I don’t like to define my year as a series of measurable OKRs achieved or failed. To quote Robin Rendle: I am a poem, I am not software. But at the end of 2022 my anxiety was pretty high, and I was feeling pretty low. So I set out to turn things around:

I want to cultivate a spacious openness for curiosity and discovery… So that when I am busy, it should be from an abundance of creative projects, not a scarcity of time.

Now, heading into another new year, I want to celebrate and re-affirm that direction. I haven’t made progress exactly, because there’s no end goal, and no metrics – but I’m feeling a lot better about how I waste my time. I’m feeling better about having time to waste. Not because my days are any less full, but because I’m the one filling them up.

Here are some things I enjoyed in 2023. And some projects that will continue into the new year!

• I performed in Curious Theatre’s New Voices festival, and designed lights for their regional premier Letters of Suresh
• Grapefruit Lab has officially formed as a non-profit, and we should hear soon about getting 501c3 status
• Our spring show Strange Bird, Queer Bird was a huge success, and a fun opportunity to work with new collaborators
• Teacup Gorilla has mostly finished recording a new album, and we’re collaborating with Grapefruit Lab to make a fully-staged live performance based on it (opening in May!)
• I got really into clock repair, and I’ve fixed several old wall clocks for friends (I even made a video about the Rack and Snail strike mechanism)
• I joined DenHac, the local maker space, and learned a number of new tools – from laser cutting and 3d printing, to the metal lathe and (just this week) the embroidery machine
• I’ve been learning parametric CAD, using OnShape and Fusion 360 along with the DenHac tools to design a mechanical pendulum clock from scratch
• I’ve started exploring custom elements and web components (huge thanks to Zach Leatherman and Westbrook Johnson for significant guidance)
• I’m half done with a major re-build of this site, and a few other web side projects that I want to get back to
• I joined a the local recreation center pottery class, and really enjoyed getting my hands back into the clay (classes start again soon!)
• I did “something active outside” (usually a walk) every day of the year (though some days were much more active than others)

I absolutely love my daily walks, and plan to keep that up. I thought I might track another daily (or weekly?) habit this year – I’d like to get back into a regular creative writing practice. It might even be fun to re-program my Yetch calendar, so it can track multiple habits at once. I also have some ideas to make Front-End Social more sustainable over the long term. But all that will have to wait for another couple months. That’s ok, there’s plenty of time.

For now, I’m moving and preparing a new CSS workshop for Feb/March. I’m really excited about this one, and have big plans to do more teaching for work this year. Maybe even make some videos again?

But more immediate than any of that, Erin and I spent the holidays cleaning and painting our condos – putting anything we can into friends’ basements. This home that I’ve curated for myself for the last eight years no longer feels like mine, and it will go on the market next weekend. I’m sad to leave, but excited to start something new.

Having separate space has been important to us here, and will be important to us in a new home as well – but without the public hallway between, and no need for the extra kitchen.

Bring on the new year.

(oh fuck. the election. we’re fucked.)