Crump Bingo 2025ℹ️

Instead of making New Year's resolutions, I made a bingo card of things I wanted to do in 2024. It was super fun, and a handful of friends and family joined in, so I'm keeping it going in 2025! Some of these goals are lofty, some are silly or "trivial", and some just aren't fully in my control.

A successful result 🎉 for me is that I can look back at the end of the year and celebrate the things I did do, but not feel guilty about the things that didn't happen.

🔎 Something fun to note about this page: there is zero javascript! The bingo card is made with CSS grid, and the modal card takes advantage of the :target CSS pseudo-class. This also means that you can link directly to this info card or to a specific square on the bingo card, like this!

Last year, Tim's mom introduced me to letterboxing, and during our trip to Brunswick, ME, we got an opportunity to find a bunch of boxes! We made our own "personal stamps" to mark in the log books of the boxes we found, and collected beautiful stamps in our own log books. I have two goals for this year:

Find 5 more letterboxes
Plant my own letterbox

I love living in a city with real public transit! I want to ride the MBTA "T" to all of the end-of-the-line subway stops, and maybe even take a ride on the ferries!

Last year we visited Maine, and it was beautiful! This year, I want to visit New Hampshire. I've got friends and coworkers who lived there and have recommeneded a couple of spots to check out!

I've had an itch to create some sort of electronic musical instrument for a few years now. I've played around with modular synthesizers, used hot dogs as a keyboard, and even built some very basic protoypes of a digital mallet instrument. I don't know exactly what I'll do this year, but I do want something unique that can be used to create some real music!

We moved into the new house last July, and I've made some decent progress on organizing and setting up my office ("the lab"). I still need/want to do a couple more important things to be able to truly be productive in it, though:

Install wall shelves
Hang up artwork
Clean up desks
Set up a fun LED light fixture

I've been wanting to do another large-scale art installation. Something interactive, maybe with LEDs, maybe with sound, maybe with lasers, maybe with all of the above! I want to make something that people can interact with and enjoy.

I made a singular post to my blog/site last year, and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed sharing projects and learnings that way! I want to make at least one post this year, but will strive for more than that!

Years ago, we made a "New Year's Resolutions" board at Makers Local 256 which was fun to do but hard to keep up with. I had added "get on Hackday" to that board, but never actually did it. So here's my chance to make up for it!

I've had so many project and gift ideas involving cutting a custom vinyl record, but I've never actually done it. I want to make a vinyl record this year, even if it's just a silly one!

Most of my early life involved playing various instruments in concert, marching, jazz, and steel drum bands, and I've missed out on that feeling!

I've been on the news discussing the COVID-19 vaccines, 3D-printed guns, and more! Maybe Matt Shearer will pick up something about a silly project of mine or something!

In the past, I've designed a handful of silly shirts, shoes, and even a jacket. I want to do more of that, since I didn't do much of it last year, completing at least five new designs in 2024.

Design 1
Design 2
Design 3
Design 4
Design 5

This one is a bit of a freebie, since this space will be completed as long as I fill out this bingo board 😅

✅ Jan 5 - 2025 can officially begin! I cleaned up some of the styles and code from last year's bingo board, carried over a couple of unfinished goals, and added a bunch of new ones!

I've designed all sorts of PCBs, and including a Magic 8-Ball PCB badge for PhreakNIC 2023, and a physical soundboard badge for BaC '24! This year I want to go bigger and do something really neat!

I still remember when Tindie first started up and I got really excited for the idea of an "Etsy for DIY electronics". I've bought things but never sold anything on there. I want something new and sell it on Tindie this year, which will really push me to finish and polish a project to the point that other people can enjoy it.

I have started organizing and tracking my various electronics bits and bobs, logging them into a parts inventory system, and labeling all of the bags. That's come in handy when looking for a specific part, but I still have a lot of parts that need to be sorted and logged!

Make a video game, even if it's a small one! I've participated in a couple of gam jams before, so maybe it's time to do another Ludum Dare or something!

Becoming a member of Artisan's Asylum was one of the top priorities after moving up to the Boston area. I have made a few friends through the space, but I haven't gone through the process of getting signed off on many of the tools at all. Tools I definitely want to get signed off on this year include:

Plasma Cutter
Shopbot CNC Router
Some of the wood shop tools

There is all sorts of hidden little artistic treasures around Somerville that just bring a little bit of joy and fun to what might have been a normal walk from point A to point B. I want to make something like that, something that may or may not permanent, but that will bring a smile to someone's face when they find it.

It's easier than ever to spin up little web services to solve people's problems, which means it's also easier than ever to make something that's just ridiculous! I don't know exactly what I'll do, and the goal isn't to make money, but if I can make something that people use at least once or twice, I'd call that a win!

One of my weaknesses is that I have a lot of ideas, half-started projects, and things that I want to do, but I don't always finish them. I might try to launch a Kickstarter for one of my projects this year, even if it's as simple as an enamel pin. Gotta experience the process for myself!

I thrive on the excitement that others get when they have a cool project that they want to do, and I want to inspire someone to start or finish something. If I can help out with it in some way, even better!

In the words of Brendon Urie, "Make us it, make us hip, make a zine", or something like that. So let's make a zine! There are all sorts of artists and writers putting these together in Somerville, and I think it'd be fun to join in on that! I'd love to draw from my experiences in electronics, software, and fabrication to share something unique with the world.

Back in 2020, I started a project called "Portals" that was meant to be a way to connect with friends and family during the COVID-19 pandemic. I made a decent prototype during a hackathon at work, but I never finished it to a point where I could ship a friend a device and have them use it. I want to finish that project this year, with help and input from any friends that want to participate!

<sub>*looking at you, mog* 😉

(he actually inspired me to dredge this back up as a group project ♥️)</sub>

I've not taught a class in a while, and I miss it. Whether it's something more structured like a specific project workshop, or more general like "Intro to PCB design with KiCad", I'd like to teach something this year!