I didn't write into this phlog since the summer, and now found it in a

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"I ATEN'T DED"
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I didn't write into this phlog since the summer, and now found it in a
list of dead gophers [0]_. Occasionally I thought of writing something
or other, but kept postponing it; perhaps it's the time to write down
at least some personal news.

In the autumn I worked on rexmpp (an XMPP library) a bit more, made an
Emacs interface, started using it as my primary XMPP client.

In the winter I decided to look into some popular technologies I
didn't quite like, for a couple of reasons: from time to time I try to
do that in order to shake things up, to avoid getting stuck with the
technologies and views I'm comfortable with, to take another look at
the ones I don't use. Another reason is that I was vaguely thinking of
the career advancements once again, and popular technologies are
certainly useful for that. Among other things--and as a hobby--I've
briefly poked OpenStreetMap, looked into finally attempting to write
public transport routing with/for it -- something I've always missed
there. Then the war (aka "special operation") happened/intensified,
and apparently many programmers have hurried to migrate out of here,
but I did rather the opposite and have put that on halt yet again:
it's particularly inconvenient now, I don't expect it to be easy to
find a nice job (with sensible tasks/goals, technologies, etc), so not
that excited about it (would have to compromise on some of the
preferences), and I hoped that things will calm down. They didn't yet
though, and the future looks even more uncertain than it usually does.

In the spring I've acquired a MIDI keyboard and started learning to
play it (well, played a little bit two decades ago, but forgot all
that): various beginner-friendly compositions, and currently
learning/practicing Mozart's Turkish March. Had some misadventures
with a sustain pedal (apparently it came broken, but replacing it
would have been more trouble than it's worth, so I've fixed it, but in
a rather junky way; and it's rather inconvenient to use while
standing, as I do while playing), so currently avoiding compositions
that rely on it. Along with it I started learning music theory,
analysis, and composition, tried out and started using the software
(LMMS, MuseScore 2, and a few others). Also been spending too much
time reading the news, hoping that things will come at least into the
vicinity of normal, but they only keep worsening. Oh, I've hoarded
various Kiwix dumps (Wikipedia, Wikibooks, Wiktionary, WikiHow, etc),
OSM dump, and so on -- since more and more websites are blocked here,
and it's better to be somewhat prepared for a complete isolation and
descent into some version of Dark Ages. Though I've read that safes
and bullets were in high demand, which may be a more practical
preparation, but data hoarding is closer to my usual activities --
I've actually had Wikipedia dumps saved before as well. The whole
"prepping" business suddenly looks quite sensible. Thought I'd try
mapping for OpenStreetMap this spring, but somehow my spring/summer
plans are always ruined: in this case I'm not sure about continued
availability of OSM here (the government had partially blocked it
before: unintentionally, but for months), and not in the mood to walk
around anyway.

Now I keep thinking of maybe trying to make some graphical game(s):
can finally both draw (or make 3D models, though probably will go
after 2D--possibly isometric--graphics if I'll finally try gamedev)
and compose music, at least at a very basic level.

I also tried cooking new dishes: a pizza recently (which went rather
well, except for it sticking to the assembly surface -- probably
should have sprinkled the surface with some coarse flour as commonly
suggested, will try to acquire it next time), and just variations or
slight technique adjustments on regular/simpler dishes. Probably tried
a few more new ones since the summer, but can't remember which
(possibly guacamole), and didn't write them down here before anyway,
so there's not much difference between old and new in context of this
phlog. I do write down some sort of a menu (the dishes I can/do cook,
to choose from, grouped by difficulty; convenient to pick what to make
when you have a list) on my personal web page.

All in all, it's the usual: some things are going on, though not clear
where this all is headed to. But this phlog is not abandoned yet.

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. [0] gopher://aussies.space/0/%7efreet/phlog/2022-04-14Dead_Gophers.txt

:Date: 2022-05-15