Life · the daily, the deliberate, the domestic

on living, slowly, and on purpose

To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.
Oscar Wilde

A note before we begin

The small days add up to the
whole of one's life.

On the road I improvise. At home I am the opposite kind of person — deliberate, slow, easily delighted by routine. The cup that has earned its place on the shelf. The walk that has worn a path. The recipe I have made enough times to forgive myself for changing.

This section is about that life: the kitchen, the corgis, the conversations with our daughters, the quiet calculation of where one wants to belong — and why. It is also about the small arguments I have with myself about how to live well, written down so I can read them again later.

None of it is advice.

All of it is, by now,

quietly on purpose.

On marking time, gently

the latest letter home.

Rudy B Goody Pumpkin Brown, a Pembroke Welsh corgi, on his twelfth birthday RUDY · 12 YEARS

twelve, and counting.

April 16 · 2026
RUDY · 12 YRS
Latest · April 16, 2026 · A small ceremony at home

A quiet celebration for Rudy B Goody Pumpkin Brown.

There is something about marking time with a dog that feels different — softer, more honest. Maybe it’s because they don’t measure life in years, but in moments.

Rudy turned twelve. He has been with us through every chapter — the dating years, the moves, the new homes, the new little sister. At twelve he moves a little slower; the days feel a bit more precious. A quiet presence that asks you to slow down with him. Time leaves its marks, and those marks are not something to fix, but something to honor.

Read the full letter

Days · Dogs · Decisions

Other pages from the journal.

A cocoa-dusted tiramisu in a home kitchen HOME KITCHEN · MAY 2026

twelve years, still cocoa.

May 27 · 2026

HOME KITCHEN · May 27, 2026

A Tiramisu for Randy, Twelve Years Running

the recipe I asked a chef for on a second date

Twelve years ago, on a second date, I asked the chef for his tiramisu recipe. I scaled it down to a small kitchen, drifted it into my own, and have made it for Randy every year since.

Read more →
Inga and Randy on a Mazatlán beach at sunset SEATTLE ↔ MAZATLÁN

half here. half home.

Oct 9 · 2025

SEATTLE ↔ MAZATLÁN · Oct 9, 2025

Why We Are Leaving America (And Why We Haven’t Fully Left Yet)

fifteen years, half-moved

Fifteen years ago I came to Seattle on a Microsoft contract. Most of our belongings are in Mexico now, though I’m still here most weeks for work. Half-moved is the honest word.

Read more →
— and still being written —

· on the desk ·

On the M-Type Mind

a name for the way some of us think, and what it’s like to live inside one

— soon

№ 01

· on the desk ·

Mollie, and the Tyranny of Six A.M.

what a dog teaches a person about being on time

— soon

№ 02

· on the desk ·

Two Addresses, One Life

“where do you live” is no longer a one-word answer

— soon

№ 03

· on the desk ·

The Friend I’ve Kept the Longest

on the long maintenance of one friendship

— soon

№ 04

· on the desk ·

The Wooden Spoon

the kitchen object I’ve owned the longest, and what it has seen

— soon

№ 05

· on the desk ·

Things I’ve Stopped Apologizing For Liking

aging into your own taste, one of the underrated pleasures

— soon

№ 06

THE DISPATCH · ONCE A MONTH · NEVER TWICE

A letter, a postcard, a recipe, a small argument with myself.