(Author’s Note: I drafted this blog post back in June 2025, and even then, I think the topics were slightly out of date. I suspect I didn’t post it because I wanted to edit it and never did. Well, since then, everything has changed in the capabilities of AI. I have another blog post coming […]
Giving Up My Clock Radio
Going back to elementary school, I remember having a clock radio. When my bedtime was too early for when I was actually tired, I would tune into the baseball AM radio station. I listened to the Astros game with the volume set to barely a whisper. I stared at the red digital readout until I […]
For the past few years, I have written “My [YEAR] Recommendations” blog posts. These posts recap what I really liked and wanted to share with others. However, when I was composing this year’s list, I realized that there was some distance there. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the things I liked most, and vice versa. And […]
After setting New Year’s Hopes/Goals for almost 20 years, I won’t set annual goals for 2026. But I’m not done with goals! I’m just thinking about them a little differently. I will explain at the end of this post, but first, I still want to reflect on my 2025 Goals.
Teaching and learning: they’re obviously linked but as different sides of the same coin. I have been doing both recently, and although the situations are very different, neither one is long enough to make a good blog post. So this is two-for-one that I’m pretending is more connected than it actually is. Learning (with AI) […]
Fixing a Toy on Airplane Mode
After a two year streak of staying on the ground, I recently took a plane trip with my family. We got the major logistics right, like packing, getting through the airport, getting on the plane, and so forth. However, while we were on the plane, I found myself in an odd predicament. The Setup The […]
My parents may disagree, but as a child, I was pretty obedient. Their instructions were mostly sensible. Or I followed without questioning. Or I was oblivious to what was actually going on. However, some things never quite made sense to me. Some were probably just quirks of my parents as humans. Others now make a […]
I am proudly part of an ongoing book club for more than a decade. Over that time, we have had some gems, some duds, some mainstream, some oddities. I mostly read the picks and sometimes listened to them. And I had even watched a few. But until recently, I had never played any of them. […]
Baking the Terrazzo Cake
A few months ago, I got hooked on last year’s season of Great British Bake-off (GBB). They are amateur bakers, and no one has made everything before, but they must have exceptional skill and experience to pull off these creations, right? Fake modesty is very British, but I wondered: how hard is this really? What […]
Last year, I lamented having done so little to only have five recommendations. This year, I just barely beat that with six recommendations (and one honorable mention). Let’s get into it. Honorable Mention – TTRPG – Daggerheart