I’ve gotten to used to speaking things aloud.

Jeez, I need to just write every day.

Change has never been easy. It takes persistence and determination, and requires all of us to speak out and stand up for what we believe in. As we honor Dr. King today, let’s draw strength from his example, and do our part to build on his legacy.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. dedicated his life fighting for equity and justice. He taught us that even in the face of intimidation and discrimination, we must never stop working towards a better future – a lesson that feels especially relevant today.

The black and white pictures are meant to deceive you. It was not long ago. #MLKinColor

A good day to log off and do some work in your community.

Stopped using and paying for Spotify a couple months ago. On Apple Music now but just because it’s free for a bit. Any alternatives y’all are using? I found out that my music quality was actual shit for years. So…anything with good music quality that pays artists.

Security folklore of the morning is that no one should share URLs on Signal because it exposes IP addresses and people should use QR codes instead. Please don’t do this! QR codes are much less secure. If you’re concerned about link security, turn off link previews which you can do in Signal settings

I had no idea so many people used Ghost Writers…like in our industry. Writing my own shit is the fun of it…but I hadn’t considered that others may not feel that way or create the time to write.

Baby steps, Steph. Just focus on the baby steps.

ChatGPT about me: You have low tolerance for relational inefficiency. Generally I have low tolerance for ALL inefficiency, but thanks. 😂

It’s Friday and I’m done with my day job’s work, but because work has been hectic, I’m behind on my 5 to 9 work. So…close work laptop, open Chromebook.

NYT reports that the TSA is giving ICE a list of every person who's to be taking a domestic flight inside the US so ICE can run it through their database looking for targets. I'm not a lawyer, but I feel like the 4th Amendment has something to say about this. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/u...

My favorite game of the year was Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Second was Dragon Age: Veilguard. Most played was Assassin’s Creed: Shadows (a black Sumarai??? Come on. Had to be played). I game a lot on my “off” seasons. Meaning when I’m just working and not doing side stuff.

My book, "The Staff Designer", was officially published by @rosenfeldmedia.com this week! 200+ pages of IC design leadership advice including personal experience and 20+ interviews with staff designers & managers ✨ It's performance reviews season. Get you a copy: rosenfeldmedia.com/books/the-st...

Week 2 of having an assistant complete. - she’s completely reorganized my inbox - she’s providing research support as I plan talks and articles for the new year - she’s even done some light social media support for LinkedIn I’m learning: - how to be clear in my instructions - delegation

I’ve had so much negative inspiration this week that I’m turning into positive creativity and I’m so excited for this to make me money. My favorite form of revenge is to take someone’s malicious intent and make it make me successful.

Are we not even making our own disinformation? What happened to American manufacturing?

A commonly-misunderstood aspect of computer security is that you are battling computers. No. That is not right at all. Computers are barely involved. You are battling humans who eat apathy and coordination problems.

I’m making a series on leadership, and I’m going over leader archetypes. What types of leaders have you had?

I wanted to be a leader in an org and now I am leading in my business...gonna have my first 1099 hire! It's genuinely for assistance with my business, but I also need to learn delegation, proper organization, and clarity. So, it's a growth opportunity for me...BIG TIME.

To know that we have been here before and that knowledge of history does naught for preventing it’s inevitable circular transition. To know that we will be here again. That this cycle is one that’s as human as you or I. It is too easy to acknowledge simply that we survived…without assessing cost.

I’ve struggled a lot with my ambition and the reality of the times we’re in. It’s hard to dream in a world where dreams are dying so steadily. Where the switch from dreaming to surviving is becoming the norm. It feels selfish and weak to avoid the state of things. To voice an un-impactful opinion.

Currently needing to put blinders on and not be influenced by the oppressive tendency to compare. It’s a hard thing, but I’m working on it!

ICE’s rampant technology spending raises the possibility of "targeted surveillance, not just of undocumented people, but of American citizens as well,” EFF’s @cooperq.com told @Axios.com. www.axios.com/2025/10/21/...

LASCON is in Austin. Yay! Found out today and it’s sold out. Damn. See that most of the talks are AI-focused, so I won’t be missing much. Yay! See a few talks that I’d want to see. Damn. Sigh.

Successfully completed my morning routine with no music, podcasts, audiobooks, nada. You don’t know how many deep sighs I took on my morning walk. I feel light. And it also has the added benefit of starting my day off with lower amounts of insta-dopamine and copious amounts of slow dopamine.

I’ve also been raw dogging my walks. No music. No podcasts. Just the sounds of the present moment. Park time with no music, no podcasts, nothing. Next will be morning routines. I just need to give my brain a break while it’s conscious.

The first time I did it, I watched the clouds for 10 mins, and then turned over to go face down on the blanket. My dog jumped on my head about 5 mins into that, but it was nice. Some guy was walking towards me at some point, but my dog’s barks made him change direction. The only weird thing.

It’s better when there are actual clouds up there, but I have looked at the blue, too. Because at my local park, laying on something that is laying on the grass, it kind of feels like a different dimension. I feel like I’m not here anymore. I feel myself deep body sigh intermittently. Tension go 💨.

I don’t touch grass because animals use it as a bathroom, but lately, I have been going to my local park, laying down on my picnic blanket, and looking up at the sky for an hour. No earphones or headphones. Literally just looking at the sky, with only the sounds of my dog’s pants as the music.

I’m working on Cybersecurity Awareness Month stuff and I see two themes. CISA says the theme is Building A Cyber Strong America. But the National Cybersecurity Alliance says “Stay Safe Online.” I’m leaning towards using the second one, but why the difference?

Finally, the inspiration is flowing and the wheels are turning.

And now that it’s cooler outside in the mornings, I also let the cool air in. I miss letting fresh air in daily. Maybe it’s something I can do more often when I move.

Finally got the right coffee maker for me (I’m not that much of a coffee drinker to enjoy the process of a pour over situation) and am making coffee at home now. Very very amateur set up, but it makes me happy to have my one cup in the morning while I journal. Next step, learning to make it iced.

My dog knows how to open doors now. Not like turn the knob, but like, if a door is cracked, she will push it open. She’s never even tried to do it before lol. She’d just wait as if the door was closed. 3.5 years old and now she’s opening cracked doors and barging in lmaoooo

Ahhhhh, I love the fresh smell of a dumpster fire in the morning, don't you?

Just a reminder...

This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent — and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it.

After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.

And finally, maybe ask yourself: How much of your life is spent proving things to others? How much time have you spent proving the same things to yourself over and over again? Why aren’t you accepting what you know? What would it mean to accept the thing you’re avoiding?

I think being clear now on my end goal means there are things that no longer matter. Taking the time to prove things to myself also means the opinion of others has lessened in significance. Now, it’s about my end goal. And helping people. And living my life.

And another point, maybe the elephant in the room that I regularly have to greet… Being a black woman in this space means a lot of people will assume a lot of things about me without me even saying a thing…even IF I say a contradictory thing. If it’s to my benefit, I’ll let them. I’m tired LOL.

I find so many people have wounds attached to how smart people think they are…especially in our field. But most people don’t need to know you’re smart. They won’t do anything meaningful with that knowledge but maybe use you? Maybe sometimes it’s not to your benefit that people think you’re smart.

I won’t say I do it often but if someone assumes I’m an idiot and it’s to my benefit, I’ll let them keep thinking that. People’s opinions don’t really matter and those who matter typically will be able to tell if I’m smart or not.

It can be done quick or it can be done right. I’ve rarely seen both in the industry.

I am NO expert, but the community seems to be suffering from the same thing we try to educate humans about: fast thinking (emotional, quick) versus slow thinking (logical, reasoning). It’s why education/awareness fields try to tell people to step back, pause, and think before they click.

"Security professionals are praised for being fast. We celebrate quick turnarounds, instant responses, low Time-to-Close. But is anyone asking whether we’re better at thinking…or just reacting?" This is a quote from last week's piece on urgency in security. Check it out below: