Brian Alonso's short stories and blog.
26 reflections on my 26th birthday. I can't believe you're 26. -Van McCann Happy immediate family, happy life. Don't forget about your parents. Podcasts are entertainment masquerading as knowledge. Entertainment is not a bad thing, but excessive consumption might be. In a human world, AI can never replace human accountability. Leverage this accordingly. You can either do a few things well or many…
From the time I graduated college in 2022 up until this winter, I felt so full of life: dreaming big dreams and progressing towards infinite goals. I felt like I was flourishing. However, 4 years later, all of that is gone. Through the first quarter of 2026, I have felt indifferent towards the world, feeling no desire to impart my values on it. How much difference does it make? -Eddie Vedder Where…
2025 was a turbulent year to say the least. I both married my soulmate and lived through a family health scare. Through these highs and lows, I feel I have matured a tremendous amount and have gained much clarity on what actually matters to me—in turn, lifting a big weight off of my shoulders. 2025 was also the year I started writing on Bear , coincidentally discovering the IndieWeb and getting to…
For the second time this year, I was reminded of this lesson: sometimes, the thing you want is right there in front of you. Maybe humans are optimistic by nature, or maybe media in the 21st century has convinced us that 'the grass is always greener.' But sometimes the grass is just as green right where you are! The first time this happened this year was when I was thinking deeply about what I want…
The first of a multi-part reflection on chaos, perception, and agency. Friday Washington, D.C. After 35 long years, the day had finally come. The funeral for one life was the birth of another. He gathered with his colleagues in their favorite conference room—all case officers for the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. A sheet cake was illuminated by rows of bright fluorescent lights. It read: Happy…
I ended up writing about two things in this post: one thing and the social reality effect . Feel free to skip to either one. Around this time every year, I find myself with many things I want to do and many things I've started doing—all paired with waning focus and motivation. 1 Coincidentally, the fall also seems to be the busiest and most stressful time at work, which drains my creative energy.…
Why did you click on that video? What about the title or thumbnail "spoke to you"? Did it promise to contain a piece of knowledge you may one day find useful? Did it promise to make you feel some type of way if you watch it? I've come to realize that most of my compulsive watching happens as a result of these two questions. Information and emotion. Of course our brain incentivizes consuming new…
I roll over in bed as I hear the alarm clock on my iPhone ringing. It's 7:30 AM on December 11th, 2012. Supposedly, the world will end tomorrow. I unlock my phone to see notifications from a few things I missed overnight. Not much seemed to happen while I was asleep. I briefly check instagram and see a few new posts. Then twitter. Not much has been happening in my circles since I went to bed. The…
I was recently under the impression that I had ultimate agency over my life. After all, it feels really really good to be in control . Or at least to think you are. What was I even chasing in my bid for agency? Realistically, I wanted the ability to make the physical world imitate the imaginary world in my head, but recently it feels like the universe has observed me feeling a maximum sense of…
For the better part of 6 years, first principles thinking was a mystery to me. Of course I wanted to become a first principles thinker , but didn't understand how to become one. Then everything changed. Today, I realized that I had a first principles thought . As a result, I am writing this post to share how I would learn to become a first principles thinker if I were starting again. Why first…