iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 23/06/2025

I always swore that I would never buy a minivan, but I gave in and bought an Urban Arrow Family this weekend. I've wanted a front-loader for a decade - they always seemed prohibitively expensive, but came across this one for 50% off and had to do it. 24 miles so far with both kids, we LOVE it.

A cargo bike inside a bike shop. The bike is a white Urban Arrow Family electric-assist front-loading model, with front of bike to left of image.

A bike rack outside the Nelson-Atkins art museum. A white cargo bike is locked to the bike rack. Two children are sitting in the bike's cargo box, with helmets on and backs to the camera. Blue sky in the background with a few clouds.

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 03/05/2025

If you see this, post your getaway vehicle

A bicycle leaning against a tree in a forest next to a gentle singletrack trail. The bike is facing to the right and has front and rear racks and several bags on it. It also has headlights and fenders, and a water bottle.

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 03/05/2025

I HAD VISIONS I WAS IN THEM 🎶 I WAS LOOKING INTO THE MIRROR 🎶

Julie Andrews with an acoustic guitar singing to a group of children on the mountainside in SOUND OF MUSIC

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 02/05/2025

Zuck: the average American has three friends

Still frame from the movie The Big Lebowski. The Dude (left), Walter (right), and Donny (middle, background) are seated in a bowling alley and are looking incredulously to something to the left of the scene.

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 15/01/2025

Post a picture of yourself from a different era (me in fall 2010 after a 120 mile fixed gear ride)

A man standing next to a bicycle. He is leaning and sort of sitting on the top tube of it. He is wearing a black cycling cap with cycling sunglasses on the brim, a black and red cycling jersey unzipped to show a white t-shirt undeneath, and grey cycling pants which are longer than shorts but shorter than pants. The bike is a brown Surly Cross-Check fixed gear, with a large front disk brake, a rear rack with panniers, and bullhorn bars with a headlight on them. He is in a residential neighborhood on a nice day - a house and garden are visible in the background. He looks kind of tired, like he just did a long ride on the bike.

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 10/01/2025

I know exactly what you mean

A young girl in winter clothing (purple hat, pink mittens, black coat, black snow pants, boots) jumping on a small trampoline that is covered in a dusting of snow.

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 19/12/2024

Meet our new-to-us third cat. Her name is Tomato Cat.

Cat standing on a half-wall looking at camera

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 12/12/2024

Where are my fellow Lego nerds at? #lego

View of a corner in a house. The ceiling is sloped - it is a finished attic. There are white floating shelves on the wall to the right, covered in assembled Lego sets. On the left there is a white chair behind a white desk with drawers. On the wall behind the desk are many drawer units mounted to the wall. All the drawer units have little labels on the little drawers in them. There must be a thousand little drawers. On top of the drawer units is a row of Lego cars.

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 03/12/2024

I am excited to share that I’ve been selected to serve as a program co-chair for the Platform Engineering Day conference, co-located with KubeCon EU 2025 in London!

Screenshot of an email showing the following text:

Hello Matt Menzenski,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected as a Program Committee Member for CNCF-Hosted Co-located events at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2025!

Please find the details below on the co-located event you’ve been assigned based on your answers from the interest survey:

Assigned Event: Platform Engineering Day Europe
Assigned Role: Program Co-Chair

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 30/11/2024

Okay this is actually hilarious, and mostly flattering. “Matt’s writing oscillates between relatable dad struggles and deep technical insights, often within the same post—a juggling act worthy of a circus.”

Screenshot with the following text (the first line is header text in blue, the second line is normal text, and the third line is a block quote):

Matt Menzenski: Data Engineer by Day, Overeater by Night

A dad who balances data, DIY, and dad jokes with a side of Lego.

"If parental chaos and platform engineering had a baby, it would be Matt's feed.”

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 23/11/2024

Show me your pet and what they were named after

White dog with black patches (American Bulldog) curled up and trying to nap on a blue leather couch.

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 22/11/2024

If you see this show 4 of your favorite games!

Cover art for the 1993 video game "Day of the Tentacle". Three people are fleeing towards the camera from a purple tentacle holding a gun. A house is on a hill in the distant background. The title text is in green in the night sky above.

Cover art for the Nintendo 64 game Super Mario 64. Mario has white angel wings and is flying in the sky. Princess Peach's castle is visible below to the left.

Cover art for the game Final Fantasy VIII. The three main characters (Squall, Rinoa, Seifer) are shown in the foreground, looking very brooding. The title text is above their heads, and the sorceress Edea is visible faintly behind the text.

Cover art for the video game Farming Simulator 22. A red Case tractor with rear tracks is visible in the foreground. A field of row crops is visible behind it to the left, and the title text appears large in the sky above.

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 20/11/2024

Name a TV show you’re positive no one remembers but you. Maximum Drive, from 1994. Kids racing ATVs on the family channel.

A still frame from the opening of the Maximum Drive television show from 1994. The text “MAXIMUM DRIVE” is displayed in yellow letters on a red background in center of frame, covering most of the image. A checkered flag pattern is visible above and below the text. Behind the graphic an all-terrain vehicle is crashing into a giant inflated ball, barely visible.

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 19/11/2024

Here’s me in the peak of my academic area. This is fall 2015 in Heidelberg, Germany. I won a travel award to present at the Slavic Linguistics Society meeting. I think this photo was taken shortly after I presented my paper (which is why I look relaxed, it was over).

A man standing with his back to a stone railing. Below/beneath him is the city of Heidelberg, Germany. The city is visible to the left with a cathedral prominently visible. A wooded hill rises up to the right. The man is wearing a blue blazer and grey sweater with pink collared shirt poking out from underneath.

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 19/11/2024

Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn’t Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, or Alice In Chains.

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 17/11/2024

Dang, looks great! We should compare notes, lol

Floating shelves in a finished attic with sloped ceiling. There are many assembled Lego sets on the shelves. Towards the left of the photo there are many small, labeled drawer units mounted to the wall, and a messy desk under them.

Small, labeled drawer units mounted to the wall, with a messy desk under them. The drawers have labels with Lego elements and part numbers printed on them. A row of Lego cars rests on top of the drawer units.

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 17/11/2024

These are my dogs, Tater (left) and Frank (right).

Two dogs sitting in the rear cargo area of an SUV. Both are bully breeds. On the left is a white dog with black spots, with a blue leash. On the right is a dark brown dog with white chest, with a magenta leash.

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 16/11/2024

Post a picture you took (no description) to bring some zen to the timeline.

A view of southern Utah wilderness, near the Warner Valley Dinosaur Tracks site. A red dirt road snakes away into the distance. There is green scrub brush, mountains/plateaus in the distance, and a blue sky with puffy clouds.

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 14/11/2024

KubeCon highlight for me today: meeting @kelseyhightower.com - thank you @massdriver.cloud for making this happen!

Man in blue sweatshirt standing next to Kelsey Hightower, who is seated behind a table in a conference vendor area.

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 14/11/2024

Fitting that the API Lofts are across the street from KubeCon

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 13/11/2024

Look out @dagster.bsky.social, there’s a new Software Defined X on the block

KubeCon conference presentation slide with title “Software Defined Farms - Background”.

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 13/11/2024

this is a picture of me in space - it's the silliest one I've got

man's head superimposed over a galaxy/space background. man is wearing safety glasses over regular glasses and the coloring of his face is unusual, like you're looking through an infrared sensor - it's reds and blues like hot and cold areas.

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 12/11/2024

It’s snowing! And I am wearing the right sweatshirt for it.

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 11/11/2024

It you see this, post a concert photo you took. (Here are two, from the last summer we lived in Lawrence. I miss being able to walk to the Granada).

Concert photo of The Sword, taken from the front row. Guitarist at left of frame singing into microphone, drummer in background. The lighting is very red.

Concert photo of Greensky Bluegrass, taken from front row. Banjo player to left of frame, mandolinist in center, bass player in background on right. There are blue and yellow spotlights in the background, pointed up.

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 10/11/2024

I gave ChatGPT the same prompt. This is its second attempt; the first didn’t have a person in it.

An AI-generated image showing a white man using a computer. The man’s back is to the “camera”. He is using a Mac laptop and has three large monitors, all showing code. The desk is held up by stacks of technical books. A map of the continental United States is on the wall above the desk.

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 08/11/2024

And this is Masha. She likes to eat Misha’s food, when she can get away with it (which is usually).

An overweight white cat with some black spots is sitting on a folded kids playmat on top of a dog bed. She is looking into the camera.

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Matt Menzenski @menzen.ski · 08/11/2024

If you see this (and are so inclined), post a cat. This is Misha. He likes to sit on this post at the base of our stairs and look up at the light on our ceiling when a bug gets stuck in it.