The best aspect of releasing an open-source website theme is seeing what others build with it. I released Hitchens for Jekyll all the way back in August of 2018. At the time, my hopes were that people would enjoy using it with Jekyll and that perhaps, one day, it might get ported for use on the excellent blogging platform, Micro.blog. In just a few months, several people began using it for their Jekyll blogs. Then, in August of 2022, Pete Moore released his port of Hitchens for Micro.blog, built on the Hugo static site generator.

Yesterday, I received an email from Jason Shellen informing me that he’d just released his port of Hitchens for Eleventy! Eleventy is another static site generator similar to Jekyll and Hugo that serves a very large and engaged audience. I’m super excited that Jason has created this port and has extended Hitchens to another platform. Thanks Jason!

If you or someone you know has built something cool with Hitchens, please let me know! I’m so grateful people are building on my work and hope that you’ll be inspired to do the same.

※ Permalink for “Hitchens Theme for Eleventy” published on date_to_rfc822

I turned forty today ☺️ On Sunday, I celebrated with forty friends and family members, playing music and sharing stories. Thank you to everyone who came and everyone who has (and will 😉) wished me a Happy Birthday ❤️

Special thanks to Amanda and everyone who helped organize and prepare the party, Forked River Brewing Company for your hospitality, Kyle’s Fried Chicken & BBQ for the delicious food, and all of the musicians who shared your talent. I’m eternally grateful 🙏

※ Permalink for “Forty” published on date_to_rfc822

In less than a week, I’ll be turning 40. To celebrate, I’m hosting an open jam and Pop Rockets performance at Forked River Brewing Company this Sunday, February 23 at 6pm.

🍺 Forked River Brewing Company
📍 45 Pacific Crt, London, Ontario
📅 Sunday, February 23
⏰ 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM

If you’re in the area, join me this Sunday for some food, drinks, and wonderful music

※ Permalink for “Turning Forty” published on date_to_rfc822

2024 was quite the year! Lots happening around the world, in Canada, and right here in London, Ontario. Looking back over the year and even though we’re a few weeks into the new year, I have so many fond memories of 2024 that I feel compelled to share.

Read More →

I’ve been playing a lot of music lately. It started a couple weeks after my father died when a friend from high school invited me to an open mic. Following six years of not performing music in public, what started as a monthly night out quietly grew into a side hustle performing at local bars and restaurants several times a month.

When I started booking paid gigs, I decided to promote my music using just my first and middle name. As proud as I am of my family name, Dryburgh is difficult to pronounce and impossible to know how to spell based solely on hearing it spoken over a microphone or in a conversation at a noisy venue. So, I’ve been performing as Patrick Douglas.

It also gave me an opportunity to make myself another website! PatrickDouglas.ca is a simple one-page site powered by Jekyll and hosted on Github pages. Right now, it includes links to my email and Instagram and lists my upcoming and past shows. Eventually, my hope is it will become a repository of the music I’ve recorded and will record in the future.

I’ve reused the basic template for a couple of other projects now, including my nascent cover band, The Pop Rockets and for my friend and fellow musician Jamie Shrier. My hope is to encourage local musicians in London, Ontario to start owning their own domain names in addition to their social channels in the hopes it will prepare them for another inevitable upheaval across the social media landscape.

※ Permalink for “My musical side hustle” published on date_to_rfc822