Today is a doubly special day.
For one thing, today is Slope of Hope’s 18th birthday. Every year on March 29th, I’ve written up some kind of “happy birthday” message to celebrate yet another annum in Slope’s long and storied history. It seems hard to believe that, were Slope a person, it would now be old enough to vote and have consensual sex. Let us all take a moment of gratitude that Slope is, in fact, an abstraction and incapable of doing either of those things. Sort of like its creator.
There’s no need to has through all that has changed in the world between 2005 and 2023. It might as well be a different planet altogether. Just for fun, though, here is the percentage change in three particular assets – – Gold, the S&P, and Bitcoin, since Slope burst into existence. It should come as no surprise which one of these has done the best.
However, today is, as I said, a doubly special day, and that’s because I very deliberately chose this day to be the publication date for my debut novel, Solid State, which is now available for purchase in paperback or hardcover. Buy it! You’ll like it!
The simple fact is that I would never considered writing a novel had it not been for you good people. You’re the ones who put it in my head in the first place that I was a good writer and gave me encouragement along the way. Thus, for better or worse, the book is out in the world now ready to be read, enjoyed, shared – – – or used to provide a bit of extra support for any wobbly table you may have in your house.
As for Slope, I always find myself asking, “How much longer are you going to keep doing this?” to which my internal reply is consistently “As long as I can.”
There are two reasons for that answer.
One of them is that, most days, I truly do enjoy my work here. We’ve created something quite unique and extraordinary together. And second, I feel a sense of obligation to the community, since for many folks Slope is a surprisingly big part of their lives.
I started Slope in my thirties and here I am still cranking away at it in my fifties. I’m just going to keep at it, day after day. And, ultimately, I envision the end as something like this:
