Happy New Year! I like to do a more narrative recap on my birthday, so at the end of the calendar year I make lists of top things in multiple categories. See also: 2024, 2023. Meals Shows Non-fiction Books Fiction Books New blog follows Places Purchases Memories Things I’ve made Accomplishments

The past couple years I’ve written this post at the end of December as kind of a year-end recap. This year I thought I’d change it up and do it on Thanksgiving instead. Here’s 100 things I’m thankful for this year. Happy Thanksgiving! Previous years: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2017

Last week Nick Parish did an interview with me at Current Flow State about fly fishing, tenkara, woodworking projects, and making your own tools. Check it out!

We all went outside to watch a storm roll in after dinner, then Charlie and I got caught in it while putting some stuff away in the yard, so we ran up to his swing set/play fort for cover. I really enjoyed the sound of the rain on the roof of his play fort, so…

One of the challenging things about being a parent who works full time is the very limited free time for hobbies. The exhaustion fog started lifting around the two year old mark, and we started feeling more rested and interested in our hobbies again, but the free time hasn’t changed much. Now at the three…

Last year I used this format instead of a long-form recap of the year, and I liked it, so I did it again this year. The categories changed slightly, and I have some notes as to why on the bottom. Happy New Year! What I left out:

In randomized order because the order I jotted them down clumped too many similar things together. What I noticed about this list is that I am happiest when I’m making things or doing things with the people I love. More of that in 2025. Other years: 2023, 2022, 2017

I used to be against making New Year’s resolutions (2009). I’ve eased up on that in the last decade and have tried some other methods, such as listing out 20 specific things I want to do for a yearly task list or setting a yearly theme. Both of those worked pretty well. This year I…

I started answering the 40 Questions this year, then realized about a quarter of the way through that I didn’t really want to answer them. Not my preferred format. Instead, I’m trying something else: Making a list of Top 3 things in various categories for the year.

Other years: 2022, 2017

I wrote one of these in 2017 and enjoyed the process (and outcome!), so when I saw Austin Kleon’s this year, I decided to write one again. Maybe I’ll make it a yearly thing.

These questions come from Stephan Ango’s 40 questions to ask yourself every year. Answering them was a good exercise, though I think I might modify the list for next year and make it my own. Frustration has to do with expectations. Replace expectations with preferences.

Sometimes I get off track. This is what I need to do to get back on track: Turn off social media. Remove apps from phone, turn on the 1Blocker (iPad and iPhone) and WasteNoTime (Mac) rules. Wash your face. Drink a full glass of water and eat a healthy snack if you need one. Get…