100 things that made my year (2023)

Having some of my art printed on postcards and distributed to hundreds of people at WordCamp Europe.

Moderating photo submissions to the WordPress Photo Directory

Testing out a hard seltzer recipe for an upcoming homebrew book by Emma Christiansen

Making Falernum and various syrups for tiki

Driving Big Sur and 17 Mile Drive for the first time

Recipe testing for a new book and learning how to make hard seltzer

Charlie discovering hot chocolate

Tomatoes from our garden

Posting Likes and microblog notes here first instead of another social platform first.

Having one of my photos hung in a gallery at WordCamp US.

Pushing Charlie on the swingset

Charlie pointing out trucks, animals, stars, etc. He is so observant!

Getting comfortable furniture for the back deck.

Rowing on the Croton River and the Hudson in all different seasons.

Making some rabbit stew with black pepper dumplings with my parents

Getting perspective on how well maintained our 95 year old house is

Taking Charlie down to the riverfront walk to ride his bike.

Playing in the sand with Charlie on the beach

End of summer vacation in Cape Cod

Charlie throwing rocks in the river.

Working with my Dad to restore an old workbench top for his shop

Walks in the woods with Charlie and Amanda

Christmas lights walk at Harvest Moon Orchard

Getting the desk for my Ikea Poang chair. I use it every weekday. I’m writing this at it now.

Reading physical books.

Attending Gwen and Jacob’s wedding in Monterey. Reading Cannery Row while there.

Trick or treating with Charlie and friends in Lake Peekskill

Charlie riding his bike along the riverwalk and cruising down the hill.

Making pizza and tiki drinks at our house with friends on NYE

Morning breakfast sandwiches with Charlie

Growing more of a local community here in Peekskill

Wandering around Depew Park and exploring with Charlie for almost two hours on Saturday. Making sure Charlie has space to make his own decisions and explore.

Going to San Juan, PR, for a work team meetup

Taking Jay on his first Hudson paddle

Charlie having an excellent time whenever he got ahold of the garden hose.

Burgers and french fry sauce at Meyers Old Dutch, Beacon

Family walk with the sled in the snowy woods on a winter day in February

Getting a pellet ice machine. We use it in cocktails, iced coffee, iced tea, etc.

Putting up the climbing wall on Charlie’s swingset and watching him figure it out and master it over the next 8 months. Amazing.

Cape Cod vacation. Charlie playing on the beach and exploring. Whale watching.

The cardinal pairs in our backyard

Snuggle time with Charlie

Giving a talk on debugging with Logstash and Grafana.

Wrapping up the attic insulation project

Going to some art shows at the Center for Machine Arts

Going to Malaga, Spain, for a work division meetup. Jumping in the cold sea at night.

Listening to the windchimes

Making hot sauce with my red jalapeños

Alex Kirk’s Friends plugin with the Send to Kindle tool. Getting more into the indieweb in general

Taking Charlie out in the guideboat on Lake Sebago

Learning how to recharge the AC on my car.

Night out with Amanda celebrating Meg’s birthday. It was in a location we go to at least once a week, but transformed into a party space, at a completely different time of day, and filled with people we are friends with, it felt completely different in a magical way.

Taking Charlie out in the guideboat for the first time

Making Shortcuts workflows to make posting here easier

Having a little helper for all of our house projects

Blogging more

Wood fired Wednesdays at Pizzeria Baci. It was here that Charlie decided he liked pepperoni

Birthday in Kingston and Woodstock. Bookstore to get copies of Sandman signed. Trying Moonburger and Dixon’s Roadside.

Integrating AI tools into my daily workflow.

Eating Khao Soi at Nicky’s Thai in Sewickley

Charlie’s kind, sweet, and curious disposition

Looking for pinecones in the woods with Charlie

Charlie has grown so much this year! Photos from 1 year ago are recognizable, but feel so long ago and like a different kid.

Charlie’s love of breakfast sandwiches

Many, many hours at playgrounds with Charlie, running around with him, pushing him on swings, giving him high fives when he reached the bottom of a slide.

Doing things I’ve been putting off, such as getting the heater maintenance done before the cold set in.

Making Christmas cookies as a family.

Visiting the Claytons in Walnut Creek, CA

Running the Harvard Blog Archive preservation project.

Observing the hockeystick growth of Charlie’s vocabulary

Having a local artist design Christmas cards for us for the second year in a row

Celebrating holidays and birthdays with local friends

Trick or treating with our friends and their kids

Getting birria tacos from food trucks

Tending to the garden with Charlie

Reading When an Elephant Goes Shopping with Charlie, my favorite book when I was a toddler.

Building things out of blocks with Charlie. Vacuum trucks, bulldozers, semi trucks, hammers, etc.

Putting in the glass rinser in the sink. We use it all the time!

Taking Charlie to the playground, running, and having fun with him

Making art with Charlie and Amanda at the coffee table

Finishing 29 books

Picking out pumpkins in the rain with Charlie and Amanda. He was happy to stomp in the mud, sit on a tractor, and ride in the pumpkin wagons.

Talking to the Praxis students about using AI tools

Getting out on the river and paddling/rowing

Helping Jon build a woodshed

Coming out of the fog and feeling more like ourselves

Having lots of people over in the backyard for Charlie’s second birthday. Things like that are why we wanted a house to begin with!

Friendsgiving at Jeremy and Megan’s house

Putting book shelving in my office and changing the ambiance in there

Visiting the Desmonds in Salinas

Starting the generous coaching program that Automattic offers all employees

Working with Dave Winer on FeedLand

Charlie showing in interest in music and instruments. He wants to play a trumpet.

Visiting Erin and Tyler in Pittsburgh

Sandwich Fridays at Benny’s Brown Bag. We meet another couple for lunch each Friday at noon.

Getting back out in the woodshop and making dreidels and christmas ornaments on the lathe

Observing Charlie figure out the alphabet and his basic numbers this year.

Mornings at Peekskill Central getting breakfast with Amanda and Charlie before one of us gets on the train

Charlie playing with his cousins at Christmas

Getting a new grill and cooking on it more

Other years: 2022, 2017