Weeknotes 23:21

July 16, 2023

Week of July 9–15

3..2..1 Launch

The new LGND site officially launched on Wednesday. I wrote a short post which included some screenshots and video of the new site. I also linked to several mentions of the projects in my weeknote posts.

The launch of the site was a culmination of over seven months of work by the LGND team. It is a challenge to complete a project of this scope in the midst of the client work that we have. The team really came together over the past month to get the project over the finish line. I am excited that I was able to play a part and flex my creative muscles and add the finishing touches.

Other Highlights of the Week

  • I continued to work through the WordPress Block Creator Course that I mentioned last week. I worked through lessons 4 and 5 which meant I started building dynamic blocks. I feel better equipped and more confident to start creating my own custom blocks in my next project.
  • I worked on writing documentation in our team’s Notion on how to build case studies for the new LGND site using Gutenberg custom blocks. I also created a page that gives an overview of the Gutenberg editor’s interface.
  • I had a really good time playing Codenames with 7 other of my teammates during our LGND Campfire on Friday. We play this game about every two months and it is always a lot of fun. I was tempted not to participate this week. But I always end up glad that I made the choice to play and to build relationships with my teammates.
  • Ethan Marcotte made my day on Thursday by commenting on my LinkedIn post about the launch of the new LGND site. I had met him over 10 years ago at a Front-End Design Conference in St. Pete. We had a great conversation at the after party and connected on LinkedIn. It is always fun to get a high-five from someone you highly regard in the Web community.
  • I committed to doing a Campfire talk at the end of the month about my process of bringing an idea to life. My talk will be based on a post I wrote a couple of weeks ago about an isometric layout and animation idea for the LGND site.

A Midsummer’s Night Dream

My youngest daughter played Hermia in A Midsummer’s Night Dream

The true highlight of the week was seeing my youngest daughter perform in the Homeschooled Shakespeare Troupe’s performance of A Midsummer’s Night Dream. My daughter performed the role of Hermia and did a fantastic job. It is always a joy to see her act.

A shoutout to our neighbor Amanda who did a wonderful job of bringing my daughter’s costume to life.

My oldest daughter visited from Nashville for the weekend and it was good to spend some time with her as well. It was the last time we will have all three kids in the house for awhile.

Articles I read

Books I am reading

What I watched

Multiverse Fatigue on YouTube – My son suggested that I watch this after I conversation we had. I have been less excited about MCU movies since the end of the Infinity series. I really like Spider-man: No Way Home but most of the other ones I have seen have been disappointing. I liked Ant-Man but felt like the Quantum Realm did not have the same look that had been established in other movies. And I missed his three friends who gave a lot of comic relief to the story.

I do feel like Marvel has lost its way and is focused more on getting movies out the door than telling a good story and developing the characters.

I did really enjoy the Ms. Marvel series on Disney+ and felt like it did a much better job of developing the character. I also enjoyed Hawkeye.

I am still wavering on whether I want to continue to invest in the MCU.

Other things I watched

  • Jewish Matchmaking (Netflix)
  • Secret Invasion (Disney+)
  • La La Land (Netflix) – I watched this a second time with my wife, kids, and mother-in-law. Enjoyed just as much the second time around (in a week).
  • Rebels (Disney+)
  • Is it Cake, Too? (Netflix)

What I played

MLB The Show 21 (Rays) – I played a game on Saturday and came from behind late to break a 7 game-losing streak. One of my favorite players from when I played MLB The Show 21, Austin Meadows, hit the three-run homer that put me over the top. I finished with a 16-22 record.

MLB The Show 23 (Rays) – I finally gave into the enticement to buy MLB The Show 23, which was on sale for $20 off its regular price for the All-Star game. I bought it on Tuesday night and started playing it on Wednesday.

My hitting woes followed me from 21 to 23. I am still getting fooled a lot and chasing too many pitches out of the strike zone. I did manage to go 5-4 this past week.

The most exciting game was a come-from-behind win on Saturday. I was down 4-1 in the 8th inning when I hit back-to-back solo home runs. In the ninth, I got a lead-off double. That runner scored to tie it on a single. I stole a base and then laced a single into left-center field to win the game.

Celebrating a walk-off single to complete a come-from-behind victory.

I finally figured out a better way to steal bases and used that to my advantage in a couple of games over the weekend. But it also got me in trouble a couple of times when I wanted the runner on first to steal second with another runner on third. In two different cases, the runner from third also advanced and got put out.

I am enjoying playing with the current roster of the Rays, the new commentators, and some new game transitions. I am liking that the shifts are not quite as extreme as in the past. I am not sure if this game is using bigger bases but I am stealing more bases successfully and feel more confident to try now that I learned some other controls.

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