Essays on Maté's Mental Notes

The Jobseeker

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 18:58:33 +1300

It was a bright, cold day in October, and my watch was just striking thirteen. The sun was bright, the sky clear, the air dry. It was a perfect day to be outside…

Daddy's Gone Mad, Hasn't He?

Sun, 02 Aug 2026 16:44:17 +1200

Daddy’s gone mad, hasn’t he? In his twenties, Daddy was so sure about the future. Now in his early thirties, he is looking at buying a home, thinking about where the dog will go, and how the husband will fit into it. His life was great - a good job, excellent friends and family, and a productive routine. But at work, something went wrong…

Top-down, bottom up

Sun, 12 Jul 2026 20:34:16 +1200

I haven’t written in a while! Let’s hope this casual, fun entry spurs my love of writing again.

It’s folly to think you have everything figured out without experience, isn’t it? As a kid, I remember rolling my eyes in many kitchens when an adult advised me from their “experience”, only for me to disregard them and plunge head-first into whatever bad decision had me running like an Irish Setter chasing a tennis ball.

If Something Horrible Happens, I Hope We're Together

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 20:11:57 +1300

You get the feeling something horrible is going to happen, don’t you? Something to the world, right? Well of course you do. You have likely borne witness to all kinds of terrible news about the world today. You get all kinds of horrible news delivered straight to you from the Internet. At least, I do.

If something horrible happens, I hope we’re all together. Or at least, united in our own little communities. Yeah, it’s corny. But where has being nihilistic and cynical gotten us? It’s gotten me nowhere.

You Must Go on a Spiritual Journey

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 19:46:22 +1300

You must go on a spiritual journey.

By the time you are 35.

If you didn’t manage the journey by 35, you can still start. Many people miss the opportunity to. You might have kids, or bury yourself in your career, or find yourself part of some social problem. But 35 is the best time to get it going.

I don’t know why, but some people don’t go on the journey. I know many such cases. You will know them too. Them’s the folks who are “followed up” by drama. The man children. The drama queens. In short, immature people. In short, the journey is growing up.

Every Time Is Different

Sat, 14 Feb 2026 12:03:10 +1300

To understand the world today, people often compare current events with those of yesteryear. Just as Rome fell, so too shall America, they might say. Technological change has brought about massive changes both to our daily lives, and to those of the past. We don’t know how new technologies will change our lives in the long term. So people look at history for clues.

Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 19:22:10 +1300

In this Daily, I venture into dangerous territory: commentary on geopolitics. Here follows the usual disclaimer: I am no expert in politics. I did not complete a degree in politics. But I do see and read things. And I will comment as far as I feel appropriate. You’re lucky to get the disclaimer. Let’s go.

We are in the age of the comment. We are in the age of self-awareness. The Internet has brought forth the ability for anyone to comment on any issue. For them to call out our leaders and systems. A comment section comes attached to many a news article. There, you’ll find what people “really” think of the news.

Maybe The Real Economy Was the Friends We Made Along the Way

Sun, 08 Feb 2026 06:47:55 +1300

I am not an economist. Most people I know aren’t either. But many of us fancy we know a lot about economics. And in a way we all do. The economy is just the sum of all the business people are conducting. As we all know, it’s sort of important…

There Is a "Well, Actually" for Everything

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 10:28:29 +1300

My latest thought is about well, actually. You’ll have heard this phrase before. Usually when your slightly churlish friend corrects misinformation. Well actually, daddy longlegs aren’t venemous at all - the idea about their fangs being too small is a myth. That kind of thing…

Commit to the Bit

Sun, 30 Nov 2025 14:56:10 +1300

During the tail end of the pandemic, I became friends with a comedian. He was filming a TV show near where I lived. It was one of those short-lived friendships where a local celebrity becomes fascinated with you. Perhaps he had a crush. In any case, he was good company…

A Little Park Bench in a Small Spanish Town

Sun, 05 Oct 2025 12:30:00 +1200

Nowhere to go, but somewhere to sit. I see a little park bench, in a small Spanish town…

Cute, but Let's Switch to English

Tue, 29 Jul 2025 06:00:00 +1200

I have been on holiday to several European countries. Though I find holidays decadent and idle, it has been a rewarding experience. That said, I am bad at holidaying. I don’t buy tickets to venues, I don’t book events, and I generally wander around to see what happens, instead of looking up what to do. I also carry a secret shame: I am ashamed to speak English in a non-English country. For me, it seems rude to turn up to a country and not speak the national language. It is the same as turning up to a BBQ without any drinks to offer the host or meat to throw on the grill.

The AI Value Paradox

Sat, 14 Jun 2025 21:00:00 +1200

I often talk about computers in this blog. And unless someone faxed this article to you, you are reading this on a computer. A computer is a marvellous machine. Through the history of computing, the early pioneers were immediately aware of the abilities and opportunities of the computer…

Woke and Anti-Woke

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 09:00:00 +1200

Wokeism is ending. But I remember when it first started. I was living in a flat in Wellington and remember seeing some posts on Reddit about some controversy regarding Halloween at Yale University. Everyone on Reddit, and I, thought it was silly. That is my earliest memory of wokeism. But I quickly moved on to the next post to comfort me in my cold, damp living room. I did not expect the seismic shift that would shape and change the cultural and political landscape into what it is today.

I Want to Open a Little Shop

Wed, 22 Jan 2025 21:00:00 +1300

That Mitchell and Webb Sound is one of the finest sketch series put to radio. It is the only sketch series on radio that I know of. It is as absurd as Monty Python, but bitingly grounded in reality. My favourite recurring sketch has to be the Old Lady Job Justification Hearings…

Either true or false

Thu, 02 Jan 2025 10:49:30 +1300

To be, or not to be. That is the cliché. I haven’t even read Hamlet, which is where to be or not to be comes from. Apparently, the line is about suicide. It might have more interpretations. But on the surface, the statement is simple: either live or die. We are familiar with either/or phrases like this: have cake or eat it, my way or the highway, true or false. There are two states that Mister Hamlet is pondering, and he cannot choose both.

What Should I Do with my Life?

Sat, 21 Dec 2024 09:00:00 +1300

I have a very optimized routine. I wake up at 05:45, and by 05:50, I have my gym clothes on. If I had a dream before waking up, I might record it on my voice notes app. Groggy and still drunk on sleep, I wearily descend the cramped stairway of my flat to find a hot pot of coffee greeting me. The previous night, I would have set it to automatically switch on before waking. Grateful for this automated treat, I gulp down two small cups of hot coffee. I then brush my teeth, ridding my mouth of any remotely brown flavor, and head to the car park downstairs to un-rack my bike. I ride to the gym to join other morning people who are disciplined enough to start their day this way.

The Gay Bar Paradox

Sun, 24 Nov 2024 07:49:09 +1300

Last Saturday night, I was walking home from a movie with friends, followed by dinner with them. It was a perfect outing. It is ideal to have dinner after a movie. You can talk about what you saw while literally chewing the fat. I took the bus home, and after getting on the wrong one, desperately concluded the journey to my street with an Uber. I live on Karangahape Road, or K’ Rd, one of the busiest bar and nightclub streets in Auckland. While stopping at a pedestrian light, I overheard a conversation from a group of four twenty-somethings.

Play the Game

Sun, 03 Jul 2022 17:22:44 +1200

I once had a boyfriend. We used to talk about work a lot. We worked in the same department at the same workplace, so there was a lot to discuss. Working together could be a bit overbearing at times (see also: the break up). But I loved his observations and wry musings on professional life. After each day we would wind down outside on his patio and talk about the day. His words in the gentle glow of the weekday dusk still echo in my head:

Book Report - Straw Dogs

Thu, 24 Feb 2022 15:19:34 +1300

I recently read Straw Dogs by John Gray. It was part of my summer reading and I finished it on a boiling hot beach in Northland. When I returned to my home of Wellington I visited a friend’s place for tea. We talked animatedly about what we had done, seen, and read on holiday. As the caffeine urged on our conversation I told her what I had read in Straw Dogs. I tried my best to explain it as her eyes gradually glazed over (which is normal when I talk for more than a minute). But I could tell she was not comfortable with the ideas I was telling her. The tea in my cup had dried up and we changed the topic.

P/PC: a productivity principle for programmers (and other people)

Wed, 03 Oct 2018 20:47:03 +0000

It’s so easy to make your dreams come true. All you need are goals! Just write them down - promise to read one book per week, do 100 push ups every morning, and learn French fluently. The next day, do less than half of what you planned. After one week, do none and forget about everything completely. Then wait until the next crisis has you scribbling new goals optimistically at 3am. Have you done this before? I have. Many times in fact. The problem is that if your ambition is not in harmony with your ability, your goals have no means to come to light. And you find yourself face-down on the floor wondering why you even started.

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