This year ended with a number of commissions and some new directions to investigate and mess with in 2024.
If you have a special project or want to commission a piece next year, don’t hesitate to reach out. I love making work—it’s all I want to do.
Top 10 of ‘23
I get approached by random brands to sell their goods on Instagram (a lot). Most of it has no bearing on my life or yours; would you buy a face cream because I told you about it? In the spirit of giving, here are the unsponsored / unsolicited top ten things that gave me strength in 2023 (which no one paid me to tell you about!):
Bananas. Full disclosure: I don’t really like the taste of banana, and still I eat a greenish one every day. Solid food for the gut, affordable, Crohn’s approved.
Delrin.
I used to rave about Teflon bone folders and they have been left behind this year for Delrin ones. Delrin is a super hard plastic that can be cut and sanded into a tool good for flattening creases on paper. I’m not saying it’s the key to folding, but it is at least 30 percent of the key.
Pop-it plants. Impatiens capensis are nature’s fidget toy. When my kids take a hike in Saginaw Forest we find them along the boardwalk and they pop out like a spring when squeezed.
Ted Chiang. I loved Stories of Your Life and Others (2002) and Exhalation (2019). His books are brilliant and if you haven’t heard his talk with Ezra Klein earlier this year, do yourself a favor and have a listen.
I’m not a card game enthusiast, however this is the only game on my phone and I’m very likely addicted. Like most Zachtronics games, it’s seemingly impenetrable; there are layers, and at some point it all clicked and I fell in love with its mechanics. It is untying a brutal but brilliant knot. It reminds me of the week I spent fighting a Baguenaudier, except here I occasionally win.
D&D. It took me 43 years to start to play Dungeons & Dragons, and so far, the Sad Dads of Ann Arbor are doing pretty well in our quest for Vengeance. Every other Wednesday night, you can find me in a basement down the street eating snacks and casting spells.
Grillo’s pickles. I love pickles and these are incredible. The hot pickle spears are good in anything.
De La Soul. The entire De La Soul catalog began streaming this year. If you didn’t already know, you’re welcome.
The Bear. I love this show! Season two is somehow better than season one. Impossible . . . but true.
Max Richter. There are a lot of good ambient artists, but Richter is the best. Do yourself a favor and put From Sleep on when you and/or your kids need to chill out. In my extensive research, it works 100 percent of the time. I know this album is almost a decade old, but things find you when they find you.
Leave a comment and give me your 2023 recommendations. I’ll take the usual book and movie recs, but tell me about your cousin’s chili too.
xo
Matt
Two favorite books: I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home by Lorrie Moore and Daughter by Claudia Dey. Favorite movie: Poor Things. I’d love to hear what you think about all three!
Thanks for the post, Matt… books ordered, solitaire downloaded and enjoying my Omoplata 254 test piece (along with the rest of the Shlian collection. I’ll sleep on the Delrin… not ready to fold paper yet. Best wishes to you & the family for an ossum 2024!