Posts by Michael Earls
Kung Food AmerAsia: A Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Find… Right Here in Cincinnati
I watched Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives and assumed Kung Food AmerAsia was in NYC or California—turns out it’s been in the Cincinnati area for 16+ years. I finally went, and it brought back that off-the-radar, eclectic “dive find” feeling I’ve missed.
Read MoreIdentity First: The Only Control Plane That Survives Every Cloud Decision
Identity isn’t plumbing — it’s architecture. User, device, and code identity form the only control plane that survives every cloud decision.
Read MoreAwareness Before Acceleration
The second week of January is when things start to get honest. The energy of the new year hasn’t disappeared, but it has changed. The noise has quieted. The routines are no longer new. And the temptation to add more, more goals, more effort, more urgency, starts to creep back in. Before doing that, I’m…
Read MoreFrom Aruba to My Kitchen: Homemade Stroopwafels, Gratitude, and Slowing Down
A first-time attempt at homemade stroopwafels inspired by Aruba, with reflections on gratitude, coffee, process, and slowing down into 2026.
Read MoreRefining the Base
Different city. Same Orangetheory workout. That alone was the reminder. No matter where you go, the work shows up the same. Today’s focus was simple: your base — and pushing it up. Refining the base isn’t exciting.It’s quiet.It’s repetitive.Sometimes uncomfortable. There’s no spotlight on it. No immediate payoff. Just showing up and doing the work that…
Read MoreExpert Mode, No Guardrails — But With Control
Multi-cloud promised flexibility. It delivered complexity. A real-world look at control planes, identity-first design, and operating at full speed.
Read MoreMorning Coffee, Quiet Time, and the Question: How Do I Become a Better Me in 2026?
A quiet morning, coffee in hand, reflecting on purpose, balance, and what it really means to make 2026 with intention—not hacks.
Read MoreClosing the Year: Reflecting on Change, Letting Go, and Setting Direction
As this year comes to a close, it feels like the right moment to zoom out. Throughout Reflecting on Change, one message kept surfacing, sometimes quietly, sometimes through discomfort:Growth isn’t always about adding more.Often, it’s about letting go. We focused this year.We pulled ourselves forward when things felt heavy.We built discipline, rhythm, and awareness, sometimes…
Read MoreThe Quit Week
A simple Christmas-week reset: integration over intensity—close loops, protect presence, and carry less into the new year.
Read MoreIntegration Over Intensity
The rain, the cold, the gray—none of it rushes. Maybe the lesson isn’t to push harder, but to integrate what we’ve learned before the calendar flip
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