Thanksgiving week was busy. I worked Monday and Tuesday, took Wednesday off and the university was closed for Thursday and Friday. It was a much needed rest. We had Norah home from college so it was nice to have all of Team Wertz under the same roof for the first time for a while.
Hard to believe it’s December. I need to switch into gear to finish up the year strong. We’ve got my wife’s birthday this week and it’s her last week of graduate classes.
Feels
Good week to be a Gamecock. The marching band was in New York for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. The women’s basketball team returned to form and won two games in dominating fashion. And the Gamecock football team got the win against arch rival Clemson.
Thinking. I have one last task to do for my graduate class, but essentially, my semester ended a couple of weeks ago. I’ve had time to think about some new projects and ponder where I want to spend my time an energy in 2025.
Health
Fine. Still in neutral. Need to get more active. Still eating pretty well…
Projects
Typeface consulting. Really dove into some specific tasks on my typeface design project and happy with the direction.
InShow. I’m thinking about resurrecting a Columbia-based design show that’s been dormant since 2017. I’m currently thinking about how to create a new and sustainable version of InShow. Coming in 2025? Maybe…
Entertainment
Gamecock Football. If you’d told me at the beginning of the season that this team could be this good, I wouldn’t have believed you. It’s been fun. We’ll see what bowl they end up in. (It would take some massive chaos for them to end up in the College Football Playoff.)
F1. Good lord. The Qatar Grand Prix is wild. I won’t pretend I understand the issuing of penalties. Pulling for McLaren to pull off the Constructors Championship next week.
Hey Siri. Play Sandstorm.
Down goes Clemson. South Carolina’s offense isn’t always pretty, but they fight to the end. LaNorris Sellers is a winner. 🐓🏈
As a McLaren fan, it was a fun F1 Sprint Race this morning. I imagine it was boring for everyone else though.
Post Thanksgiving date night at Craft and Draft Irmo.
Ryan was born on Thanksgiving day, so no matter when his birthday falls, we celebrate with a cake on Thanksgiving. This year, a red velvet turkey cake.
Excited to see the first two episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew on Monday. I’m interested in seeing this interpretation of the Star Wars universe and glad they are releasing it early.
I added the “Quiet Posters” feed on Bluesky. It shows people you follow, but who don’t post very much. It’s amazing, because in most cases, it surfaces the stuff I want to see. This type of smart feed could be really powerful.
Random thought for my Columbia SC creative friends… what if I resurrected InShow? I miss it.
Dear Rick Wertz of Indiana,
Please stop giving people my email address when you mean to give them yours. Also, your AAA membership is about to expire. They keep sending me reminders. You might want to take care of that.
So I accidentally skipped last week. I wrote the post, but never actually uploaded it. So I’m incorporating some of what I wrote last week to cover the last two weeks.
Happy birthday to my youngest, Ryan. He turns 13 today. For another three weeks, I have three teenagers. Time flies.
Feels
Grateful. On Ryan’s birthday, I’ve got to reflect on just how amazing and wonderful my kiddos are. I’m biased, but I think they are pretty phenomenal.
Rearranging. My wife and I decided to move everything around. Furniture from the master bedroom is in the kitchen. We moved a bookshelf into the master bathroom. A cabinet into the laundry room. A chair moves from the living room to the master bedroom. Really happy with all the moves, and hopefully it will help us be more organized.
Optimistic. I have a new boss at work. I got a chance to meet with him this week, and honestly, I’m excited and hopeful about the path forward. I’m going to be very busy. I’m happiest when I very busy.
Health
Fine. Still in neutral. Need to get more active. Still eating pretty well…
Projects
Typeface consulting. Got back into typeface design this weekend on the consulting project I’ve been working on. Happy with how it is turning out.
Entertainment
Gamecock Football. Shane Beamer’s team is doing far better than anyone expected, and holding their own in a wacky SEC.
Bluesky. Now, I know lots of people on Bluesky. Even my high school German teacher is following me over there. So there is more of a reason to be there.
F1. Woke up in the middle of the night to watch the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Great win for my wife’s favorite driver, George Russell. And a championship for Max. Hopefully, the last two races will be at better times.
Quartiles. Still enjoying the Apple News+ game.
Happy 13th birthday, Ryan!
Just saw a headline that SMU is going be in the ACC Championship. I’ll be honest. I completely forgot SMU was in the ACC.
Tomorrow, our youngest turns 13. Which means that until December when Norah turns 20, we will have three teenagers in the family: 13, 17 and 19. Pray for us. 🤣
The last two weeks has seen a surge in Bluesky usage. I’ve been on Bluesky a little since the early days. I liked the service, but I didn’t know any one there. That’s changed now and lots of friends are posting. That’s added a touch more complexity, so I figured I’d share how I’m handling my personal social media right now.
I post everything to Micro.Blog. It shows up on bobwertz.com.
Micro.Blog crossposts everything to Bluesky, Threads and Mastodon.
I have notifications turned off on my iPhone, so I have no idea when people respond to what I post.
I selectively choose when I want to engage with social media on whatever site feels right at the time.
A couple of random things I’ve noticed lately:
My Instagram usage has dropped dramatically, probably because it isn’t tied in with my crossposting system. They don’t have a posting API, so no one can really add that connection. I like Instagram, but I don’t have time for everything.
Cotton Bureau included one of my shirt designs in their 25% off sale. Normally, I would have helped promote on Instagram and Twitter, but I checked and they were on Bluesky and Threads. So I promoted it there. Companies used to do this kind of promotion on Twitter and Instagram. It’s nice to see them active on Bluesky and Threads.
I’m excited to see social media evolving and changing. Hopefully, we can keep the momentum going and continue to move toward better, healthier online communities.
Bob Wertz is a type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina. He’s been blogging since 2008.
I’m thinking about setting up an email account on a domain that I own. Last time I did this, I used Google’s free option that they phased out a while back. I don’t need a free option, but I also don’t want to spend a ton of money. What are my best options?
