zacharyc

New initiative, write more about the weeks and share more with friends. Coffees I’m in the Denver area and still hunting for coffee that works for me. Because this is my first weekly review, I’m going to include a couple from a couple of weeks back. Lima Coffee Roasters - Fort Collins - Vibe was great, but my coffee was pretty poor for the cost. Didn’t have many naturals Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters - Lakewood/Westminster - I love it when they do naturals, but until last week, they have had only six washed coffees and blends. Last week, they released a Gesha, but it looks like it is already off their site. Coffee Ride - Boulder - I love everything about this place and mission, except the coffee was a bit of a miss for me; it could also have been the coffee I picked. I tried the Colombia Finca Villa Betulia Honey Caturron, and it smells like Ginger. First time I have ever had a coffee smell like ginger, but the taste is very Cardamom for me. I also tried the Nicaragua La Bastilla Natural, and while it is a natural, brewed at 16:1, it still feels like a darker roast to me. I wanted more fruit. Despite all of this, I will go back and try another coffee there before too long. The shop is too cool. They started by delivering coffee on Bicycles! Huckleberry Roasters - Denver - This place has the same issue for me as Sweet Bloom. ALL OF THEIR COFFEES WERE WASHED. I got a 1:1; the barista was cool enough to make me one even though it wasn’t on the menu. The macchiato had no art. This doesn’t by default mean it is bad, but this one was bad, and the coffee tasted a bit burnt. Verb Coffee Roasters - Boulder - Saving the best of the week for last. This place has been on my radar before. Two years ago, we found it by accident while trying to go to another coffee shop in Boulder. It was hands down the best cup of coffee I had that year. Last year, I came back, and my coffee wasn’t anything special. I thought I had heard about them changing management or something, but apparently that was all in my head. Talking to coffee people at Sweet Bloom, I was encouraged to check them out again. So glad I did. Since I went a couple of weeks ago with family, I have been twice more and can’t wait to go again. I had a great YEMEN - WADI JANNAT - NATURAL SL34. I also had the RWANDA - NOVA WASHING STATION - ANAEROBICNATURAL RED BOURBON Achievements Did a really deep dive on the process of the Hanukkah Coffee Box and have some big learnings for next year. Added Ruff to a project I’m working on in Python thanks to a recommendation from Ethan Hunt. Made some big changes to the ways event locations are handled for [Sacred Space]https://www.findsacred.space]. This allows users to specify directions at their convenience, rather than an address. It also allows users to keep their address private until people sign up for the event. Font Awards for 2025 has finished, with Citywide as the winner, and I have set up the website to start accepting nominations for 2026. Any font created or redesigned in 2026 is eligible for the award. I am working on some of my leather crafting. I made a cover for my leather notebook with rivets. Started work on a new project that has the potential to change the way we deal with people through our technology. Discovered Post Oak BBQ and tried the Ron Swanson Sandwich Texas-style. I decided to start doing these weekly posts again. Photos ...

Sometimes I get a crazy notion to put something together and decide to do it on a whim. That is the story of font-awards. It is my first fully AI project (sort of, as in sort of fully AI). A former coworker and good friend was talking about how they created a quick prototype of a project using nothing but Windsurf and AI, and how they were able to build out the project’s scaffolding very quickly, with very little manual input. ...

Okay, so that’s been a minute. My last post was from August. You would think that I’ve been doing nothing since then. False. I have had a lot of projects, just not all of them something worth writing about. First up, a new edition of the Hanukkah Coffee Box. This is the second year of the box, and I’m even more excited about the roasters. I had more time to plan (though I still managed to be late on releasing), and so I got some different roasters from around the country. There are a couple that were new to me last year and even a few that I haven’t personally tried before. I have only tried a couple of them because the roasters asked for feedback, but they all smell fantastic. This year, I made about 50 boxes and have already sold about half. Head to the website to learn more about the box. ...

On Tuesday, July 15th, 2025, I attended the Newport, RI, Town Hall to discuss the sending of a formal letter to Brown University Health to implore them to keep the Birthing Center at the Newport Hospital. The meeting was very well attended; it was standing room only and lasted about 1.5 hours. I hope to share some interesting information about the situation and the meeting; my take on what is happening; talk about what to do about it; and my outstanding questions. ...

I’m late to the game. Writing most of my web projects in WordPress has been a staple of my younger self. I started writing PHP in college and naturally transitioned to using WordPress for almost all of my projects. Throughout the years, these sites have been made in WordPress: zacharyc.com - Now built with Hugo. zacroyoga patagoniafanboy Here’s the rub. WordPress is great for interactive features, such as accepting comments and starting forums. Even if you are looking to create an e-commerce site, WordPress is a solid choice. The challenge is that WordPress is built on PHP, and it has evolved over many years, forming its own ecosystem. There are tools on top of WordPress, such as Elementor, that make it easier to create reusable elements in your WordPress site. However, the site still sits on a Database, which primarily houses text. If your site doesn’t do a ton of interactivity, then it might not be necessary to use a system like WordPress. If you want to move your blog posts, you need to run a SQL query against your database to get the posts out. You need to install an extension to enable post caching, which reduces the number of times your website needs to recreate pages. Then, when you are developing, you need to turn that off to see changes more expediently. ...