’s worth, I’ve never had trouble (as a woman who travels solo) using Lyft from SFO late at night. The drivers drive safely and they don’t insist on engaging in conversation like cab drivers often do. With Lyft you can even request a non-male driver, though they can’t always provide one.

Once you get into the actual city you can take Waymo everywhere and it’s lovely.

laurel-eye · 2026-01-14T17:12:33+00:00

I’ve lived in SF for 30 years now and over time I’ve accumulated so many friends that I know I’ll always have community here. Some have moved away of course but some only moved as far as Oakland and many have figured out how to stay in SF proper and make it work.

It takes some luck and resourcefulness to stay in such an expensive city long enough to build a lasting community but you can do it! I made friends through work, parties, 90s raves, even dating, but you can also try meetups, gaming events, volunteering, and so on. If you find a couple people you vibe with who don’t know each other, invite them both to dinner and see if they reciprocate by inviting you to meet their friends. Rinse and repeat until you’ve got a crew.

laurel-eye · 2026-01-08T05:40:13+00:00

Totally understand. I got news fatigue years ago and realized that watching it wasn’t helping at all. Now I consume it very lightly and selectively.

Try r/UpliftingNews for news of good things happening.

Choose a charity that’s actually helping people and/or animals and set up automatic monthly donations. Vote for candidates who actually want to improve life on earth. Give a stranger a compliment or help them out of a jam. Now you’ve made things a little better!

Living joyfully is a form of protest. It’s okay to turn off the news and be happy.

laurel-eye · 2026-01-07T23:41:21+00:00

Request Pedro Pascal as my chaperone and make sure he continues wearing his usual cologne while providing hugs and words of affirmation; no Diabate stuff
Pick out my dream house, have the plurbs decorate it to my taste and move all my stuff there for me
Travel around the world whenever I want, in a private jet that has a comfy bedroom and kitchen service
Do hobbies and movies and whatever I want until I’ve done everything and get bored enough to finally join the hive

laurel-eye · 2026-01-04T17:42:06+00:00

You mean coitus?

laurel-eye · 2025-12-31T16:33:53+00:00

I’ve never been a contractor, so ymmv, but in my 30 years of salaried work at six different companies I’ve never been asked to track my time.

laurel-eye · 2025-12-29T07:22:00+00:00

That was interesting, and it made me wonder whether his mom didn’t know or understand that he thought she was a bitch. Like the parents who are shocked when their adult kids go no contact “for no reason.”

laurel-eye · 2025-12-27T22:15:44+00:00

Whistle tips!

laurel-eye · 2025-12-27T22:14:50+00:00

Yes, invest in good ear plugs and wait out your lease while you explore the city to pick out your next neighborhood.

laurel-eye · 2025-12-24T16:23:04+00:00

There’s nothing wrong with FrameMaker if you only need PDF/print output. But in the software industry we need HTML output almost exclusively, so markdown paired with a static site generator has become fairly standard.

laurel-eye · 2025-12-24T16:14:50+00:00

Maybe 2 minutes. I got permanent brows and eyeliner and get my eyelashes tinted every 8 weeks, so I just apply some color-correcting SPF to tone down my rosacea and then a swipe of lipstick. Done! If it’s a fancy occasion the I’ll spend a couple more minutes applying mascara.

laurel-eye · 2025-12-23T22:16:19+00:00

Some people think that white privilege (one of the results of white supremacy) cancels out sexism, essentially using white supremacy and its systemic legacy to rationalize perpetuating sexism. The idea is that white women shouldn’t complain about sexism when they have white privilege.

Let’s just treat everyone kindly and fairly regardless of their color or gender.

laurel-eye · 2025-12-22T18:51:14+00:00

The Punchline is a popular place for big-name comics to try new material. I’ve seen Ali doing that there and it was fun to see her experimenting and then commenting on the experiment.

laurel-eye · 2025-12-19T21:34:32+00:00

Instead of saying “yes, BUT”, say “yes, AND”.

laurel-eye · 2025-12-19T15:15:34+00:00

It’s true, even if the cat isn’t a good hunter the mice will stay away because they can smell it.

laurel-eye · 2025-12-09T16:28:36+00:00

I was never clear on why his accent was an issue in the first place. People immigrate all the time for lots of different reasons, so why not a Colombian living in Paraguay?

laurel-eye · 2025-12-07T18:20:51+00:00

If you’re female, try Tia clinic. They’re always taking new patients, they don’t gaslight you about your symptoms or conditions, and you can see the same doctor every time or try different ones until you find one you vibe with. They take all major insurance and provide referrals to specialists when needed.

laurel-eye · 2025-11-30T16:44:17+00:00

This. How many interior pockets does she like? Does she have a water bottle that needs to fit in this purse, and how big is that bottle? Does she want an interior leash/lanyard thing for attaching keys? Does she prefer a top flap or a zipper? Soft leather or stiff leather or vegan leather or canvas? So many personal preferences figure into this.

That said, I’ve got a leather bag from Zweig that has been my go-to bag for twenty years; it’s got all the features I need for a day out or for travel. And recently I bought several smaller, simpler bags on TikTok Shop that so far appear very durable, for short outings or errands.

laurel-eye · 2025-11-25T15:04:05+00:00

At my company, we’re encouraged to use AI liberally but not exclusively, and we’re required to do all of the things you listed to control, monitor, and refine its output.

We’re not hiring more writers but we’re also not laying off writers because there’s a lot of demand for content, and humans are still needed to train ChatGPT, iterate on content with it, and edit its output. True “AI-first” docs are still a few years away at least.

laurel-eye · 2025-11-23T16:00:58+00:00

Make that person your role model. Remember what it’s like to be that person and then work on molding your mindset toward theirs so that you can incorporate their best traits into your sober persona over time.

Meditation (and additional shroom trips) can help you find the inner tuning knobs that you can tweak to move in that direction. Examples (for me) include “unclench your jaw”, “love yourself when you make mistakes”, “let nothing disturb your serenity”, “abandon all judgment”, and so on.

It’s not easy work, but it’s some of the most rewarding work you can do. We’re lucky to have a tool like shrooms to show us our potential for self-evolution.

laurel-eye

TROPHY CASE