Science fiction is the genre of our time

July 22, 2020

The title is just a there for you to consider. I think it's true. I'm not going to back up that thought in this email though. Maybe sometime in the future...

The best kept secret to a successful leisure life

July 14, 2020

What is required for successful leisure is the accumulation of supplies the leisurist feels comfortable working. At least that is my working assumption. I...

This is a coffee cup

July 8, 2020

This is a coffee cup. This is a table. This is me listening to a podcast about Wind of change. These are the bits of pixel art I made this last week. They...

Do I really want to draw pixel art forever?

July 1, 2020

I am slowly coming to the realization that to make a video game that is enjoyable to play I am going to have to spend a lot of time drawing. And I mean a lot...

Building Mars, Pixel by Pixel

June 23, 2020

My goal for this week was to have the first version of the base you manage ready to share before I sent this newsletter. Sadly that will not be happening....

Corn on Mars & What is this game anyway?

June 16, 2020

If you’ve been asking what in the world this game is, you are not the only one. I’m going to try and give a clear answer. But first, here are some fast...

Walking Martian Craters

June 8, 2020

I have a bulleted list of todos titled “Mars Game” in my journal. The bullets are broken up into sections with each section ending with a title for this...

My Mission to Mars

June 1, 2020

In my first email I said that "I’d like to write something and then move on" before promising to write 12 emails about croissants. When the 12 croissant...

Session 6: Mother's Day Flowers

May 11, 2020

This experiment with photography as leisure is proving to be less about learning a new skill than about documenting random items around my house. First it...

Session 5: The Toddler Camping Chair

May 4, 2020

In June 2018 Caitlin and I both needed to travel for work and so Emery’s Godparents watched him for a few days. To make this work we bought a small blue...

Session 4: Light Terrain

April 27, 2020

On Saturday, when the sun finally broke from behind the clouds, I almost went outside to take photos. But the day had been full of garden work and the kids...

Session 3: Pizza boxes, Tape and Bonsai Trees

April 20, 2020

This week has been more about cutting cardboard than about taking photos. The bar I set for myself, a new camera that could take light test photos, was too...

Session 2: So white

April 13, 2020

(This email experienced a delivery failure last night, here is to hoping it works this time…) Thanks to The English Game I am running way behind on writing...

Session 1: Moody photos for moody times

April 6, 2020

Last weekend I said I was done writing about croissants. And I am. Really. But… This Wednesday and Saturday I baked croissants and I did it so much...

All I know about making croissants

March 30, 2020

The sun has broken through the clouds and what was another dreary day under quarantine has turned into a wonderful late afternoon of soaking in the sun and...

Batches 11 & 12: The toll of uncertainty

March 23, 2020

When I started this newsletter at the start of January, we lived in a different world. Change was bound to happen. Change always does. But if you asked me,...

Batch 10: Sourdough

March 16, 2020

I am sitting at what, I guess, is my quarantine desk. Such a weird idea, quarantine. Cate and I just took an old table from our basement and installed it...

Batch 9 or The Great Whittemore Bake Off

March 9, 2020

Ahhh. Look at that wonderful croissant. Oh, and here is another. Two croissants you ask? Why two croissants? Well, this week Caitlin decided that she wanted...

Batch 8 and why I started writing this thing in the first place

March 2, 2020

I am a person who tries to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. I fail. Sometimes in big ways. Often in small ways. And knowing I’d fail is, in many ways,...

Batch 7: Its all about the butter!

February 24, 2020

Before a croissant is baked, twenty-five percent of its mass is butter. And yet, I haven’t talked about butter for more than a few asides in this newsletter...

Batch 6: Let's pretend these are sucky because I had the flu

February 17, 2020

This week was different. On Monday night I had a “spare” 30 minutes before putting Emery to bed and decided that the little dude and I could whip up a small...

Batch 5: It's Baking Day!

February 10, 2020

I'm starting to write this week's newsletter while the croissants are still unfinished. Somehow the week got away from me and so the 24hour+ process of...

Batch 4: Lamination!!!

February 3, 2020

It's 11:38 on Tuesday night and I am writing this with buttery flakes all over my fingers and shirt. What a wonderful life! Being late, I'm eating them...

Batch 3: The Secret Ingredient is Packaging Tape

January 27, 2020

It’s after the kids have been put to bed. In a few hours this email needs to be sent and I’m just getting started now. I blame a trip to the library and this...

Batch 2: What a sticky mess!

January 20, 2020

While my last email pointed out the failures of the first batch, I was feeling pretty good about my innate skill to make croissants. People liked them. They...

Batch 1: Beautiful little failures. Or, how I made great crescent rolls.

January 13, 2020

Somehow, in the process of planning for this first batch of croissants, I came to the conclusion that the right time to eat homemade croissants was in those...

12 Batches of Croissants: An Introduction

January 6, 2020

Last year I read a newsletter by the author Robin Sloan. It was about nothing really. His thoughts and discoveries correlated each week and sent out to...