It was intense and crazy. But for me, it was a life changing experience, 100% worth it and I still enjoy my job today.

A screen grab from a presentation I did at Hack Reactor in October 2015, on “building intelligent robots using Node.js that can conquer Twitter.“

A few weeks ago, I picked up Edward Hallowell’s Driven to Distraction after hearing someone say that it was “life changing” for them in dealing with an adult ADHD diagnosis. Combine that with the fact that one of our kiddos was recently diagnosed with ADHD and that I’ve long suspected I also have it, I figured it was time to do a bit of reading. I went in a bit skeptical. The book was published in 1994, after all.

What I wasn’t prepared for was how much I’d recognize myself in the pages. I encountered a number of passages that really resonated with me and provided some validation into how I’ve always felt, acted, approached things, and thought about problems. Some of the examples were so on the mark, I could have written them myself.

Take this passage that basically describes a frequent, near daily, experience:

“I can be working on a project at my desk, when, without really knowing it, I begin to think about some other idea my work suggests. Then I follow that thought, or I may even leave my desk to go get something, and by the time I’ve gone to get the thing, I’ve forgotten what it was I was going to get.”

That’s me, walking away from my workstation to pour a fresh cup of coffee, only to come back, forget what I was doing and then opening Jira to organize some tickets, because for some reason they need to be done right now.

Another section is about how ADHD brains handle creative thinking:

“When someone with ADD receives a stimulus of some sort—an image, a sentence, an idea, a person’s face, a question—he does not immediately put it in its ‘proper’ place. He doesn’t even know where that place is. So, for example, the water bill gets filed with concerns over a fishing trip, and the next thing you know an idea is being generated that has to do with entrepreneurial fishing expeditions.”

Again, this is another example that perfectly describes some past behaviors.

The book isn’t flawless, though. There are definitely some outdated and weird terms (using ADD instead of ADHD, also the number of times it describes someone with ADHD as a “spaceshot”), and some of the family dynamics and gender role assumptions feel very 1990s. A few examples made me cringe a bit with their stereotypical takes on household responsibilities and parenting roles.

All that said, it still managed to deliver really interesting insights. The sections on family dynamics were particularly eye-opening, especially around structure and negotiation. Hallowell talks about how people with ADHD sometimes pick fights just for the stimulation and it’s definitely a pattern we’ve patterns we’ve observed with our kiddo (related book review).

Hallowell’s insights about frustration tolerance helped give insight to some of the behaviors we’ve seen with our own little one:

“The process of negotiation is inherently difficult for someone with ADD because it entails bearing frustration. This is difficult for all people. But it is particularly difficult for the person with ADD who would rather deal with frustration by blowing it off, or by reaching closure too quickly—even if that means sabotaging his own interests—than by the excruciatingly painful ordeal of bearing with it.”

This explains so much about the meltdowns we see when our kiddo gets overwhelmed by too many options or when decisions need to be made collaboratively.

Another section of the book offered advice on how to deal with people who have ADHD. My favorite piece of advice was this:

“Make copious use of praise and positive feedback. More than most people, people with ADD blossom under the warmth of praise.”

Sidenote: A few months ago, we had a work retreat. One of the sessions involved exploring what motivates us. We all wrote down a bunch of things and then tried to examine why they might motivate us. From my notes:

So, yeah! That little passage hit me hard. I’ve always thrived on positive feedback and acknowledgment of good work. And it’s always made a huge difference in my motivation and confidence.

Driven to Distraction gets 4 out of 5 stars from me. It’s definitely showing its age in places, but the core insights remain incredibly valuable. If you’ve ever wondered why your brain seems to work differently from everyone else’s, or if you’re trying to understand someone in your life who might have ADHD, this book is worth the read.

I use Claude Code a lot, for both work and play. One thing I noticed was that I’d often start a long query and then get distracted, ultimately forgetting to check if Claude was waiting for input.

So naturally, instead of just setting a timer like a normal person, I decided to build a ridiculous solution: claude-sounds

It’s a stupidly simple bash script that plays random sound effects whenever Claude Code’s notification hook triggers. Set it up once, and now every time Claude finishes a response or starts using a tool, you get a little audio notification.

The setup is pretty straightforward:

1. Clone the repo
2. Add it to your PATH
3. Configure it as a Claude Code notification hook in your settings

The sounds themselves were generated using ElevenLab’s Archer persona.

The whole thing is just a few lines of bash that randomly selects an MP3 file and plays it with afplay. Add your own sounds, remove the ones you don’t like, customize it however you want.

Is this necessary? Absolutely not. Is it fun to hear a little message when Claude finishes helping you debug something? Yes! (At least at first… I imagine this might drive someone insane after hearing these about 100 times. I’m still having fun with it though!)

Examples:

I’ve written a bit about my Dodgers fandom on this blog. Last night, I watched from afar (thank you, streaming services) as Clayton Kershaw notched his 3,000th strikeout, becoming the 20th pitcher to ever do it (and only the 3rd pitcher to rack up 3K strikeout for one team).

He’s definitely my favorite active player on the Dodgers (we even got to see him deal when we went to game 1 of the 2017 World Series). But it got me thinking: who is my absolute favorite player of all time?

There’s only one answer, and it goes back as far as I can ever remember: Orel Hershiser.

So much so, that when I was a wee little lad, I would write him actual letters and send them to Dodgers Stadium via the post office. I have no idea what I said. Probably something in an 8-year-old’s hand writing that said, “Dear Mr. Hershiser, you are my favorite baseball player and I’m going to be just like you when I grow up and blah blah blah.”

I remember writing him numerous times. One thing I do know: I never asked for anything*. Never for tickets to a game. Never for an autograph. Then, one day, we received a letter in a big envelope from Dodger Stadium. Do you know what it contained?

Are you kidding me?! Looking at that photo you can see it’s definitely been through some stuff over the years. Pre-teen and teen version of me probably just stuffed it in some folder that got lost in my room, stepped on, and whatever else. Anyway, I ultimately framed it and still have it today!

All of this brings me to the title of this post: “SCHUMAKER 55”. For reference, Hershiser wore number 55 throughout his career.

So, as a kid, I would play baseball in our backyard, pretending to pitch and throw tennis balls at the garage, where I had drawn a small “strike zone” in chalk.

(Side note: hey, I won a school wide pitching competition in 5th grade — maybe this pretend play helped!)

All the while, I would wear this homemade uniform in honor of him, where I had written “Dodgers” in blue marker on the front and “SCHUMAKER 55” on the back. I wish I had pictures. It was probably cheesy.

So, imagine my shock, surprise, and delight when the Dodgers acquired Skip Schumaker in 2012. And do you know what number he wore? Do you! Guess!

You know, I don’t have many regrets in life. But I definitely regret never getting an actual jersey!

—

^* Regarding the never asking for anything comment:

So, I do remember asking for one thing. My mom was going to take me to a baseball game in August of 1992 (more on that in a bit). I think I wrote months ahead of time how I was going to my first baseball game with my mom and I hoped he would pitch.

So, we went and BY SOME COINCIDENCE, HE DID! HE PITCHED THE GAME!

Over time, the memories of that game faded away and I wished I could remember what game we actually went to.

Talking to my mom, we remembered three ultra specific things: An afternoon game. Orel Hershiser started. Darryl Strawberry hit a home run.

Thanks to the wonders of Baseball Reference, that is literally all you need to find something. The game my mom and I went to? Wednesday, August 21st, 1992.

When Darryl Strawberry went up to bat with the bases loaded in the fifth inning of the Dodgers’ 9-5 victory over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday, coach Bill Russell nudged someone in the Dodgers’ dugout.

“If I’m the pitcher, I’d intentionally walk him,” Russell said. “Give up one run instead of four.”

If only the San Diego Padres’ Ricky Bones had been listening. Three pitches later, Strawberry hit one over the left-center-field fence for a grand slam.

[…]

But before 32,864 on a warm afternoon, Strawberry did more than pad his statistics. He did more than help Orel Hershiser run his record to 5-2 in 5 2/3 innings of pain-free work.

What Strawberry did was restore flickering Dodger spirits. For the first time in weeks, the Dodgers actually looked as if they were having fun.

Ultimately, Darryl Strawberry hit two home runs (one of which was a grand slam)! Talk about an exciting and fun game.

I haven’t mentioned ArtBot in awhile, but it’s just sitting there doing its thing. And people are still using it! Earlier today, my analytics tool informed me that we surpassed 30,000,000 images generated with it!