Instead of a wordy end-of-year review I'm going to try something different this year: a summary by the numbers. This year was a big change for me stepping out of full-time employment in February and splitting my time between freelancing, game development, lifestyle design and searching for my next challenge. I stumbled around for the first half of the year but found my rhythm over the last 6 months. I’m excited to come home from my holiday refreshed and hit the ground running (I’m writing from Yogyakarta, Indonesia right now).
Me
Age: 30
This Newsletter
20 posts
200 subscribers (thank you all!)
Work
4 freelance projects (I'll tell you about them when I can)
Code
Github Commits
1455 (4/day on average, 5.5/work day) across 30 repositories
Most commits in a day: 53
New languages “learned”
Rust
Swift
Shaderlab
WizardChess
752 git commits
2,875 changed files with 442,526 additions and 79,245 deletions
Current codebase LOC: 49946 (C#)
This project has been a tough journey (starting in 2019) but it's finally starting to come together and I'm very proud of what Ricky and I have built. We partnered with Graeme from 2 Left Thumbs a few months ago and I'm thoroughly enjoying the momentum we've built on the game. Stay tuned, we've got plenty coming down the pipeline.
Generative Art
59 commits, 80 changed files with 17,586 additions and 6,598 deletions
Shadertoy: 22 sketches
fxhash: 4 projects, 2 of which sold out
I started the year exploring p5js but eventually I pushed myself much further into glsl and compute shaders (within Unity) this year and finally started to feel like I'm finding my style as a generative artist.
Note Taking
Notes in Subconscious: 104
Notes in Drafts: 48
Notes in Obsidian and Roam: uncountably large
After years of loyal use I moved away from Roam this year and I'm now using Obsidian for daily planning and a blend of Drafts and Subconscious for writing. I plan to move to Subconscious fully when that's a viable option.
Social Media
Youtube (TwoPM)
18 devlogs
177 subscribers
4.7K views
227.1 watch hours
Top video:
Youtube (personal)
17 videos/shorts
62 subscribers
4.7K views (weird coincidence, not a typo)
97.7 watch hours
Top video:
I've only half-heartedly been posting on my personal channel but it's heartwarming that people will actually watch generative art content on a such an clickbait-y platform.
I crossed 2000 followers this year which is… weird. That’s a lot of people who signing up for my musings, I appreciate it!
Most popular tweet:
I still have hope for Twitter, but I am also on Mastodon (with 197 followers) if that's more your cup of tea.
Mood Tracking
4 Great weeks
4 Bad weeks
44 Good weeks
The mood slump at the start of the year is leaving my job and almost having our house flooded shortly after.
The mood slump mid-year is being rejected for a funding grant from Screen Australia after putting in a ton of effort. Who needs money anyway?
Lifestyle
Approximate Routine
Wake: 7:30am
Walk dog: 8am
Coffee: 8:45am
Cardio: 9am
Reading & Notes: 9-10am
Work: 10am
Lunch: 12pm
Nap: 12:30pm
Work: 1pm
Play with dog: 5pm
Relax / Socialise: 5:30pm
Dinner: 7pm
Entertainment: 8pm
Reflect, Plan: 10pm
Sleep: 11pm
Misc.
Dogs acquired: 1
Keyboards built: 1
Typing speed: 126 wpm
Health
Resting heart rate: 57bpm
Walking heart rate: 95bpm
VO2 max: 43.8
Average hours slept: 8hr 10 min
Steps per day: 6932
Resting energy: 6737kj
Active energy: 1806kj
Walking distance: 5.3km / day
Stand minutes: 104 / day
Stand hours: 12 / day
Respiratory rate: 15 / min
Days of 16:8 intermittent fasting: 355
I'm honestly fairly happy with these figures but I'd like to keep pushing VO2 max up. My sleep tracking statistics don't show the full picture either, I hope to be more consistent this year.
Fitness
135 gym workouts (estimated)
60 indoor cycle sessions (estimated)
Skills & Achievements
30s handstand
10 pistol squats
One arm pushup
10s tuck planche
10 muscle ups
+24kg weighted pull-up
All time best is 32kg
3 x 5 ATG 80kg squat
Far cry from my best but we're getting back there
This year was focused on form, mobility and posture correction from living a deskbound life. I'd like to push my strength next year and set some new records, it's been too long.
Media
Music
Top song: Rain by Unprocessed (47 plays)
Top genres: Underground Hip Hop and Metalcore
19182 listening minutes
1021 artists, top picks:
Dance Gavin Dance
BONES
Denzel Curry
Polyphia
Honourable mention:
Top Books:
Articles read: 224 (in Matter archive, I’ve since moved to Reader)
Average phone screen time: ~2-3h a day
Best Games:
Elden Ring
Open Morrowind
Rainworld
Disco Elysium
Deep Rock Galactic
Looking Forward
In 2023 I hope to continue the trends I set in place here. Reaching v1.0 for WizardChess, continuing this newsletter, more videos both on the TwoPM channel and my personal channel. I’d like to share more candid thoughts on art, technology and philosophy in whatever way feels comfortable, not sure what form that will take just yet.
I also hope to refocus on the basics: daily meditation, reading, cardio, deep conversations with friends and walking Ziggy (my dog). I've got an exciting announcement coming up, but I won't spoil that one just yet.
This post was more for me than anyone else (as with all my writing), but hopefully there’s something of interest here!
Until next time,
Ben ✌️