Memoir
A timeline of life events, year by year.
2026
Back in Seattle. Building World Tree into a small studio - an AI travel guide with local voices and cultural depth. Traveled to Sri Lanka.
2025
A turning point. Lived in Sweden through the first half of the year, then left Supernormal and learned to work on my own terms - drafted a book of essays, did research at KTH on music-generation models in Bob Sturm's lab, and started World Tree. In Europe: a van trip around the Alps and the Roadjunky Festival of Creativity in the Czech Republic. Ran the Stockholm Marathon - my sixth, and probably my last. New countries: Malta, Poland, Scotland, Ireland, Slovenia. Turned 49.
2024
Still Head of AI at Supernormal. At the end of summer we moved the family abroad again - this time to Stockholm - picking up the thread of the 2019 sabbatical. Ran the Lidingöloppet. New countries: Sweden and Croatia.
2023
Working at Supernormal. Goals for the year.
2022
Left Stripe. Launched Infeather as an AI-powered reader, starting in newsletter form. Brought home a havanese puppy named Lola.
Rejoined the workforce as Head of AI at Supernormal. Ran the Seattle Marathon - my fifth.
2021
COVID continued. Work from home at Stripe, office reopened in September. Traveled to Iceland.
Continued with synthy songwriting and a coding side project that learns which links are worth sharing.
Ran the Seattle Marathon - my fourth - in 3 hours, 57 minutes.
2020
COVID hit. Moved from Bali to Australia, then returned to Seattle. Started at Stripe.
Started composing electronic music in GarageBand.
2019
After five years at Facebook, took a one year sabbatical. Moved the family to Bali - lived on a rice field in Ubud, explored Southeast Asia.
2018
Started work on the misinformation team at Facebook. Shortly after the mid-term elections, my father passed away of cancer.
2016–2017
Turned 40. Moved to the Search team at Facebook. Epic hiking trip to the Hornstrandir nature reserve in Iceland.
2015
Jasmine was born. Took three months leave - Iceland, London, Crete, Sicily, the Canary Islands, and Japan, written up at The Traveling Klebans. Also recorded some sounds.
Climbed Mt. Rainier:
2014
Started at Facebook. Took a retreat in the Sahara. 2014 goals.
2012
First daughter Chloe was born.
2010
Finished my Ph.D. at UC Santa Barbara. Held the Road Junky Travel Film Festival in Berlin. Amazing thru-hike in the Sierra Nevadas.
2009
Elizabeth and I got married.
2004
After traveling around the world for more than two years, returned to the US and co-founded Roadjunky with a friend I met in Panama.
