Adieu 2022 / Welcome 2023

The year 2022 is over, and a new year has begun. In this issue of my newsletter, I share some highlights of the past year, as well as some goals that I have set for the coming year.

As always, if you would like to read previous issues, you can do so at https://pranshugaba.com/newsletter

My highlights of 2022

Travel in 2022

I travelled to a fair share of new places in 2022.

Kolkata

I went to a friends’ wedding in Kolkata in April. It was my first visit to the city, and I loved the sights and the foods there. I walked across the Hooghly river along the Howrah bridge, bought novels from College street, and ate some roadside phuchka.

Israel

I attended the FLoC conference in Haifa, Israel in August. This was my first time in a new country on my own and it was an amazing experience.

Haifa is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to. The city sits on a hill, which means that walking in the city is akin to trekking. Haifa also abuts the beautiful Mediterranean sea and it was a delight to swim in those cool blue waters. While I missed some of the Indian spices in the food there, I loved the bread, the hummus, and the falafels.

Chennai

I attended the FSTTCS conference in IIT Madras in December. The campus of IIT Madras (along with Guindy national park) is a literally a forest in the middle of the city and is teeming with deer and monkeys. I had never seen so many deer up close before.

Chennai is great city to go for a walk in. I went for a heritage walk on Kutchery road in Mylapore where I learnt about the rich history of the various shops and establishments in that locality.

Books in 2022

After a slump of 4 years, I picked up reading this year again. Here are some of the books that I read this year and particularly enjoyed:

• The Stranger by Albert Camus
  A short novella in two parts. A very interesting read. I cannot say anything more about this book without spoiling it.
• A Terrible Book by Jay Micheal
  This bellyachingly hilarious book is a parody of almost every literary trope that exists. It is available as an eBook for $0.99 on Kindle, and nowhere else. The author remains elusive, but it is not for a lack of trying. I am not able to find any information about the author other than his short bio and brilliantly drawn self-portrait on this book’s listing on Amazon.
• Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
  This book shares themes with The Stranger. This book is about what drives a man to kill a person, and the mental anguish that he suffers as a consequence. The plot slows down and is drawn out at times, but I think that it is necessary to better understand the plight of the antihero.
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
  Set during the Second World War, this story follows the life of a little girl living in Nazi Germany who loves to read books. A tale narrated by Death himself, you can’t not read this.
• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
  While this book is science fiction, but it doesn’t read as such. Everything that happens in the story seems scientifically plausible; you might as well be reading the logs of a real astronaut. It is great to see the thought process of the protagonist as he tackles the problems he encounters. Once I started reading it, it was downright impossible to put it down. I finished reading it in less than three days.
• Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
  This is a fantasy novel and one of the first books published by Brandon Sanderson. The story is told through the points-of-view of three characters: a prince, a princess, and a priest, each having different motives and personalities. It is particularly fun when these characters interact and you experience the same scene from different viewpoints. I also loved the magic system in this story. This is a standalone book and a complete story on its own. All in all, it’s a very satisfying and thrilling book.
• The Sword of Kaigen by M. L. Wang
  This is a fantasy book with a Japanesque setting. I could feel some vibes of Avatar: The Last Airbender while reading this book, primarily because some characters can manipulate the elements around them. If you liked that show, then you will probably enjoy reading this book.

There are many more books that I have read and would like to read. You can have a look at my reading list that I regularly keep up-to-date.

TV Shows and Movies in 2022

It was a great year for movies and TV Shows. Here are some of my favourites of the year.

TV Shows

• Barry (season 3)
  The penultimate season of the series. This show is an unusual combination of drama and comedy, where the eponymous character Barry is both an actor and an assassin. Now, his worlds are about to collide. Barry is played by Bill Hader who is amazing in this role. He also writes and directs some of the episodes.
• The Rehearsal (season 1)
  A masterpiece by Nathan Fielder. Very meta. It is safe to say that this show is like none other. I was surprised to find out that there will be another season of this show.
• Better Call Saul (season 6)
  A satisfying end to the chicanery of Saul Goodman and to the Breaking Bad universe. It’s all gone now. Bravo Vince!
• House of the Dragon (season 1)
  I will be honest, my expectations for this show were super low after seeing how Game of Thrones ended. However, I was convinced otherwise before the first episode ended. This show has a lot of plotting, stabbing, and backstabbing, and keeps you at the edge of your seat. George R. R. Martin is, of course, a masterful story teller, and the showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik have done an excellent job translating it to screen. A special shout-out to Paddy Considine, who was phenomenal as King Viserys. This was a rare occurence where I watched the show before reading the book. I have got to read Fire and Blood now.

Movies

• The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
  An amazing action-comedy movie starring Nicholas Cage as Nick Cage, as well as Pedro Pascal. This is a fun movie to watch.
• Chello Show
  A Gujarati movie about a boy fascinated by movies.
• Bullet Train
  Another action-comedy movie. As the name suggests, this almost entirely takes place on a bullet train. This movie has great action sequences, and the dialogue and story are quite good too.
• Glass Onion
  While I didn’t like it as much as Knives Out, it was still entertaining to see Detective Benoit Blanc back on screen.
• The Menu
  Anya Tayloy-Joy and Ralph Fiennes are great in this, and so are the supporting cast. Not sure if this is a horror or a comedy. It is definitely absurd. A culinary delight.

Games in 2022

Some games that I discovered and enjoyed playing this year:

• Duotrigordle / Redactle / Worldle
  Wordle became popular at the start of this year, and we saw many new *le games. These were the ones that I played the most.
• NYTimes spelling bee and crossword
  I try to solve the NYT Spelling Bee daily and the crossword whenever I can. I can usually only solve the Mondays and Tuesdays crosswords.
• Dark Souls
  I started playing Dark Souls. I was initially hesitant, or even scared to play it. However, the Souls-like games are so good and they have spoiled most other games for me. Praise the sun! \o/

My goals for 2023

I have set some goals for myself for this year.

Reading and writing

I would like to write more often and on a regular basis. I want to be uploading new content on this website more frequently. I also want to read more books this year.

Getting fit

I will start going to the gym or cycling regularly.

Languages

I want to learn more languages and become a hyperpolyglot. I plan to achieve

• native fluency in ગુજરાતી,
• moderate fluency in français, and
• basic conversational fluency in मराठी and Deutsch.

I will use flashcards and Rosetta Stone to improve my vocabulary and grammar. I will also try to read literature, watch movies, and connect with native speakers to practice and get better at these languages.

Game development

I want to get good at game development. By the end of the year, I want to be comfortable enough with the game engine Godot that creating simple arcade style games such as Tetris, Pacman, and Flappy Bird are second-nature to me. I would also like to make and publish one or two moderately complex games. I would need to collaborate with someone for the aspects of gamedev that are not my fortes such as pixel art and sound design.

I will also post some short term goals, and from time to time share updates on how I am progressing along these goals for 2023. Let me know what have you planned for this new year!

That’s all for now! See you in the next one. 👋