Joseph Hallenbeck
December 31, 2022

2022 In Review

Filed under: Journal part of Annual Reviews

Cultural Review 2022

I no longer write separate reviews of books and films for each year, instead see the Currently Reading 2022 note in the Digital Garden for a list of what I read and watched in 2022 which included 19 books, 49 films, 5 single-player video games, and 4 shows.

I watched so many movies last year that I became sick of the entire medium and struggled to find movies that piqued my interest. That said my list of films worth obtaining physical copies has grown to over 50 films and I hope in 2023 to focus on sourcing and re-watching them instead of seeking new film experiences.

Narrative

Hotwell Dunes

This is the third year of the Covid-19 pandemic and the first full year in which we had a vaccine available. That said, the disease continued to spread and develop new variants. Our protocols have relaxed somewhat: we go shopping in stores when needed, visit friends and family, see doctors, have contractors into the cabin, travel and stay in hotels. We still haven’t returned to conferences or gone into the office. We chanced dinning in a handful of times. We still mask everywhere with quality N95s and have kept up on each booster when it became available despite the fevers they induce. Nevertheless, mask mandates were lifted and accurate case tracking went out the door and the population resumed “normalcy.”

The year started with celebrating at Hot Well Dunes outside of Safford with Clint, who would soon depart for a new ranger gig in northern California. Once again, our friends would be scattered and my social life confined largely to online chatter. The winter would prove to be warm and dry, but the monsoon would hit early and hard. Jess’s courses would be in-person this year, and so we picked up a small townhouse in Las Cruces, NM. I would divide my time over the rest of the year between New Mexico and the cabin.

Televera Tiled Bathroom Sink

The bathroom asbestos abatement began in earnest in February. A crew removed all materials except for the fixtures. I would be without a shower for nine months. Electric and plumbing would get done later that spring. The project would result in replumbing the entire cabin and replacing a third of the electrical circuits. Drywalling and tiling wouldn’t begin until August. Televera tiles and sink from Juarez were used to decorate the shower and counter tops. Slowly the cabin is moving from an “Alpine” vibe to “Southwest.”

A Master Gardener workshop in Duncan inspired reinvestment into the idea of building a robust garden at the cabin. I began experimenting with a winter container garden of potatoes and later expanding into the yard with a sixteen by four foot raised bed protected by a seven-foot tall deer fence. The containers also spread to the front porch where I constructed “the lounge,” a sitting space lit by strings of light and covered in plant containers growing potatoes, beets, and strawberries.

The Patio Lounge

In February, Russia began a bloody and pointless invasion of Ukraine breaking decades of peace in Europe. Although their initial advances were halted, the conflict would continue through the year draining resources from Russia and causing energy shortages globally.

Meanwhile work kept at a pace that slowly wound down with each passing quarter. I felt dreadfully burnt out and tired of the entire PHP environment. The only respite came from opportunities and to train and mentor new developers bringing them in, and up to speed on payment projects that I had developed over the previous two years.

Come may we left on our first trip of the year: to Wisconsin to visit family for two weeks. This would be my first trip to visit family since the pandemic began. We were able to get out to Apostle Isles on the first boat tour of the season when the islands where still encrusted with winter ice and riddled with snow caves.

Returning to New Mexico, Jess went to an archaeological field school outside Albuquerque until late July. I tended to the garden and prepared for our second trip of the year to New York. Originally planned as a trip to HOPE and to drop in on east-coast hackers, I eventually got cold feet and we instead rented a cabin in the finger lakes area of New York, visited relatives for three weeks and then returned home stopping only in Eureka Springs, AR to stay in a haunted hotel.

Chanterelle Foraging on Mt Baldy

The monsoon was in full swing upon our return and that meant mushroom season. Heading up to Mt. Baldy in between the rains revealed a treasure trove of exotic mushroom varieties but most importantly chanterelles of which I basketed some twenty pounds over a two week period.

Throughout the year I struggled with making zazen a habit. My sutra reading and participation with online zen communities that began had flourished in 2020 began to fade. At the same time, my hiking dropped off and I put on weight. Depressive episodes came and went but I chiefly began to feel expressly tired all of the time and I developed a feeling of discomfort. A sleep stud in the fall would show I had sleep apnoea, and probably have had for some time.

The final trip of the year was to the Washington Coast to house and dog sit for three weeks. This would be my first plane flight in four years. The coast was foggy and hikes were often shrouded in darkness with only the footpath to accompany me. I explored all around Williapa bay eating seafood, hiking trails, and buying up souvenirs. Realized that after twenty years of visiting the PNW, I don’t actually care for it and will probably not return for some time.

Coast Guard at the mouth of the Columbia

Upon returning, I felt restless to find a project to work on. I had written, but not published many notes in the digital garden. I began typesetting my Ireland travel adventures in an early effort for writing a novel. Upon reflection I realized that I missed the long-form journaling that I once had as a nightly habit. Resuming the routine was delightful.

Folks visited for Thanksgiving but it was another virtual Christmas from the cabin rounding off the year with a feast of homemade kraut, uska and borscht.

January 14, 2022

New in the Garden
January 2022

Filed under: Journal

Continued work in the Digital Garden, but I keep forgetting to push my changes out the wide world. So here’s a dump of new articles over the last six months added to the garden and now pushed to the public.

The Internet Zeitgeist
Added several notes covering different areas I’ve notice influencing the internet zeitgeist
Permacomputing
One item in the zeitgeist: permacomputing, the exploration of computing in a post-collapse society and the design of computers for long-term survival.
Solar Punk
The alternative literary body to cyberpunk
Digital Nomadism
Added a note examining the practice of digital nomadism and outlining my reading on the topic.
Alpine.js
Added research note on the Alpine.js front-end framework.
Svelte
Notes on the Svelte front-end framework.
PHP8
Notes on changes in PHP 8
Productivity Advice
Notes regarding productivity
Georgism
Added my research notes regarding Georgism
OSR Daurlands
Started outlining my old D&D campaign setting
Bigos Stew Recipe
Recipe for Bigos Stew
Bouneschlupp Recipe
Recipe for Bouneschlupp
Proziaki Soda Bread
Recipe for Proziaki Soda Bread
Kraut Cakes Recipe
Recipe for Kraut Cakes
Winter Garden
My latest project to grow tubers over the winter indoors

Updated the list of Best Films

May 29, 2021

New in the Garden
May 2021

Filed under: Journal

Continued work in the Digital Garden during the last two quarters, although, I fell far behind on pushing updates to the public repository.

Styling and References
Worked on improving the template styling for links, code samples, and inline references.
Cookbook
Added new recipes for Shredded Chicken Poblano Soup and a section for recipes that I want to try.
Japanese Resources
Added a note covering resources for learning Japanaese including tools that I’ve been using, links to other sites covering learning techniques, textbooks, and podcasts.
CSS
Begining to dive through the vast resource that is the MDN to try to “catch up” on developments in front-end web. My career has gradually drifted more back-end centric and there’s been new developments in terms of the flex and grid layout systems.
Javascript
Along with CSS in my MDN dive, I’m diving through changes to Javascript. Including that we are no longer constrained to var and can now use let and const. Additional notes on how Promise, async, await work. Researching the fetch API. Working on getting both side and work projects away from jQuery and into vanilla javascript before moving into the newer frameworks.
Javascript Front-End Frameworks
Breakdown of the major frameworks out there and their architectural ideaologies.
Unit Testing
Extensive updates to my notes on Unit Testing to cover the different shapes and kinds of unit tests that can be applied to a problem.
Code Reviews
Researching into the question of what are good and bad code reviews.
Vim Grimoire
Added notes in the grimoirie for marks and registers.
Brag Sheet
Breaking down an idea proposed by Julia Evans for creating a formal document of your accomplishments throughout the work year.
Small Web
A summarization of the ideas behind the proponents of the “small web” initiative.
Debug Nvidia POP OS
Because my Nvidia card doesn’t work with newer kernals and POP OS keeps trying to update me and kill my gaming fun time.
The Heart Sutra
One of my annual goals this year is to familiarize myself with the major sutras referenced in Zen Bhuddism. The first up is a dive through various dharma books and readings on The Heart Sutra.
Travel Flightlists
Added checklists for backpacking, weekend travel, and world travel.
Currently Reading
Still keeping my currently reading list up-to-date with books, films, games, and the endless deluge of online articles.