Category: My Work
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My First Half of Music (Streams)
Because I am headed out of town for several days, today is basically this week’s Friday post—just for fun. Last week I looked at my musical tastes via the vinyl. Today I look at the digital streams of music. This is far less surprising and arguably more representative of my tastes more broadly. Unlike records,…
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Just a Wee Bit Warm
This past weekend was a hot one in Philadelphia (and many other places across the eastern United States). As we enter July, the Philadelphia Inquirer published an article examining climate change’s impact on summer temperatures. Spoiler: it’s hotter. The article included two interactive line charts. The first one plotted the average high temperature of July…
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My First Half of Music (Records)
Two Christmases ago, my mother gifted me a record player. Ever since I have been slowly buying records—and then listening to them. And over the last year I have been recording those record plays and with 2026 now half over, I decided to run the numbers and see where I am at. As context, my…
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A Dan Miller Coronation?
Six weeks ago I created a small interactive chart on the news that Wes Streeting, the then British health secretary, resigned in order to challenge Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for the leadership of the Labour Party. Six weeks hence, Starmer has resigned. Lo and behold, my interactive graphic still works: British Governments of My…
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New(ish) Data for the Old Country
One of the most popular pieces of content on my website over the last several years has been a datagraphic I designed, which explores the Slovakian census data from 2011 on the Carpatho–Rusyns of Slovakia. I wrote about it for Coffeespoons back in 2012. The Carpatho–Rusyns, as they are known in the United States and…
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USAI! My Eyes!
Of all things, this came to me through social media I follow for news about the Red Sox. But it’s Friday and after seeing this I definitely need a drink. The AI-made map purports to show the locations of World Cup home bases for the various competing teams. It certainly shows…uh…something. It does not take…
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Maple Syrup Monday
This morning over breakfast I was reading an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer about Pennsylvania maple syrup production. My breakfast was oatmeal with maple syrup, cinnamon, and all space along with orange juice and a cup of tea. They talked about Pennsylvania’s production and compared it to Vermont’s, which made me want nothing more than…
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Rise of the Nutters
For most of my life I have been interested in British politics. I can recall talking with my mates about Tony Blair’s Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) in high school and at university. During the Brexit debate, my American friends would frequently ask me just what was going on across the pond. Through that point in…
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Go Fly a Kite
This past weekend I read an article over on Reuters about the cost of electricity for Americans, especially as it pertains to unfinished electrical generation projects. To be fair, I did not read it thinking I would be getting an opportunity to talk about something here on Coffeespoons. Rather, I just received a letter from…
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Back to Boston’s Beginning
And I don’t mean the city’s. No, 125 years ago today, the Boston Americans, later to be renamed the Boston Red Sox, played their first home game. Not at Fenway Park, mind you, but their original home—the Huntington Avenue Grounds. I decided to make a graphic comparing Huntington Avenue to Fenway, but could not find…