2022

December 31, 2022

Sneaking in a quick reflection of my year on the last possible day. It was a big one for me in a lot of ways — I turned 40, for one, and celebrated with some of my favorite people at the best beach in the world.

The milestones mark the year, of course, but the day-to-day routines feel like the gold that holds it all together.

Frankie

Our beloved monster turned 3 this year. It's a sweet age where she's lost the razor-sharp attitude of her puppy years, but she still has tons of energy to romp and play. Her best year yet.

(Frankie and Emily have perfected a routine that always melts my heart: Emily sits on the couch, and Frankie climbs into her lap, "head dives" into Emily, and they settle in for a nice, long snuggle 🥰)

Media

I really wish I could be a movie guy, but the arc and depth afforded by a full season or three of a good TV show will win every time. These are some I really enjoyed this year:

The Bear
Derry Girls
Our Flag Means Death
Peacemaker
Reservation Dogs
Righteous Gemstones
Severance
Slow Horses

Reservation Dogs deserves a callout here: it continues to be a really special show that moves in big and small ways, with a hugely talented cast that is utterly charming. I've said it before, but it doesn’t feel like a show that was made to be consumed; it feels like something that already existed, and we’re just lucky to be able to check in from time to time.

Travel

Starting in the middle of November, Emily and I spent four glorious weeks bumping around Spain. We've been planning this trip for literal years, but every time we bought tickets life had other plans — family emergencies, moving across the country, and a full-on global pandemic. It was starting to feel like we weren't supposed to go to Spain, but we plowed ahead anyway and finally stuck the landing.

In many regards, it felt less like a whistlestop tour of all the hottest sightseeing destinations, though we did some of that as well, and more like a month of extremely normal days — buying groceries, doing laundry, chilling out during siesta, and then heading out for a vermut. It was just such a nice place to build up cozy, everyday routines, and (annoyingly to everyone else, I assume!) I can't stop thinking about it.

(We also got new tattoos, which was rad.)

It's probably natural to hold onto vacation glow for as long as possible, but we're already planning what we'll do and where we'll go when we go back. (And you better believe I've got my eye on Spain's upcoming digital nomad visa...)

Work

Just shy of 10 years after emailing the gang at Panic, I took a huge leap of faith and joined the front-end team at Fictive Kin in Februrary.

My year since was jam-packed learning all sorts of new things across six client projects, which thrills me to no end, and I feel exceedingly lucky to work with a group of smart and talented people. I'm really looking forward to another year of building things for the web.

(I was a big, emotional mess on my last day at Panic; thankfully, when you work remotely no one except your wife and dog will see you cry! 😭)

COVID

I've been dodging, ducking, dipping, diving, and dodging for almost three years (i.e., masking everywhere and getting vaccinated at every possible opportunity), but last Monday — 1,013 days after travel to the US from Europe was suspended, the NBA shut down, and Tom and Rita announced they had COVID — I finally tested positive.

It wasn't a huge surprise — we headed into our trip knowing we'd be at greater risk for getting COVID on the road than in the little bubble life we've been leading at home — but it was still a bummer to finally see that second pink line light up. I went through all the classic symptoms: I turned into a non-stop snot fountain, had a rattly cough, lost my taste and sense of smell, and just generally felt like trash.

Twelve days on I'm feeling a lot better, but boy do I run out of energy at the drop of a hat 😮‍💨

The year ahead

I don't usually pencil out plans or hopes for the new year, but here are a few things I'm looking forward to:

Goofing around with our little gang
Hanging out with friends and family