about

Hi. My name is Justin Watt. This is my personal blog. I write about whatever interests me. Recurring topics include food, travel, technology, and the outdoors. I also enjoy photography, so many of my posts are illustrated with photos I’ve taken.

I’m currently working with Andre Torrez at Simpleform. In 2010 I took a year off to travel the world. Before that I worked for Federated Media as a software engineer (and later, engineering director). Previous to that I worked for O’Reilly Media as a web producer. You can check out my resume here.

Justin rowing a boat on the Ganges in Varanasi, India
Rowing a boat on the Ganges in Varanasi, April 2011 (photo by Stephanie, my adventure partner, who blogs at La Vie Soleil)

Contact me

I really enjoy getting email: justincwatt at gmail dot com…

Not me

I am not the Mahmudiyah killings whistleblower. For more info on Pfc. Justin Watt, see: The NY Times, USA Today, and Reddit.

QR Code confusion

If you scanned a QR Code and don’t understand why you ended up on my blog, please read: Why does that QR Code take me to justinsomnia.org? You can still email me about it, but read that first. Thanks.

Why I blog

I started by reading blogs, and the ones I was reading at the time had this eerie tendency to mention things I had just recently discovered and found interesting. I was inspired by the idea that I could contribute ideas off the top of my head to a place where other people could stumble upon them.

For some more recent thoughts on blogging, check out Write the blog you want to read. Waaay back in 2005 I was videotaped at Webzine discussing some of my thoughts on blogging.

Proudest posts

Every once in a while I write a post that I’m really proud of. Sometimes it captures the popular attention, sometimes not. Here’s a few from my archives that stand out.

The making of PANAMAX
San Francisco artist Eric Rewitzer used some of the photos I took while traveling by container ship as the basis for several large scale paintings.
Melt-in-the-Mouth Cookies, a brief history
I chased down the origin of a Christmas cookie recipe that I presumed my Grandmother had created from whole cloth.
Golden Gate Bridge at night
My “color-accented” photo of the Golden Gate Bridge attracts far more interest than any other photo I’ve taken.
A Response to Liberty
I received a cease and desist letter for a parody image I posted to my blog. With legal support from the ACLU, we responded in force, eventually receiving coverage in the New York Times and USA Today.

About Justinsomnia

The name, a contraction of “justin” and “insomnia” randomly occurred to me in the instant I created the blog in the wee hours of the morning back in June 2002. I do not suffer from insomnia, but I do have a tendency to stay up late on the computer.

Justinsomnia was originally published using Blogger via FTP. I moved everything over to WordPress in 2005 and haven’t looked back. For Halloween in 2009 I dressed up as my blog. Some other details:

Proto Justinsomnia

In the early days before I began blogging, I manually updated my webspace at UNC with photos and other doodads to keep in touch with family and friends. Each year I gave it an overhaul, but kept an archive for posterity.

miscellanea

I value consistency
I have a strong aversion to wearing clothing that exposes my shoulders and upper arms
I try to avoid beginning an email by apologizing
A properly furnished dwelling requires small garbage cans in every room—and shelving, lots and lots of shelving—and bag clips
When my fingernails get too long, I find it difficult to concentrate on anything until I clip them
I subconsciously refuse to read books people tell me "you should read"
I like all the hangers in my bedroom closet to be the same—I don't want an ugly hanger subtly influencing the shirt I pick to wear in the morning
If I drink milk at other peoples houses, I prefer to drink it with ice—the colder the milk, the fresher it seems
I like to wash my face at night in order to sleep comfortably
I don't own a TV because when one is on, I have great difficulty focusing on anything else or turning it off
I try to avoid acquiring heavy things that I can't singlehandedly move on my own
Irregular noises, like the sound of subwoofers through the walls in my apartment, make me anxious—I prefer to have control over the noise I hear, and when I'm not listening to music I prefer silence
I am slow at framing things
I like water and I like to drink it cold
I like making lists—I like crossing things off lists even more

subjectslices

monthchunks

license

Justinsomnia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Please see my Attribution Policy for more information.