Tomorrow I’ll be recording an episode of OHAC, where Mikhail, Jack, and I will be discussing yearly themes. That will serve as a nice recap of the year and a starting point for 2021.
To wrap things up on this blog though, I figured I’d go back through my posts from 2020 and select one or two favorites from each quarter, and maybe write a little bit about how I view those posts now. I don’t often revisit my expository writing, so I think it’ll be a good exercise.
January – March
My choice here is not based on writing or even quality of information. It’s two posts that clearly mark a transition in my life.
On March 2nd, I wrote about Caffeine, a lovely little extension that keeps my screen awake indefinitely. (In fact, I discovered the same extension written for macOS and it works just as beautifully.) It was a quaint post where I was letting myself describe a small tool that provided a little extra comfort in my computing life.
On March 13 cameOn Fire, which is precisely what you would imagine. I learned over the weekend of March 6-8 that I would be in charge of getting our company trained in Zoom teaching, and that led to a hectic week. It wasn’t until Friday that I remembered to write something for my blog to keep my streak alive.
My series of three Space Force posts is probably my favorite during these months, but looking back they are less important.
April – June
This was a time of transition this year. I took a new position within my company, had various spurts of creative energy towards a wide variety of projects, and a few larger events occurred to cement the legacy of 2020 as a wild, awful year for the average person. I’ve picked two posts for these months: one that highlights the creative surge I felt, and one that pays attention to the wider world.
On April 27, I posted about my game The Last Question, which I enjoy both because of the nice PDFs I was able to make in InDesign (before my license was removed when I changed positions at work), and because it gets me into a more open world, something I’ve always been keen to explore in games. I’m not great at narrative-driven games yet, but I love the conceit of the game and it’s what of my favorite creations during quarantine.
Only a month later, when I had returned to Minnesota for the summer, the protests and riots in Minneapolis following the killing of George Floyd happened. I had brief thoughts on it right away, and still never managed to put into writing how it affected me, particularly once I made it to Minneapolis and saw the aftermath. What’s particularly frustrating, looking back on the year, is I’m not sure how much changed as a result.
July – September
This was probably the least stressful time of the year. I had settled into a routine with my family, I could enjoy the beautiful Minnesota summer each day with a long walk, then had a fantastic drive back to California with my (then) girlfriend.
Nothing can better summarize the lack of good posts during this time period than my xkcd rip-off on September 7. While I did write a new text adventure (which has some legs), and watched Avatar: The Last Airbender, there just wasn’t much inspiration. Reading back, I was going through the motions most weeks, writing a short post on a Sunday after racking my brain for ideas.
October – December
The answer here is simple: My four-part series on writing text adventures. I rewrote those posts many times, reorganizing the thoughts, and trying to drill down into why I enjoy the process of creating them so much. While there may not be much there for others, it was informative for me.
I’ll give a shout-out to my two short stories I write in place of NaNoWriMo this year as well. Those were fun.
Toward 2021
I have a few bigger projects in mind for 2021. An in-depth movie review for a friend is the most likely post to start the new year. I’m keen on having a vague schedule of research- or labor-intensive projects every month or so, with the lighter material and one-offs filling in the gaps. Many people have been building up their excitement for 2021, and I am certainly lucky to have many events to look forward to.