street fighter 1st generation author

i'm sitting in my favorite armchair in the living room, staring blankly at the wall in front of me. i turn on the radio, keeping the volume low. these days, my head can't handle loud music anymore. the song playing doesn't matter - i just want some background noise, that's all.

i'm thinking... what am i going to do now? what will the new city be like? when will i actually start following through on all these new decisions i've made? and so on.

just as i'm thinking these thoughts, the song on the radio changes. a moment ago, i had no idea what was playing, but now this rhythm feels so familiar. all the thoughts in my head disappear, and my entire attention is caught in the song's rhythm. in the singer's voice, in the breaths between sentences.

thank you, radio. thank you, tom waits. once again, all my thoughts have drifted away. once more, i've been swept up in the rhythms, and tonight, i've forgotten everything.

so, i had to attend this client meeting, which i normally wouldn't go to, but they wanted my input on some questions. and there was this client i'd known for ages, super good at his job, but for some weird reason we just never clicked. you know how sometimes you just don't vibe with someone for no apparent reason? that was us.

while we're talking through his questions, his phone keeps ringing. he kept apologizing and either silencing it or declining calls. then when it rang again, he said, "i need to take this one."

as soon as he started talking, it became clear to everyone at the table that it was his daughter on the line... and get this: right there at the meeting table, this guy said "i love you" three times with the most adorable smile on his face. yep, it was a short conversation, just a few seconds, but he said "i love you" three whole times.

from that moment on, i don't know if i managed to hide how impressed i was, but all my prejudices about him just vanished into thin air. on top of the respect i already had for his professional success, a whole bunch of new feelings got added to the mix.

when i left the room, i found myself thinking: when was the last time i told my own kids i loved them out loud? and i'll admit, i couldn't remember. feeling a bit ashamed, i immediately tried to call them both. neither of them picked up (probably in class). but i was determined, i'll tell them when they're out, and i'm not stopping there. from now on, i'm saying it every single day, no matter what.

"i love you" is such a magical phrase - even just hearing someone else say it to someone else makes the world feel more beautiful somehow. loving fathers, loved daughters, loving partners, loved friends, loving mothers, loved sons; what a beautiful little detail in life, amidst all the horrible things going on in the world.

if you love someone, tell them. say it often, while you can. that's what i'll be doing from now on.

paul graham is a pretty fascinating guy who's done a lot across different fields. he studied philosophy at cornell, got a phd in computer science from harvard, and even took up painting at the rhode island school of design and the accademia di belle arti in florence. it's not every day you see someone who can write about programming languages and also critique renaissance art.

in 1995, he co-founded viaweb, a service that let people create their own online stores, which was a big deal at the time. they coded it in lisp (of course) and took advantage of its flexibility to iterate quickly.

one of my favorite stories about him comes from this period; graham got the idea for viaweb after hearing a radio segment about netscape's vision of ecommerce. he was low on cash but determined not to return to consulting. instead, he teamed up with his old hacker buddy, robert morris, to build software that ran directly on a web server without needing to be downloaded, an idea no one had tried before. the company eventually sold to yahoo for around 50 million dollars.

in 2005, after a talk he gave at the harvard computer society sparked a strong reaction, he co-founded y combinator. yc has helped launch companies like dropbox, reddit, and airbnb, so it's been incredibly influential in the tech world. the program provides funding, advice, and mentorship to startups.

he's also an incredible writer, publishing essays on topics like programming, startups, art, and even life itself. that's what makes him not just a brilliant mind but also an inspiring figure. if you ever get the chance, dive into his essays, they're as thought-provoking as they are practical.

paul graham's essays
my favorite lecture of paul graham