Matt DeSiena

Blogging on Life, Tech, and Urbanism

Now

Releasing Valencia — A WordPress Theme

A clean-room recreation of a favorite blog silhouette, rebuilt as a modern block theme.

Next milestone: shipping it to production and writing up what porting a design between themes actually teaches you.

Sénanque Abbey behind a lavender field in bloom, Provence
Photo I took from Sénanque Abbey, Provence. July 2026.

Reading

The Rise and Fall of the House of Medici

Re-reading this again. how a Florentine family bankrolled the Renaissance by turning interest-bearing loans into something the Church could tolerate. No family in my opinion (east or west) had a more lasting impact on the world.

Listening

Indigo Park

Bruce Hornsby at 70, making a concept record about where he came from. I love Bruce Hornsby as both an artist and a man. He tries new things. He brought in Bonnie Raitt and Ezra Koenig. Recommend!

2026 in three words

  1. Ritual — habit with emotional intentionality. The sensory details matter.
  2. Strength — body, will, voice. Getting harder to knock over.
  3. Intention — protecting focus, curating inputs, acting rather than reacting.

Inspired by Derek Sivers’s /now. Updated monthly or when life shifts enough to warrant it.