2020 in Reflection

Pretty much every year for the past decade, I’ve gotten to year’s end disappointed that I did not write as much as I could or should have. And consequently, I’ve (sometimes) whipped up a voluminous year-end reflection — part art critic roleplay, part philosopher roleplay, mostly skirting of the ultra-personal — as a paltry compensation, complete with year-to-be resolutions including, irresolutely, to write more.

Everything changed in 2020, and nothing changed in 2020. What could have been a gift for the recluse reader and writer — nine months quarantined at home — was spent instead on my most severe bout of workaholism yet, the regular clocking-in of 60-hour work weeks. I’ll have more to say about what those hours hopefully amounted to; if only they were enough.

What follows are vignettes of various flavors: creative works that sustained me; hacks that empowered me; ideas that challenged me, and that I challenged. I hope you find something useful amidst. I’m writing in Medium now, departing from my personal blog, and (again, irresolutely) hope to write here more consistently in 2021, perhaps a journal-like entry each weekend full of bite-size reflections of a similar sort.

Music

One of my favorite things about living in San Francisco was the ability to see half a dozen intimate concerts a year in different small music venues by…