2021 is in the books. Enough said here.
The family is doing fine, but understandably bored. We are fully vaxxed to the extent possible but maintaining caution under the current Omicron wave. Holding pattern continues unabated.
Normally I would have spent the dead week between Christmas and New Year’s doing something computer-y outside of my day-to-day work, but this year I was just too tired to hack. So instead I started working my way through a jazz theory book and analyzed a few tunes from a real book. Last year, I discovered JJazzLab, which has been a fun tool for practicing improvisation on Linux. I play OK diatonically, but I still need a lot of work on playing outside and in melodic minor modes. It might be interesting to work up a half dozen tunes in 2022, recording them on both piano and guitar to track progress. We shall see if I can find time for that.
Last year, I wanted to improve on my crossword solving times. I completed every 2021 NYT puzzle, improving my average times by 15-20% — except on Fridays, where the average went up by a minute. Max streak was 95 days, lowest time was 4:30 (11-08-2021).
Snow blankets the ground right now, prompting wistful thoughts of this year’s garden. I’ll order some seeds in the next few weeks. For now, I have a couple of overwintering habaneros wanting only longer, warmer days.
Just like the rest of us.
