Add weeknote for January 11-17, 2026

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

content/posts/2026-01-17-weeknotes/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+---
+title: "Weeknotes: January 11–17, 2026"
+date: 2026-01-17T10:00:00-05:00
+draft: false
+description: Everything around me seems to be in motion this week. Kids moving through milestones, colleagues moving on to new things, seasons shifting. Even the birds are starting to come back.
+tags:
+  - weeknotes
+  - cooking
+  - family
+lastmod: 2026-01-18T01:46:29.567Z
+---
+
+Everything around me seems to be in motion this week. Kids moving through milestones, colleagues moving on to new things, seasons shifting. Even the birds are starting to come back.
+
+## Shipped
+
+Saturday I attended a UGA swim meet with my youngest, who's on her high school team. She's lucky enough to practice at the UGA natatorium, a genuinely world-class facility, and it was fun to watch the collegiate teams compete, including several nationally ranked swimmers.
+
+![The UGA Gabrielsen Natatorium, showing the diving well, competition pool, and championship banners under the massive steel truss ceiling](natatorium.jpg)
+
+There's something satisfying about watching people who are really, really good at something do that thing at full speed.
+
+Sunday we took the eldest back to college for their final semester. They're packed with senior-level classes to finish out a degree in computer game design come May. On the way we explored Little Five Points, one of Atlanta's iconic neighborhoods. It felt appropriate: a neighborhood that's survived by constantly reinventing itself, visited on the cusp of a big transition.
+
+Tuesday we went out for dinner, an extreme rarity for us. Half-price oysters and creole enchiladas. Both delicious.
+
+Wednesday was our monthly virtual happy hour at work, where we bid farewell to an amazing co-worker who found much greener pastures elsewhere. He came to us right out of boot camp several years ago, and it's been a joy to watch him grow into a developer as capable as any we have. Bittersweet, but the right kind. The kind where you're genuinely happy for someone even as you'll miss them.
+
+## Read
+
+I found time for a few more chapters of *Automatic Noodles*, which remains a fun and interesting read. Also had to dive into documentation for Shibboleth, a single sign-on authentication system I'll need to integrate soon. The name is appropriately intimidating for an auth system. A word you have to pronounce correctly or be identified as an outsider.
+
+## Played
+
+Not much play this week, other than with the cats. I did start cleaning the craft area, something I should have done months ago, so I can get a few things done for the rapidly approaching steampunk convention. "Start" is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
+
+## Cooked
+
+On a friend's strong recommendation I picked up the River Cottage *Much More Veg* book and made the recipe she'd been raving about: a red cabbage biryani.
+
+![Red cabbage biryani in the pan, showing the braised purple cabbage ribbons and turmeric-stained cashews](biryani-cooking.jpg)
+
+I've never made a biryani before, much less a vegan one, and it was fantastic. I still have some cabbage left and will absolutely make it again. Tonight, even.
+
+![The finished biryani plated with fresh cilantro and sliced red pepper](biryani-plated.jpg)
+
+## Noticed
+
+The songbirds are starting to return, which means I need to disinfect and refill the bird feeders and bath. They have cameras in them, and I love getting little video postcards throughout day. One of those small technological pleasures that actually delivers on its promise.
+
+## Thinking About
+
+Trying not to panic about all the stuff I wanted to do for the steampunk con that I haven't done. I wanted to have more done by now, but here we are.
+
+## What's Next
+
+It's a short work week for me so I can go help with Inuhele, Atlanta's tiki weekend. I can't wait. After a week of watching other people's transitions, I'm ready for three days of escapism and terrible puns about rum.