2023 In Review

2023 was a year. This has been by far the most emotionally exhausting year I’ve had to date. With that being said, I don’t think recounting that online would be all that productive. So this year I’m going to focus on my favorite things from 2023 and my goals going forward.

Goals from last year

The last two years (2021, 2022) I’ve set goals for myself going forward.

Goals for 2023

• ❌ Climb a v8 - This one is a bummer. Over the last year, I made a ton of progress towards a v8. Far more consistent v7’s, and a long stint of training. But, come September I somewhat seriously injured the A2 pully in hand. This set me on a long rehab path that as of Dec 28th will be done! During rehab, I got into sport climbing, which has been one of the high points of the year.
• ❌ Release a game on Steam - More game dev than ever before, but non even close to done. Just a ton of prototyping. Perhaps I will post some of the unfinished projects here.
• ✅ Drop Google Photos + Google Drive - This one was easy. Shoutouts to Backblaze, made it super easy to drop both. With that, I am completely de-googled. Mail + Calendar are with ProtonMail, and Photos and Files with Backblaze.
• ❌ Write AND publish six blog posts - I did technically write six posts but wasn’t happy with them. If this post ends up going out this year I’ll be at four. That being said I did drastically increase my writing this year. Hopefully, in 2024 I can convince myself to post more of it.
• ✅ Stretch more - Anything is better than zero right? Jokes aside I did stretch more and attend a handful of yoga classes. I hope to increase this and do much more of it in the new year.

Not super thrilled with this year, but given the year I suppose I can’t be too mad 🤷‍♂️.

I’ll now list some of my favorite things of the year.

📚 Books

I read a lot of books this year. I caught up with the Cosmere completely, which gave me ample time to explore a bit. Some standouts in no particular order

• Blacktonge Theif - This book stands apart from the others. The witty prose, and charm woven within the dramatic narrative are exceptional. The world-building leaves me itching for more, so much is held close to the chest that it allows the imagination to run wild.
• Kings of the Wyld - A heartfelt tale of what it means to be friends. Despite the comical, tropey setting, it delivers a heartwarming and action-packed novel. See more thoughts here
• Sunlit Man - A love letter to Cosmere fans. A book written by Sanderson to reward those people who invested the time to read it all. Fan service in the best way, a story you could appreciate on its own, but will have a much deeper meaning if it’s the last Cosmere book you read.

🎮 Games

2023 was a standout year for games. A ton of incredible games were released this year, and so many were right up my alley. These are my favorites (in order this time).

1. Baldur’s Gate 3 - The BEST game I’ve ever played hands down. The attention to detail, writing, customization, and freedom this game gives you are unparalleled.
2. Lies of P - Honestly if you had told me a non-Fromsoft souls like would be this good before playing this I would have laughed. Superb combat, blending the best elements of Bloodborne and Sekiro. Amazing boss battles, and a story that doesn’t require endless item reading and YouTube videos to follow.
3. Darkest Dungeon 2 - A great sequel to the oringnal. Keep me coming back for more, and more.
4. Warhammer 40k Boltgun - An amazing, low stakes boomer-shooter. Love the small bits of love it shows to the franchise while keeping the game light and fast-paced.

✨ Misc

A collection of technology, videos, or other random things I found I loved throughout the year.

• Kagi - A paid, privacy first search engine. I know…why would you pay for a search? Google is free! However, the quality of the results is drastically improved compared to Google. By far the most impactful thing I purchased last year.
• Lies of P OST - This OST has some incredible music, both moving and intense. Listened to it A LOT last year.
• Marine Layer backpack - I’m not going to claim it the best backpack in the world, and it’s sold by a clothing company. But the design is simple and just makes sense. I’ve been beyond happy. It went with me everywhere the last 8 months of the year and has shown no sign of wear.

🏆 Goals for 2024

• Climb a v8 - Now that my tendon is back to normal I’m very confident I can get a v8 this year.
• Climb a 5.12c - Since I’ve gotten into sport climbing I’ve tacked on a 5.12c to this as well. Which I’d like to do clean.
• Publish more of my writing - This is something I struggled with last year, I wrote a lot of things that I just didn’t post. This upcoming year I would like to get more stuff posted.
• Finish creating A game - So many prototypes, jam games, etc. This year I want a game that I can call DONE. Doesn’t need to make it to Steam, Itch would be fine. But I want to push through the boring parts and have a game that I can call complete.
• Travel more -