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allen

@thankfuck.studio

130 followers 700 following 860 posts

i guess in descending order: people developer, web developer, game developer, writer, potter, fiend

proprietor @ thank fuck ceramics

sr. eng. mngr. @ NYT/wirecutter

Detroit, MI

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allen

@thankfuck.studio

Every year I ask my mom not to get us any kitchen gadgets and every year she has some snarky ass edgelord lawyer response

December 21, 2025 at 12:43 AM

allen

@thankfuck.studio

happy plastic tree season

November 24, 2025 at 12:07 AM

allen

@thankfuck.studio

November 10, 2025 at 5:40 AM

allen

@thankfuck.studio

genuinely one of the prouder photos I've ever been in. I don't give myself wins very often, but every time these folks come together I am reminded of why I put so much of myself into my leadership.

October 31, 2025 at 1:40 PM

allen

@thankfuck.studio

ok yeah it's a real bad time to be a software employee

September 29, 2025 at 8:44 PM

allen

@thankfuck.studio

folks right now talk about AI like disco stu talked about disco records

discu stu from the simpsons, pointing at a graph that shows disco record sales spiking. the bottom axis shows that it is only for the years from 1973-1977

June 20, 2025 at 4:37 PM

allen

@thankfuck.studio

my high school physics teacher is retiring. they are collecting stories for him. he was a hell of a guy.

It's 2002. I'm a student in Mr. Barbour's AP physics class. I'm bothering him during a free period and he knows I'm not doing well emotionally. Can read it on my body. We start talking about college, and I kind of maybe hint that I'm thinking about the military after school.

What he and most other people didn't know was that my parents had lost everything in the previous two years. We lost our house, eventually. My family had never been to college to begin with and I knew that relying on them for financial support was not an option. So... I don't know. Air force.

I will never, ever forget the moment Ted grabbed my shoulder and asked me what the hell I was talking about. "You can't go into the military," he insisted. "It would be such a waste of talent." I broke down in tears.

Without saying anything more he stood up and pushed me out the door. He walked me down to the guidance counselor with his hand never leaving my shoulder. This, like, ambling mess of a teenager on a crash course through life, being escorted into the counselor's office by his physics teacher. He closed the door behind himself and said "We need to figure out financial aid for Allen." He stayed there with me for thirty minutes as my future slowly unclenched itself.

I remember thinking in between the waves of shame something like "he... thinks I'm talented?" No one had ever cared for me so directly before. So insistently and intentionally. A searing ethic of care that has buoyed me through good times and bad, decades later. An infectious belief in people and their capabilities.

How many beautiful lives has Ted had these moments with? People who never would have made it through without a moment of his caring guidance? How many of us may have never known how much we needed a consistent voice of compassion and challenge and resilience in our lives, in those early years of chaos... if it wasn't for his curious belief in us... in me. Who knows?

A true hero in my life; and one hell of a teacher.

May 31, 2025 at 2:00 AM

allen

@thankfuck.studio

King "Coopie Bear" Cooper Loughrey,

2011-2024

he was the best boy and he gave us every ounce of love he had. he'll always be my number one. rest in peace, friend.

July 3, 2024 at 6:14 PM

allen

@thankfuck.studio

one thing I have learned about myself is that I regress to a kid collecting toys when things get bad. anyway, unrelated, here's my favorite pickup from BotCon on Friday. #transformers