A successful return to the regular writing schedule of this blog! Last year I dropped a day, but before then I was doing pretty well.

At least I kept my promise.

Previously

I ended last years post with a few goals. I didn't actually look back at them at all, so let's see how I got on:

• Did I get fit?
  Nope. I'm actually the heaviest I've been for a while. Yuck.
• Did I eat better?
  Nope. Not even close.
• Did I learn to cook?
  Nope. Probably a contributing factor to the previous two.
• Did I write to Alida?
  Nope. I didn't even manage an email.
• Did I make something that resembles art?
  Nope. Nothing at all.
• Did I program for fun again?
  Yes, yes I did actually! I wrote a new Ruby gem, if you're in to that sort of thing.

One out of six. I really should've tried a bit harder on those.

What about "I’d like to get the boiler fixed and maybe redecorate the kitchen", how'd that turn out?

Well…

Moving

I did actually get the boiler fixed! Shortly after re-entering the world of hot-water-comes-from-taps-and-not-kettles I finally succumbed to the ever growing feeling that I was probably not in the right place anymore.

In February of this year I accepted an offer on the flat. An offer that my brother secured in just three days (which isn't too weird, as he's an Estate Agent now, and a damn good one too). Then things started to drag for a bit, but on the 20th of April we exchanged and set a completion date. On the 6th of May the sale was complete. The day before that, I moved to London.

Everything felt planned and sensible. Until I set the exchange date, and then it felt mad and impossible. I went from nowhere to live, to signing on the dotted line of a shared tenancy agreement in 14 days.

Now I live in Holloway, in a five bedroom house with three other people (and three more on the way). I am 25 minutes away from work by bike. Last night I went to a gig at Union Chapel, it took me 12 minutes to get there by bus.

I am no longer on the property ladder but I am debt free. That seems to feel pretty good.

Work

Shock is dead(ish, I still have a few clients to hand over).
Long live Shock.

After contracting at Friday for a few months I took a full-time position there. I'm a Mid-weight Full-stack Engineer. I write code every day, I get to work on interesting problems, with excellent people and I have learnt a heap of new things in a short amount of time. It's the best job I have ever had and I am looking forward to doing even more in the coming years.

Play

I visited Barcelona, and I think it may have become my favourite city. I attended QED again, as well as Bath Ruby Conference and Playful. I have played far too much Dota 2, and it doesn't look like that's going to stop anytime soon. I've seen a lot of live music and a few theatre productions, and am looking forward to seeing even more now I'm in London. I completed a 90 mile bike ride. I started teaching a few people how to code. I got to try out an Oculus Rift.

Things

Another documented year of media consumption now exists. Here are the latest entries:

• Book: Snow Crash
• Comic: Lighter Than My Shadow
• Game: Dota 2
• Film: Good Kill
• TV: Game of Thrones S04
• Music: Die Antwoord
• Gig: Kate Miller-Heidke
• Podcast: Reply All

Finally

The people I know have continued to astound me with their wit, charm, knowledge, kindness and beautiful faces. Thank you for being around.

I've spent some of this year feeling weird and floaty, occasionally lonely, and frequently stupid. Sometimes things feel futile. Someone told me that I should stop judging myself so harshly. I'm going to give that a go.

I am not going to set myself up for failure like I did last year, but maybe I'll hit a few of those goals.

I guess this post marks the start of something bigger than all the others that came before it. It could even be the start of some sort of adventure.

Onwards.