About

Introduction

Hello there! Thanks for stopping by. My name is Matt Haliski and I build things on computers. I spent the first part of my professional career designing and programming digital experiences at creative and advertising agencies. These days I split time between my computer adventures and being a dad, husband, and, with a global pandemic, a kindergarten teacher's assistant.

Origin story

I started building websites in college at the University of Oregon. Shout out to Eugene! I still remember the day when I inserted some text inside the <title> tags and saw it appear at the top of a browser window like it was magic. I know that may seem lame, but it hooked me. I wrote some code and watched it become something real. It was amazing.

I was probably a year away from knowing what an array was, but it didn't matter. My first steps into this new world were profound and lasting.

For the next decade, I wore a ton of different hats as I built website after website. During that time, I struggled with what to consider myself. Was I a web designer? Maybe I was more of a front-end developer. SQL sort of scared me, so I was pretty sure I wasn't a back-end developer. I debated whether to specialize or be multidisciplinary. Those are tough decisions to make when you're young, as they can have big implications for your career.

In the end, the river took me where it wanted to. I probably said "yes" to too many things. I backed myself into a corner by over-promising far too many times to count. I worked with a lot of cool people who lent me their knowledge and also showed me how far I had to go. I piled on brick after brick until I could finally step back and be proud of the things I'd built. I went from a self-taught HTML tinkerer to a Senior Full Stack Developer and found my groove.

What I'm currently doing

I run a little solo shop, Leaving Harbor. I've built a couple of college sports news aggregator websites that combined my development skills and love for college sports. I freelance occasionally. I'm raising a wonderful daughter with the help of my wife, Melissa.

We moved back to the Pacific Northwest a decade ago, and my computer work slowed dramatically. Exploring a new city, raising a kid, and fixing up a house all took priority. That's life! You roll with the punches. Hell, I didn't expect a global pandemic to consume a couple of years of our lives — sheesh.

Anyway, I consider myself lucky that I get to build my own ideas and work on other projects that interest me. That’s sort of the end goal after all.

Other stuff

When I'm not in front of a computer, I have somewhat of a life. My wife and I love to ski. I enjoy(ed) riding motorcycles. Both activities seem more and more infrequent as we spend our time hanging out with our daughter. She's worth it. Our weeknights and weekends are consumed by her sporting events.

I love the Pacific Northwest. I dig the vibe. The trees, the gray, the ocean, and the mountains are all why I like to call this part of the country home.

I enjoy playing video games. I'm a console guy. PlayStation, to be specific. I used to play football and basketball and love college sports. I was an outside linebacker for the Oregon Ducks for a short stint before my body told me football was no longer an option.

I'm pretty much Apple everything for both work and play. I actually started on PCs, but nearly the entire design world was running Macs when I got into it all, so I switched and never looked back.

Anywhoo, congrats if you made it this far. I'll shut up now. I should probably be writing code rather than goofing around on my blog. I'll try to use this site to help others on their journey. Head over to the blog for that. Thanks for stopping by.

Stay wild, my friends.