Things I Liked in 2021

2021 Patch Notes #

“One of the strange things about adulthood is that you are your current self, but you are also all the selves you used to be, the ones you grew out of but can’t ever quite get rid of.”

– John Green, The Anthropocene Reviewed

Notable events & personal changes in 2021.

  • Graduated from University.
  • Got a job at a local startup with cool people working on cool things.
  • Finally checked out D&D for the first time, and as a DM nevertheless.
  • Figured out the base identity of my blog. And really, what I want my public internet presence to be.
  • My appreciation for the humanities grew more than anything else this past year. From philosophy and history to the written word and music.

Learned #

“Confusion is part of programming.”

– Felienne Hermans, The Programmer’s Brain

Few programming languages & general concepts that I learned about that really stuck with me. The next iteration of this list will probably be even longer as I spend even more time programming as a full-time software developer in 2022. School is great for learning, but nothing beats practice.

Concepts

  • Distributed Systems ⇒ fault tolerance, SPMD/MPMD, and most importantly granularity & Amdahl’s law.
  • Database Design ⇒ ACID transactions, on-disk storage, and created a DB Kagi
  • Networking & Security Protocols ⇒ OSI model, hashes, symmetric & asymmetric cryptography, and learned how to smash the stack for fun.

Programming Languages

  • Rust ⇒ fantastic community, best-in-class tooling, but the borrow checker still confuses me at times.
  • Go ⇒ also amazing tooling, focus on simplicity & readability, and convention over configuration (which I kinda like)

Watched #

Watched way more movies this year, and way less anime. Consequently, got a ton of anime to binge through in 2022 (even though next year is looking packed for anime).

Arcane
Fantastic character-driven writing coupled with jaw-dropping animation and soundtrack. Easily my favorite media of the year.

Soul
Pixar never disappoints. But this time they have went above & beyond. Exploration of death and the purpose of life has never been better animated.

Dune
Although I haven’t read the books, Dune’s influence on sci-fi since 1965 oozes through and in the best of ways. Loved it.

Jojo Rabbit
Taika Waititi is an absolute gem. Watch this now … or when you have time, no rush.

The Grand Budapest Hotel
Never have I ever laughed at mere camera shots & angles as much as I have in this movie. The Grand Budapest Hotel could’ve easily been a silent movie, and maintain its humor. The peak of visual comedy.

Played #

Played waaaay less singleplayer games this year. For better or worse, gaming has become a medium for hanging out with friends more than anything else. Regardless, it has been a fun year of gaming for me. Here is to more fun to be had in 2022.

Guilty Gear -Strive-
Nothing more humbling than getting run-over by some crazy combos & getting absolutely outplayed in a 1v1 setting. The hardest soundtrack, characters that marry Anime & Rock in the best of ways, along with gorgeous animation, and a reliable rollback netcode. Oh, and the FGC is undefeated as a community. No other community is as welcoming, and supportive as the FGC. Really, just an all around a great time.

Divinity: Original Sin 2
Took ~90 hours to beat while playing with friends, and I loved every hour of playing as an undead tank necromancer. Fantastic intro into the world of CRPGs.

Narita Boy
Randomly picked this up on Game Pass, and was delightfully impressed by beautiful & colorful pixel art and tight gameplay. Story was intriguing, but dull at parts.

Valorant
Another year of dashing into headshots, and somehow I’ve enjoyed it even more. Tournaments were much more intense & entertaining to watch.

Halo Infinite
Only played the Multiplayer, but as person that never played Halo growing up, I completely understand why the franchise is so beloved. Tight shooting with fun maps (some better than others). Great time with the boys.

Slay the Spire
A simple but addictive rogue-like. No wonder it has inspired so many card rogue-likes. One day I’ll beat that damn tower, but that day will not be in 2021.

Read #

“A good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read.”

– Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!

I read exactly 31 books in 2021.
Me, I read 31 books, in a single year. Wow. Well mostly listened to, but still. For context, from a quick glance at goodreads, I have read 15 books in 2020, and since I have started tracking in 2016, a whopping total of 24 books.

2021 was the year reading truly became one of my main hobbies if not the main one. And hopefully, 2022 will be just as great year for my to-be-read list as 2021 has been, so here’s to many more great reads to come.

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
Reading Pratchett has taught made me stop, notice, and appreciate how beautiful prose can be and what it can do. Laughing at the least consequential of descriptions & hilarious choice of words was the norm while reading this, and any of Pratchett’s writing. That’s not even to mention Pratchett’s unqiue storytelling, engaging exploration of various themes from death to gender, capitalism, and a lot more. My newfound appreciation for the written form through Pratchett’s work was one of the main reasons for me wanting to write more. Pratchett was truly a literary genius, and his writing is what I aspire to emulate and will continue to learn from.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Swordsmen & necromancer stuck in a gothic castle in space, where a locked-room murder mystery occurs, all bolstered by boisterous & charismatic characters. What’s not to love. Muir has a unique voice and her writing bleeds with personality and humor. A fantastic read, I have never been more invested in a series, I cannot wait for more books in The Locked Tomb series.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
I have never stepped a foot in Russia, nevermind Hotel Metropol in Moscow. Yet I have a vivid image of it. Of its bustling main lobby, and its world class restaurant. None of those images are based on photos, but rather Towles obsessive and meticulous description of every nook & cranny of the Hotel Metropol. And that’s just the setting. By the end of the book, Count Alexander Rostov, the main protagonist, felt like a friend I had known for years. His habits, routines, and philosophies. Towles has crafted an enthralling setting filled with characters that felt as more real as any out there.

The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus
A dense read that has left me thinking about it months later. And while I may not have been pursuaded into absurdism, I’m very much so intrigued to delve into more of Camus' work. This has also gotten me interested in exploring more of continental philosophy.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Weir struck lightening with The Martian, and he has done it again with this book. Amazing sci-fi narrative with fantastic storytelling, supported with characters that I truly cared for.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
I don’t think anything describes this book more than, beautiful. Bewitching prose, and such vivid scenery that has truly captured by heart. Just check it out, trust me.

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
I have watched many a Vlogbrothers video, and this was more of John exploring what is seemingly a random, highly specific, and highly personal set of things, before neatly connecting this exploration to the general human experience. And damn, is he good at it.

Scythe by Neal Shusterman
A sci-fi exploration of death, the profound effect of its eventuality on the human experience, and the more profound effect of it no longer being absolute. Even when I wasn’t reading this book, I was thinking about it non-stop. That probably will remain the case for more time yet.

Blue Period by Tsubasa Yamaguchi
A manga about art, talent, hardwork, and the beauty in pursuing what you love. There are a handful number of manga that have truly inspired me, and few did it in as gorgeous panels as Blue Period did.

Listened to #

In 2021, I have listened to and enjoyed more genres than I knew existed in previous years. It’s weird looking at my playlists from 2020 & before, and seeing how picky I was. So going into 2022, I know I will enjoy way more music than my past, extremely picky taste, would have allowed me to enjoy.

Nurture - Porter Robinson
A beautiful & nostalgic electro-pop record, that both lifts me up & hits me right in the heart in the perfect balance. I love video games, anime, and EDM, and this record is a celebration of it all, with Porter Robinson’s own personal & heart-felt storytelling.

Sometimes I Be Introvert - Little Simz
Beautiful production, and delivery that showcases Little Simz’s talent & range. Simply listen to Introvert, the opening track, and thank me later.

Use Me - PVRIS
Ever since discovering PVRIS some month ago, I have had this entire album on repeat non-stop. Filled with earworms and tight synthwave production, this whole album continue to impress the more I listen to.

Navy’s Reprise - Blue Navy
Quality production, vulnerable lyrics and unique delivery on laid-back beats. Blue Navy has quickly rose up to being on of my favorite underground rappers.

Roadrunner: New Light, New Machine - Brockhampton
The boys are back, and they got features this time. While it might not top the Saturation trilogy, Brockhampton still continues to deliver.

Unseen World - Band-Maid
Catchy & addictive J-Rock that I continue to playback constantly and never tire off.