I denoted this year as the Year of Transition. The overall goal was to look forward to, and make the most of, moving to a new city. Along with that came a change in my position at work, and continued adjustments to my lifestyle as the pandemic took its course. But it might be time to transition to a new theme. ...

I recently discovered the Tin Can Bros, which I would consider an offshoot from StarKid Productions, the makers of, among other things, A Very Potter Musical. It’s exciting to come across more genuinely hilarious musical theater. I’m no musical buff, but I enjoy comedy with a modern twist. Anything by either group is worth a watch. They remind me very much of what my friend Tim Radermacher’s style, and I love having more of that in my life. And if you’re not a fan of musicals, check out their Wayward Guide video series.

As I mentioned last month, I started work with Step Up Tutoring {{LINK}}. It’s been a lot of fun getting to know my student, and it’s been a rewarding experience already. I really believe in this group that I’m working with, so I’ve volunteered my time to help them work on pedagogy and curriculum, with the goal of creating an easy way for their tutors to put together the best sessions possible for their students. ...

With everything that happened last year, I managed to never write about my co-authorship of the Level 3 Puzzle Book put out by my company. It was the largest project I’ve been on, and the content I’m most proud of producing. Not only did I get to write and review close to half the puzzles in the book, I managed to learn the basics of InDesign and help compile the book into its final form. ...

I set up a Slack workflow to run every Monday morning at 8 a.m. on my company’s slack. It sends me a form to ask a few questions about how the previous week went, and a few looking forward to the upcoming week. I find this short check-in to be incredibly useful. It primes me for the week, and helps keep me accountable to myself. Whether it’s for personal or professional aid, I recommend giving something similar a shot.

The last several years have left me unenthused about celebrating my birthday to any great extent. I always did something a bit special, like going to get a dinner I wouldn’t do every week, but it was never much. I think it was the easiest approach when I was by myself. However, this year just felt different. I turned 25, and wanted to make it feel special. While nothing I did was out of the ordinary—disc golfing, a baseball game, and homemade pizza—telling myself it was special made it better. I brought Erin to the disc golf course I frequent for the first time, and shot a really good round. I upgraded our tickets for the baseball game to be in row 6 off the right field baseline, and managed to catch a ball as a result. And the pizza was excellent alongside the brownies for dessert. ...

Last fall I wrote a new text adventure. Now that we finally played it on OHAC 36, I’m posting it here. It was fun to write. The pun I had in mind to start things out spiraled into a lot of research about timekeeping devices of the past. Writing the little riddle hints was also a joy. I like adding language aspects like that, because it’s an excellent medium for a text adventure. I’m hoping to keep writing more in this vein. ...

I bought my current desktop computer over three years ago during senior year of college. It is a business-class Lenovo desktop that cost me under $400. I slowly added memory and storage as needed. It started out as an inexpensive way to get consistent performance, give me a place to play games, and was a general workhorse I could rely on. ...

I watch my shot glide to the basket on hole 18. It’s a short hole to finish the course, but treacherous. The basket is perched in front of a large boulder, and anywhere off a straight line to the basket is a precipitous drop-off. My shot lands a little short, to the left, but on the flattest line down to the basket. It’s my typical safe shot. I hop off the tee pad and collect my things. As I begin walking down the path, a little tuft of fuzz catches my eye. It’s quite still overall, but the bits of fur at the end wiggle in the light breeze. They’re mostly black, with a clear white stripe down the middle. ...

I’ve started tutoring through an organization called Step Up Tutoring. They run online-only free tutoring for students in grades 3 through 6 in the LA school district, one of the largets in the country. They haven’t been around long, but have already developed a great relationship with the district and a pretty robust network of tutors (mainly in California) to work with the students. ...