#and so it’s so endlessly inspiring to see eric still having the absolute time of his life at 71 years young

[cowboytism]

finally getting around to watching all the cast promo stuff for season 2… i love eric bogosian so much

[goldenboughs]

Themes - E’salih Goldenbough

((Music is my SHIT get ready for me to go way overboard on this.))

[General Theme] Joy - Sleeping at Last - ‘so i let go, and in this moment, i can breathe.’ • The most fundamentally Salih song of them all. Every single line of this fits him to a T - the anxiety, the beauty in the world and the people around him that calms it, and his desire to see the wonder, the best in things. How Far I’ll Go - Auli’i Cravalho - ‘i’ll be satisfied if i play along - but the voice inside sings a different song. what is wrong with me?’ • I really tried to avoid Disney for a majority of this, but pieces of Moana wormed their way irrevocably into my ideas of Salih so I couldn’t not go with this one. Wants to cross the sea to explore and see the world for themselves? Shackled to important family roles with parents not exactly supportive of the lifestyle they want to lead? Female mentor figure whose passing marks a major turning point for them? Check, check aaaand check. Dreamers - K. Flay - ‘i used to knock on wood, i used to never curse. i used to think i could control the universe - with my obsessive thoughts, and what felt like a prayer. i shouted to the sky, ‘don’t let my family disappear.’’ • A more solemn one - I was linked this by a good friend, and the more I listened to it the more I realized how well it captures Salih’s longing, the rut he’s currently stuck in.

[Travel Theme] Tarir, the Forgotten City - Lena Chappelle Road of Trials - Austin Wintory Secunda - Jeremy Soule Exploration and excitement abound - the essence of where Salih wants to be - but sometimes the road is long and requires a bit of quiet introspection, especially during moonrise.

[Happy Theme] Taste - Sleeping at Last - ‘i wanna feel tectonic shifts - i wanna be, i wanna be astonished.’ • An incredible toast to the world Salih longs to see. Alone Together - Aivi & Surasshu - Steven Universe was another big inspiration for Salih, and Stevonnie especially. Fitting that Alone Together (the song) is such an incredibly sweet, upbeat tune for him.

[Love Theme]  Stray Italian Greyhound - Vienna Teng - ‘i just stopped believing in happy endings - harbors of my own. but you had to come along, didn’t you? tear down the doors, throw open windows- oh, if you knew just what a fool you have made me.’ • He’s trying so hard not to let feelings happen, but feelings happen so easily for him and he doesn’t know where to put them all, how to bottle it all up so instead it overflows and he’s a stuttering mess around those he has a crush on, but who might not necessarily know that yet. The End of All Things - Panic! at the Disco - ‘in these coming years, many things will change. but the way i feel will remain the same.’ • The world will change, people change - this is inevitable, especially so when you have dreams like Salih’s. But when Salih loves, he loves for better or worse, and there is little that can be done to change that. Eric’s Song - Vienna Teng - ‘ambitions like ribbons worn bright on my sleeve’ / ‘so we just hold on fast, acknowledge the past as lessons exquisitely crafted, painstakingly drafted to carve us as instruments that play the music of life.’ • Those who Salih loves best are those he will endlessly forgive, and who will forgive him his shortcomings. No one is perfect. But falling into that mutual, loving understanding of one another is the key to long-lasting relationships with Salih. It’s Love, Isn’t It? - Joe Hisaishi - Should be self-explanatory, if you’ve seen half the things I’ve queued for him. A theme specifically for his relationship with Rhos. Yuri on ICE - Umebayashi Tarou - :3c

[Sad Theme] Friends - Yoko Kanno Sakura Nagashi - Utada Hikaru - ‘however great the fear, i won’t look away if at the end of it all, love still remains.’ • I’ve no words for this, other than the sense of loss communicated is profound and the constant thread of hope that strings through - that lovers will see one another again, even at the end of everything, is a powerful motif. Whispers - Dave Baxter - ‘in whispers, in whispers - you say ‘let it go, let it go home.’’ • Despite the years, he still misses Khoya. Most of the time, he’s fine. On the rarest occasions, though, and more commonly in the past - he needs to be told to set his grief down.

[Anger/Frustration Theme] Hardest of Hearts - Florence + The Machine - ‘there is love in your body, but you can’t get it out - it gets stuck in your mind, won’t come out of your mouth.’ Headlock - Imogen Heap - ‘afraid to start, got your heart in a headlock - you know you’re better than this.’ Often it’s Salih’s inability to act or make concrete decisions in situations where immediate action is not strictly necessary - citing paralyzing anxiety or worry as the cause - that stresses him the most, and what has the most potential to cause friction with others or with himself.

[Lust Theme] Unfold - Alina Baraz & Galimatias - ‘he says that i’m glowing / the kind of love we can’t control.’ Ok Go - I Want You So Bad I Can’t Breathe - ‘i want you, yeah i want you - so bad i can’t think straight, so bad all my bones shake, so bad i can’t breathe.’ Make Me Feel - Janelle Monae - ‘you know i love it, so please don’t stop it - you got me right here in your jean pocket.’ Lust and love usually go hand in hand for Salih, but when he wants he wants. It’s all or nothing and if you’ve got him interested, he’s down anytime, (almost) anywhere.

[Villianism Theme] Fear Not This Night - Maclaine Deimer ver. - ‘who needs the light? fear not this night.’ • AU - For the boy who never left O’ghomoro, and grew much, much darker at the edges for it. The Dread Wolf - Trevor Morris • AU - For the boy who left home much, much too early on his own - and found a world he could not convince himself was worth saving. Glitter and Gold - Barns Coulter - ‘do you ponder the nature of things? in the dark - the dark, the dark, the dark.’ • AU - For the boy who exchanged one abuse for another. Piracy pays, but carries a price tag of its own.

[Fight Theme]  Laura Palmer - Bastille - ‘the night was all you had - you ran into the night from all you had. found yourself a path upon the ground, you ran into the night, you can’t be found.’ • Once he’s found his strength, he’ll go places. It’s just a matter of believing it first. Blitz - Iwasaki Taku You Say Run - Yuki Hayashi (Cloudjumper ver.) • I really don’t have an excuse for this, I just wanted to shove a My Hero Academia song in here somewhere and this absolutely works thematically as a Salih battle theme.

[Death Theme] Stoick’s Ship - John Powell - ‘my dearest one, my darling dear - my might one has fallen. the children weep for their protector; the loved ones will be praying. so we part again, my love, my darling one - so the gods above will bless you.’ Sad Moon - Yoko Kanno Passage - Vienna Teng - ‘now i am nothing, everywhere - several breaths of strangers’ air, and all thoughts ever written in my hand. they plant my tree out in the yard - it grows, but takes the winter hard.’ • The world would recover, given time.

[Bonus Theme] |  Super Blue Blood Moon - Sleeping at Last • ‘Are you trying to make me fall in love with you?’ / ‘I wouldn’t mind that. It’s only fair.’ Geminid Meteor Shower (December 13, 2017) - Sleeping at Last • For the boy with stars on his face and in his eyes, who so carefully planned his first proper date in years to coincide with a meteor shower. Light in the Hallway - Pentatonix • ‘for we all have our nightmares - even me, my dear.’ • A lullaby.

tagged by: @captaingiddyblack - lovingly stolen! I’ve been vibrating to do this prompt since I first saw it.

tagging: This is a time intensive prompt, so it’s cool if I tag you and you don’t want to do it (and ESPECIALLY not to the level of detail I went, I am just weak for music themes) - however, I’d love to see the choices @elegant-etienne​ (YOU ESPECIALLY I LOVE YOUR MUSIC TASTE), @actualkomodo, @mrhos-xiv, @campcatte​, @moonlifter​ (for Khena or Aedwen, esp.) and @mveerah​ would make! If you’ve been eyeing this prompt like I have, and I didn’t expressly tag you, feel free to steal anyway! I LOVE seeing the music people associate with their characters.

[super-not-naturall]

It’s Been A Long Year

SPN Fanfic

-There’s always two sides to the story-

SamxReader

944 Words

Warnings: Angst, um not much more than that . . .

A/N: So I’ve been in a super bad rut lately, and for some reason, this is the only thing I’ve been able to throw together. This is a Part 2 to It’s Been a Lonely Year, and keeping with the whole Pop-Punk theme, I decided to use Sleep On It’s Unspoken as inspiration. (I love pop-punk, guys, so I will use any excuse to use it in a fic, tbh.) I hadn’t originally planned on making a part 2, but here it is. It’s probably a bit rough, mostly because I’m trying to get out of this stupid writer’s block, but feedback is always appreciated!

Y/F/N - your fake name, you have a new alias in a new town.

*I do not own any spn character and/or gifs I may use

It’s been a long year!

“Sam.”

You disentangle yourself from your date and run out the door, ignoring the cold wind blowing your hair in your face and obstructing the view of that stupid 67 Impala driving away from you.

“Y/F/N?” Eric, your boyfriend of two months, questions from behind you. “Hey, are you alright?”

You want to smile and convince him that everything is fine, that you are more than okay, but you can’t: you just don’t have it in you anymore to lie to him.

You shake your head and hastily wipe tears from your eyes, “I’m sorry, but this . . . this isn’t going to work out.”

“Wait, what?” His blue eyes widen, “What’s going on with you?”

You’re shaking your head and repeating, “I’m sorry, so sorry . . .”

You turn and run, thinking you hear Eric call out your name, but you can’t stop.

I feel weighed down

By the thoughts in my head

I try to keep

But I'm so far

From the place where I thought

That I would be

Growing up, you had convinced yourself that you were unloveable. You were an outcast, plagued with nightmares from the night that your parents were ripped apart by a werewolf.

You had one rule: keep everyone at a distance.

But then Sam fucking Winchester waltzed into your life, saving you from a Wendigo hunt gone wrong.

You had planned on just thanking him and then leaving, but he insisted on making sure you were okay.

It didn’t take long for you to fall for those gorgeous eyes and kind smile.

Two months later, you were moving into the bunker. In a year, you would find yourself wrapped in the youngest Winchester’s arms as he trailed kisses down your neck.

You had broken your rule, and you were nowhere near where you thought you would be, but damn you were happy.

I'm getting lost here

I'm still chasing shadows from your glow

I'm getting lost here

Overthinking everything I know

You thought you had wanted a simple life; a fucking normal life away from lore and monsters, but you were wrong.

Well, maybe you weren’t wrong. It was just that a normal, apple-pie, life meant absolutely nothing without Sam by your side.

You still remember the aching pain you had felt the night he told you to leave; it was as if someone had reached into your chest and ripped out your heart.

You had parked on the side of the road when the tears had become too much, screaming at Chuck until your voice was hoarse and your eyes had dried.

Then with one last look behind you towards the place you had called home, you started the car and drove away.

I've been trying to find

My peace of mind

But it's so hard to hold onto

I've been digging so deep

For something to keep me

Pulling myself through

You bounced around from town to town, even helping out on a couple hunts before settling down in New York.

You gave yourself a new name, found a job substitute teaching while earning a degree at the local community college; even made a few friends along the way.

But the pain was still there. It always was.

You threw yourself into your work, school, volunteering: anything to keep the Winchesters off of your mind.

You had even taken up running, something you used to endlessly tease Sam about, but you finally started to understand: the further you ran and the harder you pushed yourself, the more distance you could put between you and your past.

You thought you were doing so well, too.

But then Sam Fucking Winchester waltzed right back into your life.

So tell me again

Is this the end

Or is it another night I'm broken

I'm begging for anything that I can get

To make sure no word goes unspoken

You bend down, planting your hands on your knees as you gasp for air, drops of water falling from your hair to the muddy ground below.

It had started raining an hour ago, maybe two, you weren’t completely sure; your phone died a long time ago.

Screaming, you fall to the ground, numb to the cold seeping into your bones.

Something about seeing Sam broke you: broke that part of you that pretended to have it all together, broke that part of you that covered up the pain, broke the false security you held inside of you.

Now all that’s left is that girl from a year ago: crying on the side of the road, calling out to Chuck to just end her misery.

Headlights shine through the rain, getting brighter the closer they come to you.

You close your eyes and lay your head against your knees, expecting whoever is driving to just keep going, but instead, they slow to a stop.

The car door opens, and you’re about to look up and tell them to just fuck off when you hear a familiar voice.

“Y/N?”

It’s been almost six months since you’ve heard your actual name, and even longer since you’ve heard it coming from a Winchester.

You open your eyes to see Sam Winchester crouched in front of you, holding out his hand as if he’s afraid to touch you.

You open your mouth to say something, maybe his name, but all that comes out is a broken sob through chattering teeth.

But you don’t need to say anything, because Sam, your Sam, is sitting in front of you with those gorgeous eyes and kind smile.

You don’t even think, you just take his hand.

Woah woah

I'm gonna need you here tonight

Forever Tags:

@energeticallyem @27bmm @impala-dreamer @lipstickandwhiskey @jotink78 @babypieandwhiskey @wheresthekillswitch @notnaturalanahi @mysteriouslyme81  @mrswhozeewhatsis @hannahindie @pinknerdpanda @keepcalmandcarryondean @sammy-moo @my-favorite-fiction67 @trexrambling @a-strange-world @mogaruke @keelzy2 @morganwinchester79 @goldenolaf25 @elfinmox @barbedwireandbubblegum @mrsbatesmotel53 @writingthingsisdifficult @dean-loves-the-trenchcoat-angel 

[sheminecrafts]

Josh Constine leaves TechCrunch for VC fund SignalFire

How do you leave the place that made you? You figure out what it made you for. TechCrunch made me a part of the startup ecosystem I love. Now it’s time to put that love into action to help a new generation of entrepreneurs build their dreams and tell their stories.

So it’s “TC to VC” for me. After 8.5 years at TechCrunch and 10 in tech journalism, I’m leaving today to join the venture team at VC fund SignalFire. I’m going to be a principal investor and their head of content.

I’ll be seeking out inspiring new companies, doing deals (when I’m eventually up to speed) and providing pitch workshops based on countless interviews for TechCrunch. Thankfully, I’ll also still get to write. We’re going to find out what founders really want to learn and produce that content to help them form, evolve and grow their companies. I’m doing my signature bounce & smile with excitement.

Where to follow my writing

You’ll still be able to follow my writing as well as my journey into VC on my newsletter Moving Product at constine.substack.com as well as on Twitter: @JoshConstine. No way I could just suddenly shut up about startups! If you’re building something, you can always reach me at joshsc [at] gmail.com

On the newsletter you can read a deeper explanation for why I picked SignalFire . I also just published the first real issue of Moving Product on how quarantine is “loaning” concurrent users to startups that will help the new wave of synchronous apps snowball to sustainability, plus commentary from top product thinkers on Facebook’s new Rooms.

Why I chose SignalFire?

I was drawn to SignalFire because it’s built like the startups I love writing about: to solve a need. Entrepreneurs need tactical advantages in areas like recruiting, where they spend most of their time, and expert advice on specific problems they’re facing.

SignalFire CEO and founder Chris Farmer

That’s why SignalFire spent six years in stealth building its recruitment prediction and market data analysis engine called Beacon. It can spot deal opportunities for SignalFire’s new $200 million seed and $300 million breakout funds while helping the portfolio hire smarter. Then SignalFire assembled more than 80 top experts, like Instagram’s founders, for its invested advisor network. Traditional funds need partners to exhaust their social capital asking for favors from friends to help their portfolio. SignalFire’s model sees its advisors share in the returns of the fund, so they’re sustainably motivated to assist.

SignalFire’s founder and CEO Chris Farmer was also willing to invest in me, figuratively. I’ve written about thousands of startups but I’ve never funded one. He and his team have offered to mentor me as I learn the art and science of investing. They also accept me for my opinionated, outspoken self. Instead of constricting my voice, the plan is to harness it to highlight new ideas and proven methods for building companies. I wrote this post on my newsletter with a deeper look at why I picked SignalFire and how its modernized approach to venture works.

What makes TechCrunch different

Of the 3,600 articles I’ve written for TechCrunch, this was the hardest.

TechCrunch gave me the platform to make an impact and the freedom to say what I believe. That’s a rare opportunity in journalism, but especially important for covering startups. TechCrunch writes about things that haven’t happened yet. There are often no objective facts by which to judge an early-stage company. Whether you decide to cover them or not, and the tone of your analysis, depends on having conviction about whether the world needs something or not, if the product is built right and if the team has what it takes.

If you rely on others’ signals about what matters, whether in the form of traction or investment, you’ll be late to the story. That means editors have to trust their writers’ intuition. At TechCrunch, that trust never wavered.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 04: (L-R) Snap Inc. Co-founder & CEO Evan Spiegel and TechCrunch editor-at-large Josh Constine speak onstage during TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco 2019. (Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch)

Eric Eldon, Alexia Tsotsis and Matthew Panzarino put their absolute faith in our team. That gave me a chance to write the first-ever coverage of startups like Robinhood before its seed round, and SnappyCam before it was acquired by Apple and turned into iPhone burst fire. My editors also never shied away from confrontations with the tech giants, like my investigation into Facebook paying teens for their data that caused it to shut down its Onavo tool, or my exposé on Bing suggesting child abuse imagery in search results that led it to overhaul its systems.

I met my wife Andee at a TechCrunch event. [Image Credit: Max Morse]

I’ll always be indebted to Eric Eldon, who gave a freshly graduated cybersociologist with no experience his first shot at blogging back at Inside Facebook. Editors like Alexia Tsotsis and Matthew Panzarino helped me develop a more critical voice without sterilizing my personality. And all my fellow writers over the years, including Zack Whittaker and Sarah Perez, pushed me to hustle, whether that meant pontificating on new product launches or exposing industry abuse. If my departure from journalism elicits a sigh of relief from the companies in my cross-hairs, I know I did my job. The TechCrunch business and events team have turned Disrupt into the tech industry’s reunion. I appreciate them giving me the chance to learn public speaking, from the most heartfelt moments to the cringiest. And really, I owe them the rest of my life, too, since I met my wife Andee at a Disrupt after-party.

Treating writing like a sport to be won kept me cranking all these years, and I’m grateful for Techmeme offering a scoreboard for extra motivation. I’ll unhumbly admit it’s nice to hang up my jersey while ranked No. 1. My gratitude to Jane Manchun Wong for furnishing so many scoops over the years, and to all my other sources. It’s been fun competing and collaborating with my favorite other reporters, and I know Taylor Lorenz, Casey Newton and Mike Isaac will keep a close eye on tech’s trends and travesties.

But most of all, I want to extend an enormous thank you to…you. To everyone who has read or shared my articles over the years. I woke up each day with a sense of duty to you, and felt proud to say “I fight for the user” like Tron. What makes this industry special is how the community refuses to treat it as zero-sum. We grow the pie together, and everyone knows their competitor today could be their future co-founder. That makes us willing to share and learn together. I believe no recession, correction or bubble-burst will change that. 

BERLIN, GERMANY – DECEMBER 12: Group Photo on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin 2019 at Arena Berlin on December 12, 2019 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for TechCrunch)

So I’ll leave you with a final thought that’s made my life so fulfilling: If you have the privilege or create the opportunity, turn your passion into your profession.

Specialize. Learn. Then make what you want. If you can find some niche you’re endlessly interested in, that’s growing in importance, and at least someone somewhere earns money from, you’ll become essential. Not necessarily today. But that’s the beauty of writing — it teaches you while proving to others what you’ve been taught. No matter what it is, blog about it once a week. In time you’ll become an expert, and be recognized as one. Then you’ll have the power to adapt to the future, however feels most graceful.

Personal news: It's TC to VC for me! I'm leaving TechCrunch to join SignalFire as a principal investor & head of content. I'm also launching my newsletter where I'm writing now: https://t.co/F7gvssC4Ky A "toast", to the future! pic.twitter.com/XRhDxdS5NF

— joshconstine (@JoshConstine) April 27, 2020

Keep up with my writing on my newsletter at constine.substack.com, stay in touch on Twitter, and reach out at joshsc [at] gmail.com

from iraidajzsmmwtv https://ift.tt/3eTPead via IFTTT

[technicalsolutions88]

How do you leave the place that made you? You figure out what it made you for. TechCrunch made me a part of the startup ecosystem I love. Now it’s time to put that love into action to help a new generation of entrepreneurs build their dreams and tell their stories.

So it’s “TC to VC” for me. After 8.5 years at TechCrunch and 10 in tech journalism, I’m leaving today to join the venture team at VC fund SignalFire. I’m going to be a principal investor and their head of content.

I’ll be seeking out inspiring new companies, doing deals (when I’m eventually up to speed) and providing pitch workshops based on countless interviews for TechCrunch. Thankfully, I’ll also still get to write. We’re going to find out what founders really want to learn and produce that content to help them form, evolve and grow their companies. I’m doing my signature bounce & smile with excitement.

Where to follow my writing

You’ll still be able to follow my writing as well as my journey into VC on my newsletter Moving Product at constine.substack.com as well as on Twitter: @JoshConstine. No way I could just suddenly shut up about startups! If you’re building something, you can always reach me at joshsc [at] gmail.com

On the newsletter you can read a deeper explanation for why I picked SignalFire. I also just published the first real issue of Moving Product on how quarantine is “loaning” concurrent users to startups that will help the new wave of synchronous apps snowball to sustainability, plus commentary from top product thinkers on Facebook’s new Rooms.

Why I chose SignalFire?

I was drawn to SignalFire because it’s built like the startups I love writing about: to solve a need. Entrepreneurs need tactical advantages in areas like recruiting, where they spend most of their time, and expert advice on specific problems they’re facing.

SignalFire CEO and founder Chris Farmer

That’s why SignalFire spent six years in stealth building its recruitment prediction and market data analysis engine called Beacon. It can spot deal opportunities for SignalFire’s new $200 million seed and $300 million breakout funds while helping the portfolio hire smarter. Then SignalFire assembled more than 80 top experts, like Instagram’s founders, for its invested advisor network. Traditional funds need partners to exhaust their social capital asking for favors from friends to help their portfolio. SignalFire’s model sees its advisors share in the returns of the fund, so they’re sustainably motivated to assist.

SignalFire’s founder and CEO Chris Farmer was also willing to invest in me, figuratively. I’ve written about thousands of startups but I’ve never funded one. He and his team have offered to mentor me as I learn the art and science of investing. They also accept me for my opinionated, outspoken self. Instead of constricting my voice, the plan is to harness it to highlight new ideas and proven methods for building companies. I wrote this post on my newsletter with a deeper look at why I picked SignalFire and how its modernized approach to venture works.

What makes TechCrunch different

Of the 3,600 articles I’ve written for TechCrunch, this was the hardest.

TechCrunch gave me the platform to make an impact and the freedom to say what I believe. That’s a rare opportunity in journalism, but especially important for covering startups. TechCrunch writes about things that haven’t happened yet. There are often no objective facts by which to judge an early-stage company. Whether you decide to cover them or not, and the tone of your analysis, depends on having conviction about whether the world needs something or not, if the product is built right and if the team has what it takes.

If you rely on others’ signals about what matters, whether in the form of traction or investment, you’ll be late to the story. That means editors have to trust their writers’ intuition. At TechCrunch, that trust never wavered.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 04: (L-R) Snap Inc. Co-founder & CEO Evan Spiegel and TechCrunch editor-at-large Josh Constine speak onstage during TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco 2019. (Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch)

Eric Eldon, Alexia Tsotsis and Matthew Panzarino put their absolute faith in our team. That gave me a chance to write the first-ever coverage of startups like Robinhood before its seed round, and SnappyCam before it was acquired by Apple and turned into iPhone burst fire. My editors also never shied away from confrontations with the tech giants, like my investigation into Facebook paying teens for their data that caused it to shut down its Onavo tool, or my exposé on Bing suggesting child abuse imagery in search results that led it to overhaul its systems.

I met my wife Andee at a TechCrunch event. [Image Credit: Max Morse]

I’ll always be indebted to Eric Eldon, who gave a freshly graduated cybersociologist with no experience his first shot at blogging back at Inside Facebook. Editors like Alexia Tsotsis and Matthew Panzarino helped me develop a more critical voice without sterilizing my personality. And all my fellow writers over the years, including Zack Whittaker and Sarah Perez, pushed me to hustle, whether that meant pontificating on new product launches or exposing industry abuse. If my departure from journalism elicits a sigh of relief from the companies in my cross-hairs, I know I did my job. The TechCrunch business and events team have turned Disrupt into the tech industry’s reunion. I appreciate them giving me the chance to learn public speaking, from the most heartfelt moments to the cringiest. And really, I owe them the rest of my life, too, since I met my wife Andee at a Disrupt after-party.

Treating writing like a sport to be won kept me cranking all these years, and I’m grateful for Techmeme offering a scoreboard for extra motivation. I’ll unhumbly admit it’s nice to hang up my jersey while ranked No. 1. My gratitude to Jane Manchun Wong for furnishing so many scoops over the years, and to all my other sources. It’s been fun competing and collaborating with my favorite other reporters, and I know Taylor Lorenz, Casey Newton and Mike Isaac will keep a close eye on tech’s trends and travesties.

But most of all, I want to extend an enormous thank you to…you. To everyone who has read or shared my articles over the years. I woke up each day with a sense of duty to you, and felt proud to say “I fight for the user” like Tron. What makes this industry special is how the community refuses to treat it as zero-sum. We grow the pie together, and everyone knows their competitor today could be their future co-founder. That makes us willing to share and learn together. I believe no recession, correction or bubble-burst will change that. 

BERLIN, GERMANY – DECEMBER 12: Group Photo on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin 2019 at Arena Berlin on December 12, 2019 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for TechCrunch)

So I’ll leave you with a final thought that’s made my life so fulfilling: If you have the privilege or create the opportunity, turn your passion into your profession.

Specialize. Learn. Then make what you want. If you can find some niche you’re endlessly interested in, that’s growing in importance, and at least someone somewhere earns money from, you’ll become essential. Not necessarily today. But that’s the beauty of writing — it teaches you while proving to others what you’ve been taught. No matter what it is, blog about it once a week. In time you’ll become an expert, and be recognized as one. Then you’ll have the power to adapt to the future, however feels most graceful.

Personal news: It's TC to VC for me! I'm leaving TechCrunch to join SignalFire as a principal investor & head of content. I'm also launching my newsletter where I'm writing now: https://t.co/F7gvssC4Ky A "toast", to the future! pic.twitter.com/XRhDxdS5NF

— joshconstine (@JoshConstine) April 27, 2020

Keep up with my writing on my newsletter at constine.substack.com, stay in touch on Twitter, and reach out at joshsc [at] gmail.com

from Social – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/3eTPead Original Content From: https://techcrunch.com