eric/kestrelsnest-blog
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Pull Requests Packages Projects Releases Wiki Activity

Update now/then/upcoming pages for December 2025

Browse Source 
- /now: Add games (Outer Worlds 2, AC Valhalla, Gloomhaven), writing updates,
  Random Recipe Project resumption, upcoming events (Inuhele, CONpossible)
- /then: Add LocallyGrown migration, Random Recipe Project (50+ episodes),
  Kestrel's Nest federation, recent books from BookWyrm, events attended
- /upcoming: Add Inuhele and CONpossible with dates/venues, Loops for YunoHost,
  tiny apps, creative projects, n8n/Claude Code exploration

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Eric Wagoner
2025-12-25 13:48:45 -05:00
parent b727f92496
commit c4db5f6ce8
3 changed files with 78 additions and 38 deletions
Download Patch File Download Diff File Expand all files Collapse all files

36
content/now.md
View File

@@ -10,13 +10,11 @@ title: Eric in the Present
[blog]: https://blog.kestrelsnest.social
[mastodon]: https://toots.kestrelsnest.social/@eric
[pics]: https://pix.kestrelsnest.social/@eric
[ericsayshi]: https://podcasts.kestrelsnest.social/@EricSaysHi
[grimmlunch]: https://grimmlunch.org
[locallygrown]: /posts/locallygrown-origin-story/
[randomrecipe]: https://www.youtube.com/@RandomRecipeProject
[conpossible]: https://www.conpossible.com
This page is all about what I am doing *now*. It was last updated on September 23, 2025, and will be edited as things change.
This page is all about what I am doing *now*. It was last updated on December 25, 2025, and will be edited as things change.
## Where I am now
@@ -32,30 +30,38 @@ We [lost Charlie](/posts/2023-07-24-goodbye,-charlie/) but our two remaining cat
I'm the Vice President of Technology at [Infinity Interactive][infinity]. Our whole industry is in turmoil, so work is hard. We're doing a wide range of consulting—from technical infrastructure and software development to workflows and solving both simple and complex problems. Basically, all things having to do with technology and helping organizations organize what they have.
Just completed a massive six-month migration of [LocallyGrown.net][locallygrown] from dying Rails 3 infrastructure to modern SvelteKit. The migration to new infrastructure is complete, but now the real journey is just beginning as we can take advantage of all the things the modern platform has to offer. Time to write new features, grow the service, and take it to the next couple of decades.
[LocallyGrown.net][locallygrown] has settled into a rhythm of steady improvements after the massive six-month migration from Rails 3 to SvelteKit. The infrastructure work is behind us; now it's about new features, better tools for market managers, and growing the platform that serves 70+ farmers markets.
## What I am reading now
Just finished a new short story by Dan Moren set in his Galactic Cold War series—it was wonderful. Currently a few pages into *Service Model* by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
Currently a few chapters into *Service Model* by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
## What I am playing now
- **The Outer Worlds 2** — A whimsically dark RPG from Obsidian in the tradition of Fallout. Delightfully cynical corporate dystopia.
- **Assassin's Creed: Valhalla** — Viking exploration on the Xbox.
- **Gloomhaven** — Finally playing with a regular group after the game sat on my shelf for years.
## What else?
### Emerging from the LocallyGrown Marathon
The LocallyGrown work consumed 100% of my free time over the last five months. Everything got dropped. I'm slowly emerging from that intensity and starting to pick things back up. Kind of in recovery mode, just slowly coming back out and getting to be myself again.
### Writing Again
### Creative Projects Resuming
- Working on a corset vest sewing project that I'm super excited about
- Eager to get back to my YouTube cooking series, the [Random Recipe Project][randomrecipe]
- Haven't released podcast episodes for [Eric Says Hi][ericsayshi] or [Brothers Grimm Lunch][grimmlunch] in quite a while, but want to start again—I just need to do it
- Eyeing some leather working projects with supplies sitting ready for this fall
After months of silence, I'm writing regularly again—both here and at the [Infinity Interactive blog](https://iinteractive.com/resources/blog). The words are flowing.
### Creative Projects
- Recording, editing, and posting cooking videos for the [Random Recipe Project][randomrecipe] again
- Still have that corset vest sewing project waiting—fabric ready, pattern chosen
- Leather working supplies sitting ready for when I find the time
### Upcoming Events
- **Wild Rumpus** (end of October) - Athens' big outdoor Halloween parade festival. Need to decide on and create my costume soon!
- **[CONpossible][conpossible]** (2026) - I'm the Costuming Track Director for this annual convention that started as steampunk but has expanded to embrace all of the "punks." This year's theme is "Through the Faerie Ring"—magic mixed with technology should be a lot of fun
- **[Inuhele](https://inuhele.com)** (January 23–25, 2026) — Atlanta's annual Tiki Weekend. I'm on staff.
- **[CONpossible][conpossible]** (February 6–8, 2026) — I'm the Costuming Track Director. This year's theme is "Through the Faerie Ring"—magic mixed with technology.
## Where my head is
Really just trying to emerge from the LocallyGrown marathon. I knew it was going to take a lot out of me, but I wasn't quite ready for how much effort it took and how all-consuming it was. Slowly rediscovering equilibrium and reconnecting with the creative projects that feed my soul.
The LocallyGrown marathon is behind me. Three months out from the migration, I've found my rhythm again. Writing is happening. Videos are being made. Games are being played. The creative projects that feed my soul are no longer waiting—they're in motion.
---

44
content/then.md
View File

@@ -2,25 +2,47 @@
title: Eric in the Past
---
This page is all about what I have done. As things roll off the [now page](/now), they'll show up here. It was last updated on January 7, 2023.
This page is all about what I have done. As things roll off the [now page](/now), they'll show up here. It was last updated on December 25, 2025.
## What I finished building
- **LocallyGrown.net Migration** (2025) — A massive six-month project migrating a farmers market platform from dying Rails 3 infrastructure to modern SvelteKit. 70+ farmers markets, $1.3 million in annual sales, and a complete rewrite that touched every part of the system. [The whole story is in my blog series](/posts/locallygrown-origin-story/).
- **[Random Recipe Project](https://www.youtube.com/@RandomRecipeProject)** — A YouTube cooking series with 50+ episodes exploring recipes from everywhere: video game tie-in cookbooks (Skyrim, Dragon Age, Fallout, Star Trek), vintage classics (Betty Crocker, Julia Child, Galloping Gourmet), modern favorites (Kenji Lopez-Alt, Moosewood), and even 600-year-old medieval recipes.
- **Kestrel's Nest Federation** — Built out my self-hosted social media presence on YunoHost: Mastodon, Pixelfed, BookWyrm, Castopod, Gitea, and this blog. All running on a DigitalOcean droplet I've upgraded twice since 2021.
- **BookWyrm for YunoHost** — Contributed the BookWyrm integration package now used by other YunoHost deployments.
## What I finished reading
- The first six stories (three novels and three shorts) of [Dan Moren's](https://dmoren.com/) [Galactic Cold War](https://dmoren.com/writing/galactic-cold-war/) series. These are spy thrillers set across multiple star systems colonized by humans. Both aspects are very well done and each story has been better than the last.
- [Paper Girls](https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/paper-girls). I had the final two installments sitting on my nightstand for months and finally sat down to read them. My inaction is not reflective of the quality, as I really did like the whole series. It's a time travel adventure that fits in almost all of the standard time travel tropes, but it blends them together in really weird ways that tread new ground. And the artwoek is top-notch, and that really helped. The images of kaiju tardigrades battling it out over the city will stick with me for a long time.
- All of Martha Wells' [Murderbot Diaries](https://www.marthawells.com/murderbot.htm). These are all told in the first person by a sentient security robot who has hacked himself to be free of harsh programmed restrictions and has to live in human society. I can't stress enough how much I loved these, perhaps aided by how my own coming to terms with being an undiagnosed autistic adult makes me [relate to the main character](https://www.tor.com/2022/06/21/murderbot-an-autistic-coded-robot-done-right/).
Recent reads (see my full [BookWyrm shelf](https://books.kestrelsnest.social/user/eric/books/read) for the complete list):
- *I'm Starting to Worry about This Black Box of Doom* by Jason Pargin (2024)
- *The Armageddon Protocol* by Dan Moren (2024) — completing the Galactic Cold War series
- *All Souls Lost* by Dan Moren (2023)
- *Bookshops & Bonedust* by Travis Baldree (2023)
- *Antimatter Blues* by Edward Ashton (2023)
- *Mickey7* by Edward Ashton (2022)
- *The Kaiju Preservation Society* by John Scalzi (2022)
- *Sea of Tranquility* by Emily St. John Mandel (2022)
- The complete [Galactic Cold War](https://dmoren.com/writing/galactic-cold-war/) series by Dan Moren — spy thrillers across multiple star systems. Each story better than the last.
- [Paper Girls](https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/paper-girls) — time travel adventure with kaiju tardigrades. The artwork will stick with me.
- All of Martha Wells' [Murderbot Diaries](https://www.marthawells.com/murderbot.htm) — a sentient security robot navigating human society. [Deeply relatable](https://www.tor.com/2022/06/21/murderbot-an-autistic-coded-robot-done-right/) as an autistic adult.
## What I finished playing
- [The Outer Worlds][outer worlds] from Obsidian. Decididly anti-corporate darkly humorous science fiction from some of the same people who created the [Fallout games](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallout_(series)). Short gameplay, but I loved every minute of it.
- [The Dragon Age series](https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Dragon_Age_Wiki) from BioWare. I played them all as they originally came out, but recently did a replay straight through. In terms of world building and story telling, this is my favorite game series (*perhaps* tied with the Elder Scroll and Fallout games)
- [Elder Scrolls Online](https://www.elderscrollsonline.com). New content comes out all the time so I'll be back, but for now I'm caught up. I did find a good guild to socialize with, but I've played everything I could by myself. Surprisingly, that was most of the content and 100% of the story.
- [The Outer Worlds][outer worlds] from Obsidian — darkly humorous anti-corporate science fiction. Short but loved every minute. (Now playing the sequel!)
- [The Dragon Age series](https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Dragon_Age_Wiki) from BioWare — replayed the entire series straight through. My favorite game series for world building and storytelling.
- [Elder Scrolls Online](https://www.elderscrollsonline.com) — caught up on all solo content. Found a good guild to socialize with.
## What I finished watching
- Season Three of [Jack Ryan](https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0B8KWN7N2/ref=atv_dp_season_select_s3) on Amazon. I was a big fan of the original books (to the point where I considered applying to the CIA in my late 20s) and I liked the first two seasons of the show well enough. This one? Not so much. I mean, I watched the whole thing to see it out, but I wasn't happy about it. The character works when he's placed in a realistic world and the events could plausibly happen. This season might have well been set in an alternate history earth, where the geopolitics are similar yet very different from our own in key ways, the technology borders on fantastical, and things like travel time and logistics coordination is miraculous. In this fantasy setting, Jack Ryan became a comic book character in a superhero story. And I don't want or enjoy that version of Ryan.
- All the espisodes of [Taskmaster][taskmaster] [on YouTube][taskmaster youtube] (and some that fell off the back of a truck). Nothing I've watched recently has lifted my spirits and made me giggle like this show.
- All episodes of [Taskmaster][taskmaster] [on YouTube][taskmaster youtube]. Nothing has lifted my spirits quite like this show.
[taskmaster]:https://taskmaster.fandom.com/wiki/Taskmaster_Wiki
## Events attended
- **Wild Rumpus 2025** — Athens' big outdoor Halloween parade festival
- **Inuhele** and **CONpossible** — annual Atlanta conventions where I'm on staff
- **The B-52's Farewell Concert** (January 2023) — in Athens, where it all started
[taskmaster]: https://taskmaster.fandom.com/wiki/Taskmaster_Wiki
[taskmaster youtube]: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT5C7yaO3RVuOgwP8JVAujQ
[outer worlds]: https://outerworlds.obsidian.net/en/enter
[outer worlds]: https://outerworlds.obsidian.net/en/enter

36
content/upcoming.md
View File

@@ -2,25 +2,37 @@
title: Eric Yet To Come
---
This page is all about what I am planning on doing in the not too distant future. As I get to them, they'll leave here and appear on my [now page](/now). It was last updated on December 21, 2022.
This page is all about what I am planning on doing in the not too distant future. As I get to them, they'll leave here and appear on my [now page](/now). It was last updated on December 25, 2025.
## Where I will be
- Athens, early January 2023, for the B-52's final concert of their farewell tour
- Las Vegas, mid-January, for [my employer](https://iinteractive.com)'s annual all-hands gathering
- Atlanta, late January, for [Inuhele](https://inuhele.com), Atlanta's annual Tiki Weekend. I'm on the staff there and it's loads of fun
- Atlanta, early February, for the [Atlanta Steampunk Exposition](https://www.atlantasteampunkexpo.com). I love this crowd. The theme this year is "steampunks in space" and I'm really looking forward to it.
- **[Inuhele](https://inuhele.com)** (January 23–25, 2026) — Atlanta's annual Tiki Weekend at the Omni Atlanta Hotel at Centennial Park. I'm on staff and it's always a blast.
- **[CONpossible](https://www.conpossible.org)** (February 6–8, 2026) — I'm the Costuming Track Director for this annual convention at the Sonesta Gwinnett Place Atlanta. This year's theme is "Through the Faerie Ring"—magic mixed with technology should be a lot of fun.
## What I will be building
- **Loops for YunoHost** — I'm planning on packaging [Loops](https://loops.video), an alternative TikTok-style video platform, for the YunoHost self-hosting ecosystem. Another piece in the Kestrel's Nest federation.
- **LocallyGrown.net features** — Now that the massive Rails-to-SvelteKit migration is complete, the real work is ongoing: new features, better tools for market managers, and growing the platform that serves 70+ farmers markets.
- **More tiny apps** — The pantry inventory app reminded me how satisfying it is to build small, focused tools that solve specific household problems. More of those are coming.
## What I will be making
- **Corset vest** — A sewing project I'm genuinely excited about. The fabric is ready, the pattern is chosen, I just need to make time.
- **Leather projects** — Supplies have been sitting ready since fall. Time to actually use them.
- **Random Recipe Project episodes** — My YouTube cooking series has been on hiatus during the LocallyGrown marathon. Ready to get back to the kitchen camera.
- **Podcast episodes** — Both Eric Says Hi and Brothers Grimm Lunch have been quiet too long.
## What I will be reading
- The rest of [Dan Moren's](https://dmoren.com/) [Galactic Cold War](https://dmoren.com/writing/galactic-cold-war/) series. After I finish my current book, I'll have one short story and one novel to go.
- Currently a few chapters into *Service Model* by Adrian Tchaikovsky. After that, the stack awaits.
## What I will be watching
## What I will be exploring
- [The Rings of Power](https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-Power-Season/dp/B09QH98YG1). As much of a Tolkien nerd as I am, it's shocking I didn't watch these as they came out, but my plate was full. This has risen near the top now.
- **n8n automations** — The standup prep workflow opened my eyes to what's possible. I keep noticing small friction points that could be automated away.
- **Claude Code workflows** — Finding new ways to collaborate with AI on rapid prototyping. The two-hour pantry app was an example of what's possible when you're sculpting code instead of typing it.
## What I will be playing
## Where my head is going
- [Gloomhaven](https://cephalofair.com/collections/board-games/products/gloomhaven). My copy arrived shortly after the pandemic started and it's just been sitting here. I really want to play it so I just need to decide if I'm going solo or if it's time to find a party to play with me.
- [Etherfields](https://etherfieldsapp.awakenrealms.com). I kickstarted this game shortly before the pandemic and it only recently arrived. I have friends in mind I want to play it with.
- [Sleeping Gods](https://www.redravengames.com/sleeping-gods/). Another pandemic arrival that I need to either just play solo or find a group to play with.
The LocallyGrown marathon consumed everything for six months. Now I'm slowly emerging, rediscovering equilibrium, and reconnecting with the creative projects that feed my soul. The self-hosting work continues to expand Kestrel's Nest. The making and creating is resuming. The writing is happening again.
Forward motion, one project at a time.