The Month Pneumonia Rewrote My Retirement

February 12, 2026

For years, retirement lived in my head as a clean transition. Finish strong, downshift, start traveling with a clear plan and an open calendar. What I did not plan for was pneumonia taking five weeks of the timeline I did not have to spare.

This is my second retirement. The first time, about a decade ago, I sold a yarn shop, closed a photo studio, moved to Las Vegas, and rode a bicycle almost every day for six months until I got bored and wanted play money. This time the plan was different — less pause, more pivot. Keep a fractional CTO position. Work on a few part-time projects. But commit, fully, to at least a year of world travel with M.E.

I know myself well enough to know I need to be doing something. But I also know what it feels like when most of what you considered broken has been fixed, the numbers are good, the projects have either concluded or are finally underway, and a re-org opens a clean seam to step through. December 2025 was that seam.

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Posts

Leaving Disney: What I Learned, What Changed, and What I'd Do Again

February 3, 2026

Last week was my last at The Walt Disney Company. It was a meaningful chapter—full of complex systems, high creative standards, and people who cared about getting difficult things right.

This is what I learned, what it changed in me, and what I'd do again.

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Projects

PlotThing - Story Management and Writing Tool

January 29, 2026

PlotThing is a comprehensive story management and writing application I'm building. It provides writers with tools to organize their creative work and export directly to publishing formats.

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