2025 was a year of renewal for me. I continued some good practices and returned to doing some of the things I enjoy.
Family
My sons continue to do well in their careers and personal lives. Tim and Natale bought their first house this year. It is a few miles from my home. I am blessed that they each live within a couple of hours' drive, so I get to see them often.
Sportsball
This past year, I made progress on my sports bucket lists. Years ago, I set a goal to see a home game of each MLB, NFL, NHL, and NBA team in their current arenas.
For my birthday last year, my sons bought me tickets to a Miami Marlins home game. They knew about my bucket list to attend a home game at each MLB stadium, and that the Marlins were the only remaining team on it. We all flew to Miami to complete the list together. For extra fun, I attended a home Dolphins game the following day, then a Tampa Bay Rays game in Tampa a few days later. Although I didn't require the Rays visit (I attended a Tampa Bay home game a few years ago), I wanted to see the team play in the Steinbrenner Field while the Tropicana Dome is being repaired. In the spring, I had seen the A's play in a Minor League Park in San Francisco - the team's temporary home as they make the transition from Oakland to Las Vegas.
I nearly finished my NFL bucket list thanks to many flights in November and December. Currently, the only remaining stadium is MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. Because the New York Giants and the New York Jets each call that stadium home, I decided I needed to attend a home game for each team there. However, the Buffalo Bills will open a new stadium this fall, so I need to return to upstate New York, as well.
I did not visit any new NHL arenas, but I saw games in Detroit and Chicago.
I planned a few trips to visit multiple stadiums on the same visit, including the Panthers (NFL) and Hornets (NBA) in Charlotte; the Marlins (MLB) and Dolphins (NFL) in Miami, the A's (MLB), Kings (NBA), and Warriors (NBA) in California.
Here are the details of my life as a sports spectator this year:
MLB
I attended home games of the following MLB teams in 2025.
- Athletics (playing in a Minor League Park in Sacramento, CA)
- Miami Marlins
- Tampa Bay Rays (playing in a Minor League Park in Tampa, FL)
NFL
I attended home games of the following NFL teams in 2025.
- Arizona Cardinals
- Carolina Panthers
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Las Vegas Raiders
- Miami Dolphins
- New Orleans Saints
NHL
I attended home games of the following NHL teams in 2025.
- Chicago Black Hawks
- Detroit Red Wings
NBA
I attended home games of the following NBA teams in 2025.
- Sacramento Kings
- Golden State Warriors
- Charlotte Hornets
- New Orleans Pelicans
Other sports
This year, I attended my first rugby match. Chicago has a semi-pro team - The Chicago Hounds - so I drove out to Bridgeport to watch a game. I read up on the rules before driving there, which increased my enjoyment.
I made numerous visits to Kalamazoo College to watch my son coach the Hornets' basketball team.
In November, I attended an ice hockey game at Western Michigan University, the defending national champions. They handily defeated Miami University.
Public Speaking
Conferences, user groups, and code camps continue to emerge from the forced hibernation of the COVID tragedy. I took advantage of the opportunity to speak at Codemash in Sandusky, OH, KCDC in Kansas City, MO, and NDC in London, UK.
Travel
I had no work travel this year, so I planned some trips for my own enjoyment. Many of these were to make progress on my sportsball bucket lists described above. Others were to attend conferences.
The two highlights were a late January/early February trip to England and Spain, and a summer visit to Istanbul and Greece. I took advantage of an invitation to speak at NDC London and vacationed in Madrid and Barcelona after the conference ended. My friend John grew up on the Greek Island of Chios. He and his wife, Kim, invited us to visit them there. We first flew to Istanbul, Turkey, to spend a few days exploring before meeting John and Kim in Athens, where we stayed to explore Greek history. From Athens, we traveled to John's childhood home on Chios and relaxed by the water.
- London, Madrid, and Barcelona
- Sacramento, and San Francisco. Visited cousins John and Becky
- Istanbul, Athens, and Chios, Greece, with the Avgoustises
- New York City
- Miami, Tampa, Sarasota, and Bradenton
- Orlando and Jacksonville
- Charlotte, NC
- Phoenix, AZ, to visit the Guadagnos
- Las Vegas, NV, to visit the Harrises and Renzes
- Kansas City (twice)
- New Orleans
The Arts
I continue to be a patron of the arts because I love live music and theater, and because downtown Chicago has so many places to enjoy them. In addition to 41 concerts and 9 plays during the year, I attended
Concerts
I attended 41 Concerts in 2025 - an impressive number, even for me.
| Date | Artist | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 01/03/2025 | Bill Murray and his Blood Brothers | Thalia Hall |
| 01/10/2025 | Buddy Guy | Buddy Guy's Legends |
| 01/03/2025 | Bill Murray and his Blood Brothers | Thalia Hall |
| 02/14/2025 | Justin Timberlake | United Center |
| 02/19/2025 | Tiffany | City Winery |
| 02/21/2025 | Joe Bonamassa | Chicago Theatre |
| 03/11/2025 | Elvis Costello | Park West |
| 03/16/2025 | Mamma Mia! ABBAfabulous brunch | City Winery |
| 03/23/2025 | Suzanne Vega | Old Town School of Folk Music |
| 03/24/2025 | Iggy Pop | Salt Shed |
| 04/01/2025 | Robert Cray | North Shore Center for the Performing Arts |
| 04/04/2025 | Emmylou Harris | Cahn Auditorium |
| 04/10/2025 | Ani DiFranco | Thalia Hall |
| 04/22/2025 | Iron and Wine | Orpheum Theatre, Madison |
| 05/02/2025 | Joe | Arie Crown Theater |
| 05/09/2025 | Alan Parsons | River Casino |
| 05/12/2025 | Lalah Hathaway | City Winery |
| 05/23/2025 | Vince Gill | Chicago Theatre |
| 05/24/2025 | Paul Simon | Symphony Center |
| 05/30/2025 | Gladys Knight, Chaka Khan, Patti Labelle, and Stephanie Mills | United Center |
| 06/06/2025 | Judy Collins | Cahn Auditorium |
| 06/12/2025 | Garrison Keillor | City Winery |
| 06/27/2025 | Del McCoury Band | SPACE |
| 07/29/2025 | Macy Gray | Ramova Theatre |
| 08/03/2025 | Firefall | Arcada Theatre |
| 08/09/2025 | Herb Alpert | Harris Theatre |
| 08/22/2025 | Bossa Nova Notes w/ Najee | City Winery |
| 08/28/2025 | Laretha Weathersby | Willie Dixon Blues Garden |
| 09/10/2025 | Roger McGuinn | North Shore Center for the Performing Arts |
| 10/02/2025 | The Midnight Sun Band | Hyde Park Summer Festival |
| 10/03/2025 | Il Divo | Horseshoe Casino |
| 10/04/2025 | Bob Mould | Old Town School of Folk Music |
| 10/16/2025 | Jonathan Coulton | City Winery |
| 10/31/2025 | Little Big | Ramova Theatre |
| 11/02/2025 | Everclear | Thalia Hall |
| 11/07/2025 | Josh Ritter | Thalia Hall |
| 11/13/2025 | John Scofield | SPACE |
| 11/14/2025 | Keyon Harrold | Jazz Showcase |
| 11/18/2025 | Patti Smith | Chicago Theatre |
| 11/22/2025 | Cyrus Chestnut | Jazz Showcase |
| 12/07/2025 | Damien Escobar | City Winery |
Theater
In 2025, I attended thirteen plays, musicals, or other live shows. We visited the famous theaters of London's West End and New York City's Broadway multiple times during our visits to those cities. I also saw a Cirque du Soleil show for the first time during a December trip to Las Vegas.
| Date | Show | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 01/25/2025 | Tina | Aldwych Theatre |
| 01/26/2025 | Hadestown | Aldwych Theatre |
| 01/28/2025 | Lyceum Theatre | The Lion King |
| 02/17/2025 | Betrayal | Goodman Theatre |
| 04/18/2025 | Sunny Afternoon | Chicago Shakespeare Theatre |
| 05/25/2025 | Rossum's Universal Robots | City Lit Theater Company |
| 06/18/2025 | Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends | Samuel J. Friedman Theatre |
| 06/19/2025 | Hell's Kitchen | Shubert Theatre |
| 06/28/2025 | The Color Purple | Goodman Theatre |
| 11/20/2025 | A Beautiful Noise | Cadillac Palace Theatre |
| 12/12/2025 | Elf, the Musical | Auditorium Theatre |
| 12/16/2025 | Christmas with C.S. Lewis | Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place |
| 12/27/2025 | KÀ by Cirque du Soleil | MGM Grand |
Lectures
The Chicago Humanities Festival brings an interesting series of lectures to the Windy City. I joined the organization and attended several lectures in 2025.
| Date | Speaker | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 05/15/2025 | Dave Berry | Chicago Hope Academy |
| 06/03/2025 | Ron Chernow | First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple |
| 09/21/2025 | Cheech Marin | Apollo's 2000 |
| 10/04/2025 | Nate Silver and Richard Thaler | IIT Hermann Hall |
| 10/18/2025 | Steven Levitt | University of Chicago - Reynolds Club |
| 11/08/2025 | Margaret Atwood | Francis W. Parker School |
My Job
My day job as a Partner Solution Architect at Microsoft remains enjoyable. I love working with smart people and for managers who appreciate me. The economy has caused some uncertainty, reflected by multiple layoffs by tech giants over the past year or so. I try not to focus on this, but to affect the things I can control.
Volunteering
I have lost count of how many years I have volunteered as a mentor for the ISTC STEM Challenge, but I served again this year, and I have already volunteered for next year. I was part of a team that coached students at Chicago Tech Academy as they built an IT project to present at a spring showcase event.
Reading
I finished reading 36 books in 2025. I set a goal to read every winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. I have now read 81 of the 109 books awarded so far. There is a small chance I will complete this list in 2026, but 2027 seems more likely.
I was also in two book clubs, which drove some of my reading choices.
You can read my reviews at https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/34556655?ref=nav_mybooks
Online
I continued publishing to my blog and recording content for my two YouTube shows - "Technology and Friends," which airs every Monday, and "GCast," which airs every other Thursday. I also hosted a show for the Azure Kubernetes Service team, titled "Cloud Native Partner Showcase."
Health
I am continuing the healthy lifestyle I began a few years ago. I have not (yet) regained the 60 pounds I lost a few years ago. I start each morning with 10 minutes of stretching, and I try to include a few minutes of core exercises each day. In addition, I played a lot of pickleball, and I rode my bike a lot this summer. It was a rare day that I did neither of those activities.
Other Stuff
In 2024, I met and began dating a woman, and this relationship continues 18 months later! I love that she sees the best in me and appreciates what I do. I often say that she is "not perfect, but she is perfect for me."
Looking Ahead
I am facing 2026 with optimism. I am in a good place with my relationships, my family, my health, and my career. I have not set a date, but I won't have to wait too many years until I stop working. Maybe my company will make that decision for me, but I am prepared. Over the past couple of years, I have done a better job of balancing work and life. I am doing many of the things now that I plan to do more of when I retire. This year, I plan to continue this practice - traveling, exercising, seeing live shows, and speaking at conferences. In the past two months, I submitted to speak at a few conferences in Europe. I am hopeful that some of them decide to invite me.
In the meantime, I am trying to control what I can and put my faith in God to help with what I cannot.