Time to be serious

Sept 2025

The entire month of August has been nonstop and it finally made me sick. Literally - my immune system said "you better chill out or I will chill you out," and then it dropped its walls and I got a dang cold. 🤣

Anyway, I am a huge fan of absorbing information via multiple sources, like tutorials, podcasts, books, and builds. (sorry, no beets, bears or battlestar galactica 😆 ) While catching up on some key Laravel Podcast episodes from season 4, I heard a quote that really felt like a punch in the gut.

((Here's the edited version so that it relates to a broader audience.))

“Some people…manage to be friends with the upper tier of…developers but they don’t have the code, the packages, the work that happens the rest of the year to…back it up. Now it’s fine to be friends with anybody and there shouldn’t be this developer elite status and the rest of the- it’s not like that. I want to be someone that’s putting in the work too all year…so that…I’ve earned my place at the table instead of just being there because I make good jokes.” - Caleb Porzio via the Laravel Podcast with Matt Stauffer

I know I am a goofball. You probably do, too. 😜 It kinda throws some folks off my newbie scent. There comes a point when being entertaining is not enough. While I am not trying to reach the "upper-tier," I do want to contribute more than a fun callback or play on words.

In October of last year I told myself - and all of Twitter - that 2025 would be about building. 2025 seriously brought some amazing opportunities, but I've stuck to my building goal and even shared some of my progress. Most recently, thanks to the Laravel community, I made a lovely new friend that is also a wonderful mentor, and we've got a really cool web app in the works! Brought to you by a frustrating situation my family experienced recently. You know me, always the problem solver!

For anyone concerned that I'm going to become ultra serious and boring, I will continue to make you laugh (chuckle? smile? at least type "lol"??), but hopefully from the grown-up table next time. 🤓

P.S. I am so lucky to have the support of friends, family members, and tech communities. Like incredibly lucky. Thank you all. ❤️

((Pictured below: the first day I started feeling crappy, during a 4am study sesh.))