JonathanHuffman.net Blog

Feeling nostalgic / Retro websites

Jonathan Huffman — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 19:00:00 -0400

More than a few years ago, I lived in a really old and dilapidated apartment, in a really cool part of the city. And it was awesome!

At one point the apartment was likely a gem of the city...it had 10 foot high ceilings with picture rail near the ceilings, a private balcony overlooking the city, the biggest bedroom I've ever had, a really nice kitchen and dining space, and a huge living room...all for $350 a month (because it was no longer a gem). It was so affordable because hadn't been kept up with and there were chronic problems, such as: mayflies (I think - although I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between those and termites) that flooded the bathroom every spring time for a couple weeks then disappeared, endless vines growing through the window in the shower, never ending dripping water in the kitchen (thankfully water was covered by the rent). Instead of faucet handles in the bathtub I had vice grips attached to the metal stubs coming out of the wall.

Occasionally, after doing as much pruning of the bathroom vines as possible, I had to straddle the railing of the balcony while clutching the brick window frame with one hand, and with the other I'd extend a nine iron as far as I could reach to yank out as much of the bathroom vines as possible.

The landlord was easy to work with and would let me deduct the cost of repairs from the rent - for instance, when a hurricane blew apart the screen door on the balcony, I replaced it with a new door from Home Depot and just deducted that from the rent.

Just as all places in Charlotte, the building was swarming with palmetto bugs and they used that high picture rail near the ceiling as a super highway, but I barely noticed them (unless I was hosting a group of friends). Did you know they can fly?!? One of them flew directly at a guest as she was exiting the bathroom. The look of horror on her face, and a few other ongoing issues, is why I ultimately moved.

There were other issues too: Being adjacent to two different bars there were ocassionally late night chaos spilling out towards our front door. And being adjacent to a bus stop on a main route, the exterior of the building was ocassionally treated as a public restroom.

The building was falling apart but it was a wonderful place to live in that time of my life. And although I was mostly annoyed by all those issues at the time, I now look mostly with a sense of nostalgia remembering how great it was in the autumn and springtime (after the mayflies died out).

One cool thing about the area was it being so close to lots of great restaurants, parks, and Central Peidmont Community College's main campus where I'd walk to take some web design/development classes to earn a web design certificate. Recently I was going through some old files from those classes and I stumbled on two websites I created for that class - talk about walking down memory lane! I really loved retro video games and science fiction movies based on PKD stories, which inspired these two class projects. At least I know they were made with valid HTML ;)

The consistency of the Mac operating system

Jonathan Huffman — Sat, 23 May 2026 19:00:00 -0400

Mac OS has by and large remained familiar over the years.

At various points in my life I've used Mac computers and the experience has remained very familiar (and good!). Check for yourself with this interesting website that lets you experience vintage Mac operating systems (fun tip: you can play a lot of classic games like Snood, a game I enjoyed in College, on some of the late 90s early 2000s era versions of MacOS you can try out there).

Whereas with Windows you frequently have good and bad versions that alternate every 5 years or so, with Mac OS I find it just has felt consistent and reliable all along; from Mac OS System 7, to OSX, to just macOS as it's called now.

My first experiences with a Mac operating system were around middle and high school – using a Macintosh desktop to play the original Sim City game in seventh grade social studies class. Also, my cousin had a family Mac and when I was hanging out there we occasionally played a few games he had (Star Wars Dark Forces, and a Lucas Arts game that was like a comical version of Sim City where you design a good and a bad afterlife, ah yes, it was called Afterlife). In high school I took a poetry/creative writing class in a lab of Macintosh PCs, which is where I starting to become more familiar with the OS.

My cousin later got his own Mac for college that was truly a one-of-a-kind machine from Apple. It was the PowerMac G3 All-in-one, which had a beige color uni-body build with a transparent top, which in my memory serves kind of like the missing link between older Mac PCs and the bright and colorful translucent egg shaped first generation of iMacs. The All-in-one looked cool, but this computer was a massive beast, and I did not envy my Cousin having to lug in back and forth from home to his college dorm.

I later sold some of those original colorful iMacs when I worked at my college bookstore/computer store, and they were really cool, although the matching hockey-puck mouse was something I never got used to using. (This was around the time I purchased my first Windows computer, an eMachine, but not the model that got them into hot water for blatantly ripping off the iMac design.)

About ten years later I was taking a graphic design class in a college computer lab full of newer flat-screen LCD iMacs, the first generation of intel-based iMacs, and it was then that I started to really want to have one, but this was around the time I was working as an AmeriCorps member and really did not have the budget.

It wasn't until I had my first professional job I purchased my first Mac computer. This was quite a few years later and it was an intel-based MacBook Pro from 2017 (that I shaved more than a few dollars off using my coworkers advice, finding what he called "old new stock" (actually a never used previous year's model) on Apple's Certified Refurbished section of their online store). I figured out it was the the "old new stock" when I tried to ship it to a nearby Apple store for pickup but the option was inexplicably not available; so I called their customer service and the representative explained that since it was priced cheaper than current machines for sale in the store they would ship it to me overnight at no cost, since I couldn't pick it up at their store. That was one of the first moments I was very impressed by Apple's customer service.

This was also around the time I was working in an office where I got to use a hand-me-down 27-inch intel-based iMac, which was great. And now since I primarily work from home I am currently using a Macbook Pro with Apple silicon, and it is also a dream to use.

So in all these years I only owned that one 2017 MacBook Pro, and I really loved using it. Lately though we've purchased two new Macs. First for my wife we recently got a Macbook Air (finding a good sale price at Costco, and also getting Costco's unique deal for a 3 year purchase of Apple Care plus). This was replacing her expired hand-me-down no-longer-supported Windows 10 laptop. And just recently, with the help of my nieces and nephews, I crowd funded a MacBook Neo for my mom. It's kind of mind-blowing how good is the MacBook Neo, and at just $600! If I were going to college and just needed a good basic functional computer, this would be an awesome option. And for my mom, who was getting by with a 2012 computer that originally came with Windows 7, and would take about 20 minutes just to boot, this was a gigantic upgrade. I spent a day configuring/updating it for her and just was amazed at how nice it is - it runs incredibly well!

All this to say, Mac has been a reliably good experience. Some of their hardware choices have been quirky, but the software and customer service have been reliably good and dependable. I'm not a Windows hater by any means, in fact I think Windows 10 (once you debloated it from ads) was one of the best OS of all time. And most of the computers I've used have been Windows-based. But Mac OS has been consistently great all along, and I hope it continues to be.

Guide to Working Remote

Jonathan Huffman — Tue, 12 May 2026 19:00:00 -0400

Reflecting on five plus years working from home

It still feels like yesterday. The covid pandemic sent us working from home thinking we'd be back at our desks in a few weeks or months at the worst. But for many of us remote working became the new normal, indefinitely.

I find that as I slipped into a remote working routine life seems to move by more rapidly, whether or not I'm paying attention - and somehow it's already been six years into remote working, but I still feel new to this way of working. To be honest, although there are some incredible perks (like avoiding rush hour traffic) it was a little hard for me to adjust to being by myself so much of the time, even as a pretty significant introvert that I am.

So, here is a list of some of the tools I've developed to gradually adjust to this new work life balance. These are my tips for working remote:

1) Start the day right

I'm starting with the most important thing: Coffee. I was a consistent Starbucks consumer before the pandemic (and honestly I still am), frequently grabbing a cold brew to help me power through the remaining work of the day. That paused in year one of the pandemic, so I started experimenting with brewing my own cold brews overnight in a large French press, and then exploring other ways to make the perfect cup of coffee to start my day. I got a basic grinder to have fresher grounds, tried using a pour over method, and kept tinkering with the methods.

Ultimately I landed on a pour over method that I think is perfection (for me). I also use a nicer grinder, the Ode from Fellow (which I waited and got on a black Friday online deal), and a kettle from Breville that can heat water to various temperatures (ideal for coffee, or green black or herbal teas, etc). However, other than the choice of coffee beans themselves (my wife and I like Lavazza), the thing that makes the biggest difference is the pour over brewer itself. Indisputably the Hario v60 is the best option for a pour over brewer (and we've tried a few). It leads to significantly better flavor. And it's the cheapest part of the whole set up (you can get one on Amazon for around $30)! As a result of this experimentation I'm having better coffee and saving a lot of money in the long run.

2) Filling the aural void

One of the hardest adjustments to working from home was getting used to the silence. In the office I wore headphones sometimes to drown out the noise of the office commotion and help my focus, but switching to working at home there were now deafening gaps of silence. I found that the vacuum of human interaction can be somewhat augmented by listening to podcasts; not a replacement for human interaction, but can function more like a mental distraction from the isolation.

When I need to write an email or code something I generally listen to music instead of podcasts so my mind isn't distracted by spoken words. Interestingly for me some kinds of work, more visual things like designing, or things that are repetitive, they tend to be less bothered by conversation; it is when I'm writing my own thoughts I need the language part of my brain free from distraction, so music is the best option then.

When it comes to podcasts, the hardest thing is finding the right ones, there are so many choices. It just takes time to find them. And I've found the chemistry of the host(s) and guest(s) is just as important or maybe more important than the subject matter they are discussing. Here are some of my personal favorite podcasts: The Pen Addict (all about the hobby of stationary and it's trends), This Week in Tech (as a tech enthusiast I've been listening to TWiT since the early days), Ruminate (a podcast about many things, but most often about potato chips as it turns out), Shop Talk Show (about web design and development),

Another tip: invest in good wireless speakers. My wife got us some Sonos Era 100 speakers on sale at Costco for Christmas and OH MY GOSH do they make listening to music incredible. Listening to old favorites that sound brand new to my ears has been a most worthy upgrade to our home/workspace.

3) Finding a Rhythm

This has been the hardest thing. When I worked in an office there was a natural cadence to life. Real life meetings helped to break up the day. And although I never felt like I had too few meetings, looking back I do appreciate how they connected me with others I wouldn't otherwise have connected with. There is something extremely valuable in those chance conversations that Microsoft Teams can not remotely replace. That connectedness has been a challenge to replicate in the post-office remote workspace. For a while my work life rhythm post working in the office felt all out of whack.

An important discovery for me in those first couple years was the Pomodoro Timer concept. Especially with larger projects and tasks that seem never-ending, this method ensures that I take time away from the screen to recharge my eyes and get some steps away from the keyboard. You can read about the technique on Wikipedia. I have a 25 minute timer on my iPhone and computer that I've named "Pomodoro" and it's been a real helpful tool to grind out work.

Another technique I've tried to help organize my time is bullet journaling as a way to structure my day. This has been something I've been somewhat inconsistent in doing but in crunch times it comes in handy.

4) Finding the OffON switch

Knowing when to unplug: I struggled with this before the pandemic and I struggle with this now. But when my work world was injected into my home space, that became a lot harder. For me a challenge of working from home, particularly in that first chaotic year of the pandemic, was finding a healthy work life balance. With so much happening, especially in that first year, the boundaries between non-work life and work-life felt harder to separate. Blocking my time has helped a lot with this, using methods such as the Pomodoro technique mentioned above, have helped a lot with finding the off switch.

But sometimes the best off-switch for work, is finding the right ON-switch for something else. Maybe it's learning a new skill (or hobby or language), or a fun activity like going for a walk. Maybe it's being creative in a different way. It just needs to be something that motivates you to switch gears away from work.

5) Setting up your workspace

If you are blessed with enough space to have a dedicated space for work separate for the space where you do other work/creative endeavors, etc. that is great. As for myself I have one side porch converted to an office to rule them all. When I'm always in the same space it can feel hard to find that off switch mentioned above. That's one reason (among many) that I keep work and my personal life separate on the devices I use.

I have made it a point never to mix personal computing with professional computing. I don't do work activities on my personal machine, and vice versa. This at least helps keep separation between my work and the rest of my life.

Happy Opening Day

Jonathan Huffman — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 19:00:00 -0400

In honor of it being Opening Day for the 2026 Baseball Season, I made this little Code Pen of a baseball field using some CSS variables to make it scale responsively:

See the Pen Happy Opening Day by Jonathan Huffman (@jonathan-huffman) on CodePen.

Recent Comics/TV/Books/Film

Jonathan Huffman — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 19:00:00 -0400

TV

The Winter Olympics were awesome! I have nostalgia from childhood of watching the Winter Olympics at my grandmother's house with all my cousins. And my dad and I loved the bobsledding. It used to be difficult to watch a lot of the Olympics, but just as with the last Summer Olympics, Peacock has done a great job again presenting all of the events and making it easy to watch and enjoy any sport you want.

Pluribus is a science fiction show that I find very intriguing. I could not stop watching it, while building up so many questions. I had to make a list of questions I wish Carol would ask the others.

Bad Monkey is the perfect role for Vince Vaughn. It's a southern Florida Noir story that reminds me a bit of some of the writing by Dave Berry, like the book Big Trouble.

Last Fall my wife and I really enjoyed the latest season of the Australian comedy FISK (which is currently on Netflix in the U.S.). in season 3 (which is as consistently excellent as the first two seasons), Fisk finds herself dealing with her promotion to being a partner. She is one of the most hilarious characters in recent years, but each of the four main characters are what makes the quirky chemistry work. And there are some excellent recurring side characters. Each season is just 6 episodes which is great since it's not a big commitment, but it's also terrible since I just wish there was a lot more. All three seasons are excellent; season two being my favorite.

Comics

Last year I finished Paper Girls from Bryan K Vaughn, and then started into Saga. Just as with Paper Girls, once I got started I haven't been able to put it down. The characters are awesome, and the overarching narrative has me hooked.

Films

I actually watched Perfect Days for the first time a couple years ago, but I watched it again recently and I am captivated by the goodness the main character Hirayama sees all around himself, in other people and in nature. It's a feel good movie that I can watch over and over again.

Movies I'm looking forward to in 2026

Jonathan Huffman — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 19:00:00 -0400

It looks like it will be a good year for movies. A lot of blockbuster films are releasing and I have to admit, in recent years I've missed a lot of great films in the theater, so I'm hoping this year will be a change of pace.

Here are a few this year that look good to me:

Title	date	notes
Project Hail Mary	March 20	I really liked The Martian (the book and movie)...so I'm very excited for this film.
Normal	April 27	Bob Odenkirk in a role that reminds me of Simon Pegg in Hot Fuzz.
Mortal Kombat II	May 8	The reboot a few years ago was a big improvement from the original late 90s films (as fun as they were). And Karl Urban (who is great in everything) could make this one even better.
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and baby Yoda (Grogu)	May 22, 2026	It's been awhile since a Star Wars film has been in theaters, plus the series it follows is one of the bright spots in the franchise.
Disclosure Day	June 12	If Spielberg is making a film about an alien encounter, you know it's something to see on the big screen.
Toy Story 5	June 19	Pixar is usually awesome, so this is a must watch.
Supergirl	June 26	My wife and I really liked the Super Man reboot, so we're interested in seeing where this character takes the story
The Odyssey	July 17	This is the most exciting film of the year for me! I'll probably watch Troy again in preparation to watch the continuation of the story of Odysseus.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day	July 31	Looking forward to where the story takes Peter Parker after the last film.
Godzilla Minus Zero	November 6	Minus One was incredible, so this is one to definitely get excited about.
Street Fighter	October 16	In a year where we get both a Mortal Kombat and a Street Fighter film it feels like we've been transported back to the 90s.
Avengers: Doomsday	December 18	Should be a fun film.
Dune: Part 3	December 18	I'm really happy the story of Dune Mesiah is finally coming to the screen. After three Dune movies, and a couple of Sci Fi channel series, I feel like this very interesting part of the Dune saga finally could have good representation on the screen

Essential WordPress Plugins, and Eleventy

Jonathan Huffman — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 18:00:00 -0500

I've created and updated websites over the years in a few different ways: from using a WYSIWYG editor like Dreamweaver to build pages out of HTML tables, to using open-source Content Management Systems like Joomla, Drupal and WordPress, as well a couple commercial CMSs. They all come with a wide array of pros and cons.

Last year I spent a lot of time learning more about WordPress, and also a lot of time learning about a static site generator named Eleventy - two very different ways of managing web content. While Eleventy has become a favorite way to manage a simple website (my site is made with it), WordPress just offers a lot of features that a client would love. So learning more about each has been an interesting journey!

WordPress is still the king of CMSs because it comes with a massive library of plugins you can add to extend the default functionality of site. (Of course that comes with a lot of reason to be careful about which ones you might add.) But there are some I found I just couldn't do without, below is a list of a handful WordPress plugins that I find helpful!

Invaluable free plugins for WordPress:

Disable Comments - comments are something I don't want or need, and they can represent a security threat, so I like to use this to completely remove them.
Duplicator - Such a helpful plugin to help migrate a site from local to production, or between domains.
Limit Login Attempts - let a user prevent unauthorized logins and provides useful metrics for when unscrupulous individuals are trying to break in.
WPS Hide Login - lets me change the default log in URL to make it harder for people to gain access (make the login something super random)
Public Post Preview - This lets me send a preview link to a client that will expire at a time I designate.
Edit Author Slug - I like to give editors unique user names. This makes it harder for their user names to be compromised, and the Edit Author Slug plugin lets me use their real name as their author slug.

A couple paid plugins that are worth it (IMHO):

Spectra Pro - the free Spectra plugin has a massive amount of good block-based components, that make adding nice looking content a breeze. The pro version has a couple key features that I need when building galleries.
Smart Slider 3 Pro - I'm not typically a fan of banner carousels ... but there can be a time and place where they are beneficial. Example, when the site you are making really is something a user might really want to invest their time into (the inverse of what the majority of web sites are trying to accomplish which is a get-in-and-get-out-quick approach, or what I once heard Jeffrey Zeldman describe as measurable with a content performance quotient). On WordPress, the best carousel slider component I have come across is Smart Slider 3. It has kind of an unusual UI to operate on the backend, but once you make sense of it you come away impressed with the depth of customization available.

All that said, WordPress is fine, but Eleventy is my jam! I just love how simple it is to manage once you've got the template stuff all sorted out (and OK that was a little complex for me to figure out), but just using Markdown to make content really rocks! And it is So flexible! Maybe I'll write more about my experience with Eleventy later! I don't know if the name of Eleventy is a reference to Bilbo Baggins's infamous birthday, but I hope it is :)

A Tale of Two Cities

Jonathan Huffman — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 18:00:00 -0500

I've spent most of my life in two places — Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Charlotte, North Carolina. So I figured I'd make guides to what I love about both of them. I feel like after spending at least a decade somewhere you start to know it well.

Looking back at 2025

Jonathan Huffman — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 18:00:00 -0500

2025 was a challenging year, but also a very rewarding year in a lot of ways...

_{Looking into Linville Gorge from Wiseman's View.}

Some of the year's highlights:

Over the course of the year we walked many miles of Charlotte's greenways.
I was a sponsor for a candidate joining our church at Easter.
We became great friends to the sweetest family that moved from far away to be in Charlotte, and have helped introduce them to this wonderful city.
We took Anna's niece to the North Carolina Zoo, which is incredible! I'm looking forward to going back this year to see the new regions they have been constructing.
We played many hours of board games.
We went on a trip to Blowing Rock NC, and visited Wiseman's view looking over the incredible Lynnville Gorge (called by some the Grand Canyon of the East Coast, which I think is an apt description! Just imagine the depth of the Grand Canyon, just with a lot of trees)
We went with Anna's family for a beach vacation.
We went on a conference/vacation to Disney World (Anna's first time there)
We went to the Outer Banks with my mom, sister and brother-in-law, over Halloween to honor my dad. It was the first time in a long time I'd been back with my family. And while there got to go back to the Collington Cafe and Millers on the Sound, two of my family's favorites. I'm sure my dad would have loved seeing us there together.
We visited my sister's new home after Christmas, spending time exploring her town, and also spend a day going back to the Met Museum in NYC where we met up again with my nieces and their husbands.
My family had a great Christmas time together which reminded me of some of the good old days. This year my mom's Christmas talent show/contest was one of the best I can remember, and I'm reminded that I come from a very talented family!

Accomplishments

We started our first garden (and had much success) in some raised beds I built in the back yard.
I learned a good deal about WordPress (creating a website for friend's business) and Eleventy (creating this very site you are reading).

_{Our garden really took off this summer!}

In particular some of my favorite moments this last year include: seeing Anna experience the Magic Kingdom for the first time, having a wonderful dinner at Bistro Roca near Blowing Rock, visiting my sister's beautiful home for the first time, taking Anna's niece to the zoo, and spending time with all our family and fiends over the year. I am so grateful for all those moments and the lives that have made such an impact on mine.

Inkscape is great

Jonathan Huffman — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 18:00:00 -0500

Below is a recent illustration of a model train I made that was part of a friend's Christmas album artwork. I'm pleased with how it turned out:

For years I've used Inkscape, an open source vector graphics application. It's a really awesome tool for vector illustration. And being open source, its free and works on Windows Mac and Linux. Most of my portfolio was created with Inkscape. It's my favorite creative software.

Gift guides galore

Jonathan Huffman — Sat, 13 Dec 2025 18:00:00 -0500

Well it's almost Christmas which means it's time to frantically do some Christmas shopping!!! Every year I start thinking about what to get as Christmas gifts very early on in the season, and then procrastinate until the last minute. It's a thrill!

Part of my extended research phase of thinking about buying Christmas gifts involves listening to podcasts that have gift giving guides. Below is a list of some the ones I regularly listen to each year or so.

Pen Addict - for stationary fans, this is a great guide for pen and paper related things. 2025 guide, 2024 guide, 2023 guide, 2022 guide, 2020 guide
Thoroughly Considered - You could argue the entire podcast is a gift guide, but every 2 years Thoroughly Considered does a nice gift guide. 2025 guide, 2023 guide, 2021 guide, 2019 guide
Destination Linux - for the geeky-minded gift giver! 2025 guide, 2024 guide, 2023 guide, 2022 guide, 2021 guide
Adventures in Poor Taste (AIPT) - for the comic book fan in your life. 2025 guide

My Gift Guide for 2025!

So here is my list of gift ideas:

For the Trekkie in your life: Lego Enterprise D
For the movie fan in your life: A subscription to the Criterion Channel
For the coffee drinker- the Hario v60 coffee pour over, and/or the Breville Crystal Lux kettle
For the chef or baker in your life, a classic cookbook, like: Joy of Cooking, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, or How To Cook Everything
For the board game fan: Azul, Splendor, Carcassonne, Power Grid, 7 Wonders, Kingdom Builder, Dominion

Figuring out Disney

Jonathan Huffman — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 18:00:00 -0500

Making sense of the Magic Kingdom

My wife had a conference near Disney World not so long ago, so that afforded us an opportunity to spend some days in the Magic Kingdom. Going to Disney World is ... complicated! Figuring out the best strategy for where to go, and when, can seem like navigating a labyrinth. I can see why people hire professionals for help with this, but ... I really like figuring out these kinds of things. For me, the anticipation and planning of a trip like this is half the fun.

I wanted Anna to experience the parks in the order they were created, and to experience as many famous attractions at each park as possible; Including the classics like Its a Small World, and the new ones like Tron and Guardians of the Galaxy's Cosmic Rewind. All the planning paid off and we managed to fit a ton of fun into our timeline.

In the months leading up to the trip I spent a lot of time doing research and making multi-tabbed spreadsheets in Google Docs, to help with a budget, and to chart an itinerary of our activities. I read a lot of Disney blogs forums and reddits. And funnily enough, without realizing it, we purchased the same official and unofficial guidebooks that I had when I went as a kid.

This was Anna's first trip. I'd been there a couple times already: once when I was a kid with my parents, and about 7 years ago I went to a conference that was held at the Contemporary Resort. I really enjoyed the Contemporary. There is something about the brutalist aesthetic of the main building, surrounded by the immaculate grounds, that make the Contemporary Resort feel special to me. That and I remember when I was a kid being amazed riding the monorail right through the middle of it's A-frame main building. When I stayed there for my conference I was in a Garden Wing room which meant I could walk right out the sliding doors onto the beautiful grounds next to Bay Lake. And the best part was I could walk right into the Magic Kingdom.

This trip we stayed at the equally amazing Yacht Club resort (which has the awesome benefit of being walkable to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios). But to still get a taste of the Contemporary Resort I also made a reservation at the California Grill, Contemporary's rooftop restaurant. I made our reservation for around the time as the fireworks show over the Magic Kingdom, so we could enjoy the show from on top of the Contemporary. We were delighted to find out the same music you hear in the park is piped up onto the rooftop patio, so even though you're watching from high above, you still feel like you're getting the full experience. The California Grill was certainly our finest dining experience, but we experienced a lot of other great meals while we there.

The Food is great at Disney

Casey's Corner. When I was a kid, my dad was very excited to get a foot-long hotdog at Casey's Corner, something a family friend and Disney fanatic encouraged us to try. I think we ended up not having time (but my dad got one at EPCOT). so to honor my dad again, I made sure we got some. We actually went there twice because the dogs were great, and it was very convenient before trying to find a spot to watch the fireworks.

Satu-li Our friends recommended we try this quick counter service sit down location in the Pandora region of Animal Kingdom. I thought it was good, and not too far off from food I've had a a couple middle-eastern restaurants in Charlotte.

My second favorite meal we had was at Raglan Road in Disney Springs. This Irish Pub had some of the best fish and chips I've ever tasted. In EPCOT we had reservations at La Cantina de San Angel, and Via Napoli Restorante e Pizzeria - both were excellent experiences.

The Cast Members are who make the experience so amazing

Our waitress Carolina at Via Napoli made our visit there extra special because she took some time to tell us how much she loved working at Disney. She was about to finish her stint at Disney World and was required to travel back to Italy for at least a year to be able to return and work there again in a year (per her visa requirements). She mentioned she'd traded some shifts at the restaurant to spend a whole day visiting each park before she had to go back to Italy.

In every interaction I was impressed by the level of care from all of the Disney Cast Members. The staff at our hotel were outstanding and very helpful and patient when we were trying to figure out how to use gift cards to pay for some of our expenses on the second to last night. I had forgotted to grab a map from Animal Kingdom on the way out, so I asked a Cast Member by the front desk if they had any copies, and she gave me a couple of each from every park, and even the water parks and Wide World of Sports.

Everyone we encountered was helpful, friendly, and very effective at what they did. It's very evident they really care a lot about what they do. While waiting in line in Smugglers Run I had time for a conversation with a Cast Member about their other favorite rides. During the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom I witnessed a Cast member doing crowd control quickly identify a lost child during the celebration and immediately snap into action to help calm him and find his parents. Her actions seemed nothing less than heroic.

When Disneyland first opened it was said to have some of the best user experiences ever designed (find source). Customer experience is the hallmark of the Disney experience. While every trace of every space is meticulously considered so that you can find delight in every nook (waiting in line is part of the fun! ), its really the Cast Members who bring the magic to the kingdom.

Favorite rides and attractions

Big Thunder Mountain was sadly not available this trip due to some renovations to the park. But we were able to go on a lot of other classics at the Magic Kingdom, including: Space Mountain, It's a Small World, Pirate's of the Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion. We also got to ride the updated Tiana's Bayou Adventure (which I had ridden once before when it was formally Splash Mountain). My favorite ride will always be The People Mover, partly because its just a fun relaxing chill experience, and partly because its the one ride I remember going on with my dad when I was a kid. As for the new rides ...

Guardian's of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind was awesome for me, but terrible for my motion-sickness-prone wife. The theme was excellent, and the ride itself was absolutely a blast with a killer soundtrack.

Mickey and Mini's Runaway Railway was a surprise hit for me. I assumed it would be more geared for kids, but the theme was ingenious, keeping with the Chinese Theater design up until it makes you feel like you're being brought into the world of the cartoon. It was a really fun ride.

Tower of Terror - I was nervous to go on this one, and since I knew Anna was not interested, I went by myself on a day she was in her conference. I'm not a fan of drop rides, but I summoned the courage, mostly because I had heard it was great, and knowing it's Disney, I know it can't be that bad. And it wasn't! It was just about 30 seconds of unpredictable drops and up and down.

I missed out on going on Pandora Flight of Passage my last trip due to it being closed the small window I had available for my fast pass. So I was really looking forward to finally going this time, and it didn't disappoint.

Evening shows

Disney is not just about rides, it's also about the amazing shows. I remember as a kid being amazed by Illuminations over EPCOT's World Showcase. Now the show is called Luminous: Symphony of Us, and it's even more of a moving experience.

We also loved Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios, and of course the evening fireworks at the Magic Kingdom (which we got to experience from 3 different locations including the roof of the Contemporary). But my favorite shows will always be Country Bear Jamboree, and the Carousel of Progress.

Everything about our trip was awesome, and now I can't wait to do it again :)

Tips

Free Water - hydration is key, but buying a lot of refreshments can cost a lot. So we like to share one soft drink, and get free waters that are offered at every park restaurant (excluding some of the food carts which do not offer free waters)
Invest in Good Shoes - you will walk a lot. We averaged over 10 miles a day. The smartest thing I for this trip was to go to an independent running shoe store (Run for your Life here in Charlotte) and have an expert help me find good shoes.
If you have Gift Cards and you are staying at a Disney Resort that allows to add expenses to your room charge, the night before you check out you can take your gift cards to the front desk and deduct their value from your total bill.
Don't stress about making your Lightning Lane time. You have a 15 minute leeway if you're running late. AND you can also use the app to reschedule for other available times. Inevitably something about your trip will be compromised. That can't be avoided in such a complicated process. But no matter what happens your bound to have a good time anyways.

Cord Cutting: Streaming sports in Charlotte NC

Jonathan Huffman — Sat, 30 Aug 2025 19:00:00 -0400

The never ending quest to watch as much sports (but pay as little) as possible.

TL;DR – jump to conclusion .

Almost a decade ago I ditched cable TV. It was one of the best feelings handing back the old cable box I had been renting, and joining the crowd of cord cutters. All I needed was a decent alternative.

Sling TV was my first choice to replace cable (and I think it's still one of the best options). I did the one week free trial and literally within minutes I knew I'd be handing in the cable box since the Sling app on my outdated Roku was significantly quicker than the interface of the aging cable box I was paying a subscription fee, and huge monthly bill, just to get the same set of channels. Hulu with Live TV was my second experiment (and is my favorite cable alternative overall) but it costs a bit more, and Fubu was my third experiment (but more on that below). I think Sling is still the most affordable option if you're just wanting to get something close to the traditional cable model. I have not tried YouTubeTV or any other cable alternatives.

Getting around regional blackouts

I love baseball, especially in October. And I like to watch NFL (particularly the commercial-free RedZone program every Sunday afternoon). I also enjoy MLS now that I can root for Charlotte's own FC; and I'd like to root for the Hornets and Hurricanes too. When I first moved to Charlotte all I had was an old boxy CRT television with an antenna, it happened to be when the Hurricanes were winning their last Stanly Cup.

MLB.tv, for $150 a year, feels like the best deal in sports streaming. And I think if it weren't for the regional blackouts (which isn't the fault of MLB.tv), it would be unquestionable. Because of regional blackouts in Charlotte NC I cannot watch the Braves (which makes sense as a blackout since they are the closest team), but I'm also blocked from watching Orioles, Nationals, and the Reds. Most of those teams are several states away, which makes it seem all the more absurd to me that they are blocked in Charlotte.

And the reason the Os and Nats are blacked out is even more absurd: the technicality that Spectrum offers the ability to watch the Mid-Atlantic Sports Networks (MASN) in a tiny corner in the north east part of NC, and in spite of the fact that Spectrum does not offer those MASN networks anywhere near Charlotte.

Braves and Reds games could be watched with a subscription to cable (I think it was Fox Sports South, then Bally Sports, and now Fan Duel Sports Network); but usually to see them you had to get a full cable package and then add an expensive regional sports option. Additionally regional blackouts also prevent someone in Charlotte from watching most Hornets and Hurricanes games.

A year or so ago it finally became possible for a streaming cable alternative Fubo to offer MASN channels, and they also already had regional Fan Duel channels. So I gave that a try last Fall and although it was expensive, it was really nice being able to finally watch ALL the teams I'm interested in – especially the Nats and Os. It really had everything: all the ESPNs and Fox channels, NFL RedZone, Nationals, Orioles, Reds, Braves, Hurricanes, Hornets, etc. But the price was even higher than I imagined at checkout, because at the end of the checkout process is when you find out that in addition to the extra regional "Sports Plus" package, there was also an additional regional sports fee of $15 a month. So due to the significant expense I decided that was just a one season experiment.

The emergence of a direct-to-consumer option for ESPN

Last year around the time I was giving Fubo a try, I was excited to hear about a planned new sports streaming partnership between Disney, Time Warner, and Fox, to provide a combined sports streaming app, which would have been named Venu. But not long after it was announced Fubo sued to block the deal from happening, and Venu never saw the light of day. (Subsequently, Disney purchased Fubo, so it seems likely Fubo could merge with Disney's Hulu with Live TV option.)

So I tried Fubo last Fall in spite of the fact I was irked they were responsible for the demise of the promised streaming sports paradise of Venu Sports. As a side note, whoever designed the graphic advertising Venu Sports did an outstanding job. (Here is the graphic, and here is the archived page. I love how the animated image frame adjusts to match the shape of the playing surface of the corresponding sport. That was some killer design work!)

Even though Venu never delivered a sports utopia, it's legacy may have led to what was temporarily being called "ESPN Flagship", and what just launched as simply ESPN (and what Disney refers to in their press releases as their Direct to Consumer (DTC) product). If you were to add a Max subscription (for Time Warner sports broadcasts) to ESPN (DTC) then you'd probably have most of what Venu would have been. This Fall I am excited to try ESPN (DTC)! Now that Disney has made the full spectrum of ESPN a stand alone offering I doubt I'd ever go back to cable, or a cable alternative.

TL;DR – My strategy for 2025

To figure out a strategy I had to make a list of what I really want to get out of streaming – This is what I'm really wanting to watch:

MLB (and the playoffs, including ALDS/ALCS)
MLS
ESPN (for College Gameday, college sports, SportsCenter, etc)
NFL Redzone

With that list in mind, this year I am trying out the following strategy:

Service/App	Monthly Price	Annual/Total Price	Monthly Annualized	Notes
MLB.tv	-	$149.99	$12.5	MLT TV will likely always be part of my strategy.
Disney/Hulu/ESPN bundle	$29.99 (for six months)	$179.94	$15	Might extend past 6 months as Disney and Hulu have a lot of shows we like, but this if for sports-related costs.
MLS on Apple TV	-	$80	$6.67	My sneaky trick is to subscribe to Apple TV for one or two months prior to the season to get a $20 off discount. I juggle the other subscriptions I have around this hack.
NFL plus (for Redzone)	$15 (for five months)	$75	$6.25	Just during the regular season; I'll cancel as soon as the playoffs are done; so at $15/month that should be a total of $75.
HBO Max (For MLB American League playoffs)	$9.99 (for one month)	$9.99	$0.83	I might add HBO Max in October for American League baseball playoffs (depending on how the Yankees do this year). That would just be one month for $10.

Total average monthly sports streaming cost: ~$41.25

Note: I think now that Disney has acquired Fubu there is a decent chance they will blend it into the already good Hulu with Live TV, and that could end up being a compelling way to add in those missing reginal sports – maybe without making too much of a dent on the wallet.

Cheap date night idea

Jonathan Huffman — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 19:00:00 -0400

It doesn't get much cheaper than free.

Charlotte has some phenomenal museums. And many of them are FREE on Wednesdays after 5. The Mint museum (both locations) and the Bechtler museum open their doors to anyone after 5 on Wednesdays, it's hard to pass up this cheap date night opportunity.

The Uptown Mint currently has an incredible exhibit on the photography of Annie Leibovitz. It's striking to me how one person could share space with such a wide variety of influential people, and with their storytelling shape a public perception of culture across generations.

I was also amazed how even though I didn't know about the artist, I knew her work; that's how iconic she has been in the last 50 years of American culture.

A Recent trip to VA

Jonathan Huffman — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 19:00:00 -0400

I made a recent trip back to Harrisonburg and of course I couldn't resist getting dinner at the best Thai place in the burg.

We went mostly just to spend some time with my mom. A lot of that was just playing games. Some of our favorites include Splendor and Kingdom Builder. We also love Azul. It's always nice to spend a little time in my home town. And every time I go back I can't believe all the little changes, and over time have amounted to a whole lot of change since I moved to NC.

The latest thing is there is now a Buc-Ees gas station that is no kidding the largest gas station I have ever seen. And since it's based in Texas, that kind of tracks. As I was driving away I saw the nearest gas pump was numbered in the 200s. We saw two different families taking a photo near the statue of a beaver, the mascot for the chain. It was surreal. But they did have some delicious snacks.

It's almost one of my favorite times of year

Jonathan Huffman — Fri, 08 Aug 2025 19:00:00 -0400

I enjoy all of the seasons, but there are two times a year I love the most. Springtime, particularly mid March to late April in Charlotte, is delightful. And as Summer starts to wind down: from late August until around Halloween is just a magical time of year.

I love the time from mid March to late April, when it is effectively turns into Springtime. The downside in Charlotte is while I just want to open my windows and let the warmer air in, I can't really do so without literally coating the wall with pollen. But before the pollen hits, it's incredible. It's also the start of MLB Spring Training, and the MLS season is kicking off. There is generally a lot of excitement for what's to come.

I really love Spring, but Fall is my favorite. After the heat (and the humidity!) starts to cool off, it starts to be nice to be outside again. As Summer wraps up you might enjoy a cooler day hiking all the many trails in the Charlotte region. The leaves begin to change color — it can look like an explosion of orange yellow and red. As the baseball season winds down there is nothing better than watching October baseball. The piles of leaves, the scary movies on TV. The cool mornings and nights, with warm afternoons in-between - it truly feels amazing.

Recent Things: July 2025

Jonathan Huffman — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 19:00:00 -0400

My wife and I recently went to see the latest Superman movie. We both really liked it. The characters were all really well crafted. I particularly liked the Justice Gang team. Just everything about it seemed very polished. It was a fun time at the movies.

Summer Reading

I've been reading nearly to the end of the Paper Girls comic series. It may be my favorite comic series ever. Its really not what I was expecting; a kind of Terminator meets Adventures in Babysitting. And it's full of nostalgic references any Gen Xer will appreaciate. I also finally read Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow, a really quirky an interesting science fiction set mostly in a futuristic version of Disney World. It's kind of a murder mystery set in a utopia where death is irrelevant.

A Day at the Zoo

Jonathan Huffman — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 19:00:00 -0400

My wife and I took her youngest niece to the North Carolina Zoo recently. This was our first time to visit. I've been to a few zoos before. I visited the National Zoo (part of the Smithsonian) in DC many times, and the Pittsburgh Zoo a few years ago, which are both great zoos. And a long time ago I remember my parents taking me to the zoo in Houston, but I can hardly remember that trip.

I've got to say, as far as zoos go, the NC Zoo has to be one of the best around. We got there a little late so we only had time to explore the Africa section. I appreciate how spacious the place it. The animals have a lot of room to move around, and I think a lot of them were rescued. Apparently you have to get there pretty early if you want to get tickets to take a kind of safari tour of the more wide open spaces. A tip I learned for next time: park in the Africa lot and as soon as they open take the tram to the Junction to get tickets early.

The North Carolina Aquarium, over on Roanoke island is really great as well. I've gone many times growing up, and I noticed recently they've made a lot of improvements.

I think North Carolina is a really incredible state to live. There is so much to do and see. We recently went to Blowing Rock and Lineville Gorge, which were areas we hadn't explored before. There is just so much natural wonder to appreciate in NC.

Simple Joy in a Complex World

Jonathan Huffman — Sat, 17 May 2025 19:00:00 -0400

Maybe it's a sign of aging but I find the world seeming increasinly more and more complicated. The complexity is in fact nearly overwhelming. I think our constant connected lives are party to blame for this sensation. Time feels like it's accelerating as if entering into a technological event horizon.

I think maybe the solution is to disconnect from the digital storm, and reconnect with a simpler lifestyle. Admittedly that's very difficult with a smart phone always in my pocket.

My theme for this year has been the Year of Analogue. My goal is to become more aware of myself and the world around me, appreciative of the people I encounter, and all the gifts in creation.

Two Christmases ago my wife gave me a bird feeder and that single gift has made such a difference in my awareness of the beauty all around. I quickly got a second feeder, and this Spring we built a garden and had our first green beans for supper a few days ago. Life is strange and beautiful and wonderful if you stop to notice it.

Hello 🌍🌎🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍🌎

Jonathan Huffman — Sun, 11 May 2025 19:00:00 -0400

Why eleven earth Emojis? Because I wanted to say "Hello World" with this new blog which is running on Eleventy, a really cool static site generator!

I still have a few bugs to iron out ...