Through circumstances I’m not going to describe because I’d sound like a crazy person, I discovered that I am immortal. Being unable to escape life has given me a new commitment to living well, and I’ve been pushing every day without hesitation since that happened.

I went fishing.

I bought a house after saving for 6 long years.

It’s a split between two things:

Firstly, I finally got my degree. People in my immediate surroundings got tired of the confirmed bachelor jokes after the first week of me making them.

And secondly, after a year and a half of waiting I got to talk to a gender service doctor back in February. Now I’m well on the way to get the bureaucracy part of my transition out of the way. And I’ll be getting my hormones soon.

That it’s almost over. My spouse had two unexpected surgeries (successful and all seems well so that’s also good), and my work has turned to shit. Here’s hoping for a better 2024!

I got a promotion, from a drafter to a designer. :)

I learnt that altruism and selfless communist efforts for others without anything in return is impossible to keep doing. You cannot neglect or ignore yourself. You must be a little selfish and give a fuck about your existence. Basically, I am the opposite of what the world is, and it is not working, because the world is a steaming pile of shit with too much individualism and capitalism.

I understood in practice never to trust what anyone says, instead only trust and judge people by their actions. The social landscape is fucking evil and its here to devour sane, good men like me without regret or concern. You will be told nobody cares about men and their problems, to which all you need to do is avoid helping them. Save yourself, because ultimately nobody will come for you.

Cut off jackasses that you help, but never help you in bad times. They are life energy sucking parasites with an ego fatter than the fattest pig in town.

Its okay to disconnect from the garbage world we live in. Its okay to disconnect from politics. Its okay to disconnect from internet and social media. Its okay to ignore others’ problems for your own. Prioritise yourself.

The world is not as nice as the “inclusive” propaganda makes it seem like, and people in reality do love to judge and exclude others based on irrational methodology. Morality is not something set in stone, but is a vague guideline, one to be followed and utilised with honesty, not with bigotry.

I survived and managed to find a job that helps me help a few other humans survive.

This was my covid makeup year. I sold the house I bought in 2020 and got one that suited me instead of whatever I could afford (my old apt was intentionally too small to spend time in so I could save for abl house), I had a proper wedding ceremony to make up for the courthouse one in 2020 (which I attended on crutches). We went to some music festivals. Even at work I got to lead a project after the one i was meant to lead in 2020 got canceled by the pandemic.

Everything sucked. 2023 was a calamity for me. I lost my best friend, I had a burnout, I got sick a lot, and it forced me to take 2 full weeks off to take care of myself in early December.

Those 2 weeks for myself are arguably the best things I had this year however. I’ll try to repeat this every year.

Won conference championships in indoor and outdoor collegiate track and field. Ran a half marathon after years of chronic knee problems. Won a piano competition and performed with a full orchestra. Wrote a 48 page honors thesis and presented it. Formed a jazz trio. Graduated college. It’s been a cool 365 days, I’m grateful to not know how to pick the best thing.

I switched from Xubuntu to Arch Linux.

Probably that I met a bunch of other decently-high-level fighting game players that have similar demeanor about the games we all play. Hanging out with them gave me an entire new community to feel at home in, and got me back into content creation. Plus, they collectively made it not feel impossible to go to my local tournaments on occasion, at which I’m at least not the weakest player in the room by a good margin.

Oh yeah, I completely quit drinking as well, after overdoing it one night and teleporting to the bathroom to vomit. I’m not counting days or anything, just kinda neat that I dropped it cold turkey, had plenty of opportunities to drink again, and just haven’t wanted to.

Union almost struck, and we got a nice fat contract.

Unionize people. It’s the only way to fight back and have a living wage.

I started turning away from atheism. I’ve always wanted to believe in God but i was literally unable to.