hello@manuel·2026-05-09·via Ye Olde Blogroll — Firehose
What I'm currently up to
Doing
Preparing for a Master’s program in Colorado. Starting in Fall 2026, I’ll be a Coverdell Fellow at Colorado School of Mines studying humanitarian engineering. I received some really great scholarships to a really great school. I almost went to CSM for my undergrad but the cost was too much so I’m excited for the opportunity to attend later. Humanitarian engineering is quite niche but it’s exactly what I want to spend my career doing—serving others with technical skills and expertise. I’ve sat in on some meetings and read some books on the topic. I like how everything uses the same kind of language and concepts that I learned in Peace Corps.
Administering programs for Oregon farmers. I started working at the USDA Farm Service Agency in March. It’s not really aligned with my skillset but I’m getting quite a lot of satisfaction from being a federal employee. I help farmers fill out paperwork and apply for federal programs to help alleviate some of the financial stress they are under.
Learning
Svelte. I’d like to level up my front-end web development skills. I’m also really interested in fun, whimsical “micro-animations” that I think Svelte would work great for. Plus, it’s really easy to plug into Astro islands.
Spanish. I’ve now proven to myself that I can, in fact, learn other languages. Spanish has always been something I’ve wanted to learn because of all the Spanish speakers that are in the US. Not to mention that it opens up many countries to travel to and lots of content on the internet. I do flashcards daily and listen to Radio Ambulante for new words.
Sketching. I recently picked up a previous gen iPad for school. I’ve always wanted to learn basic drawing skills. Certainly not artist-level, just enough to get ideas out of my head in a recognizable way. “Urban sketching” or “rough sketching” is as close as I found for the style I’m going for.
Reading
Engineering and Sustainable Community Development by Juan Lucena, Jon A. Leydens, Jen Schneider, and Samantha Temple. A textbook from CSM faculty. I’m excited to start in the Fall and wanted to get some context. Really good stuff in here.
Codebreaking: A Practical Guide by Elonka Dunin and Klaus Schmeh. A fun book that guides you in encrypting and decrypting things by hand. They also provide historical context, notable examples, challenges, and unbroken codes.
The Exploding Whale. Way more resources and information than you want about a quirky bit of Oregon history (and more).
The (lazy) Git UI You Didn’t Know You Need by Bartek Płotka. I’ve been using lazygit for a while and absolutely love it. I do pretty basic git transactions but it lg makes it so much easier.
Your URL Is Your State by Ahmad Alfy. I appreciate when sites store state in the URL. I find it particularly helpful for job boards—I can click a link and it’s automatically filtered to my area and sorted by date.
And what is the purpose of existence…but to discover truth and beauty
and share…it with others?Brenda Ueland
Serving others and learning are my purpose in life. I try to live my
life with integrity by committing to these core values, even when it's
difficult and uncomfortable:
Learning humbly. Pursuing and practicing new skills and
knowledge that serve my goals, my interests, and other people.
Doing it humbly means embracing a beginner's mindset, admitting
when I am wrong or don't know, and understanding that I can always
learn something from others.
Serving others compassionately and reliably. Helping
others, supporting them and nurturing their growth when and how they need it. Doing it compassionately means leading with empathy, taking
care of myself, and remaining other-focused rather than transactional.
Being reliable is continually building trust with myself and others
that I will do what I say I'm going to do.
