Man, haven’t written here in over a year! I think this is a good time to share how this year’s been for me so far.

1. Big changes at work

For about 3 of my 5.5 years so far at Shopify, I was the lead of the Design Guru team at Shopify. Design Gurus are responsible for helping merchants out with theme-related issues. Around March, I decided to step down as team lead, join the Self-Help team to fix up Shopify’s Theme Docs.

Shopify’s Theme Docs were a mess. Here are some things that were wrong with it:

• Missing information on variables, filters, objects, etc.
• Inconsistent language (ex: using the word “variable” and “tag” interchangeably)
• Could not link to a specific attribute
• Horrible code examples

I could go on and on about what was wrong with the old Theme Docs but I’ll stop there. I went knee-deep in the Theme Docs to revamp it, and just shipped it last month. The new Theme Docs can be found at docs.shopify.com/themes. Feel free to shoot me a note if you notice anything odd! I’m also going to be updating the core Liquid Docs in my spare time.

Now that the Theme Docs are done, I’ve moved on to a new team to work on a new feature. I’m getting my hands dirty with UI design, which is something I’ve never done. It’s a little intimidating being in a team with a bunch of really smart dudes, but I see it as a great learning opportunity. I look forward to learning from the super-talented designers on the team, Nick and Ally.

2. The band

Last September I got together with my buds Kev and Micky to start a blues-rock band called HUNTER. Last week we had our first ever show at The Rainbow and it was awesome! Great venue, great crowd, awesome times.

We’ve got two more shows lined up in Ottawa, August 14th at Zaphod’s and September 26th at Lunenberg Pub & Bar. If you enjoy rock and/or rolling, come on out! We also have some recordings that are currently being mixed/mastered, can’t wait for that to be done!

3. Gaming

I picked up a Wii U a few months ago, and it’s freaking great. Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze is the best game I’ve played so far this year. Some of the levels are hard as f*ck but tremendously satisfying when you beat em. There’s a level called “Bopopolis” that seriously took me 91 lives to beat. David Wise (the composer of the SNES Donkey Kong Country games) does a killer job with the soundtrack too.

I’ve been trying to get back into Battlefield 4, but it just doesn’t feel as fun anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy playing with buddies, but I don’t feel like it’s a huge upgrade over Battlefield 3. I bought it on day one because I’m a BF fanboy but I didn’t get the same thrill as the first time I played Battlefield 3. The map “Operation Locker” is absolutely the worst map I’ve ever played in any FPS game. Whenever a server would switch maps and the next map was Operation Locker, I would just turn my computer off and go play with my cat or some shit.

4. Books

I’ve done a good job at keeping up my reading habit (woo!). Here are some quick reviews of my favourite books so far this year:

Django: The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend

I picked this book up because I wanted to learn about my favourite jazz musician, Django Reinhardt. He was pretty arrogant and kind of a douche in a lot of people’s eyes, but it was cool to see how he revolutionized the jazz scene in Paris. His guitar work is impressive considering he mangled his fretting hand in a caravan fire accident.

Stench of Honolulu

Stench of Honolulu is the funniest book I’ve read in a while. The book follows the story of a guy adventuring in Hawaii to find a treasure called “The Golden Monkey”. It’s a very short read, highly recommended if you want a good laugh.

An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth

Chris Hadfield’s autobiography. Great book, lots of good life lessons, and I admire how humble he is about his accomplishments. Bonus points for being a Leafs fan too. I would do anything to drink some beers at a Leafs game with Cmdr. Hadfield.

Oh and also, Amazon Kindles are the bomb diggity. I can’t stop reading since picking one up. I love that I can read in the dark now without destroying my ocular balls.

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All in all it’s been a pretty good year, though I haven’t travelled all that much yet. I’m going to be going back to Brighton, UK for Reasons To next month, that should be fun! I’d also like to go back to Okinawa, Japan to see my new nephew for the first time.

That’s it for now, PEACE

tetchi