Field Notes from a Public Servant Learning in Real Time
“Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.”
— Dwight D. Eisenhower
(Also works for learning AI, it turns out.)
This is a working table of contents. Some entries are complete, others are on the way. Each section reflects a stage in the journey — from first questions to evolving projects.
The origin story, complete with doubts, flyers, and late-night Googling.
Crossing the Threshold
A skeptic’s guide to saying yes even when you’re not sure you belong.
Walking the Ridgeline
What floppy disks, public service, and curiosity still have in common.
One Night to Know
One SkillBuilder course later and my brain lit up in the best way.
Between the Map and the Magic
On wonder, structure, and what happens when you step beyond certainty.
Before the Code
Why thoughtful design and not speed, is where public sector AI must begin.
Proof of Possibility
A prototype built in a weekend. Not perfect. But real. And working.
Experiments in motion. Some are duct-taped. All are real.
Your Honor, I Object (to Jury Duty)
Experiments in motion. Some are duct-taped. All are real.
Read all about it in Proof Of Possibility
(Built on Ryan Gertz’s Streamlit + Bedrock repo, reimagined for public service use.)
Field Notes from Jury Services
Trying to bring 2025 tools into 1990s workflows — and what happens when you do.
(More to come.)
Strategy, perspective, and the occasional detour.
What’s the Real Use Case Here?
A court supervisor walks into an AI conversation and starts asking different questions.
When It All Feels Too Fast (and Too Slow)
On cognitive whiplash, analog wisdom, and why slow systems still matter.
(More in progress.)
Where data meets storytelling, and public service meets pie charts.
The Forum Files: Trust Fall Basketball Meets Pie Chart Storytelling
What I learned about collaboration, creativity, and the Lakers from my Substack side project.
(Additional civic data experiments coming soon.)
One idea per post. Small pieces of meaning. No heavy lifting required.
Why My Supernote is Smarter Than Me
A digital notebook with better memory and fewer existential crises.
The Best Tools I Didn’t Know I Needed
(Spoiler: Power Automate, Google Colab, and caffeine.)