Another year done and dusted, and I'm not sure what to think of this one. On the work front, it was pretty good, as I got more used to how things work at my job and wrote a few reports and blogs that I'm fairly proud of. On the personal side, it's been a process of returning to normalcy as I got more confident with doing things outside the house and coping with the risks of the pandemic.
There are still things I'm not interested in doing, like going to the gym (although the minute I think it's not a high-risk activity I want to jump straight onto a treadmill), and there are things that I can see my way to doing but haven't yet, like going to the movies. That said, all my avenues to watch movies on streaming are fulfilling my needs so far, so maybe what I need is to buy a bigger TV.
As far as eating at restaurants, I've actually done that to varying degrees this year, reasoning that a particularly good meal or good company is worth the risk of getting Covid. Though I'm quite proud of not having gotten it, and it'd be great to go through this whole pandemic having avoided it - but we'll see.
In terms of my goals and interests and pursuits, it's felt like a mixed bag. I finished my first novel in quite a few years, but then stalled pretty hard on the revisions for it and haven't really written much new stuff since then. One reason for this lack of productivity was games, both video and tabletop, which pulled my focus away from working; another was the telecoms-related blogs I was writing elsewhere, which broke my rhythm when working on other stuff. I'm quite proud of some of those blogs, but think I'll be taking a break from them for the time being (unless I get a nice idea to pursue).
Dating was a bit of a mixed bag, but the important thing is that I got back onto the apps and met a couple of ladies. The important point for me this year will be getting out to more social stuff: not even to meet women but to learn new skills and get into more social situations. I keep putting off my "Practice Spanish" meetup, but that was always okay to check out, and it was useful for sharpening up my Spanish, so maybe this year I'll go back.
Fitness was hampered by not going to the gym, as it limited the types of workouts I could do. Even the ones I could do, like running on the street, were a bit limited by the weather: I don't like to go running if it's rainy and dark, or if it's too hot.
One area where I thought I made some good strides this year was in traveling. Apart from the three drives down to my mom's house in Southern California, I also got in a ski trip with my dad and my first flight to Italy since the start of the pandemic. Both were good for calibrating my sense of what's okay to do outside the house, and the Italy trip reawakened my desire to travel the world. I'd like to get to Australia this year, for example, so hopefully I'll be able to swing that.
In terms of media consumed, very little stands out. Among TV shows, the only standouts were Andor on Disney+ and We Own This City on HBO Max, though watching season 1 of Fargo on DVD (from Netflix) was also quite fun - it's just not a new thing from this year. I also really liked Star Trek Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds, both of which did good new things with Trek that have been missing from Discovery and Picard (which I felt fumbled its second season, if not as badly as Disco).
There was also Sandman, of course, which I talked about here. The main thing that came out of that was that I bought the collected editions and reread the comics. It's funny how I appreciate the stories and themes a little better, or at least differently, now that I've lived a bit compared to when I first discovered them at 13 or 14 years old.
As far as movies, even less stands out. The one film that does is Everything Everywhere All at Once, which hit a lot of my sweet spots of topics and themes that interest me. Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan were particularly great, especially given the different types of characters they had to play. Much of the rest of what I saw was Marvel or DC tie-ins, and those mostly kept to the average level of quality, with none over a B+ or below a C-. Dishonorable mention went to Black Adam, which wasted a number of ideas about American power and authoritarianism, as well as characters like Dr. Fate and Hawkman and the Justice Society in general.
For podcasts, I liked My Year in Mensa and All-Star Super-Fan, though the latter I technically discovered in 2021. Still, I love that they get some great writers to talk about Superman, and it soundtracked some good drives this year.
I also want to reiterate my appreciation for the History of Rome podcast, which finally demystified Roman history, especially in the Imperial phase. My new party trick is listing all (or at least most) of the emperors from Augustus to Theodosius... though maybe I need to go to better parties?
What about the coming year?
I don't know yet what'll characterize 2023 for me, but I want to spend more time cooking more elaborate dinners than just a chicken breast in the oven with a side of salad. I already said that I hope to travel more this year, and one thing I'd like to do more of is work remotely in fun, new places. I want to spend more time reading new books, but I'm also aiming to reread my collection of Paul Theroux travel books. I also hope to spend more time encountering exciting new music, especially since I now have a few months of free access to Apple Music because I bought a pair of Beats earbuds.
More than anything, though, I plan for 2023 to be the year of getting back in shape, getting out of the house, and fixing up medical complaints that have bothered me for a while. The cooking is in aid of that, but I feel I made some progress in 2022 so I want to keep up that momentum this coming year. I'm hoping to come out of 2023 feeling excited and invigorated, but of course, that feeling will come from me, not from external signifiers of success. But those external signifiers never hurt either!
No comments:
Post a Comment