Jan. 6, 2026

What I'm up to — January 2026

Updated from my home in Chicago.

My family and I moved to a new home this summer. It is a dream come true for us. We had a backyard Irish music session to celebrate.

Backyard Irish session

DjangoCon US

In September I attended the DjangoCon US conference in Chicago. It was my first time going to an in-person web developer event of any kind. I was intimidated at first — perhaps due to my informal career path — but was quickly welcomed by the kind and clever minds of the Django community. I picked up new ideas and friends. I look forward to attending future cons, and to participating in the local Python community here in Chicago.

DjangoCon US group photo

New "transcriptions" page

I've added a "transcriptions" page to my personal website. It features my own performances and musical notation.

Transcriptions page

Part of the motivation in creating this page is admittedly a marketing effort. I want to showcase my guitar-playing abilities and interests. I haven't had a social media account for years now, so I thought it'd be fun to try and see if I could generate any "buzz" using just my own website.

Marketing aside, I also simply enjoy sharing this kind of quasi-instructional material, and hope it could encourage others to do the same. I have more transcriptions to add soon. If you like this kind of thing, let me know!

Gigs and trips

My most notable gig of the past six months was actually a funeral. I played at the funeral mass for Sister Jean, the beloved chaplain of the Loyola University men's basketball team. She lived to be 106, and the (televised) funeral was no somber affair — it was a celebration of an incredible life and spirit. The service took place at the Madonna della Strada Chapel on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Here is one musical selection from the service: These Alone Are Enough, a hymn chosen by Sister Jean herself.

And in the fall my wife and I enjoyed a weekend in NYC to see some shows. My favorite musical, Chess, is currently on Broadway. I recommend it highly. It has some of the best vocal performances of any live event I've ever been to, concert or musical. I really, really hope that they make a cast album of this talented group.

We also saw the Tony award-winning musical Maybe Happy Ending, featuring my Tony award-winning friend, Darren Criss. I obviously also recommend this, if the "Tony" part wasn't enough for you.

Darren Criss and myself

I've been listening to…

Mk.gee

Kingfishr

Chess

Latest reads…