03 Sep 2025 #writing
I don’t trust most LinkedIn recommendations.
You can ask a friend or a coworker to say good things about you. And who would showcase bad comments for future employers to see? Nobody!
But, but… Today I got a LinkedIn recommendation I didn’t ask for. A reader/follower wrote this recommendation:
After reading his blog on SQL I connected with Cesar on LinkedIn , and his posts stood out for their clarity, honesty, and practical lessons. He has a ability to take real-world experiences in software engineering and turn them into valuable insights that others can learn from.
When I reached out with a career-related question, Cesar didn’t just give me a quick reply, he went the extra mile and even wrote a full article to share his perspective. That generosity and willingness to help reflect the kind of person and communicator he is. Cesar’s writing and guidance have had a direct impact on the way I think about coding, career growth, and opportunities.
I highly recommend Cesar for his exceptional writing, storytelling, and mentorship. He not only shares knowledge but also inspires others to take action and define their own paths.
It’s great to read that my words have inspired and impacted someone’s career. It means my writing has done its job.
Trying to hit the 300-post mark made me question if I should keep blogging. But that was a confirmation to keep doing it, even when it feels nobody is reading.
That recommendation made my day. And that’s another screenshot I’m adding to my “wins” folder.
02 Sep 2025 #misc
50 or 60 years ago, taking a picture was an event in and of itself.
In the past weekend, I saw dozens of photos of my mom as a teenager and young woman. But one caught my attention.
It was on her 7th birthday. She was dressed up. My grandparents took my uncle and her to the only photo studio in the city for a birthday photo. Then they took her for ice cream.
Seeing that photo made me think about how photography used to work. The photographer had very few tries to get it right. They had to wait weeks to develop the film and see the final result.
These days, we repeat the same shot as many times as we need until we get a decent picture. We tap our smartphones and see the results in seconds.
That’s true for photography, writing, and pretty much anything else. Tech has shortened our feedback loops.
01 Sep 2025 #writing
This is my daily post #304.
The 300-post mark felt hard to complete. I tried to balance multiple writing projects at once. I felt so tired at the end of the day that my writing streak almost suffer. And life threw me a huge unexpected curveball that made me miss a day. I ended up writing two posts the next day to recover.
Finding ideas to write wasn’t the challenge. It was finding the time to write.
My most-read and favorite posts
Here are some of the most-read posts from the last 100 days:
Here are my 100-post and 200-post reflections.
31 Aug 2025 #misc
It’s been so relieving and therapeutic listening to many of my mom’s stories.
My aunt pulled down an old photo album. I was full of joy seeing old photos of my mom as a teenager.
The next day, my sister and I sat down to talk to my mom’s best friend. They meet at 3rd grade and were friends since then. I loved hearing all their child adventures, school days, and teenage loves.
I was surprised by how many stories I heard. Some of them I didn’t even know.
Those two experiences reminded me that the best way to make an impact and preserve our stories is with a book. And for that, we don’t need a best-seller.
31 Aug 2025 #misc
I met a mom and her young girl about to start college. Like most teenagers, she was struggling to choose a major in college.
I was no different. I didn’t know what to choose either. My problem was that I had too many options. I’ve struggle to choose a single passion since always.
I ended up picking the major the dislike the least.
Here’s what I wish I had known before going to college:
- Understand you don’t have to go to college. If decide not to do so, you’d have to come up with your own alternative plan. Maybe start a business or self educate.
- Find an intersection between subjects you like and subjects with “employability” options. Again, understand you don’t have to follow the traditional path and go to a 9-5.
- Don’t simply choose going to college and a particular major just because your parents did the same. Don’t simply go to med school, just because your dad is a doctor.
- Learn as many skills you can. Among those, learn a manual skill: how to cut hair, make desserts…
- Have as many options along side to going to college. Try to answer what if you don’t get accepted at XYZ college to major in ABC. What would you do then?
- Understand you don’t have to stick to a single career for life. In this day and age, we have to reinvent ourselves way more often than our parents.