What's this?

This is writing by me, Steve Adams.

I live on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It's a stunning and abundant place filled with lifetimes of opportunities to explore and enjoy life and nature. I'm incredibly fortunate to be here.

I like to write in order to understand things better. I learn best by doing, so I'll often set out to accomplish a goal in order to learn the requisites. Sometimes I'll write about it after to crystallize what I've learned, and it'll wind up here. Some of it is technical, and some isn't.

On the Computer

Since 2008 I've been working with computers in a professional context. Initially I was obsessed with graphic design. I wanted to soak up everything from classical pixel art, typography, and vector artwork to photography, animation, or programming shaders. I spent years deep in this stuff, worked for several companies as a graphic designer, and eventually shifted to programming.

Some of the work I did in graphics required me to program, whether it was shaders, plugins for Photoshop, or scripting inverse kinematics in 3DS Max. I knew enough to be dangerous, but back then, dangerous could earn you way (wayyy) more money than graphic design. The transition was inevitable.

There are pros and cons, but I've enjoyed it for around 13 years now. I've oscillated between doing some design work here and there, but typically I work closely with designers in a full stack role instead now. I really enjoy it. I've had the opportunity to work with some stellar designers, all of whom are far better than I ever was, and it's such a joy to be able to translate their vision and excellent work into a functioning design system. I suppose I've always thought of design as the perfect balance of form and function, and giving that function to other peoples' forms is extremely gratifying.

If you're curious to know more about the work I do, feel free to check out Work With Me.

Outside of the Computer

Outside of software and other technology, I spend time with my family. I've got 3 kids who I get to share a lot of great things with, from mountain biking to aquaria and lego. I'm also passionate about the ocean and free diving although I don't get out as much as I should.

I was an avid spear fisher but switched to hand harvesting seaweed and bivalves years ago. I mostly eat a plant-based diet, so rather than shoot fish I look at them instead now. These days I just bring a camera instead of a gun and use my catch bag to collect garbage instead of fish.

The internet is enormous, the days are very short, but you spent some time to read what I've written. Thanks, I appreciate it.