Then: 8.10.24
Posts in the “Then” category were originally shared on my “Now” page.
Reasonably good week. We’re getting our oldest ready to go back to college. I’ve started my plan to be healthier at 50 than I was a 40 — working out a little bit and eating better. Lifestyle change is hard.
Feels
- Had someone be incredibly rude to me at work this week. And it really bothered me for a day or two.
- Tim Walz. My goodness. I didn’t know politicians like this get elected. What a breath of fresh air. I’m all in on bringing joy back. I’m tired of the doom and gloom.
- Work on the Ph.D. will continue soon. A couple of weeks left until classes start. I’m taking one class this semester — a qualitative research class in the College of Education. Will be a bit of a change from my normal comms classwork.
Health
- Started this week trying to make better food choices. Was mostly successful. I do feel better when I eat better.
- Rediscovered some old fitness apps that I’ve tried in the past. Dusted them off and trying to build a workout rhythm.
Projects
- I’ve decided to rename one of my new fonts because of a very minor possibility that the name infringes on an existing trademark. Naming fonts is harder than naming children.
- I’ve got a few other fonts in the works, but I don’t know how much progress I’ll make when classes start back.
Entertainment
- More Olympics. Volleyball. Water Polo. Basketball. Some track and field.
- Still reading Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse. I didn’t actually pick it up this week, but it’s still the book beside my bed.
- F1 is still on summer break. ☹️
First day of school postponed because of the storm. Thankfully, just a lot of rain here in Columbia, SC. I know a lot of people are upset about the cancelation, but the last time schools ignored a scary weather forecast, my wife’s car was impaled by a tree on her way to teach. So I’m okay with it.
Watched part of the Harris/Walz event… And now I understand why Harris picked Walz.
I’m always fascinated with the desire to delete your old social media posts. I’m always trying to save mine. But The Verge has a nice how-to post on purging your past.
Liz and the kids think I look like Jedi Bob.
Yesterday, Liverpool and Manchester United played in Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia. It was fun to see a football stadium packed for soccer. We didn’t go — tickets were more than I paid to see Taylor Swift and sold out in minutes — but I met people from all over who came to SC to see the match.
Gym floor lettering.
Then: 8.2.24
Posts in the “Then” category were originally shared on my “Now” page.
I celebrated my 49th birthday this week. My kids have an annual tradition where they bake a cake for me, usually with a high degree of difficulty. This year, they attempted to make a Borg Cube from Star Trek.
As I turn 49, I’m looking ahead to 50 next year. I’ve decided that I want to be healthier at 50 than I was at 40. I need to loose weight, eat better and be more active. Basically a lifestyle change. I’m going to add a health category to my weekly Now page updates.
Still wondering if I should post these on Sundays instead of Saturdays.
Feels
- Uncomfortable. The air conditioning went out in my office this week. That’s never something you want in Columbia in the summer.
- One of my friends is leaving for a job at another school. I’m bummed, but it’s a great opportunity for her. Just a lot of changes at the office this summer.
- I continue to be impressed with Kamala Harris’s campaign so far. I forgot what hope felt like.
- Tired. My teacher wife reported to school this week, and the alarm started going off an hour earlier. Ugh. Need more sleep.
Health
- Laying the groundwork for my lifestyle change. Getting apps ready to track, planning diet and exercise changes. Trying not to over do it. I’m giving myself a year to make this change.
- I’m starting on Monday, because there’s still cake and other goodies in the house from my birthday.
Projects
- SbB Danceflr is available on MyFonts now.
- Continuing to work on some other font ideas. I have several designs that I never finished, so I’m working toward wrapping those up and submitting them to MyFonts for sale.
- Heard back from the publication I submitted my journal article to and I need to make a couple of minor changes before it heads to peer review. So that’s promising.
Entertainment
- Lots of Olympics. Surfing. Basketball. Gymnastics. Swimming. Handball. Beach Volleyball. Regular Volleyball. I think I’ve watched at least some coverage every day this week.
- Still reading Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse. Slowly. I’m struggling to get into it, even though I loved the first two books.
- F1 is on summer break. ☹️
I keep thinking, surely, this is the moment where they will come to their senses.
I’m really enjoying watching the Olympics this year, and I think part of the reason is how good the streaming experience is on Peacock.
I think Biden’s proposal to reform the Supreme Court makes a lot of sense. It doesn’t really favor one party over another… term limits and ethics guidelines seem pretty non-partisan.
Peacock promoting Paris-themed Hallmark movies alongside the Paris Olympics is an inspired bit of marketing. (And my wife is very happy…)
I like how my now page has become a type of weekly journal of how I’m feeling and the stuff I’m working on. I’m not disciplined enough to keep a daily journal, but I think I can handle a weekly one…
I picked a good season to start watching F1.
The new Star Trek: Strange New Worlds preview clip is wonderful. I can’t wait for the next season.
Dawn Staley is having the time of her life at the Olympics, going from event to event and meeting athletes. Her Instagram feed right now is a blast.
Then: 7.27.2024
Posts in the “Then” category were originally shared on my “Now” page.
Just had a relaxing week of vacation with just my wife and me. The kids were at summer camp for the week so we decided to celebrate our 25th anniversary early up near Asheville. We had a great time, but it’s going to be hard going back to reality on Monday.
Feels
- I feel refreshed. I really needed to take some time off from work and reset. With the leadership change at work, I think I needed the break more than I realized.
- I’m worried about the state of our nation, but I’m energized by the change in the presidential race. Biden stepping down, and Harris consolidating support has me encouraged.
- Being open to changes. The camp our kids went to is also the camp that I attended and worked at. They changed pick up this year, ending on Friday instead of Saturday morning. I wasn’t sure about the change, but we attended a new final ceremony and it was great. I probably need to make this a full post, but we all need to accept that sometimes, change is needed.
Projects
- SbB Departure Mono is now live on MyFonts. I’ve got two other fonts that I will submit today or tomorrow.
- I sketched out a couple of new font ideas while we were at the cabin in North Carolina. Was nice to have some time to sketch.
Entertainment
- We were in a cabin without our normal streaming setup. They had a Samsung TV service that had a bunch of ad-supported channels with random reality shows, so we watched some American Ninja Warrior and Ice Road Truckers.
- I started reading Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse. Enjoying it, but having trouble remembering all the things that happened in the second book of the series.
- F1 this weekend.
- Will probably watch some of the Olympics.
Watching the women’s Olympic cycling time trial this morning and the competitors all have aerodynamic handlebars, helmets and wheel covers. It reminded me of Greg LeMond’s time trial in Paris to win the 1989 Tour de France.
Opened Facebook. Criticized some obvious political spin. Got blocked by my cousin. Sigh. I hate election season.
Picked a really good day to unplug for a week.
Just noticed that the Mercedes F1 team is sponsored by Crowdstrike. Funny that a racing team is sponsored by a company that’s now known for the biggest crash of all time.
Then: 7.20.24
Posts in the “Then” category were originally shared on my “Now” page.
Weird week. I got randomly sick for an evening. I woke up at 2 AM with a fever that only lasted a couple of hours and no other symptoms. So strange. Whenever I get sick now, I worry about COVID and getting others sick, but I’m pretty sure this was just a random virus.
Feels
- I’m excited about upcoming vacation. It’s been too long since I took a significant amount of time off.
- I’m worried about the state of our nation.
- Grateful for some rain. (We needed it.)
Projects
- I published two longer blog posts this week. One about the Star Trek episodes I tend to play in the background, and a second post about the whole Sticker Mule debacle.
- More progress on fonts. I inched closer to releasing my new typefaces. Just some refinements to make sure everything passes the quality assurance checks.
- Submitted an article to a journal to review. Woke up in the middle of the night and decided to be productive. Finished the query letter and hit the submit button. We’ll see what happens.
Entertainment
- Finished Star Wars: The Acolyte. I enjoyed the show and am interested to see if they give it a season two to finish the story.
- I’ve been playing Pokemon Go with my son who just got a new phone.
- F1 this weekend with the Hungarian Grand Prix.
It’s an early beta, but I really like where Iconfactory’s Project Tapestry is going.
That fact that one bad update to a third-party system can completely shut down businesses, hospitals and airlines… scary. You’d think these systems would be more resilient than that.