MonkeHacks #61

Bonsai, Steering the Craft, TU Dublin

Author

Monke
April 27, 2025

MonkeHacks #61

This week, I visited my relatives in Sendai, which was great. All of my cousins in Japan are older than me - but the youngest of them has a son, and the oldest of them has two daughters. The kids are all aged between 3 and 10. I had an amazing time entertaining the kiddos but it made me feel absolutely ancient. Before, I was the kid receiving pocket money - but now I’m the grown man giving the pocket money. You know what they say. The Wheel of Time turns…

As I was heading to the airport in Tokyo, I stopped to have sushi in Nihonbashi with an acquaintance of mine and his girlfriend. He’s also half Irish and half Japanese, but he grew up in Japan instead of Ireland- basically, he’s a Japanese guy with the face of an Irishman. It’s a pretty fun coincidence, so I call him my “mirror friend”. We catch up once a year when I’m in Tokyo.

I flew back to the UK (13-14 hours, flying over northern Canada and Greenland rather than Europe and south Asia, and thus completing my circumnavigation of the globe), and watched Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, The Mandalorian S1, and some of Obi-wan Kenobi. I forgot just how good Revenge of the Sith is, it’s the peak of the franchise in my opinion. I took the Tube (subway) to King’s Cross after landing, and then I took the 4.5 hour train back to Edinburgh. It was a very long day.

I’m back now, and it’s nice to be in my apartment again. I’m visiting Ireland for a few days from Tuesday until Monday - I’m giving an in-person talk to TU Dublin’s Hackersoc on Tuesday afternoon.

A bonsai tree. Photo taken by me on a beach in Shichigahama, Sendai, Japan.

Weekly Ideas / Notes 

  • I’ve been reading Steering The Craft by Ursula Le Guin. It’s a book about writing but the general theme is craftsmanship. This is something I vibe with heavily; as hackers, or maybe developers, we are craftspeople. The best bugs are precise; they thread a needle through tech stacks; perhaps they’re multidisciplinary. If you’re new, you’re gathering tools to learn your craft - and if you’re experienced, you’re sharpening them to master your art. This is a lifelong endeavour. I’m determined to improve my writing skills as much as possible - and this newsletter is a pretty good way to practice, but more specifically, I mean creative writing and fiction writing. It’s something I enjoy doing.

  • I was on the Tube (subway in London) from Heathrow Airport to Kings Cross Station, and I saw an advertisement on the train for maximum strength painkillers. It struck me as really dystopian, because clearly some marketing person had thought “Yep, let’s put this ad on the subway train, because those commuters DEFINITELY suffer from headaches”. That tells you all you need to know about the culture we live in.

  • I’m still taking time off until May, but easing myself into some tasks such as reorganising my workspace. I had a few meetings this week; I helped the National Cybersecurity Centre in Ireland with something, and I had some catch-up meetings with various other projects I’m involved in. I’m flying back to Ireland for a few days on the 29th; I’m giving a talk titled “Bug Bounty for College Students” in-person to TU Dublin’s Hackersoc, and I’m going to see my friends and family in Cork as well. It’s a short trip. Once I’m back in Edinburgh in early May, I can proceed with my plans to adopt a cat.

  • Due to the drastic sleep adjustment caused by returning to the GMT timezone, I’ve been waking up at 6am for the past few days. And honestly? I love it. It’s been a game-changer for my productivity. It feels great to have my most pressing tasks for the day done before 9am when all of the shops and such open. I’m basically guaranteed a desk in the WeWork because I’m there so early. It’s great, and I’ll try to continue this sleep schedule, I think.

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