facts

about myself

  • I am Sam Wilson, a dev living in Austin, Texas. The calligraphy on the office whiteboards is my fault. Pumped on dodgeball.
  • I have one licky dog with issues, his name is Puff.

involving my code

  • Even in the editor, I have the user in mind. JavaScript is the means, but good experience is always my goal. Currently enjoying React, Vue, WebAssembly and Mithril.
  • I work at H-E-B Digital where I help craft online experiences which connect our customers to their goals. It is a wonderful place to work because people genuinely just want to do right by the customers.
  • My real name is Jeremy. My grandmother just called me Sam so much I thought it was my name. She did this, in part, to irk my father who chose and liked the name Jeremy.
  • I started app development at a concierge kiosk startup in 2001. My Flash interface was in local news footage. I was over the moon. My mom cared but no one else really did.

    Near the end a sales guy came up to me and said, in the context of a huge contract for becoming a data provider, "Hey I told Lycos we know XML. Do we?"

  • In 2004 I transitioned from Flash to JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. At the time ExpressionEngine was a big deal, so I worked a lot in that. About then years later I was hired to their small remote team, EllisLab. There is something to be said for the pocket cultures within the tech and design space. I learned a lot and met some great folks.

of a random kind

  • In my early twenties, most nights I'd lose track of time while working. Afterwards I'd go to Wendy's because it was next to the office, and get a burger and fries. Maybe I did this too much because one day I was doing pull-ups casually and passed out. This was the moment that got me into fitness and nutrition.

on creative habits

  • For me, the harder the creative work is to start, the less likely it is I'll do it. It's why I love calligraphy. It's easy to do something cool quickly. Oil painting, while amazing and fun, has a higher threshold of effort therefore I don't paint much.
  • Cooking, especially baking, is something I really enjoy and a creative outlet. My best cookies involve sage and apricot.
  • One of my happy spaces is Figure 8 coffee shop, and not just because I'm addicted to three espressos per diem. Which I totally am.

about my softer side

  • Growing up in a small town in Kentucky, most folks were extroverted. And although I lived in a slightly larger Lexington for several years, I moved to Pittsburgh. Here I experienced some culture shock, which I kinda needed. Though it wasn't for me long-term, I came out of Pittsburgh with crucial friendships and experiences that I can't imagine missing out on.
  • The way my children revere me reminds me that they share in all of my successes as well as any of my failures. The risk inherent in anything I consider is shared by them. It's a good thing.
  • To my occasional chagrin, I find it hard to dislike people even if they are at first unfriendly. When someone is antagonistic or off-putting, I tend to try to win them over or figure out why they are that way. I've made a lot of friends this way and I find first impressions are only true half the time. But also not everyone is going to love me and I'm okay with that these days.

assorted

  • I suffered daily headaches as a child. These headaches could make me throw up. Out of necessity, I knelt down similar to how a toddler naps. I'd put my forehead on the ground and would then visualize my pain as a red syrupy substance leaving the front of my head through a small hole, draining down into the Earth. It took about 20 minutes and then I felt better.
  • The sun makes me sneeze, this is called Photic Sneeze Reflex. I don't think of it as a problem though, sneezing rules.
  • My escape hatch for insomnia is a book on pop chemistry on my iPad. When I can't sleep I break it open. Three to ten paragraphs in and it's Snoozington.
  • When I was 4 years old, I got a Suzuki JR 50 with training wheels. I didn't die on it, but I did get a scar on my leg that looked like the parallel grill marks on a burger.

on my recreation

  • Exercise is underrated. Training from Jhonphillip Yonan (not a misspelling) gave me back the command of my body.
  • I broke my wrist skateboarding down a long hill in Glasgow, Kentucky. This was a hard way to learn about the power of the long tail.
  • I play on a dodgeball team in Austin Social Sports League.
  • I am not Sam, but I go by that name and I make apps and stuff on the internet. Thanks for visiting my site.