Independent software developer. I build Mac and web apps like Picmal and Cozy Journal, and write essays on making things, curiosity, and philosophy.
It’s been five months since my last entry. I’ve been busy, but I guess that’s life. I’ve really wanted to write, and I’ve done a lot of it privately. So, I’m going to try again to pick up this habit of writing in public. I’m writing these lines in Sofia. A while back I launched my first two projects: Picmal and Cozy . I’ve made some money along the way. I even got an offer to sell Picmal for five…
On these rainy days, I’m reading two books. They’re shaping me in surprising ways. They also express feelings I already have. One of them is Anna Karenina. I see a clear reflection of myself in Levin. Konstantin Dmitrich Levin is a landowner. He spends much of the novel in an existential crisis. He could live off his wealth or take an important role in Moscow. He chooses neither. That life feels…
The other day I was reading Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and I stopped at this line: That everyone has the right to learn to read corrupts in the long run not only writing but also thinking itself. Nietzsche saw something early on. When a skill becomes universal, the craft behind it often erodes. Not the result, but the way. The relationship between effort and mastery starts to weaken. It made me think…
About a week ago, Picmal reached 200 users . For some people, that number might feel small. For others, it’s big. For me, it’s symbolic. At 15, I started a forum. I was curious and bored. It combined two things I loved: football and video games. I called it Futbolgame. Not very original. I didn’t have a plan. I didn’t think about growth, positioning, or marketing. I wanted to build something.…
As 2025 comes to an end, I realize I have written less in this newsletter than I would have liked. Maybe my sometimes extreme perfectionism has held me back. Partly because I felt I had nothing worth sharing, and partly because what I wrote did not feel good enough. I think this is a feeling we all experience at times, whether when writing or when trying to express ourselves in general. But the…
Ever since I was a child, I’ve been somewhat obsessed with death. It’s a topic many cultures don’t discuss much, yet it’s fundamental for the simple fact that we’re all going to die at some point. I’ve always had this idea of collecting reflections from others, not so much to think about death, but rather to learn how to live . To learn what mattered to those who are no longer here and how, thanks…
I’m someone driven by obsessions, and by phases. When I’m in one of those phases where I want to do everything on the computer, I forget about the rest of the world. I can spend 18 hours straight in front of the screen, and as you can imagine, that’s not sustainable. Because then I burn out and go three months without wanting to touch the computer. I’ve always tried to set a time to shut down the…
When I first started building Picmal , a simple image converter for macOS, the App Store was the obvious destination. That changed quickly. Your browser does not support the video tag. Picmal demo After paying for the Apple Developer license and getting my first version ready, I hit an unexpected wall: every time users tried to save an image, a permission dialog appeared. It was intrusive and…
Novelty has always attracted me far more than what was already obvious to me. It always promised better future plans, while I looked at my side, staring at that static and boring present with a face of indifference, making it clear that I was ignoring it. I always thought routine was suffocating—until I discovered it could heal. Because everything depends on the kind of routine you find yourself…
I’ve always been someone who sees things in black and white, believing that things are either one way or the other. And for those of us who think like this, life eventually slaps us in the face with a big dose of gray. That’s when we realize that life is one big “IT DEPENDS.” Universal rules don’t exist, which is why we need to be careful with the hair growth sellers we encounter every day.…
Since I started working as a developer, I’ve always had the same problem: I have a terrible allergy to events scheduled at a specific time of the day (call them meetings, call them whatever you want). I’ve always been a bit of a “rebel” in that sense. I still remember how, at one of the first startups I worked for, I would often arrive outside the expected hours because I had spent more time at…
It’s been a while since I last wrote here, and to be honest, I’ve missed it. I could say I’ve been busy—but the good kind of busy. I’ve been working on my next project (which will be out very soon), taking photos, and getting ready for my third consecutive year of adventures in Asia. A week ago, I arrived in Bangkok. If you’ve never been, it’s a very noisy city. Construction, cars, motorcycles,…
I’ve been summarizing my year privately for years, but I’ve never done it publicly. In previous years, my process for doing this looked like this: Open Google Photos: I would go month by month, writing down the things I felt or the fun moments I experienced during each specific month. After finishing the first part, I would create three sections: one where I wrote about what went well, another for…
When you want to create something, don’t plan based on data. Do it based on your interests, because nothing withstands challenges better than something you deeply want to learn. Nothing resists the voices telling you not to do it like a shield made of curiosity. Is it a bad strategy? Maybe. Am I too naïve? Perhaps. But I don’t know anyone who has truly succeeded in life (and I’m not talking in…
Dear reader, Last week, I was walking home in the morning—one of those mornings when there’s no one on the street, the kind I love. It was one of those mornings when you can hear even the smallest sounds, which sadly get lost amid the noise of cities. When I got home, I posted this tweet: I don’t know if it was subconscious, but when I wrote this, I realized it bore a striking resemblance to the…
I’ve always thought that the things we become obsessed with often stem from negative experiences. No one relentlessly seeks solutions to problems that don’t exist; that’s why no one becomes an expert in something they haven’t struggled with. Those who seek calm are the ones who can’t find it. Those who want to improve their health are those who have lost it. People search for ways to sleep…
I want people in my life who challenge me, who make me uncomfortable. I want people who are free, who think independently and make me question what is right and wrong. I want people who are spontaneous, who love sincerely, with the courage to speak the truth to my face. I want people who are ambitious, driven to build a life that reflects their idea of perfect happiness. People who choose the…
Humans commit through words. For example, every person you love today entered your life through words. The friend who became close after a long conversation filled with shared understanding. Or the girl who became your girlfriend after you told her you liked her. Likewise, everything you long for has become words. Those dreams you wrote down in your notebook as a child. The beautiful moments you…
Today I’m going to introduce you to a new section of this newsletter. Over the years, I’ve been rewriting and learning from my experiences about certain topics that really interest me, like productivity, health, building products, relationships, among others. I’ve always wanted to have a place where I could store this information in an organized way for others to consume, but most importantly, to…
Our bodies are not adapted to receiving blue light from the many devices we use throughout the day, such as screens or indoor lights. When we balance diet, exercise, rest, and light, the last two are likely the most important for living a healthy life , contrary to what many believe. During the day, artificial light is not a significant issue if we are regularly exposed to sunlight and don’t spend…