Hi, my name is Justin Watt

Justinsomnia is my personal blog. I write about whatever interests me. Perennial topics include saving, cooking, and venturing out of doors.

Justin and Stephanie at a brasserie in La Bouverie, France, having dessert with coffee, October 2023 — Dessert and coffee with Stephanie in La Bouverie, France, October 2023

Contact Me

Want to get in touch? I’m justincwatt @ Gmail.

What I Do

At present I find myself self-employed, “doing what I like, preferably outdoors, and seeing where it takes me.” Translation: I help people with their landscaping projects. Before stepping away from gainful employment at the end of 2018, I worked as a software engineer and engineering director for six years at Sincerely (a photo greeting card app startup) and for four years at Federated Media (an online advertising startup). In between those jobs, I took a year off to travel around the world. You can find my resume here.

Why “Justinsomnia”?

The name, a contraction of “justin” and “insomnia”, occurred to me just before I hit “Create Blog” in the wee hours of the morning on Friday, June 28, 2002. I do not suffer from insomnia, but I have spent many a late hour illuminated by the glow from my laptop.

QR Code Confusion

Did you scan a QR Code somewhere and end up here? Check out Why does that QR Code take me to justinsomnia.org? And then please email me about it—with a photo or screenshot if possible.

Proto-Blogging

Before starting Justinsomnia, I would manually update my personal webspace at UNC as a way to stay connected with far-flung friends and family. Each year I’d give it a complete overhaul, while keeping a copy of the prior year’s version for posterity.

Freshman (1998-1999)
Sophomore (1999-2000)
Junior (2000-2001)
Senior (2001-2002)
Grad School (2002-2004)

Disambiguation

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