When most people think of summer, they talk about beaches, picnics, and pools. Not me. My best summer memories are at night, when dusk goes on forever and it’s ten o’clock before the stars come out. We used to hang out on my friend Mary’s second-floor porch, laughing, playing Cosmic Wimpout, and spinning old 78s.

The sounds of a city at night enveloped us. A chopper brumming on the next street over. A party across the way. Crickets mixed with car radios, echoes bouncing off buildings, warped and Doppler-bent. We talked until dawn some days. How was there ever that much to say?

Something shifted for me recently. This week, for the first time, I could actually see myself walking away from the flagship corporate AI products. Not from AI itself — from the companies.

This week I did a talk and published a companion website for nonprofit fundraisers on how to get started with AI, including tips, pitfalls, and some of the tools I recommend. It went well, and sitting with all of it afterward, I realized I’d never written a general version of that advice for this site. Most of what I write here assumes you’re already using these tools and looking to go deeper. This post is for those who might be a bit earlier in the journey.

When we got our first house, it also came with our first lawn. Right about this time of year, the dandelions would start sprouting everywhere, invasive weeds ruining the manicured green that kept us in good standing on our block. Wanting to be the perfect homeowner, I bought an amazing contraption that let me yoink them out, one by one, without even bending down. It was so satisfying to keep those forces of entropy away … until a couple of days later, when the lawn filled up with them again. Come on!