Christopher DeLuca

Follow @chrisd on Micro.blog.

My friend Ania said I was the patron saint of weird websites, and I’ve never been more honored.

My wonderful colleague Kat Shaw is featured in The Drop Time’s article on celebrating women in Drupal. The profile is accurate! I feel lucky to work with her.

I found my friend’s 16mm student film I was in when I was around 17. Remember being a teenager and trying to be deep? This is that but filmed. Radiohead soundtrack. Smoking. Slow motion. Sepia. Falling. A gun. It’s all here.

An individual with long dark hair is standing with their arms outstretched and head tilted back towards the sky. Behind them is the silhouette of a leafless tree with many intertwining branches, and the image has a sepia-toned, grainy quality, suggestive of a scene from an old film.Close-up of a person with long straight dark hair and a neutral expression. The person is directly facing the camera and the image has a monochromatic sepia tone, giving it an aged appearance reminiscent of early photography.A profile view of an individual with long dark hair, gazing into the distance. The background shows a twilight sky with bare tree branches silhouetted against it. The image has a vintage, grainy texture with warm sepia tones, suggesting it is taken from an older film.

MJ took incredible photos of our Cat’s Cradle improv show last week. Give them a follow if you’re on Instagram!

A group of six people engaged in an animated theatrical performance on a stage. Some individuals are crouched or bent over, expressing mock horror or surprise, while others stand with exaggerated gestures of fear or caution. They appear to be reacting to an unseen object or event on the right side of the stage. The stage has a plain black background and minimal props, with a single black box at the center. The actors are dressed in casual clothing and the lighting casts a blue hue over the scene.On a sparsely decorated stage, a group of seven people appears to be engaged in a theater workshop or improvisation scene. A woman in a red plaid shirt is perched on a black box, forming a peak with her hands above her head, possibly mimicking a mountain or roof. To her left, a man is squatting with his hands on his thighs, looking towards her. On the left side of the image, five people are seated or lying on the stage, with some looking toward the woman on the box. They seem to be attentive and possibly reacting to her action. The stage is simply set with a black backdrop and stage lighting equipment visible overhead. The audience perspective is from the back of the room, with the back of an audience member's head in the foreground.Seven individuals are actively participating in a dramatic scene on a black-box theater stage. They are gathered in a close semi-circle around a woman in the center who is crouched low to the ground, reaching out dramatically with one hand. The other performers are variously crouching or standing, with expressions and gestures of intense focus or concern directed towards the center. They are dressed in everyday casual wear, suggesting an improvisational or rehearsal setting. The stage backdrop is plain black, highlighting the actors, and the lighting casts well-defined shadows, enhancing the sense of a theatrical performance.

Getting cozy at Kinship on a rainy day. Related: show me harmful coconut water.

An open laptop on a glass table showing a Drupal navigation module ticket. There’s a hot coffee in a paper cup sitting next to it, and plants and coffee shop stuff in the background. There’s a fridge with “Harmless Coconut Water” branding on the side.

My Personal Ghost Story

A while ago, I was asked if I believed in ghosts. To illustrate, I told a story.

Many years ago, I lived with my good friend Dave. Roxy, his girlfriend at the time, was into mysticism and hauntings and stuff like that.

One Saturday evening a bunch of us were going to hit the town, and we were deciding where we were going to go. Then, Roxy suggested that we stay in and commune with ghosts. Everyone agreed and was super into it. I was grumpy because I wanted to go out.

Roxy was convinced our apartment was haunted, and that we could communicate with the ghost that lived there. We all sat there with our hands on a Ouija board, as Roxy asked yes or no questions to the ghost. Questions like, “Are you here?” and “Are you angry?”.

Agonizingly slowly, our hands moved around the board. We’d spell something out, then try again. And again. Roxy was looking annoyed. The answers we spelled were things like “Jaspit” and “Yvugli”, words I suspected weren’t in the dictionary.

I made a crack about the ghost being illiterate. Roxy did not appreciate the joke.

Later, as I was going to bed, Dave confronted me while Roxy glared at me over his shoulder. He told me that Roxy told him that the ghost told her that it was upset with me, and that I would need to apologize, otherwise bad things would happen to me that night.

I told him to tell her to tell the ghost that I’d take my chances.

I slept great and woke up refreshed, but the joke’s on me because right afterwards I was murdered.

Overheard in Washington square park:

“I love Obama.”

“Cringe.”

“What? Obama can sink a three!”

“Whatevs.”

Overheard in the east village: “I’ll tell you one thing, this is a lot more fun than playing with my hemorrhoids.”

I haven’t been spending as much time writing as I’d like. Lots I want to craft, and that doesn’t happen if I don’t do it.

What percent cacao do people want in their chocolate bars? Real answers only. 🍫

New Brother’s Grimm character: Rumpled Stiltskin. If you guess his name, he looses the bet and not only do you get to keep your baby, he has to iron it’s clothes.

Promotional poster for an improvisational comedy show. At the top, a large, orange, diagonal banner with the text 'IMPROV' in bold, white letters. Below the banner, a playful patterned background in teal with doodles of comedy and tragedy masks, pencils, and musical notes. A red URL 'www.catscradleimprov.com' is prominent. The text 'CAT'S CRADLE' sits at the center, surrounded by the words 'Directed by Richard J. Krysztoforski' in smaller print. Four performers are posed below: one sitting with his chin rested on his hand, another squatting with his hands on his thighs, the third standing to the right miming wearing a backpack, and the fourth standing behind, with a bald head, raising one hand in a goblin pose. In the bottom left, the words 'PLAYERS THEATRE 03.29.24 9:30PM' burst out in a starburst graphic.

The Cat’s Cradle Ensemble’s monthly residency continues at the Player’s Theatre! Come on out if you’re in NYC. March 29th, get your tickets.

A bowl of curry yogurt chicken over rice.

I improvised a yogurt curry chicken last night. Came out pretty good!

I added blog recommendations to the bottom of my site’s sidebar. Reviving the blogroll.

I grew up in New Jersey, but I was today days old when I saw the town of Sea Girt in print. Only having heard it, I would have sworn it was spelled similar to singer Bob Seeger, with a “t” at the end.

Kindness will make you do things that’s bad for business but great for customers that will eventually make it great for your business again.

And…

That second principle though, coolness, is much harder to quantify…It’s about pushing back against visual trends and product trends and common patterns. But I think it’s about how a team is structured and avoiding the easy way out of problems.

From Robin Rendle design blog.

I’m cat sitting my old cat Rocco starting today for 10 days in Jersey. Will be fun. The snacks will flow like water.

I had an enchanted evening last night. Who knew staring at chips could be so spellbinding.

I saw the 30th anniversary Kaiju Big Battel show last night. Where else can you see a cross between a bear and a hamburger body slam a mutant lobster?

Fandom levels

I would drive hours sight unseen to hear a band called, “Floppy Peter and the Mush.”

I’m pleading with the universe, for the love of of Christ, someone create a game called, “Funkboarder Jet-Thousand”

They may seem smart, but underneath it all computers are really dumb. You think your dog is dumb? Your computer wouldn’t know the first thing about licking its balls.

My family has no idea what any of my job titles mean. To them:

A fascinating history of the espionage act through the lens of leaking in general and Julian Assange specifically.