Happy Christmas Month, my dearest reader! One last one before we conclude 2025! And the second last issue for the year for this newsletter.

I watched a video clip from the film American Fiction that uses a metaphor about Johnnie Walker scotch to describe different types of creative output. The speaker distinguishes between Blue Label (complex, “good,” high-quality work that few people buy) and Red Label (simple, commercial, easily satisfying an urge, which is very popular).

The core lesson is this: You can do it all. Just because a creator does “red” doesn’t mean they can’t also do “blue”; they can produce both popular, simple work and complex, high-quality work.

This made me reflect on when I started writing this newsletter. I used to worry that some issues were more in-depth than others. Like the author in the film, I worried about the quality label, was it “Blue” or was it “Red”?

However, I came to understand that nothing can ever have the same level of depth repeatedly, and that things change. Some evolve, some devolve, and just because they devolve does not make them any less than the evolved ones. That simple, easy-to-digest “Red Label” issue satisfies a need and provides value, just as the complex “Blue Label” issue does.

Change is the constant we face, and this newsletter will evolve over the years just as I do. And that is beautiful, seeing and observing how you also interact with and change alongside it.

Cheers to change, and more change, as we enjoy the time we have before we pierce the veil to our next wake!

Being Christmas month, do not forget about the Advent of Code.

As you are easing off the metal to the pedal, here is a read on when loving code is not enough.

I will always use the terminal for Git because I have never had a problem that I could not resolve but if you are looking for other options, here is a write up for the (lazy) Git UI you didn’t know you need.

Just in case you needed to be checked, you are not building Netflix, stop coding like you are!

Architectural debt is not just technical debt.

Redka, Redis with SQL.

The painful lessons learned from layoffs.

Short and sweet like your beautiful week!

The word of the day is halcyon. Halcyon describes a time or place that is calm, prosperous, and perfectly tranquil, suggesting an ideal state of contentment.

Example in a sentence:
She often looked back on her college years as a halcyon time, full of peaceful study sessions and happy, carefree afternoons.

I am making my grand departure into the unknown.

Until the next fortnight, my treasured reader, go forth, and may the odds be ever in your favour! 👏 🤖 ✊ ☠️ 🏹 🪖

Do you enjoy the latest issues of my newsletter? Buy me a piping cup of hot chocolate today!

Cup of Hot Chocolate