A bug of some sort caused my Connections emoji blocks to be misaligned, and I kind of like it. NYT should add a 1-2px random rotation or scaling factor to 3 random blocks in the grid.

Working on a blog redesign.

I tried to sketch today, but I was too on edge from a sick child who had tons of tantrums today, and I utterly failed. Chicken scratch. So no drawing to post today, but I learned that I need to do them earlier in the day if I can. Time to go to bed.

One of the cool things about working with a bunch of nerds is that when there is a new piece of software out, someone spins up a Slack channel for it and 30 people work together to become power users over the next couple months.

This afternoon’s House Blend is the remainders of the last four bags of coffee that don’t make a full pot on their own.

Definitely not doing Dry January. Quiet, cold January is a great time to savor good drinks while reading.

I want fewer things to be computerized and more things to be improved by computational analysis. Example: Gas pump touch screens suck. The buttons last much longer. Double down and make these flawless and durable with models instead of replacing them with touch screens.

Snowstorm prep Charlie and I did this afternoon: Got out the snow shovels, made sure the generator is accessible, got out the sled, and filled the bird feeders.

I mostly hate lotion, but need it in the winter. Neutrogena Hydro Boost (the blue bottle) is the only one I’ve found that both works for me and doesn’t leave me feeling greasy.

This NZ sauvignon blanc has a nose dominated by passionfruit and is a great deal at $13.

making this hominy stew from Rancho Gordo for this weekend’s snowstorm

Rancho Gordo Hominy Stew for the Slow Cooker Recipe

Inspired by some of the slow cooker recipes in Rick Bayless’ Everyday Mexican a Main Dishes Recipe with Rancho Gordo hominy and dried heirloom beans.

www.ranchogordo.com

I think I’m going to go from 3 screens on my desk down to two. The one to go will be the vertical mounted one.

Today’s sketches are done in the spirit of Steal Like an Artist.

I’m a longtime subscriber of Al’s Cocktail Club, and each month Al had a new themed sketch in the weekly emails. I admire them, so I thought I’d see if I could copy them and learn a bit about Al’s style.

I’m not sure how I missed the Stage Manager feature in macOS Ventura (I’m now on Sonoma), but I stumbled across it today in Settings and loved it from the moment I turned it on. Enable it in Settings > Desktop & Dock > Stage Manager.

Can anyone recommend a good online gesture drawing or contour drawing class? Or someone I can hire for a few 1:1 tutoring sessions? I essentially want to learn how to draw like Jason Polan.