Blog

I write about the tech I'm building, the coffee I'm drinking, and the photos I take along the way. Sometimes it's code, sometimes it's travel, and sometimes it's just whatever's been on my mind.

Nicaragua from Minimum Wage Tim

Solid, consistent South American beans—sometimes the best compliment is reliability without surprises.

October 01, 2025

Infusu from Crema

A Southern Italy dark roast that was too dark for pour over but made excellent lattes and cortados with full rich chocolatey notes.

September 30, 2025

The Principles of Being a Software Architect

A direct, professional breakdown of what it takes to be a trusted software architect in high-stakes environments.

September 29, 2025

Code Review Your Own Code

LLMs speed us up, but they don’t replace the basics. Always open a PR and review your own code, even if the bulk of it came from an agent.

September 25, 2025

Five Watt Coffee Cortado

A cortado that taught me more about barista interactions than espresso extraction—sometimes the people-watching is the real brew.

September 23, 2025

Photos: August 2025

Photo round up from August 2025

September 22, 2025

MPLS Coffee is now MN Coffee

This month I'm releasing a big set of updates to MPLS Coffee. The biggest is a facelift and a name change from MPLS Coffee to MN Coffee.

September 02, 2025

Early mistakes in Big Little Cities

We just finished our second month of Big Little Cities. As it was successful, we also had some mishaps. This blog post is about what we did wrong along the way.

August 14, 2025

Photos: July 2025

Photo round up from July 2025

August 01, 2025

El Casino from Sey Coffee ⭐

A Pink Bourbon from Colombia that made the best cold brew of the year—red fruit and blueberry notes that I could drink all day.

July 31, 2025

West End Blues from Tandem Roasters

A Portland Maine traditional espresso that didn't match my first bag—switched to primarily espresso as I figured out milk was leaving me bloated.

July 31, 2025

I Rebuilt My Website In .Net 8

A breakdown of my personal site rebuild using .NET 8, Bootstrap, and markdown-powered blogging.

July 24, 2025

Short Weekend at Grand View Lodge

We had a short weekend at the Grand View Lodge in Nisswa, Minnesota. Here are some pictures from that trip.

July 23, 2025

Huckleberry & Never Coffee Roasts

Two dark roasts—Blue Orchid and Boomerang—that confirmed I'm a light-to-medium roast person. Good reminder about personal preference.

July 15, 2025

How I Use AI to Save Time on .NET Projects

Real-world ways I use AI tools like GitHub Copilot to speed up .NET development without sacrificing quality or my job.

July 03, 2025

Mixed Tape from Dogwood Coffee

A Minneapolis roaster that's fine but not great—chocolate and corny notes couldn't justify specialty prices for the weekly rotation.

June 23, 2025

Banko Taratu from Verve

An East African cold brew with blood orange and black tea notes—saved my Verve subscription after too many fruity African blends.

June 23, 2025

How to Fix a Broken .NET App You Just Inherited

A practical guide for developers and consultants who need to take over and rescue a legacy .NET codebase.

June 17, 2025

Photos: May 2025

A collection of my favorite photos taken in May 2025.

June 13, 2025

How To Fix Missing 'sub' Claim an ASP.NET JWT

If you're using Azure AD B2C and can't find the 'sub' claim in your Web API, ASP.NET Core's default claim mapping is likely the culprit. Here's how to work with JWT claims directly.

June 12, 2025