I've been loving Mansur Brown's stuff lately
So Much Good Music
I haven't posted a music post in quite a while. I think the root cause is that I've been overwhelmed of late with great music. It makes it hard to share things, because I feel like I haven't given albums or songs the consideration they deserve before sharing. That's probably a weird hangup I have.
Let me try to not let that hold me back.
The Perfume Genius album No Shape has impressed me every time I put it on. The whole thing is great. Give it a listen.
The eponymous track from Colin Stetson's All This I Do for Glory blows me away.
Dave's album Game Over is 💯. You also need to listen to Question Time.
Ok, code's done compiling. Back to it.
Book: Annihilation
To be honest, I still don't know how I feel about Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer. It was a continuously disquieting experience. I'm not sure if I'll read any more of the Southern Reach books, not because it was bad, but because I'm not sure it's my kind of experience.
Book: The Woman Who Smashed Codes
Near the beginning of the month, I finished reading Jason Fagone's book The Woman Who Smashed Codes, a biography of Elizebeth Friedman, a code breaker who formed a huge part of the history of cryptanalysis in America, along with her husband William Friedman.
It was a really enjoyable read, telling the story of two people and the role they played in history, with great prose.
Book: To Say Nothing Of the Dog
A great time travel novel by Connie Willis. Highly recommended, and left me craving witty period pieces.
Clear Ice
My favourite thing to see on the canal.
2018 In Preview
- Keep in touch with everyone
- See more friends in person
- Make Ottawa Friends
- Explore a meetup or social group online
- Guitar Lessons
- Get Driver's license
- Take an interesting vacation or two
- Get in better shape
- Begin offsetting the carbon use of our lives
2017 in Review
Month By Month
January
- Acquired Waffle Maker. A+, would do again.
- Karaoke: I have friends who can sing!
- Was lent a fuzz pedal: Fun! Thanks Michael
February
- FOSDEM in Brussels! Good talks, good beer.
- Visiting my sister in Santa Monica. Suddenly LA makes huge amounts of sense. February beach visits.
- Winter Cabin Visit. From the beach to a frozen lake in five days. Thanks Calvin!
March
- Replace lost wedding ring.
- Buy wedding suit.
- Spend savings on new acoustic guitar.
- See Book of Mormon
April
- Condo Shopping, as Toronto real estate market continues to rocket to infinity.
- Finally replace sunglasses, after a decade of service 😎
- Decide we're moving to Ottawa
May
- First house hunting trip in Ottawa.
- Bachelor Party! Wedding!
- Second House Hunting Trip: Home Purchase!
June
- Balcony Parties
- Georgian Bay Camping Trip (thanks Gloria!)
- Car Purchase!
July
- Giant Duck
- Take possession of the house
- Goodbye Party
- Packing! Moving!
- New office, new colleagues.
- Beer and BBQ in our back yard!
- La Machine
- Interviewing for Mozilla starts
August
- Julia and Keith's Wedding in Edmonton
- New washer and dryer
- Mosiaca
- Air and Space museum with Michael and Jia
- Solar Eclipse!
- Marsh Hike
September
- Katie and Brett's Wedding in Edmonton
- Exploring Gatineau Park
- The trees of Ottawa begin to change.
- Registered for Drivers Ed!
- Ottawa Beach Visit with Gloria
- California Interview w/ Mozilla
- Broken Garage Door
- Roughriders Game at Landsdown Park with Iain and Zoë
October
- Parliament Visit with Iain and Zoë
- Honeymoon in the Azores!
- Dungeon World!
- The Flophouse Live in Toronto!
- Halloween!
November
- New Garage Door
- Surf And Turf Festival at the House of Targ.
- Part of a band stays over!
- Meeting new people in Ottawa
- Last day at IBM
- First day with Mozilla!
December
- First week working from home
- Austin All Hands Meeting
- SNOW! Lots of snow, followed by Cold. Very cold.
Media
- Discovered the joy of Mary Robinette Kowal. I really have enjoyed the Glamourist Histories
- 1286 items added to my music library (with >0 plays) according to iTunes.
Summary
Had a busy year this year! When I look at my 2017 in Preview post, I think I did OK, but much of the actual life events of 2017 couldn't have been predicted when I wrote that post. I'm planning on writing a 2018 in preview post... who knows what I won't see coming!