I've danced in two nutcrackers: 2023 and 2025. Both times I've been at a funny point in my life: either in the process of moving across the country to renovate a school bus about a full hour from civilization, or actively living in the bus in an empty lot in town. I haven't been able to deticate nearly as much as I'd like.

Photos from the Asheville Ballet Nutcracker, 2025.

I feel as though every time I take a ballet class I learn so much. My dream is to platau: to reach a point at which I feel as though I would require significantly more effort to improve only incrementally.

We drove all around the country. I have a map somewhere.

Here is the bus near Glacier National Park in Montana:

Some more pictures are here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/204693276@N08/

Someone asked us some questions about it in a podcast:

https://thisistheend.net/e/nomadland-and-vehicle-living-in-a-time-of-collapse-in-america/

A journaling app based on the "Good Times Journal" from the book "Designing Your Life." Written in Swift and SwiftUI with a SQLite backend. No longer on the app store as I stopped paying Apple their fee.

Code

https://github.com/nprezant/Wayfinder-iOS

Screenshots

App store description

Are your passions what you think they are? You may be surprised. 

Specifically, what makes you engaged? What makes you energized? And what puts you in a flow state? 

Inspired by the book "Designing Your Life" by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, Wayfinder offers a unique mode of journaling: it mimics Burnett and Evans' concept of the "Good Times Journal," which asks you to reflect on your engagement, your energy, and whether you’re in a flow state for any given activity. 

The “Good Times Journal” aims to give you data to help you re-design your days…and maybe even your life. You’ll learn what you really like. And what you really dislike. And you can start to organize your day with more intention. Maybe you can sandwich a draining activity between two energizing activities? Could you consider paying your kids a couple dollars to fold laundry because it turns out to be your least favorite thing you do?

Wayfinder provides a number of features that set it apart from the paper and pen version described in the book:

-“Tagging” activities helps you categorize your reflections in new ways. Perhaps you dislike "making pasta," but you really like "cooking," in general. Then you can start to ask questions like “what makes cooking pasta so much worse than inventing that stir fry recipe? How can I change the way I make pasta to mimic what I love about making stir fry?”

-“Reports” help you quickly digest your reflections with enlightening summaries. For instance, one of our favorite reports ranks your tags from those you like most to those you like least. Maybe you’ll learn you like “house cleaning” activities more than you like tasks involving “math” – and you’re considering a PhD in mathematics! 

-"Views" within the app allow you to have separate “journals” for different aspects of your life. Maybe want your singing lessons and hikes to be recorded in a “journal” about all of your “play” activities. And maybe you want a “work” journal to record how you feel about spreadsheets and washing dishes. Or maybe you just want one “everything” journal. The choice is yours. 

-“Views” are also customizable, so you can rename “work” to “summer job” on the fly, or you can combine your “work” and “babysitting” views without a hassle. 

There are many pathways through life. And better yet, there are many “right” pathways through life. We hope Wayfinder will help you find your way forward – toward a more engaging, energizing, fulfilling life. 

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Praise for the Wayfinder app:

“Thank goodness it’s done!” – Noah Prezant | Developer 

“Wow! Now I might finally keep a Good Times Journal.” – Lauren Zitney | person who initially requested this app, wrote this description text, and thought about the occasional UX design element 

Covid Levels

A map app based on publically available CDC data for their reported covid risk levels. Rejected from the app store as Covid data was a rather hot and sensitive topic at the time and I was not from the CDC. But my family and I used it.

https://github.com/nprezant/CovidLevels

https://help.collieraerospace.com/solver/api/index.html

A windows desktop application.

WAO: Wildlife Aerial Observatory, a study abroad program through NC State University.

https://github.com/nprezant/ImageWAO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrgADJ4ySqw

A numerical simulation of a pendulum

https://github.com/nprezant/pendulum