It's been a few months since my last blog post... A lot's happened in that timeframe - I celebrated my birthday in San Antonio while on a work trip, my brother-in-law got married in Spain, and my sister got married in Indiana. So lots of big life moves and changes!
More recently I got promoted to Director of Design which is my first formal foray into leadership and team growth. I read Brad Stulberg's recent book The Way of Excellence and he talked about finding ways to punctuate or add a little bit of ceremony to important life moments. I decided to indulge my love of fountain pens and got a Montblanc Starwalker as a little present to myself!
It writes really really well, and I've loved the green resin barrel! I'm definitely going through a green phase in my life right now... It feels really light and smooth so it's been my go-to pen so far. However, I have some mixed feelings around the medium nib. I'm not sure if it's too flowy or if it's because of the Iroshizuku ink that I put in the pen. Regardless, it's a gorgeous fountain pen. I was torn between the starwalker and the meisterstuck, but I don't regret my choice to go with the starwalker.
Speaking of reading... I blitzed through Project Hail Mary over the course of a few days and wow it's SUCH A GOOD BOOK! The nerd in me was having so much fun putting so many disparate things together that I've read or learned about in my life - from language to orbital mechanics and relativity to spacesuits. I was LOVING this book! 12/10 highly recommend. I haven't watched the movie yet so those thoughts will come later.
I don't think I ever talked about the Ferrari Luce. I recently resubscribed for a month to dithering.fm (I really enjoy their short episodes and take on the larger tech industry) and in one of their older episodes they brought up the Luce. I know the internet hates it... and it's not my favorite Ferrari. I wish the proportions of the car were stretched out a little more because it feels a bit too squat at the moment. Otherwise, I do think parts of the exterior styling are quite nice! I think the front is my favorite. The interior is also quite lovely to look at, but not having sat in one, it's hard to tell how functional it is.
I will say, Flighty can in so handy with one of their recent updates. Seeing what the pilots see in terms of weather data has been so helpful in keeping me aware of why my plane may or may not be delayed. Helped me feel more comfortable with a recent 6+ hour delay due to thunderstorms in Philadelphia. That being said, for me, there's something really relaxing about flying at night.
