A Look Back on 2018

A reflection on my personal accomplishments in 2018.

Published on  • Updated on  • 📖 6 min. read Edit on GitHub

I saw several people reflecting on personal accomplishments from the previous year, so I thought I would jump on the bandwagon and do so as well 🙂.

Here are ten notable things that I did in 2018:

  1. In January, I moved a few miles north to an apartment in Uptown, Minneapolis. I love being just a short walk from a multitude of shops, restaurants, and things to do. Being close to the Midtown Greenway and the chain of lakes makes for great biking and connections to other places in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. As the year went on, I outfitted the apartment with HomeKit LED lights. I have two in my bedroom, and a combination of two outlets and an LED strip in my living room. It's very colorful and fun. For the ultimate hands-free (lazy?) life, I have them set up to automatically turn on or off if I arrive or leave home, respectively 😁.

  2. I started working with React and TypeScript quite extensively at work. My team transformed and became focused on a new project so I was able to learn and start building the new codebase with modern tools and libraries. I've also spent a lot of time helping and mentoring other UI developers learn and troubleshoot similar setups.

  3. In January - March, I was Lighting Designer for Young Artists Initiative’s production of Annie. I hadn't worked on a show since graduating from college in 2016, so I was delighted to have the opportunity again.

  4. In April, some friends and I traveled to Estonia, Latvia, and Ukraine. The cities I visited were beautiful, and seeing the city of Pripyat, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, and Duga Radar was an incredible, heartbreaking, and one of the most unique experiences I have ever had.

  5. In early June, I rode in the MS150 for the second time. I spent the month or two before getting comfortable on my bike and training for the ride, even biking 16 miles (ca. 26 km) to and from work a couple of times. This year's ride was better in every way!

  6. In November, I bought a MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports), which I named Skylab. It replaced my aging MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012). This came two months after my Hackintosh bit the bullet. I have a nice laptop stand and giving the whole laptop-at-a-desk thing a try for the first time since early on in college. So far so good, but I very well may be buying an iMac next year...

  7. I actually wrote new content for this website! I posted about Charlie the Hubot I help with at work, A Hackintosh Reflection, an iPhone XS Max review, and two living documents, the gear and the software I use. Update (March 2020): I've now moved these to a single Uses page.

  8. Podcasts: I continued to host PodKit and was in several episodes of The Extra Dimension, Second Opinion, and Nexus Special. I spent some time improving my Logic Pro X podcasting template to add compressors, limiters, de-essers, and better equalizing. I hope to keep PodKit on a better schedule. We're notoriously bad at any sort of consistency.

  9. I read books this year! I listened to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams and Artemis by Andy Weir. I'm also part way through Typeset in the Future: Typography and Design in Science Fiction Movies by Dave Addey. I recommend all of them!

  10. Finally, I went to more concerts/shows this year than any year before. I went to nearly all EDM shows of some sort at The Loft, Skyway Theater Main Stage, and First Ave. Don't worry, I happily wear my ear plugs to every show and am glad that the city of Minneapolis requires concert venues to provide them for free in case I forget them. My favorite show was definitely CloZee at The Loft at the end of September. Her music is a unique and wonderful blend of electronic and bass music, with undertones and influences from all over the world.

2018 was a great year and I am looking forward to seeing what next year brings! Happy New Year! 🎉

Here's a bonus 11th item: I bought the LEGO NASA Apollo Saturn V. Look at it. It's great. I want more. 😈

Update: I've now posted my 1 Second Everyday compilation, check it out!

1 Second Every Day 2018