It is 2025 and I am Blogging
As the title announces, it is now the year 2025-and-a-few-days, and I guess I should blog something.
ADVENT OF CODE 2024
As is tradition for the past few years, I participated in the annual logic challenge known as Advent of Code. I first started doing this in 2021, and I have been self-flagellating each December since then. I say that because AOC kicks my butt each time, illuminating my weaknesses as a programmer (largely around algorithms and optimization), and re-evaluating my self-worth as a functioning, thinking being…at least until it’s over.
[2024] 20*
[2023] 22*
[2022] 21*
[2021] 23*
Compared to past years, I’d say that my performance was about on par, if not a little lacking. I give myself until the holiday season is over to say “OK, this year is done”, and that’s my score. I have gone back to 2020, 2019, 2017, 2016, and 2015 and done some of them, but not any of the years I actively participated in yet. Occasionally I’ll get the itch to solve some and I’ll go back and tackle old problems, but for now I think I’m done.
Advent of Code is mainly fun because it challenges my brain, engages my friends and I, and becomes fodder for the Hacking the Grepson podcast which is still going!
CAFFEINATION
For years now, I’ve been using the ol’ “fill up a carafe and drink it all up over the course of a day” method of coffee ingestion. I received a Nespresso machine for Christmas this year, however, and so I’ve gone back to Keurig-like “put a pod in, slam it down, and drink one cup at a time” style. I’m not yet sure how I like this method, but it’s been fun to experiment.
MUSICKING
Do I still make music? Yes. Have I made anything in the last 3 months? Yes.
I finished this set of Joe Satriani covers long before my birthday, when I received an Ibanez JS140M Joe Satriani Signature Electric Guitar in Soda Blue, so unfortunately there were notes I could not reach (22, 23, or 24) at the time, but I wanted to attempt to cover the man who really got me into instrumental rock guitar and shaped my playing/listening habits when I was first learning the guitbox back in my teenage years. Now that I do have a guitar capable of hitting those really high D, D# and E notes, I may do more covers in the future, and do them better.
The efforts made in Satch20 pale in comparison to the originals, but they are my efforts, and if nothing else these tracks are a record of my abilities at a certain point in time, and that’s important to remember.
GAMEY GAME GAMES
My phone plays essentially 100% Balatro. I’ve played enough to recognize if I’m going to win a round or not, but still nowhere becoming a pro.
My desktop game of choice is Factorio, which has not grabbed me as solidly as it has for some, but it’s still really fun.
Another amazing holiday gift was a Steam Deck. My Nintendo Switch audibly groaned when it noticed the thing being connected to the official Steam Deck Docking Station nearby, knowing its usefulness has been severely impacted as the resident mobile game station device. Due to its inclusion in my arsenal, I’ve been trying out various Steam games in my backlog, like Roadwarden, Taiji, and UFO 50. There are so many games I now have even easier access to that it is super overwhelming. Good problem, though!
Many hours with my wife playing The Planet Crafter, Luma Island, and even Minecraft (again!) on our twin gaming PCs fills me with happiness, as well.
FOR THE ROAD
It continues to be a struggle to keep myself blogging with any consistency. I forsee this malady continuing into the future. However, I will never quit blogging as long as I am able, because it’s too much fun to look back on them and get my nostalgia on every now and then.