Document: WM-044 P. Webb
Category: Life 2019.12.31
2030: The next decade
Abstract
New decade, who dis?
Body
The year 2020 is upon us and while it is merely a number change it
feels like it bears significance. My wife joked that she was "going
into 2020 with clear vision" and you can be sure thatās not the
last time youāll hear such jokes/puns this upcoming year. So, what
does this new year mean to me? A couple things come to mind.
I am currently 31 years old and from what Iāve read in my 20s, your
30s is when you finally get your shit together. I certainly feel
more confident in my professional skills and my propensity to create
whatever comes to mind with dexterity. But rather than make
resolutions or plans for next year I am drawn to the idea of doing so
for the next decade. Where do I want to be at 41, physically and
mentally? What skills will I possess? What habits will I break and
what habits will be formed?
It may sound clichƩ but, to forecast my future I look to my past;
introspection, basically. Itās a powerful tool that I believe
everyone should employ frequently.
When I was in 5th grade there was a "Career Day" and four adults came
to my class to talk about their respective careers. After explaining
what they did for work, every kid in my class stood up and said what
they imagined their future career to be. When it was my turn I
mentioned several career paths I wanted in life. The demographic
makeup of the adults in the room were four White women (one of them
being my teacher) and one Black man. I feel this detail is necessary
because all the women chuckled in disbelief (some with incredulous
looks on their faces), which encouraged some of my classmates to
laugh as well. The man only smiled and listened intently which gave
me the courage to continue. In the moment it didnāt seem notable but
in hindsight it certainly does. I think Iāll save my thoughts on this
matter for a future post as Iāve had other similar interactions
in life.
The point is, thinking back to your dreams and aspirations from your
childhood can help steer you when you feel youāve lost direction in
your life. For this next decade Iād like to make the 5th grade
version of the most fantabulous Paul Anthony Webb feel proud about
the man heās become. Hereās a non-exhaustive list of things Iād like
to attain/obtain, followed by reasons why I chose these items:
- author
- cooking
- driving license
- filmmaker
- fitness
- fluency in (conversational) Japanese
- hardware product (kimoyo beads?)
- home ownership
- media network
- publishing house
- record label
- musician
- podcast
- revenue generating businesses
- teacher
1. Author
I enjoy writing and feel I should do it a LOT more. A couple weeks
ago I decided to try journaling and have been pretty consistent.
The past week hasnāt been eventful in any way but I think I should
still make an effort to put in an entry at least once a week. I
use an application called Standard Notes[1] to keep track of all
my ideas. It has a "pin" feature so whenever I go to the "All
Notes" section I can see my journal there. Anyhoo, Iāve had
concepts for novels and screenplays since high school and I
thankfully scanned most of those documentsā¦I donāt know where
they are but the core concepts are still in my mind. Thereās
enough content for a trilogy.
Another book idea Iāve had for some years is titled "How to be
Awesome" and is based on how I see obstacles and overcome them.
For whatever reason I have been able to stick to my guns[2] in the
face of negativity and adversity no matter the source: family,
friends, life, whatever, AND unassisted by drugs or alcohol (the
only casualty has been my hairline)! Iām not sure why Iām the way
I am but private conversations throughout my life indicate that
others would benefit from my story. Maybe I would benefit from
in-depth introspection too.
2. Cooking
My wife would love if I took up cooking, especially because my
culinary interests are largely Asian-based. Sheās already pretty
good at cooking regular/soul food and is not trying to learn other
cuisines. I am interested in replicating the amazing ramen I had
on my last day in Japan. Woks are a fascinating tool to me so Iād
like to learn how to use it efficiently. One of my buddies got me
a cookbook from one of my favorite food trucks in Boston (Mei
Mei). The main food item I ordered from them is dubbed, "The
Double Awesome". Itās a scallion pancake sandwich with ham and a
scrambled egg in it, with pesto and other things. Add Sriracha and
youāre all set! Mei Meiās Haymakerās Punch was perfect for chilly
days and a good pair for the sandwich. I tried making a Double
Awesome while on vacation at Disney World andā¦it was quite crispy
(burnt). One day at a time!
3. Driving License
Growing up in the Boston area, I had no need for a license. Public
transportation is pretty good, even though the MBTA (we just call
it "the T") regularly has issues. Moving to Tennessee means I lost
my mobility and basically became a homebody, much to the chagrin
of my wife. Itās not a big deal to me (right now) but I know Iāll
need a license eventually. Also, now that Teslaās Cybertruck
exists I think Iāll accelerate š¤£ my plans to obtain one.
4. Filmmaker
Iām a big fan of doing things myself, which is why I self-host a
lot of things (including my own email server). For my
space-centric novels I always imagined how theyād look
cinematically and what changes Iād need to make to the story to
allow the reader to visualize what I see in my mind. It only
makes sense that Iād film my stories to ensure correctness. To
flesh out the world of my novels Iād need to film faux commercials
and recently have jotted down some humorous concepts.
5. Fitness
Iāve been roughly 145 pounds since high school thanks to a fast
metabolism and sporadic eating/sleeping habits. While I have good
body positivity Iāve always been curious to see how Iād look with
muscle and more meat on my bones. IāRobot is one of my favorite
films and with Will Smith being one of my favorite actors (and
rapper, donāt @ me), his home workout scene[3] solidified the body
type I want to achieve. My dad was in the Army and jogged
shirtless in way too short shorts that were tight so you know he
was fit. Physical fitness also improves mental health and mood so
why not delve into this?
6. Fluency in Japanese
A couple things from my high school years influenced my desire to
visit Japan and absorb the culture.
- Anime: Samurai Champloo, Tenchi Muyo, Yuyu Hakusho, Dragonball
Z, Rockman.EXE, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex,
Cowboy Bebop
- Games: Megaman Battle Network
- Music: Samurai Champloo and GITS:SAC OSTs
I often watched fan-subbed versions of anime when they werenāt
officially available in English (sometimes for years). Every now
and then I would think about learning Japanese so I could skip
over all that and well, something else was always more
"important". In hindsight, itād be easier to learn then due to
better brain elasticity but my work ethic/dedication/diligence is
stronger now.
Fun fact! I learned how to use chopsticks from watching the
Rockman.EXE anime. I also learned a couple phrases like, "Roger
that" (Batou from Ghost in the Shell says that a lot to Major),
"Cool/Awesome", "What?!", "Excuse me", "Damn you", and so on. Most
anime lĢ¶oĢ¶vĢ¶eĢ¶rĢ¶sĢ¶ connoisseurs know these phrases too.
7. Hardware Product
I think Iām pretty good with software but hardware is something
I have zero knowledge about. I own probably every Raspberry Pi
that has been released thus far and have done NOTHING with them.
At ALL. For me to really get into something I need to have an
ambitious goal. Creating functioning kimoyo beads is definitely
ambitious and would require sourcing research and probably
microcontroller programming. I just made that up, not sure if
thatās necessary but that goes to show that I donāt know what I
donāt know. What I learn along the way is gonna open up so many
more mental pathways and that excites me.
8. Home Ownership
Ownership is something that is becoming increasingly important to
me as the years go on. Having a landlord absolves you of certain
responsibilities but you are also not the master of your domain.
In high school I used to daydream about having a custom home built
(and recently I learned of a startup[4] in that space). I would
like my kids to have a "childhood home" to grow up in, move out
of, and visit.
9. Media Network
Yāknow that space novel series I mentioned above? Over the years
it has evolved into something that spans many creative
disciplines. 2000s-era Toonami is what I have in mind for this
network. A series of shows with space-centric idents between them.
Video content is expensive and time-consuming to create so
initially the network would have the music I create on shuffle
(essentially) with generative visuals. Naturally, having a record
label and publishing house under this umbrella makes sense and
would fund the content creation. What if it was part incubator?
Seems like a great way to curate content for licensing. HMM.
10. Musician
When I was actively making music I did so under a number of
aliases and in different genres, namely, rap/hip-hop and
house/lounge with some experimental EPs. The rap content was
semi-conscious, braggadocious, and space-centric. The lounge
content was mostly instrumental but when there were lyrics I
focused on topics of love and longing. I made my own beats and
attempted to make them sound mastered but uh, to my ears now they
sound kinda terrible.
My DAW of choice was Acid Pro, which is a Windows-exclusive
application. When I entered the web industry full-time I
transitioned to macOS and havenāt looked back. Acid Pro is still
in active development and the latest features are incredible but
sadly (for me), it remains Windows-exclusive. I could always learn
how to use another DAW but every one Iāve tried since just donāt
feel right so a custom PC build is in my future.
11. Podcast
While working at the flagship Converse store in Boston many years
ago, a middle-aged woman followed me around the store asking
questions about virtually anything; just to hear me speak. She
said I had a nice radio voice and thatās when I knew a rap career
could work for me. Can you imagine?
"Boy, his lyrics are hot garBAGE but his voice is smooth AF!"
I like making money so thatās why I didnāt pursue rap as strongly
as web design.
Anyhoo, I get into fascinating discussions with friends and family
and some of those conversations would make for excellent podcast
content. I have a dope name in mind for it too, all I need is a
home office again. Because my interests are so varied my podcast
would probably be in the "lifestyle" category. Gaming, design,
technology, animation, Blackness, &c; Iām passionate about a lot
of things. Iād make good use of the drum machine I currently have
in a box as a soundboard.
12. Revenue Generating Businesses
I come from an entrepreneurial family and I have way too many
side projects to not have any of them generating income. Then
again, all of them are in alpha/beta status and in varying states
of neglect. An immediate change I am making in the new year is
seeing my projects to completion or out of test status. One of my
services has been in operation and virtually unchanged for more
than two years. Itās amazing I was able to hack together something
that still works, haha! It certainly feels like hacks compared
to my knowledge now.
SIGH
The struggle of a creative. Everything you ever made is absolute
trash almost immediately, no matter how much time you spent on it
before releasing it onto the world.
13. Teacher
I like sharing what I know, and figuring out how to distill high
level concepts to easily understandable concepts is an interesting
challenge. About a month ago I had a dream where I was teaching
middle-/high-school kids about web development. And they were
listening! Seems to bode well for the future. In terms of industry
titles, I could be considered a senior front-end/ux developer and
the next step up is managerial. I just call myself an architech;
someone who designs and builds technology (thereās no ego tied to
it and is a better descriptor for me). Itād be nice to have a
mentor in 2020 though, Iāve been teaching myself everything I know
since the recession of ā08. šØš¾āš¦³
FIN
The beautiful thing about the Internet is that it has democratized
a lot of industries so I could complete several things on my
list within the next year no problemā¦well, the only problem being
me half-assing things just to say I did them. Barring that, I will
seriously attempt to accomplish everything within the decade. The
main trait I lack is discipline and it will be difficult to
instill greater levels of accountability into myself. š„ But
not impossible!
The other benefit of being in my 30s is having the financial means
to invest a bit more into my ventures. With a decade of experience
in the web space I can fetch a pretty good salary and put
non-trivial amounts of money away for more ambitious projects.
What a ride life has been thus far. A decade ago I had no kids and
could barely code my way out of a paper bag. The services and
sites Iāve created in that time since were mere thoughts scribbled
in a notebook on my lunch break. Wild! I can only imagine what my
2040 blog post will contain. šø