I consider myself fortunate that I like my day job more than I like writing words. Otherwise I would feel much of the same depression. When I go to conferences

I consider myself fortunate that I like my day job more than I like writing words. Otherwise I would feel much of the same depression. When I go to conferences or tech meetups, people tell me how much this essay or that book changed their life, and it's wonderful, but the revenues from everything put together wouldn't have paid for a van or a spot by the river for the eleven years that I've been writing. Being internet-obscure is a wonderful and rewarding hobby, if you can afford a hobby. But for me, the rewards are in the writing and in the feeling that I'm contributing a little bit to helping people enjoy programming. Which is a lot like other hobbies, where part of the social thing is helping other people enter the hobby and enjoy it.