I got very excited about the concept of Now pages a couple years ago, came up with a workflow, and then... just didn't do them.

And I now have an answer as to why that happened.

In my first Now page, I indicated that I was doing some reading and research into Autism, and suspected I was on the spectrum. Recently, I decided to look into a formal diagnosis, including testing for ADHD. The results were unequivocal: firmly on the spectrum. While I have some ADHD traits, they're more consistent with Autism, and specifically Autistic hyperfocus. I was also diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, which is not uncommon with people who have been masking their entire life.

What does this have to do with my Now pages? Well, I get hyperfocused on something, but it's all or nothing. Once I've finished the thing, it disappears. Combine that with time blindness, I may even be thinking about it regularly, but because it's no longer urgent or a priority, it just... simmers.

I'm still processing the diagnosis, but it's nice to have validation from somebody else. And doing a formal diagnosis has also meant getting referrals and resources, which will be a great help as I continue this process of self-discovery.

Reading

I'm still reading out loud to Jen each night; it's a lovely little ritual, and helps us connect before bed time. And we're still reading Pratchett's Discworld series, though we're nearing the end. We've been reading the sub-series, starting with Tiffany Aching, moving to the Witches, the Death collection, the Wizards, the "Industrial Revolution" books, the Gods collection, and now the City Watch books. We're still thinking about what to read when we're done, but leaning towards the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. But that's for a few more months down the line.

Work

I was promoted to Senior Product Manager at Zend by Perforce almost two years ago. This past May, I was also asked to lead the OpenLogic brand, where we primarily provide support for a large variety of open source packages, but also provide some LTS packaging for AngularJS, Bootstrap, and CentOS. I now have two people reporting directly to me, one on each brand, and am moving away from day-to-day tactical decisions around what we're building, to more strategic planning. The work is interesting, I get to collaborate with some great teams, and doing this work has opened some interesting doors.

One of which is that I get to sit on the PHP Foundation as a board member, helping direct where the project and ecosystem will go next. I feel pretty lucky.

Health

2023 going into 2024 was all around a bad year.

In May of 2023, I took a midnight tumble down our stairs when taking one of our dogs out, and evidently dislocated my shoulder. I say "evidently", because it must have popped back in when I hit the floor; X-Rays showed the joint was in its proper position. But later that week, I took a solo vacation to the Black Hills, and managed to fully dislocate it simply by reaching out to steady myself on the wall when putting on my boots. (I won't go into all the details, other than it was horrific and traumatic, and hours before they reset it.)

This turned out to be a good wake-up call about my general health. I took the physical therapy very seriously, and worked with a PT for five months, up until...

I finally got COVID in mid-October.

I was finally feeling better by the end of November, and when I took my year-end break, felt well enough that I cleared out my office closet, built wall-mounted cabinets for it, and completely re-organized my office, but...

Managed to give myself an RSI when building the cabinets. So back to the PT, and now I wear a wrist brace every night to bed to keep it stabilized and ensure I don't re-stress my wrist.

Because of the COVID and the RSI, I stopped exercising for a while. Mostly. I would once a week or so pick up my weights to do my shoulder exercises, but it was hugely inconsistent.

But in July, I realized that (a) I'm too tired to do my exercises first thing in the morning, and, besides, the dogs tend to get in the way, and (b) if I wait until the end of the day, I'm too tired to start. So I started doing them mid-day, as part of my lunch hour.

And this has worked.

I alternate between the stationary bike and my weights. And I've noticed a huge difference in my energy levels, and the ways my clothes fit.

Around the house

The energy boost meant that when I finally took a vacation at the beginning of September, I spent a week of it swapping my youngest son's bedroom and my office, which meant painting and more cabinetry. Even though the rooms are almost identical in size and layout, it's like having a brand new space, which has been hugely fun.

It also means that Jen and I are now actively talking about additional projects we can do to have a more intentional living space all around.

Events

Back in 2020, we'd purchased tickets for a whole bunch of shows... which then all got cancelled when COVID hit. And since then, we've... done nothing. We decided to rectify that a bit this year, and recently been able to see:

• A performance by both Bug Hunter and The Narcissist Cookbook in Minneapolis.
• Jukebox the Ghost in Omaha.

It's been great to see live music again, and we're already starting to plan for more!

Art

In April, Eni Oken closed her Art Club, which was hugely sad. However, the group continues via a private Facebook group and monthly meet-ups (which I've not been able to attend the last couple months). I've continued drawing, but not as much; the new work responsibilities have definitely sapped my energy, and having to intentionally look for and identify inspiration has decreased my output.

But I've done some experimentation, and branching out. I signed up for Sketchbook Revival 2024, and while I'm still (very) slowly working through the workshop sessions, I've created two bound journals (one 5.5 x 8.5 inches, another 3x5 inches), and started playing with map tangling.

Jen and I also explored art stores in St. Paul and Omaha during our visits this fall, and I found some new media that I've had fun experimenting with (Derwent Drawing and Graphitint pencils, in particular).

You can always find recent art of mine on the website.

Fin

If you're reading this, and we've not spoken for some time, please visit my contact page and drop me a line; I'd love to hear from you!