2023? Already?

Somehow, beyond all reason, it’s 2023. Time to put down a recap of 2022, and set out some thoughts on what 2023 will bring.

2022 In Review

2022 seemed to fly by and also take forever. I used Google Photos to help review what happened each month, and I was shocked how many things happened in the summer or earlier, that all felt like they just happened. This is a symptom of aging, I can only imagine. Or maybe it’s just the pace of modern life. Who knows. Anyway, here’s a roughly chronological listing of the more memorable moments of 2022:

• Got COVID
• Fully recovered from COVID
• Had 2 fantastic birthday dinners with Priya and friends
• Hung out with one of my sisters here in San Antonio
• Went to an Indian wedding
• Hung out in San Francisco with Priya
• Accidentally went to a super weird performance art show
• Celebrated Marshall’s 12th Birthday
• Went to the Renfaire with Priya, the boys, and some good friends
• Long overdue visits to the McNay and the Witte
• Celebrated Priya’s birthday
• Took the boys on a very expensive road trip during the highest gas prices
• Spent some time with my mom and sisters and their families
• Got to see Matt and Sherman and their families
• Celebrated Simon’s 9th birthday at ComedySportz
• Welcomed a bunch of new players to ComedySportz
• Spent an epic weekend in New York City with Priya and friends
• Saw Hadestown on Broadway
• Celebrated Priya’s promotion to Assistant Chair of her department
• Schemed with Priya’s mom
• Got engaged!
• Priya and I celebrated our engagement with a delicious dinner; meanwhile I
• Schemed with friends so that they could prank Priya while we were at that same dinner; then
• Celebrated with those same friends; then
• Walked home so Priya could discover the prank
• Took the boys on a short trip to meet Priya at a conference in Corpus Christi
• Watched several great band performances by Marshall, including participating in a halftime show at a high school football game
• Navigated transferring Simon to a new school
• Took Marshall to see Weird Al
• Planned mom’s 70th birthday from afar
• Saw the Indigo Girls with Priya and friends
• Saw Gogol Bordello with Priya
• Started planning a wedding
• Went back to the office for the first time in 2.5 years
• Went camping with the boys and the neighbors in 35F weather
• Had a cocktail while watching Twitter burn
• Hosted Thanksgiving dinner for Priya’s mom & dad, my mom, and Priya’s cousin
• Made turkey, green bean casserole, and 2 pies
• Took a long overdue trip up the Tower of the Americas with everyone
• Started wedding venue shopping
• Chose a wedding venue
• Chose a wedding date
• Attended The Annual Drinking of the Anchor Christmas Beers with Drew, Corey and Casey
• Spent a long weekend with Priya and family in California
• Rang in the new year keeping Priya’s cat from freaking out over the fireworks since she was stuck in California - thanks Southwest.

2023 in Preview

I’m not one to make resolutions, so I won’t do that, specifically, here. But here are a few areas where we’ll definitely see a difference this year.

Family Stuff

Ok, so the big news from 2022 was getting engaged to Priya. That’s going to set the tone for much of the year, as we plan a wedding for December 2023. Beyond the wedding, I’ll also be moving in with Priya, which means the boys will also be living with Priya part time - which will definitely take some adjustment for everyone. Priya and I have been enjoying making plans for converting the house into a configuration that makes sense for our changing family. The boys are excited too, and will be a part of the process too.

The kids both have fairly significant birthdays coming up. Marshall will be 13, and Simon 10. It’s hard to believe, sometimes, but here we are. I’m looking forward to the everything this year is going to throw at us as a family.

Work Stuff

Work is going great. The company is growing, and I’m keeping busy helping us grow it. I’m excited to meet most of my team who I have, so far, only worked with virtually. In November I went back to the Office for the first time in a few years, and met three teammates in person for the first time. People are different in 3D. I’m wrapping up one large project, and have several others lined up, ready to take their place at the first opportunity.

I can’t wait to see what we do this next year.

Social Media Stuff

In November, we saw what I think we’ll look back on as the beginning of the end of Twitter. A very rich man lost an unfathomable amount of money for reasons that range from “he’s actually just incredibly dumb,” to “4D chess to own the libs.” The result of this, for me, has been to think about how I can use social media differently - and the proximity to the new year presents a good time to start making changes.

I dropped off of Facebook in 2020, before the election. I’ve basically shuttered my Twitter account now, and have shifted my social media to the “Fediverse” on Mastodon and Pixelfed. Maybe it’s nostalgia, maybe it’s optimism, but I like the idea of a federated social media ecosystem. Mainly because it’s can’t be taken over by a dude with more money than experience managing social media platforms. Mastodon has a very “early Twitter” feel to it - but also brings some nice improvements, like 500 character posts, and the ability to edit posts. 500 characters makes it a lot easier to add context and I think that helps prevent a lot of “hot takes” that lack nuance.

Anyway, I’m moving away from siloed, corporate owned social networks, and moving toward distributed and/or self-hosted options - like Mastodon and this very blog you’re enjoying right now, dear reader. I’ve also been an active member of some Slack and Discord servers that align with various interests. I like the ability to socialize with different groups in a private environment. This does clash a bit with my preference for distributed and federated social connections - but I haven’t found anything that can be a replacement for them just yet.

So, if you followed me on Facebook or Twitter, you can follow me on Mastodon and/or Pixelfed, or follow the RSS feed for this blog, which I’m really going to try to keep updated.

Other Stuff

ComedySportz continues to be a big part of my life. I hope to perform as often if not more than I have been this past year. I’d also love to bring back Improv Royale, but I’m not sure if that’s going to be possible, with the wedding taking up a decent chunk of my attention this year.

I’m also excited to be releasing the 5th Fiesta Medal in collaboration with SAFlavor. This year’s medal has a great sense of whimsy and fits in line with the classic games theme of the last few years. Look for that announcement sometime in February, probably. I’ll technically live a bit closer to the core Fiesta events, and hope to spend a bit more time participating this year.

2023 is going to be a big year. I’m looking forward to it all.

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