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Birthday Inventory 2025It’s become a ritual for me to take a personal inventory on my birthday. I’ve done it in [2024](
Evan Prodromou's Blog
Birthday Inventory 2024
So, it’s my birthday on Monday, which means I’m going to do a birthday inventory, as I do every year at this time. I try to do a compre...
), [2023](
Evan Prodromou's Blog
Birthday Inventory 2023
Today, October 14, is my birthday. I’m far from home, in Brussels, with my wife on a trip to celebrate our anniversary and my birthday. We ha...
), [2022](
Evan Prodromou's Blog
Birthday Inventory 2022
It’s my birthday today. I’m sitting in our car at a charging station in Glen Falls, NY, on our way down to New Jersey for my cousinR...
), [2021](
Evan Prodromou's Blog
Birthday Inventory 2021
For the last few years, I’ve been taking the opportunity when my birthday comes around to do an inventory of major aspects of my life. ItR...
), [2020](
Evan Prodromou's Blog
Birthday Inventory 2020
I’ve been doing an annual birthday inventory for the last few years (2017, 2018, 2019) and since my birthday is this week, I thought it would...
), [2019](
Evan Prodromou's Blog
Birthday Inventory 2019
It’s early on a sunny warm Saturday morning at my home in Montreal. I’m the only one up. I made waffles for my family because that̵...
), [2018](
Evan Prodromou's Blog
Birthday Inventory 2018
Tomorrow is my 50th birthday. It’s a big one; about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way through a North American man’s life. I’m at the point o...
), and [2017](
Evan Prodromou's Blog
Birthday Inventory 2017
Tomorrow, October 14, 2017, will be my 49th birthday. Before I start getting bombarded with AI-prompted well-wishing I thought I’d take a few...
). I’m in Montreal today, at home with my son Stavro and wife Maj. (Daughter Amita June is on her way home from a Thanksgiving weekend with her boyfriend’s grandparents.) I have some time before we start our supper ([Mon Ami Korean BBQ](
https://www.restomonami.com )) and evening birthday celebration ([Jardins de lumière](
https://calendrier.espacepourlavie.ca/jardins-de-lumiere ) at the Botanical Gardens followed by cake and presents). I don’t usually refer to previous years’ inventories before I write, so some of this might be dupes of long-lasting issues. Apologies for long-time readers! Anyway, here we go.<li><strong>Health</strong>. The last year has been pretty rough on my health. After my <a href="
https://evanp.me/2025/06/28/one-year-after/">car accident </a>in Jun 2024, I’ve had a pretty straightforward recovery, but some parts of me are just never going to be the same. I’ve taken a long time to recover my level of exercise, though, and it shows in my weight. I’m carrying more weight than I have in the last 15 years — it’s starting to feel like a lot to carry. What I’ve previously done to lose this kind of weight — an hour or more of exercise per day, plus tightening up my alcohol and food intake — seems really hard to imagine. On the plus side, Stavro and I just started lifting weights again, four nights a week, after several months away from the gym. It’s great to spend time with him, and crush some iron together.<ul class="wp-block-list"><li><strong>Teeth</strong>. I think I talk about my teeth in these inventories sometimes? Regardless: teeth are great. I had some fillings replaced this summer that had been slowly breaking down in the back of my mouth for 45 years. They’re now brand new and set to get me through the age of 102, I guess.</li></ul></li><li><strong>Family</strong>. I think I mentioned my time working out with my son Stavro; I also have been getting time in with him while he practices driving. It’s been a good year of engagement. My daughter Amita is a little more distant; she’s been out of the house for about a year and a half now, in her own apartment. But she still sends us a good night on our family group chat almost every night, which is sweet. She just started at McGill this year, which was a really good compromise between our duelling goals: I wanted her to get a window to a wider world, and she wanted to stay here in Montreal. I have fingers crossed that she’ll be doing a semester abroad next year.<ul class="wp-block-list"><li><strong>Relationship</strong>. It’s great. We’re probably more in sync than we have been in a long time. We are very close, talk a lot, and purposefully spend time together. Maj has her own work and her own life, but we seem to be relating really well.</li><li><strong>Extended family</strong>. It’s OK; I’ve been doing calls with my parents and brothers and their families less frequently than in previous years, but we still connect about once per month. My uncles, aunts and cousins are harder; they’re usually on Facebook and Instagram, but I didn’t get down to New Jersey or out to California this year to see them. I’m realising recently that my generation is the one to deal with family issues like deaths or crisis; it’s hard coming to the understanding that we’re the adults in the room for now. </li></ul></li><li><strong>Work</strong>. For the first time in a few years, “work” and “life’s purpose” are aligned in my inventory. Last year, just before my birthday, I finished my book about the distributed social networking protocol I helped create, <a href="
https://evanp.me/activitypub-book/">ActivityPub</a>. It’s been doing pretty well in sales, and I’ve done some events to promote it this year. I also co-founded a non-profit to promote the use of the protocol, the <a href="
https://socialwebfoundation.org/">Social Web Foundation</a>. I’ve been working on projects for the SWF for the full year, including further developments of the protocol, promoting its use at conferences, and writing reports about legal, technical or social issues with the protocol. It’s been exciting and fun. Maybe best of all, the efforts I put into standardisation at the <a href="
https://www.w3.org/community/socialcg/">W3C Social Web Incubator Community Group</a> are now part of my work at the SWF, so it doesn’t feel like I’m spending all my nights and weekends on a side effort.<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>I continue to do my work for the <a href="
https://openearth.org/">Open Earth Foundation</a> as Director of Open Technology, leading a team of 10 (!) developers building software to help cities fight climate change. I’ve been working here for 3-1/2 years, which might be a record for me. In the last year, we’ve used the software to provide emissions inventories, risk assessments and climate action plans for 50 Brazilian cities, and we’re working on expanding that effort to all 5500 municipalities in the country. It feels like we have traction and product-market fit, which is really powerful and exciting. Over the summer, I promoted two technical leads to become engineering managers, so that I currently only have 4 direct reports, not 9. It’s relaxed a lot of my efforts, giving me a chance to concentrate on more strategic technology work and deep process engineering.</li><li>I’ve been working less on <a href="
https://cosocial.ca/">CoSocial</a> than I did in previous years, but that’s a sign of the project’s strength. CoSocial is the cooperative social media service for Canadians that I helped get started a couple of years ago. Last year, I was re-elected to the board, but wasn’t chosen as President. I’ve done work in the Trust and Safety Working Group, and I still go to board meetings, but I really like seeing things take off at the org.</li><li>I also got asked to join the board at the <a href="
https://nanps.org">North American Native Plant Society</a> this year. Native plants have been an obsession of mine for a few years, and it’s great to get a chance to focus on them in a formal setting.</li></ul></li><li><strong>School</strong>. I continue my remote Master’s degree in Computer Science at Georgia Tech. It’s been an amazing experience — I’ve loved the work in databases, software architecture, software engineering and computer networking. I know that after 35 years in the profession, I shouldn’t have anything more to learn, but the classes I’ve been taking have been really enriching and engaging, and they’ve really helped with my professional work. I am taking one class per semester, on top of my 1.5 jobs and other responsibilities, so it feels like a lot, but I really am enjoying it. I haven’t done the credits math lately, but I think I’m on the back half of the program, and should have a degree in a year or two. And, yes, I’m seriously considering applying for Ph.D. programs. Why not keep the party going?</li><li><strong>Home</strong>. Our house in Montreal was starting to feel crowded over the last few years, with four adults in a small townhouse footprint, but Amita June moving out has alleviated some of that pressure. On top of which, Stavro has been much more active in the world, working on music and playing in two bands. I often get the house to myself during the day, and some evenings I even eat on my own. The house is 100+ years old, and there’s way too many repairs that need doing for me to ever put time into, but it still feels like a home we can go into empty nester mode with.<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Our <strong>country home</strong> is a source of a lot of joy. Located in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, it has rooms for everyone, plus dedicated offices for me and Maj, plus a basement and other usable spaces. The big back yard is full of native plants that are really coming into their own; I germinated some perennials inside this spring, and they’ve done pretty well when they were transplanted. The vineyard has bounced back from a year of neglect, with a lot of wood building up on the trunks. I think it should be ready to make wine next year (year 5).</li></ul></li><li><strong>Travel</strong>. Travel has mostly been for OEF and SWF work — I’ve gone to Brussels for FOSDEM, Austin for South by Southwest, Brazil for our OEF all-hands, Vancouver for Fedicon, and New York for HOPE. I have more travel for work this fall. It’s been nice to see places I haven’t gone before, but I do feel a little over-stretched.</li><li><strong>Hobbies</strong>. My hobbies have suffered this year, as so much of my “spare” time is taken up with my second job and my master’s degree. But as mentioned above, I’ve taken time for gardening, winemaking, cooking, and making jams. One of my big hobbies, my daily Minecraft habit, has been put aside since <a href="
https://bdsmovement.net/news/boycott-microsofts-xbox">BDS asked us to boycott it</a>. Instead, I’ve been playing <a href="
https://www.stardewvalley.net">Stardew Valley</a> on my phone. It’s a fun game, too, but a little more closed-world than Minecraft. I’ve also been to see a lot more live music this year than in previous years; Stereolab and the Mutek festival are two highlights.</li><li><strong>Friendships</strong>. They’ve been OK! I’ve spent more time with friends than in previous years. One thing that has been nice is having a number of visits by friends from the US or other parts of Canada or Europe who stayed at our house. I love showing people around, having meals out, and letting people get to know my family and friends here in Montreal. If you’re a friend who’s considered coming to Montreal, please reach out. I still need to put more time into friendships </li><li><strong>State of the world.</strong> The genocide in Gaza has been a constant concern for me this year. I’ve been participating in protests, <a href="
https://bdsmovement.net">BDS</a>, and online groups as well as pressuring my political representatives here in Canada and in the USA. This very week marks the second tenuous ceasefire, with a halt to the bombings, an exchange of hostages, and a release of much-needed humanitarian aid. I want to keep up the pressure to make sure the killing doesn’t start again like it did last time.<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Other politics have been eclipsed by Gaza. I have found it a reasonable litmus test to see if politicians share my values and concerns for the world we are in or are thinking about the world that will come after. I haven’t been as active in US politics, and the contributions that I’ve made have been filtered through that Gaza lens.</li><li>Working in the climate change space has made it, coincidentally, less of a focus in my political interests. But it is still the most important issue facing humankind today, and I am very worried by regressions in climate action, big and small.</li></ul></li>
That’s about all I can think of for now, and it’s time to go get supper, so I’m going to hit Publish and go eat. Thanks for reading this far!
#2025 #birthday #inventory
) conference at the University of Washington. I decided to cancel the US leg of my flight home because of the airport chaos caused by [cancelling 10% of domestic flights](https://www.npr.org/2025/11/05/nx-s1-5600082/faa-airport-traffic-reductions-shutdown ). But it got me thinking that reducing air travel by 10% could have a huge effect on the USA’s greenhouse gas emissions.
My best estimate from the [US Greenhouse Gas Inventory](
) is that aviation emissions are about 125Mt annually. If we assume that the air traffic reduction will last about 1 month, that month would normally account for about 10Mt of emissions. A 10% reduction would thus make up about 1Mt of emissions.
For scale, that’s about the annual emissions of around 54,000 Americans. Not a bad reduction! It’s kind of a small percent of the total 6343 Mt the US puts out every year — about 0.016% — but I guess every bit counts. Given how tepid other climate action, even unintentional, has been in the US this year, we should probably congratulate the US DOT for its bold climate action.
#airtravel #climate #seagl2025 #trainsnotplanes #usdot
