Week of January 1-3, 2026

Week in Review

The first week of the digital garden. Ground-laying for a site built on philosophy, not just documentation. The goal: articulate foundational beliefs so AI can work with me, not produce generic output.

Key Moments

• Crystallized the Five Pillars of Project Quality, encoding years of learning into something teachable
• Realized the Judgment Engine needs a revamp: it was built to protect voice while AI helped write, but those are competing goals

Progress

• AI as Your Partner: Foundation in place from late December, now part of a larger system
• Project Quality: Published as a complete note
• Writing Style Rules: Added to the site to protect voice in posts

Learnings

The foundation has three parts that work together:

• Writing style protects voice
• Project quality encodes experience
• AI collaboration is the reason both need to be explicit

A tension resolved: drawing out ideas is collaborative, but voice is solo work. AI can ask questions and find structure. It cannot write in your voice, no matter the guardrails. The Judgment Engine was trying to do both. The revamp needs to pick one.

For Next Week

Depends on job demands. The site grows from projects and debriefs, not a content schedule. Capture what matters as it emerges.

Gratitude

(First week, solo work)