{"id":8729,"date":"2025-12-31T09:21:54","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T15:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stlouisdad.com\/s\/?p=8729"},"modified":"2025-12-31T09:22:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T15:22:20","slug":"a-year-in-review-creating-questioning-and-keeping-it-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stlouisdad.com\/s\/a-year-in-review-creating-questioning-and-keeping-it-fun\/","title":{"rendered":"A Year in Review: Creating, Questioning, and Keeping It Fun"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the year wraps up, I always like to pause, not just to look at what I made, but why<\/em> I made it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year wasn\u2019t about chasing trends or blowing things up overnight. It was about staying creative, experimenting, and figuring out what still feels meaningful as my kids get older, my interests evolve, and my time becomes more valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Creative Projects That Kept Me Going<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A big part of this year was continuing to build worlds, sometimes literally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Space Ranger Fred<\/strong> kept growing, quietly but steadily. New books, free comics, email list experiments, and a lot of thinking about audience before ambition. Instead of rushing into big, expensive ideas, I focused on something simpler: making things that feel fun, approachable, and worth sharing. That mindset alone felt like progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the music side, I kept doing what I\u2019ve always done, making beats because I love making beats. Releasing two additional instrumental albums reminded me that not everything needs a massive rollout. Sometimes the win is just finishing the work and putting it out into the world.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Mischief Night<\/strong>
One of the highlights of the year was creating a brand-new Mischief Night<\/em> book, written and illustrated with my son. Working together on the story and artwork turned the project into something bigger than just a book\u2014it became a shared creative memory. Seeing his ideas come to life on the page reminded me why I started making stories in the first place. It was less about perfection and more about collaboration, fun, and letting creativity lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Killer Teddy Bears from Outer Space<\/strong>
I also spent time revisiting Killer Teddy Bears from Outer Space<\/em>, a project that\u2019s been quietly waiting for its next chapter. Plans are now in motion to relaunch the series in 2026, with a clearer vision and renewed energy behind it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And then there were the smaller creative joys: design experiments, vintage-inspired covers, mini projects that probably only a handful of people will ever notice, but that still mattered to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life, Music, and Making Memories<\/strong>
This year wasn\u2019t just about creative work\u2014it was about experiences. A powerful March storm knocked out our power for several days, turning an unexpected hotel stay into a lesson in adaptability and gratitude. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We balanced that chaos with fun: taking the kids to Can You Feel the Punk Tonight<\/em>, a Disney punk rock show, enjoying date nights seeing Shakey Graves and El Monstero, and not to forget a perfect family evening at the Brookdale Farms Glowdeo Rodeo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instagram TOP NINE of 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflecting on St. Louis Dad (and What\u2019s Next)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This year also brought a lot of reflection around StLouisDad.com<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ten years is a long time to do anything online. Traffic changes. Kids grow up. The stories shift. I found myself asking hard questions:

What does this space look like now?
What do I still want to say?
And what\u2019s okay to let evolve\u2014or even fade?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of forcing answers, I gave myself permission to sit with the uncertainty. That alone felt like growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lessons I\u2019m Taking With Me<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If I had to sum up the year in a few takeaways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Not every project needs to scale to be successful<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Building an audience matters more than building infrastructure<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Nostalgia is powerful\u2014but only when paired with honesty<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • It\u2019s okay to make things just because they make you happy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Most importantly, I learned that creativity doesn\u2019t disappear as life gets busier\u2014it just asks to be treated with more intention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Looking Ahead<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Next year, I want to keep things simple:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • Fewer obligations, more focus<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • More finished projects, less overthinking<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Continuing to build momentum the right way<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Making room for whatever new idea shows up unexpectedly<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Thanks to everyone who read something, listened to something, downloaded something, or quietly supported from the sidelines. It all mattered more than you probably realize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Here\u2019s to another year of making stuff\u2014and figuring it out as we go.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      As the year wraps up, I always like to pause, not just to look at what I made, but why I made it. This year wasn\u2019t about chasing trends or blowing things up overnight. It was about staying creative, experimenting, and figuring out what still feels meaningful as my kids get older, my interests evolve, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[12,361],"class_list":["post-8729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-blog-2","tag-new-year"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stlouisdad.com\/s\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/DadSTL-TopNine-2025.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5JMKA-2gN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stlouisdad.com\/s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stlouisdad.com\/s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stlouisdad.com\/s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stlouisdad.com\/s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stlouisdad.com\/s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8729"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/stlouisdad.com\/s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8739,"href":"https:\/\/stlouisdad.com\/s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8729\/revisions\/8739"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stlouisdad.com\/s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stlouisdad.com\/s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stlouisdad.com\/s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stlouisdad.com\/s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}