As terrible as the year has been, some landmark achievements have happened in spite of it. Here's a rundown of what I've accomplished this year.
For the last decade or so, I've been a staunch proponent of music playback by album. Recently, I've found a deep appreciation for playlist building.
For years I've been punting several preservation projects related to my family's history, photos, and home video. In recent months, I've taken on my immediate family's aging collection of VHS media to pull it forward into the digital age.
I located a long-lost advertisement starring my great grandfather and so much more.
I haven't compiled a mid-year list of my favorite things since 2015. I've just been so struck with compelling media during the year of COVID that I felt it was worth doing a quick run-down of the stuff that's keeping me occupied while most social activities are put on hold.
Anyone who's followed me closely may know that in Fall of 2017, I returned to The University of Akron to complete a bachelor's degree in Computer Information Systems with a specialization in computer programming. I graduated in May. As a...
In January of 2016, an author by the name of Ben Welch reached out for permission to use my 2012 essay on Fall Out Boy's album From Under The Cork Tree. I gave him the go-ahead and a quick interview...
A fast and elegant way to verify that all posts in a Ghost CMS are properly tagged.
Despite removing myself from Google’s ecosystem where I can, I’ve found that Google calendars have been hard to ditch. One thing that’ really irks me though about adding Google calendars to my Apple calendar apps is the mess...
I got into an argument with a guy at the bar today. I’m not sharing this because I’m proud of it or because I feel like I gained anything from it, but so that I might glean more...
I’m sort of a nut about metadata and archiving my digital stuff. I also like lists and enjoy listening to music. It’s all of those things that led me to my ongoing bi-monthly playlist project, where I collect...
It’s been a really busy year here, but now that it’s come to an end, I’m finding it difficult to recap. 2017 saw less creative output than 2016 and that trend has continued in some ways and completely reversed in others. Let’s break it all down.
My lists are all short this year and I have a long holiday break to enjoy, so I’m going to combine this year’s My Favorite Things posts into one. I hope that’s cool. Music I gave fewer...
The Fall Foliage Committee in Medina County, OH asked for a refresh of their logo that was originally made in the ‘80s and never properly digitized. The group made do with the modern equivalent of a thumbnail jpeg for decades....
I've been an RSS user for many years now and as my interest in reading and writing waxes and wanes, my reliance on it does also.
I haven't been writing much lately. I haven't been reading much lately either. I haven't been sleeping well lately and it's not because of the squirrels in our attic or the pretzel-like configuration my partner, my dog, and I make when we tuck in for the night.
Over the past few days I’ve been reviewing my creative output year over year from 2016 to now. 2017 was marked with some major moments in my life, the results of which are hopeful but remain to be seen. Let’s break it all down.
Variable Bitrate has been on a hiatus for the past year, which has taken some of the pressure off of listening to new music, which naturally means I listen to more new music.
In 2017, I made good on my promise to watch more movies than I did in 2016. In total, I watched 167 movies.
As I did last year, I spent far too much time watching television. The top of the year was spent binging Bob’s Burgers and Archer with Mae. We caught the new episodes of both Sherlock and Doctor Who. On...
In 2016, I made an effort to play more games. Battlefront and Firewatch were must-plays. This year, the PS4 has been relegated almost entirely to “expensive BluRay player” status. This spring I got my hands on a Nintendo Switch and...
In 1977, George Lucas introduced his science fiction fantasy with the world. Amongst the desert canyon walls, we see Banthas for the first time. Years later, a New York-based dork and I start a podcast to talk about Lucas’ universe....
The trailer for The Last Jedi has arrived. Chapter two of the sequel trilogy is imminent and drawing ever closer. As I tend to do, I'm breaking down the trailer to pick out the nitty gritty details to draw any...
Over the years, I've amassed an extensive collection of Lonny Breaux reference tracks and Frank Ocean rarities. After years of digging through blogs and scouring Internet archives, I've brought together the rest of Lonny/Frank's pre-Blonde discography and made it available to download in one place.
A midwest-based electrician hired me to create a logomark for their new company back in 2017. The business doesn't have a web presence that I've been able to find, so I haven't seen my work in use, but I enjoyed...
I’ve found browser extensions for each of the three primary browsers that simply redirect any link heading to amazon.com to smile.amazon.com without any further input necessary.
Most of these games are new. Several are not, but have been on my “must play” list for some time.
I didn't watch a whole lot of movies this year. Instead, I watched quite a bit of TV.
In 2016, I saw more movies in theaters than usual but less in film overall. Mae and I spent a lot of time watching older sagas like Star Wars, Oceans 11-13, Indiana Jones, and the Bourne saga. Otherwise, it's really...
Despite hosting a podcast revolving almost entirely around movers and shakers in the alternative music industry, I’ve listened to very little new music this year. Of that, an even smaller percentage has stuck. The result is a shorter list...
While stewing in my discontent, it came to mind that 2016 has been, without question, the fastest year of my adult life—full of accomplishments and experiments alike. To break the cycle, I’m listing those out.
This review contains spoilers. Reading beyond this paragraph means you’ve either seen the movie and care to read insights into the plot of The Force Awakens, or you simply want to ruin a possibly phenomenal movie-going experience for yourself....
This week, along with our latest episode, Mike and I put together a remix of Childish Gambino's "Freaks & Geeks" from the perspective of Lando Calrissian.
When I attended Hocking College for music industry management and production, my classmates and I worked collaboratively on a project that encompassed all of the skills taught to us over the past two years. Together, we booked a number of...
The second and final trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has arrived. A few observations: * Mads Mikkelsen's role is much bigger than we previously anticipated. * As is Forest Whitaker's hair. * Jyn is likely imprisoned on Eadu, a new...