About Justin

Hi, my name is Justin Watt. This is my personal blog. I write about whatever interests me. Recurring topics include saving, cooking, traveling, and hiking. I also enjoy photography, so many of my posts are illustrated with photos I’ve taken.

I am presently on something of a self-funded sabbatical. Most recently, I was the senior director of engineering at Sincerely, where I worked for 6 years. In 2010 I took a year off to travel the world. Before that I spent 4 years at Federated Media as a software engineer (and later, engineering director). You can find my resume here.

Justin riding a bike with Stephanie in Annecy, France
Riding bikes with Stephanie in Annecy, France, August 2017

Contact Me

I do enjoy getting email: justincwatt at gmail dot com. Really!

Not Me

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

About 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. Justinsomnia is powered by WordPress, hosted by Dreamhost, and has been designed and redesigned over the years by yours truly.

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 please read that first.

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 en force, eventually receiving coverage in the New York Times and USA Today.

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.