Inspired by this, I’ve decided to do my part capturing some of what I’ve enjoyed over the last year (though it may have been initially discovered earlier).
Index
Self-Improvement
- Book: My Best Mistake, by Terry O’Reilly
- Given to me as a gift prior to being laid off, reading this while being laid off was a treat. It’s great to see how others have made the best of bad situations, and fantastic to see some of the unexpected changes in people’s lives through an optimistic lens.
- Activity: Going to the gym
- I’ve been active in other ways in the past, but after years of working desk jobs, this was the year I finally started going to the gym for the first time. Weight lifting helps all aspects of life. Now, 9 months in, I’ve never been healthier, stronger, or more calm.
- Book: Designing Data-Intensive Applications,
by Martin Kleppmann.
- The downside of this book is that I’m not currently in a position where I can put much of this knowledge to good use. The much more important upside to this book is that many of the topics are fantastic for refining one’s mental model of all systems, and interactions between systems. Definitely worth a read.
- Habit: Use a Screen Time timer for addictive apps
- I actually started doing this years ago, but it continues to be helpful with apps that newly grab my attention and need to be reigned in. It’s far too easy to keep scrolling, and even just knowing a timer is in place can push you to treat your entertainment time differently. This year it was Instagram Reels, which are a dangerous mix of informative and overtly time-wasting dumb funny entertainment.
Entertainment
- Video Game: Baldur’s Gate 3
- I played Baldur’s Gate 2 in the mid-2000s, and there are few experiences for which I’ve been able to maintain fondness so well for so long. BG3 was a very worthy successor
- Book: To Hold Up The Sky,
by Cixin Liu
- I’ve read most things by this author, and would also highly recommend the series started by The Three-Body Problem if you like science fiction, though it wasn’t my main recommendation as I read that prior to 2023.
- TV: The Night Manager
- Hugh Laurie AND Tom Hiddleston? What a treat!
- Book: Dark Archives,
by Megan Rosenbloom.
- A look into “anthropodermic bibliopegy”, also known as books bound in human skin. I wouldn’t recommend this to everyone, but it’s certainly an interesting read for anyone interested in the history of books.
- Podcast: Reply All
- As with all podcasts I’ve listened to, I can only recommend this one be leafed through for episodes that sound interesting to you. I probably listened to about 70% of this podcast, and I’m particularly drawn to the episodes that cover parts of internet history of which I wasn’t aware. That said, my favourite episode was about 30-50 Feral Hogs, which has less to do with the internet and more to do with the fascinating disconnect between what seems reasonable to city-dwellers versus the lived experience of rural people.