
Inspired by “Fogus’ yearly list of great things and people that I discovered, learned, read, met, etc.” - this is my version of what were the best things I discovered in 2024.
Main Stats
- Daily Steps (Avg.): 9797 (-8% - this is pretty bad: the last time I was under 10000 it was back in 2020, due to COVID)
- Aikido (Hrs.) 347 (+4% - last year I already stated that "staying at +/- 2% would still be great news" and considering how the walking stats went I am more than happy with this).
- Shodo (hrs) 53 (+71%) - the spike is definitely due to my new project, so hopefully we will see even higher stats next year.
Fiction Books
I only completed 8-9 books this year, but three were pretty much fantastic.
China Miéville’s Bas-Lag trilogy is a set of novels blending fantasy, steampunk, and horror, set on the quasi-Victorian world of Bas-Lag. Each book explores different corners of this dark and gritty universe, filled with bizarre creatures, complex politics, and eerie magic. As it often happens I am a latecomer to the game: Perdido Street Station was published more than 20 years ago, and won numerous prizes. I think he fully deserves all the accolades - and it would be interesting as an RPG setting. The official game is still in a sort of limbo, but there are some fan-made adaptations out there.
Technical and Non-Fiction Books/Papers
- N/A (alas)
Miscellaneous Web Articles
- Commentary on Xunzi's Discourse on heaven - good government, ill omens, ritual and human power
- The Evolution of Warfare and Weapons in Japan, 792–1392
- A Parliament of Owls and a Murder of Crows: How Groups of Birds Got Their Names
- J.G. Ballard: My Favorite Books
- Hip to be square – 70 years of the Citroën H Van
- The Design Philosophy of Great Tables
- Personal life is a playground for solving optimization problems
- H.P.Lovecraft – Against the world, against life. (Michel Houllebecq)
- The Soldiers' Philosopher
- The History and Evolution of Playing Cards
Favorite non-book media and entertainment
I go to the movies mostly to entertain my mother, these were the best of the year (but this does not mean that, say, Dune was not good enough... I just did not see it):
Gaming
- I put together a new group of players and started playing RPG again. This actually started at the end of November so -assuming it does not dies out in a January I expect to have more to report next year.
Content (produced by me)
There is not much to report, alas.
Tools
- Blink Indoor
- Apple Watch - This is actually my third Apple Watch, as explained hereLinked Text.
- iPhone having to travel to Japan in October I made a last-minute decision and bought a new iPhone, once again mostly for the new features in the camera. In theory this new version will also support Apple AI enhancements, but for now I did not see anything special on that side.
Services
-Owlbear Rodeol I literally just stared using it for the last RPG session of the year, but it definitely looks a good fit to the way I want to manage my online gaming sessions.
Calligraphy/Art
This year I finally managed to experiment with Body Calligraphy - something that I had in the back of my mind for years, but never became concrete until now. Check this out, but please understand it is NSFW.
I took part in the 52nd International Calligraphy Exhibit in Tokyo.
Feelings - Shodo Seminar in Berlin.
Martial Arts
As you can see from the statistics at the top I trained full time this year. The highlight for me was probably being able to meet Inagaki Sensei in my hometown. I also managed to meet again Kayla Feder sensei's Aikido Seminar in Berlin, trained a few times at Hombu Dojo and tried to keep up with the various seminars with my current dojo.
Food & Dining
- Deliziosa (Catania) - I cannot judge how "authentically" Sicilian their cuisine is, but I can definitely testify that everything was perfect... including the atmosphere.
- Suki Sushi & Fusioni (Turin) - I have definitely much more experience with Japanese cuisine (and yet, being a vegetarian, I cannot really discuss sushi) - for the fusion part, they are definitely excellent
- Speaking of Japanese restaurants... I can definitely recommend Kakekomi Gyoza in Tokyoß.
Shopping
- Bic Camera (Tokyo) - not my first time there, but special mention because I went there specifically to look for a battery for my camera. Not only they had it in stock, but after all the various tax-free and other rebates I paid 50% of Amazon's price in Europe.
Places
- I spent another full week in Tokyo, this is my fifth trip now, but it was definitely special.
Art
2023 was so far my worst year, not much in quality, maybe, but in terms of dedication/productivity. Up until 2022 I managed to post almost daily, while in 2023 I sometimes let weeks to pass without producing anything.
It is of course too early to say, but I seem to have picked up the pace again in November/December. Let's see how it turns out.
Best as in "Most voted"
With around 750 likes at the time of writing this, it is probably my most voted work since forever (the second best, in the last 2 years, has 580 likes)
I suppose this says more about the popularity of the model than about my talent, though.
Best as in "This is what I like more"
Non-nudes always get a fractinon of most if not anything with at least some nudity.
I resent this a bit because in the end I tend to focus on erotic portraits too much).