A turtley awesome tale

This story goes back as far as I can remember. I've always had an affinity for turtles.

I grew up watching the teenaged ninja variety. I've had more than one turtle as a pet. I've even amassed a small collection of turtle tchotchkes that make random appearances around my office. It's embarrassing that I've yet to pull the trigger on getting a turtle tattoo (2026 goal).

I recently adorned a bunch of my tech devices with turtle charms.

Once asked "if you could be any animal", I didn't even have to think about it, and blurted out "sea turtle".

While I wasn't too keen on it at the time, I was once dubbed "Sherman the Turtle" by my classmate Heidi Grass. It's not a nickname in active rotation, but it is a cannon event, and part of my inner monologue.

Like most things that become your thing, I don't have a ton of rhyme or reason behind it. It just sort of happened over the course of my life. In a lot of ways, it's always been secret. Out in the world, I'm not "the turtle guy". Most of my friends probably have no idea.

The fact that turtles carry around their home intrigues me. They are forced to make wherever they are at their home. I find it serene. The idea of always feeling "at home" wherever you're at.

In terms of computing, my home is in the terminal. My earliest programming memories were on text-based systems. Logo allowed me to "talk to the turtle" even though it didn't look like one.

This site, at least the last handful of iterations, has always been an extension of my terminal propensities. I define a color scheme in my terminal and then warp everything else around it. The terminal is my turtle shell.

So yeah, turtles. I love them. Maybe I'll come back at one, assuming that's even a thing.