I stumbled into an example of a now page this morning and thought that it would be a useful thing for me to add to my site. I haven't been able to keep up with weeknotes recently, but perhaps my now page will give you some insight into why. I also think that referencing it myself will help keep me focused.

Not great at posting these on time. Apparently my week ends on Monday...

Work Stuff:

• Wrapped up the POC phase for my current project and I'm happy with how it went overall. Will be a little bit of an opportunity to reset, but rolling into the main build phase soon. Have some new hands on deck as well, which is exciting.
• I'm also spending some time getting prepped for DrupalCon by way of a couple of related and somewhat under wraps projects. One is something physical that I designed (kind of), which I haven't done in quite a while. It should arrive just in time for me to bring along to Seattle. The second thing less surprisingly is a website.
• The DrupalCon related website I'm working on is a Gatsby project. After what I've learned over the past year or so, starting a Gatsby project from scratch feels really efficient, fun, and comfortable. I've even got automated deployments going. The one thing that has proven tricky has been getting Storybook working with some of the things I'm doing in Gatsby. The Gatsby docs got me most of the way there, but then I had to track this issue down in order to get Storybook working with Gatsby's static query component. Even after all of that, I'm still running into some issues with the way I'm using CSS Modules.
• Speaking of CSS Modules, I attended a great webinar on CSS Modules and other CSS-in-JS solutions from Amazee Labs and John Albin.

Personal Stuff:

• Colin and I have been playing through Yoshi's Crafted World. We're enjoying it thus far - not very challenging, but fun, relaxing, and very creative. Some of the co-op mechanics are kind of rage inducing though - you'll find yourself jumping on your partner's back or swallowing them unintentionally at just the wrong time.
• Got tipped off that I received a shout out in my old college comedy pal Jon Gabrus' podcast High and Mighty during the Cheap Beer episode. As you can imagine, it's related to some big time college shenanigans.

Posting these weeknotes late. Thankfully the only rule about this weeknotes thing is that there are no rules.

MidCamp:

MidCamp (the Midwest Drupal Camp) resulted in a week that was both all consuming and extremely gratifying.

• On Wednesday I led a Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager training session along with the one and only Jon Meck. It was my first time co-leading a training session at a Drupal event and even though I was one of the trainers I learned a ton.
• On Thursday I presented 'An External Design System in Practice' for the first time. Got some great feedback and am excited to make a few tweaks before presenting it again at DrupalCon.
• On Friday I presented 'An Introduction to Static Site Generators for Drupalists.' Enjoyed giving this talk as always and had time for a lengthy Q&A this time around.
• I used Notist for the first time to share content related to my talks. I like it quite a bit.
• Loved so many other talks, but especially Actions Speak Louder Than Code (so happy that Fatima gave her first keynote at MidCamp,) You are Here: Exploring the Most Magical CMS on Earth (worth it for one Drupal as Disney slide alone) and Bash is Magic # No It's Not (Dwayne was incredibly passionate about this topic which made it a joy to watch.)
• Had a productive contribution day getting to know more about the Claro theme and even got a patch updated. Heard great things about the efforts around Drupal 9 readiness as well.
• This was my first year involved as an organizer. I feel good about the execution of the camp and my role in it. And I'm really just happy to work with such a great group to support an event that has meant a lot to me over the years.

Everything Else:

• Went right from MidCamp to spend the rest of the weekend (plus Monday) with family in Wisconsin. A much needed break.
• Loved this Episode of Bob's Burgers
• Colin and I finished the Nintendo Labo Piano, which was a personal triumph. Looking forward to the VR Kit next.
• Started playing Baba is You after hearing good things. Find it occasionally maddening, but it is growing on me pretty quickly.
• Tame Impala released a new single and it is an absolute jam.

Stumbled across a collection of weeknote posts on Jeremy Keith’s website. Lately it has been difficult finding the time to post on my website (I'm hoping to rebuild it soon,) so this seems like a great way to keep something going in the meantime.

Work Stuff:

• Had meeting this week where we shared overviews of recent projects. Always inspiring and great to work with so many people doing cool things outside of the Drupal bubble that I sometimes live in.
• Been doing a lot of prep for MidCamp. I’ve been helping out with organizing the event, and I’m doing a training along with two sessions (originally one, but I’m filing in for a cancellation.) It’s stressful, but I love the camp so I’m happy to endure the PowerPoint burnout. I’m excited for the talks, and it is been fun dusting off my old analytics hat for the training.
• Project wise, I’ve been digging into Drupal Commerce for the first time. Taking a bit to wrap my head around it, but I’m liking it thus far.
• Received some positive recognition at work for my efforts over the last year. Helps put some extra gas in the tank during what is going to be a busy couple of weeks.
• Got a nice shout of from Ryan at Hook 42 in their Florida Drupal Camp wrap up.
• My office now has an Nintendo 64 with the original Smash Brothers. This is big news.

Personal Stuff:

• Found out that Colin did really well on some advanced placement testing. He’ll destroy us all soon.
• I’m really itching for some warmer weather. Forced myself to run outside this weekend even though it was still a little cold - well worth it once I warmed up. Also really looking forward to getting back to outdoor barbecue.

Stuff I'm Into:

• Enjoying Hollow Knight on Switch along with Tetris 99 (Switch) and Tetris Effect (PS4). Who knew I’d be so into Tetris in 2019?
• To say I’m ‘into it’ is a stretch, but I’m still reeling from Brody Steven’s passing. Listened to a nice tribute on Who Charted.
• Into the extremely thoughtful Still Processing Podcast including their M.J. episode.
• Beer: 3 Floyds Lord Rear Admiral. An ESB with 3 Floyd's signature blown out flavor profile.

I made it through my first weeknote!

New Year's resolution time!

Things felt a little different heading into 2019. I usually have a pretty good handle on what I want to accomplish in the upcoming year, along with a formal resolution. But this year, nothing. Initially that seemed terrifying, but the more I think about it, that openness and lack of expectation is an exciting resolution in and of itself.

Standing in my now mostly finished kitchen I also came up with another late breaking resolution. 2019 is going to be the year of intentional home improvements. Rather than letting a flood force me into it, I'm going to try to proactively decorate, improve and declutter. It is pleasantly (mostly) non-technical, and I can tackle it in tiny chunks throughout the year.

Wishing everyone a happy and productive 2019 full of dry kitchens.