/devel

End of this year is here and for a creature of habits like me it’s time to do my annual review of this year spiced with plans for next one. As it happens this year was largely like last year and I could just post last year’s review with few changes.

I intentionally don’t talk much about my private life since I prefer to keep it such, but this year my wife and I had the fifth anniversary of our marriage and I feel compelled to tell how wonderful those years were and how much better each new year is. I am indeed a very lucky person.

Everything I said about my job last year is still very much true and I hope to keep doing it for a long time. My thanks go to my coworkers. Without them it could never be so rewarding.

Downside of a great job is that it can easily be too absorbing. My private project got less attention than I expected, but I hope to change this next year and finally bring it out.

I traveled less than I would have liked, but more than I should or expected. I did emit less CO₂ than the year before and hope to do even better next year.

I read more than 30 books this year and would like to read at least as many next year. The ones I read will get their own post in next few days.

I could also repeat my gloomy outlook on our planet. If anything, it is even more true today than it was then. There was no significant progress in dealing with any of the problems I listed and that depressing list wasn’t exhaustive in the first place.

We went to Copenhagen for COP15 and like many I’ve been profoundly shaken since its end. A lot has been written about why conference failed and if you haven’t read those articles, you really should. However it was clear to me at demonstrations that different NGOs might want the same outcome, but have radically different and often incompatible visions on how to get there, so it’s even easier to understand why collectively we are all failing.

Hence, it’s been another year of strange mixture of personal happiness and gloomy outlooks on future. It’s also another year where I can’t muster an optimistic closure to my review. Saturnalias are over, but I am not too late yet to wish everyone happy holidays and the best of luck in new year.