After 10+ years of stewing on an idea, I started building an app (for myself) that I've never had the courage or time to start until now.

I really wanted to learn the coding, the design patterns, etc, but truthfully, it was never gonna happen without a Claude. I could never get past the unknown-unknowns (and I didn't even grasp how broad is the domain of knowledge it actually requires.) Best case I would have started small chunks and abandoned it countless times, piling on defeatism and disappointment each time.

Now in under two weeks of spare time and evenings, I've got a working prototype that's starting to resemble my dream. Does my code smell? Yes. Is it brittle? Almost certainly. Is it a security risk? I hope not. (It's not.)

I want to be intentional about how I use AI; I'm nervous about how it alters how we think and learn. But seeing my little toy out in the real world is flippin incredible.