Now

Life

Readjusting to life in Rio has been harder than I anticipated in the mind (loss of identity) and body (so, so hot). Turns out my body needed to get reacquainted (befriended?) with all the local viruses and bacteria. And so… the family got sick many, many, many times during the first half of the year. All the dust and funky smells from renovating the apartment didn’t help — and renovations took, unsurprisingly, 2x the estimated time and stress (or maybe 3x?!).

On the flip side, not having to think about work or to spend half of my day in meetings opened so much space for thinking and caring about a boring life — ultimately having more available positive mental energy for my daughter and wife (at least I think so!). Reflecting on it, it is somewhat magical (once you're out of the dark side) to observe how fast humans adapt to new situations.

Making

I feel super privileged and inspired to have a new, larger, studio space with abundant natural light — the biggest challenge is always the usability and flow of the space, with cabling, moving between instruments, etc. As I explore it, it is starting to feel like the right space — everything is just plug and record (and do it again, and again), creating the low friction I need.

I'm reviving (or resurrecting!?) some very, very old music ideas with friends-ex-band-mates. Music that was made 20 years ago! I'm trying my best to keep the old energy (and memory) alive. Everything moves very, very slow now that everyone has a family and infinite life chores.

A preset maker for EP-2350 from Teenage Engineering. The fastest project from idea to publishing that I have done in many years (maybe my impostor syndrome took a week off?!). It all started with a spark and taking notes during one afternoon and the next day it was out. A testament that LLMs are really, really a compelling tool to get software ideas out quickly.

I started a non-scalable coffee roasting project called Mameluca. I've been roasting coffee for my own consumption (and learning) since 2023 and I had an instinct that it was a skill that would pay off in Brazil, as finding light roasted coffee is still hard. Getting the best expression of a new green coffee and respecting the terroir is the most fun part of roasting (not that different, but way more nuanced, from cooking a steak).

Learning

After 3-ish years of not playing drums, I'm finally back at practicing and playing at least 5 days a week for 30min. Back to foundations. Focusing on posture and balance (flow, relaxation), which is something I should’ve done a long time ago instead of worrying about chops and speed to show off. Also doubles as a healthy practice of movement.

To work or not to work!?

• Part I — So far… It doesn’t feel like I want to do full-time product design anymore. Helping people (and maybe smaller companies) to get 0-1 products shipped with great care for design choices is something I’m still quite passionate about and will continue to explore.
• Part II — Meanwhile I'm exploring some ideas to feed my tech-and-design curious soul that can't help itself. This time though, I'm paying closer attention to my body sensations, better understanding what could be useful or dumb obsessions, excitements and generally, when to go wider vs deeper into ideas.

Updated on December 30th, from my home in Rio de Janeiro. Now page? What, why?!