Another year is nearly in the bag which means it’s time for my yearly list of top albums released in 2021! After another tough year with no live concerts for myself, I’ve had to rely on new albums to expose me to new tunes. As always, a nice blend of hip-hop, rap, rock and punk music rounds out the list. And yes, if Limp Bizkit is on this list. Don’t hate!

10. AFI - Bodies
9. Russ - CHOMP 2
8. Limp Bizkit - STILL SUCKS
7. Foo Fighters - Medicine at Midnight
6. Nas - Kings Disease II
5. Thrice - Horizons / East
4. DMX - Exodus
3. Rise Against - Nowhere Generation
2. The Dirty Nil - Fuck Art
1. J Cole - The Offseason

Wishing everyone who reads this a happy holiday season and all the best in 2022!

1. J Cole - The Offseason

Best Tracks: 95 South, Pride Is The Devil, Close

2. The Dirty Nil - Fuck Art

Best Tracks: Doom Boy, Hello Jealousy, Possession

3. Rise Against - Nowhere Generation

Best Tracks: Broken Dreams, Inc., Monarch, Sudden Urge

4. DMX - Exodus

Best Tracks: Bath Salts, Hood Blues, Dogs Out

5. Thrice - Horizons / East

Best Track: Northern Lights, The Dreamer, The Color of the Sky

6. Nas - Kings Disease II

Best Tracks: The Pressure, Death Row East, Nobody

7. Foo Fighters - Medicine at Midnight

Best Tracks: Making A Fire, Waiting on a War, Love Dies Young

8. Limp Bizkit - STILL SUCKS

Best Tracks: Dirty Rotten Bizkit, Turn It Up, Out of Style

9. Russ - CHOMP 2

Best Tracks: Free, Nothin’ New, Bucket Hat Low

10. AFI - Bodies

Best Tracks: Twisted Tongues, On Your Back, Begging For Trouble

Last month I had the pleasure of appearing on my first podcast interview ever! I was interviewed on the Level-Up Engineering Podcast to talk about work-life awareness and leading engineering teams in a mindful way.

Check out the blog post as well as the podcast below. This will hit streaming services in the middle of December. It was a great experience being able to do this interview and I hope to do more in the future!

About a month and a half ago I blogged about how I plan to approach recovery from a previous injury. At the time I laid out the following focus areas:

• Avoiding any exercise and workouts whatsoever. Even light exercise I’ll be skipping. My exception will be 10 minutes of slow yoga each evening as a wind-down mechanism.

• Changing my regular wake-up time. Normally I’m up around 5:15am, however recently I’m finding it hard to make that time. I’ll be challenging my previous approach and letting myself naturally wake-up and go from there.

• I’ll be focusing a lot on mental health and meditation during this time, and finding ways to utilize any free time in a creative way.

I’m happy to say that I’m making progress on some of these, but not all! For me it’s been more about my general awareness and how I’m feeling day-to-day vs. keeping a strict structure on my physical activity. A few areas that I’ve improved on:

• I’m much more mindful of rest and exercise and when one can support the other.

• I’ve included 10 minutes of slow yoga in each evening, which has been a game-changer for my mental health. That 10 minutes of wind-down each evening is one of the things I look forward to each day!

• In my free time I’ve started reading much more and continuing to grow out my podcast library.

One thing I didn’t budge on is my 5:15am wake-up time and I glad I didn’t! The only time I adjust for this is if I’m on vacation.

Throughout this process it’s made me realize one thing about myself: I thrive on routine. When I have a solid routine in my life, everything else moves much more fluidly.