Andy is a human with short blonde hair and black glasses who is smiling. They are wearing a button-down shirt with a flamingo print. Their arms are crossed, exposing a sleeve of nerdy tattoos.

Hi, I'm Andy Newhouse,
online I go by

I'm a programmer at Tighten, the Director of Technology for SGD Institute. I also help out my spouse with their small business, Chaotic Notions. I have many hobbies and projects, from Livewire to LEGO, and I will share my progress and what I've learned along the way with you.

Mar 21
"A Really Hard Thing" in white text with a black bubble around it. Underneath is a small stick figure holding a blue balloon 4 times the size of the figure. Underneath this is the text "How it feels right now". Next is a stick figure holding a bubble that is now only 2 times the size of the figure. Under is the text "How it will feel in a few months". Finally, there is a stick figure walking comfortably with the bubble instead their heart. Underneath is the text "How it will feel in a few years".

Big Things Get Smaller

This is a perfect example of how learning works! Initially, things are scary because they are too big or hard, and then I try and over time, it gets easier and easier. Eventually, it's easy to forget that it was daunting initially. Original Post

Mar 19
A window with commands to get a repository up and running the commands are as follows: `git clone git@github.com:org/repo.git` `composer install` `npm install` `cp .env.example .env` `php artisan key:generate`

How to familiarize yourself with a new app

Opening up a new project that you're unfamiliar with can be daunting. Where do you start? What does the stack look like? After working at Tighten for two years and routinely switching to different projects, I have developed a system to familiarize myself with an application quickly.

Mar 16
Colorful geometric shapes on a wall, including "L" shapes in blue, green and magenta.

Lines through Space

Today, I finished another William F. Whiteside- inspired art piece to fill in a hole on my office wall! It looks great from far away, but I am a bit more critical the closer I get. I need to remind myself that mistakes happen. I'm improving with each painting I do.

Jan 17
A Raycast logo in dotted lines. Wrapped by a rounded dashed border. Underneath is the URL `icon.ray.so` and "Built by Raycast"

Icon Maker by Raycast

I found this Icon Maker by @raycastapp, and it's exactly what I wanted to eventually build a few years ago with Iconi. 1️⃣ Pick an icon 2️⃣ Play with the styles 3️⃣ Press Export Perfect size for my Stream Deck!

Sep 10
A three shade cube in blue on a yellow hexagon canvas.

Geometric Cube

I'm on a painting kick because I just finished this project a day after finishing the previous one. Years ago, I saw a painting in my favorite Chicago diner by William F. Whiteside, and I recreated it with different colors for my office. I'm super happy with how it turned out!

Sep 9
A house with a broken turret nestled in the woods. The main house has stained glass windows, a weather vane and an owl on the front door.

Owl House Painting

One of my favorite recent shows is The Owl House created by Dana Terrace. It originally aired on Disney Channel, and I watched it on Disney+. I really like the idea of having subtle nerdy things as my backdrop during video calls, so I painted the Owl House from the show.

Mar 6

Introducing Rollo: A Time Tracking app using Laravel and Filament

Follow along as I stream the process of building a Time Tracking app that works for me using Laravel and Filament.

Feb 27

New office configuration

Instead of recording video #1 for the new series I'm planning, I reorganized my office, and added some new shelves. I guess the videos will have a pretty background at least!

Feb 11
A "Pets of Tighten" calendar pinned to a mint green wall. This month features my two dogs Velvet and Geo.

Tighten's February Calendar

This month on the "Pets of Tighten" calendar features my two dogs Velvet and Geo.

Feb 11

Holiday Episodes

Ash and I have been making an list of all of our favorite holiday episodes, so we can watch them around that holiday. Unfortunately, with the new Slack changes we lost our list. I'll be updating this list whenever we come across a holiday episode.

Jan 29
The Pokémon Violet game cover with a purple badge with a white thumbs up in the bottom right hand corner. The game box is on a background of the game map.

Pokémon Violet : Worth It

Though Scarlet and Violet may have some graphic glitches, it is a game that truly stands out in the world of Pokémon. With three captivating storylines and an abundance of content to explore, it feels like the culmination of everything that the recent Pokémon games have been building towards. Whether you're a seasoned veteran of the franchise or a newcomer to the world of Pokémon, Scarlet/Violet is sure to provide hours of entertainment and satisfaction.

Jan 23
The Filament dog mascot drawing with the words "5 Underrated Filament Features" next to it.

5 Underrated Filament Features by Alexander Six

Reminder to my self to check out later.

Jan 22

Jazz Club (10312) - Bag 4

Bag 4 ✅ With that it looks like the first floor is 99% done. There's still a gaping hole in the front of the Jazz club, so I'm curious what that build will look like!

Jan 22

New Website

I just deployed my new website, which feels like I do every other year or so... take a look at the details on how it's set up and stuff.

Jan 21

Jazz Club (10312) - Bag 3

Bag 3 ✅ In this bag I really enjoyed building the Double Bass case (bottom right attached to the bass player). I wish it could accommodate the actual instrument that he's holding but that would have made it a lot bigger. Also on the bass player, there is a hearing aid or monitor on the right side of the head which is a print I've never seen before!

Jan 20

Jazz Club (10312) - Bag 2

Bag 2 ✅ The first floor is coming along! I really liked building the stage (bottom right) and wood burning pizza oven (bottom left).

Jan 20

Tips for real-world Alpine.js · Code with Hugo

Post I found during a 🍐 session with Andrew. It was useful for us to see a dump of the data.

Jan 19

Jazz Club (10312) - Bag 1

Bag 1 ✅ Follow along on my progress with building the latest LEGO modular building: Jazz Club (10312)

Jan 18

Gridfinity Nozzle Box

Model Source: Printables I printed this using Blue Inland PLA. I really like how the design has two rows for the .4 nozzles, since we have a ton of those nozzles.

Jan 15

Filament Widget Table Header Actions

An undocumented feature of Filament I found recently is the ability to add actions to table headers!

Jan 10

Gridfinity Wrenches

Model Source: Printables This is printed on Blue Gray Filaments.ca EcoFill PLA. I don't have Stanley wrenches, but this box worked great for what I've got.

Jan 5
Yellow 3D printed soda can holder printed for use with the gridfinity system. The background is a light bamboo desk.

Gridfinity Can Holder

Model Source: Printables Printed with Inland Yellow Matte PLA.

Jan 4
Timeular tracker with a sicker of a Minecraft creeper. It is resting on a black base that is supported by a yellow gridfinity base. The base rests on a bamboo desk with a keyboard cushion in the background.

First Gridfinity Contribution - Timeular Tracker

I use a Timeular Tracker to track what I'm working on during the day, and wanted to add it to my desk Gridfinity baseplate. Designed using Zach's Parametric templates in Fusion 360. Model: Gridfinity Timeular

Dec 30

Gridfinity AirPods Pro

Model Source: Printables I printed this using Matte Yellow Inland PLA. This holds the AirPods securely but also can be removed without much difficulty.

Dec 24
7 dice in assorted sizes, shapes and colors arranged neatly on a matte yellow 3D printed bin. The bin is on a bamboo desk.

Gridfinity Dice Holder

Model Source: Printables Printed with Inland Matte Yellow PLA. The D6 doesn't really fit in the slot for it, but the rest fit well but are still easy to remove.