In which I go to church and unexpectedly cry
Man Feelings 18 Apr 2025
Last week I went to church. My family brought me and my sisters up as Christians, attending church each Sunday morning and all of us coming to play parts in the various functions of the local parish: kids helping run Sunday School and singing in... keep reading
The old men and the sea
Man Feelings 11 Apr 2025
Killing time with a toddler is mind-bendingly dull. Sure, there are moments of intense beauty and wonder as you revel in your child’s awestruck delight at something as trivial as a cardboard box or the reflection from some coloured glass. You can put on a... keep reading
I'm in love with my friends
Man Feelings 04 Apr 2025
I’m reading a new book at the moment called John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs. It’s about the two famous songwriters and how the music of the Beatles defined their relationship. The popular conception is that John Lennon was the troubled genius whose... keep reading
I love user reviews of online products (and here are some of my faves)
Man Feelings 28 Mar 2025
I’m addicted to user reviews of things. It started many years ago when I was first starting to buy things off Amazon and needed reassurance that the electronic gadget I was planning to purchase would definitely improve my life. I clung to the opinions of... keep reading
On "Adolescence", and feeling angry about how we're failing our kids
Man Feelings 21 Mar 2025
Over the last week or so, I’ve been glued to Netflix and watching Adolescence. If you’ve missed the hype, here’s a quick summary: it’s a four part British drama about Jamie, a 13 year old boy who’s accused of murdering a schoolmate called Katie. As... keep reading
Explaining Pi to a child
Man Feelings 14 Mar 2025
Today is “Pi Day” – 14th March, or 3/14 if you follow the obviously-flawed American standard for expressing dates. As I hinted last week, my son’s school is celebrating today by asking kids to dress up again as “something maths-related”. Thank you, school! At 6.30am... keep reading
Notes on starting a new job
Man Feelings 07 Mar 2025
A new start is a daunting thing. Imagine you’ve just moved house: suddenly you realise you don’t know where the stopcock is and panic that your kids are going to flood the bathroom while you run around fruitlessly yelling “WHERE IS IT”. The first time... keep reading
Stacking pigs and boxes
Man Feelings 28 Feb 2025
My name is Matt and I’m addicted to stacking pigs on top of steel barrels. Let me explain. If you haven’t seen “Styscraper” before, prepare to be… confused. I’ve never been a big video game fan. When I was a kid growing up in rural... keep reading
Lessons learned in redundancy
blogpost 26 Feb 2025
Redundancy came for me at the end of 2024, which I guess means I should be proud: I can cross one of the clichés of working in the software industry off my list. Layoffs and cutbacks are common in these post-ZIRP times, and in some... keep reading
The trials of half-term with a bored kid
Man Feelings 21 Feb 2025
“Ted, come and look at the monkeys!”, I yell for the third time, unconvincingly. My five year old son remains unmoved, his attention transfixed by a Lego model of a snow leopard. “This one’s from Asia”, I half-heartedly add as he boggles at the plastic... keep reading
Writing about watching paint dry
Man Feelings 14 Feb 2025
It all starts out so promising and precise. Clean, straight lines of green frog tape demarcate the areas to shield from the paint. A bucket of sugar soap solution sits primed and ready to wash the walls clean. Neatly arranged dust sheets are in place... keep reading
Things I learned managing people in 2024
blogpost 11 Feb 2025
I’m fashionably late with this lookback at 2024, but I hope you’ll forgive me – my mind’s been occupied with other priorities until this week. As is now traditional, I’ve put together some thoughts on the things I learned managing software engineers over the past... keep reading
Don't crash the hire car
Man Feelings 07 Feb 2025
I’m sitting in an unfamiliar car with my foot glued to the brake pedal, dashboard beeping angrily at me as cars whiz past. I try—for the third time—to put the vehicle into reverse, moving the gearstick to the clearly-indicated “R” position. I gingerly take my... keep reading
LAN feelings
Man Feelings 31 Jan 2025
The room smells like microwaved hotdogs and sweat. Six computer tower units wobble precariously on someone’s mum’s dinner table, fans blasting hot air into the already-thick atmosphere. Cans of knockoff Red Bull litter the table and someone is crouched on their knees trying to find... keep reading
Stuck in limbo
Man Feelings 24 Jan 2025
I’ve spent a lot of time in limbo these past few weeks. I remember learning at university about the concept of “liminality”, which (Wikipedia helpfully tells us) is about: the quality of ambiguity or disorientation that occurs in the middle stage of a rite of... keep reading