Ninth House Studios builds intentional digital tools for people
doing work that matters deeply to them. We craft technology that genuinely serves
artists, practitioners, creatives and local places. We prioritize utility over
hype; stewardship over extraction, and measure success by the tangible good done
for the client and the community.
What I Do
So you can do your actual work
I know how to manage background processes and build pipelines that allow you
to focus on the work that truly matters. Technology use is required in our current
times, but it can be a whole job in itself. My job is to manage all of that, so
you can put your time and energy into your actual practice.
Website Design and Development
I take care of the full-stack. I design the frontend in collaboration
with you, the backend, Stripe integration, etc.
Mobile App Design and Development
If you have an app idea but don't know where to start, I can help
design it from start to finish. I am able to publish apps on Google Play
Store and the Apple App Store (subject to their approval).
Custom Software
If you have a particular need that your current software does not
address, I can help design new solutions or modify existing ones.
AI Integration
AI can be especially helpful in managing necessary but repetitive
tasks. Through understanding your needs and workflows, I can design a
system integrating AI that will automate much of that work.
AI Codebase Remediation
If you have a “vibecoded” codebase that is no longer
working so well or is difficult to manage, let me take a look at it. I can
rearchitect it so that it works well and follows coherent software design
patterns.
If you have a problem that doesn't fit neatly into one of the categories,
let's talk about it because I might be able to help.
Please reach out if you are interested in working with me.
I have a broad range of interests in life and I have explored most of them.
Each of my interests has added something important to my entire outlook on life,
and I incorporate them all in some way into everything I do.
For the last 6 months I have been intensively learning how to build
coherent software in collaboration with AI. AI has opened up a whole new realm
for me. My natural inclination is to think architecturally and in terms of
systems. AI gives me the ability to execute my designs at the required level
of detail.
I earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, with a minor in Computer
Science.
Seven years of viola studies. The viola and music were two of the earliest
interests that I developed extensively. They taught me much about patterns,
expression, and communication.
Nine month immersion at Wilderness Awareness School, where I learned
naturalist skills, survival skills and nature connection. This experience was
deeply impactful for me, giving me the desire to live in right relationship
with the natural world.
These are some of the main experiences that have shaped my life.
My work with Ninth House Studios seeks to combine my life experience into a
working whole as an offering to the world.
84beings.com aims to bring a new and ancient astrological system to a wider
public. Ancient because its origins are in the Hindu Puranas, new because doing
astrology with this mythology is only now being revived. The viewer is invited
into a beautiful world where they can explore this system, including a free web
app that shows them their own activated beings and a shop where they can
purchase personalized reports.
I designed the site, the backend, etc. I'm partnering with astrologer Laura
Barat who is writing the reports we offer for sale on the site.
You can see our work here.
Inner Orbits
An immersive app for understanding the planets in astrology. It sets the
user in an infinitely scrollable 3D starfield where the planets are viewable in
their natural forms. Each planet has astronomical and astrological facts. The
goal of this app is to introduce the user to the planets in a beautiful and
interesting setting.
This is the core calculation engine that powers both of the apps above. The
original is written in the C programming language. Claude and I rewrote it in
Rust in order to adapt it to be more easily used in the modern era.
Software Development Tools
I've created a few bespoke tools that I use everyday in my software
development workflow.
Yojana
is a local task graph that tracks all the necessary tasks and their context,
allowing both Claude and I to keep our place and allow us to effortlessly know
what needs to happen next.
Sutra
is a code intelligence tool. It not only helps us to read code efficiently and
effectively, but also provides tools that keep on the right track, such as
tracking and enforcing constraints and calculating various health markers so we
understand the overall health and state of our codebase.
See my
github
for these and other software projects.
The Heart
The Heart of Ninth House Studios
Ninth House Studios is an exploration of meaning, value, service
and the relationship between them. The ninth house in astrology is about deep
meaning and purpose. We are commonly told to make money first, and then we might be
able to do things we actually care about. But this idea is outdated. Ninth House
Studios seeks to demonstrate that meaningful work and livelihood are meant to go
hand-in-hand.
One of the most important experiences of my life was being a fire tender for a
traditional Lakota sweat lodge ceremony, an Inipi. During the Inipi we heat stones,
which we call grandfathers, and pour water over them in a completely dark lodge in
order to help us heal, both physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually,
through the steam that this action creates. As the fire tender it was my job to
prepare the fire and the stones and to facilitate the transfer of the energy of the
Sun that is stored in wood into those stones. This is the energy that would then
turn the water into steam and help us to heal.
My job was not to lead the ceremony, not to advise or teach anyone. My job was
to ensure that the set and the setting was appropriately taken care of so that the
work we came there for was able to happen. My faith was that if I tended properly
to these things, then that would create the space in which transformation and
healing could arise naturally. My job was to be a helper. To do my job successfully
meant that everyone else could come and participate with their whole selves in the
ceremony, without having to worry about the details of how the ceremony was
performed and managed.
The spirit of fire-tending is woven into all of my work. It is the
foundation of what I seek to offer the world.
