Vol. IV · No. 12 Ontario, Canada Est. 2026

Fieldnotes

by Tyrel — A commonplace book for code, craft, and quiet hours.


A brief autobiography Updated April 20, 2026

Hello, I'm Tyrel.

Software developer, slow writer, sometimes gardener. This page is the part of the blog where I stop hiding behind the third person.

self-portrait, tuesday
fig. i

I write software for a living and for fun, which is a useful arrangement on the days when those are the same thing and an awkward one on the days when they aren't. Most of my professional life has been spent in JavaScript — browsers, Node, the occasional React app that outgrew its good intentions. On evenings I'm learning Rust slowly, the way you learn a new instrument: with enthusiasm, a lot of wrong notes, and a patient partner in the form of the compiler.

I grew up on the prairie and still live here. Flat horizon, long light, cold that teaches you to notice indoor warmth. I keep a notebook on the kitchen table and another in my coat pocket. If you see me looking at a wall for a long time, I am probably debugging something, or remembering a sentence I want to write down later.

This site is a commonplace book — part journal, part working-notebook, part letter to whoever's reading. I publish when I have something to say and not before. You won't find a posting schedule because I don't believe in them for myself.

Right now a /now page, updated April 20, 2026

Where
At the kitchen table, Edmonton
Reading
'A Philosophy of Software Design' — J. Ousterhout
Listening
Nils Frahm · Spaces
Making
A small Rust CLI that renames photos by EXIF date
Thinking about
Whether microtasks are a tool or a trap
Drinking
Cold-brew, third cup
The Stack

What I work with.

  • Editor Neovim + Helix on alternate days
  • Languages JavaScript, TypeScript, Rust, a little Go
  • Writing iA Writer → markdown → this site
  • Notebook Leuchtturm1917, dotted, cream
  • Pens Uni-ball Signo 0.38 in brown-black
  • Coffee V60, 14g / 230g, 93°C
Colophon

How this site is made.

  • Hand-built in HTML, CSS and a little Astro.
  • Type set in Fraunces, Lora, JetBrains Mono and Caveat.
  • Illustrations drawn in inline SVG by hand.
  • Hosted kindly by a box in a closet.

No trackers. No cookies. No popups. No AI-generated copy.

Want to write back?

I'm slow but I read everything. Ping me on X, poke around on GitHub, or grab the RSS — whichever suits.

— Tyrel, from the kitchen table