Other things I make.
I've always been obsessed with anything I've ever enjoyed. Both good and bad. I don't take myself too seriously, but if I feel like I'm smart enough to go a layer deeper with anything, I'll certainly give it a try. With each hobby, I enjoy hands-on engineering paired with the desire to become proficient in the knowledge to explain and iterate upon it. Once the interest has run its course, I'm off to another project while keeping the other hobbies automated and manageable.
Music in many forms.
I grew up playing piano + guitar, and even studied it in college. I taught lessons for a few years as I was picking up photography. After I stopped teaching lessons, it became a way to unwind and release stress. It's still a huge part of my life, and I play every day. On the side, I've picked up DJing, synthesizers, and drum machines. All with the goal of expanding my ability to understand what the patterns in music do to the human mind.
I won't go on like I could, but below you'll see my Kimball grand piano that's nearly 100 years old. I also have a Martin custom shop “Super Dreadnought” that's about the loudest acoustic I've ever played.
Music in my life looks a lot different now than it did busking on the streets for fun in my early 20s, but it will always be present.
You can check out my Piano Score ML project to reproduce classical scores.
I started building things.
Late 2022 I bought a planer and a table saw and made my first cutting board. The cuts were wiggly. The builds weren't very exciting at first, but three years later, the cuts are straighter, the slabs are bigger, and I'm gluing up live-edge slabs with bow-ties.
In 2024 I started welding. I bought a $120 welder and stuck some metal together. The first weld was pretty brutal, but to this day I remember a YouTube tutorial saying, “grinder and paint for the welder I ain't.” A month later I had built my own direct-heat smoker. Then a pizza oven.
Since then I've built a wok burner station and a few desks.
Food for everyone.
If you asked any of my friends, making food for others is how I show love. We've done many events at our house, and it's so rewarding to see others enjoy home, hand-crafted food.
Sous vide cooking, industrial ice cream makers, a Blackstone, Traeger, a wok station, and a homemade smoker, the obsession over making food is one of my favorites.
But with everything, I still believe in being both “classy and trashy.” I love combining three cuts of beef, freezing it, grinding it, baking homemade buns, and serving the best smashed burgers. But I enjoy a McDonald's double cheeseburger just as much.
Plant room.
It started off with disliking soil plants because they are more difficult to measure. From here, I started with a Nutrient Film Technique build that gradually progressed to Deep Water Culture, and eventually aquaponics.
I find it fascinating how fish can provide for plants and the plants clean the water for the fish to thrive. The fish also provide better for plants than synthetic nutrients do.
We grow all sorts of herbs, and the plant room is kinda a staging / prep room for house plants before they go into the main areas of the house. I have a few dozen monsteras, coleus, and alocasias growing, and people say it feels “fresh” in there (even though I don't think scientifically the plants produce quite enough to increase the oxygen uptake).
