Something I rarely do is log or review things, but I’m giving this a go, partly inspired by reflecting in my previous post on how many times I managed to post in 2025, and partly by our plan for our first episode of season 3 of the podcast.
Big Life Events
This section is all the major noteworthy things that cropped up for me this year.
- New job! I embarked on a new career shift to the NSW public service. It has been… okay.
- Parenting! My kids completed their final year of primary school and kicked off their final year of being pre-teens.
- Hawaii! My dad had his 80th birthday in November 2024 and we all celebrated in Hawaii, the approximate halfway point between where I live and where he lives.
- Gigs! I went to see Jinjer (supported by Kittie) at Hordern Pavillion and kicked off a long-running obsession with Kittie’s latest album.
- Fitness! I successfully kicked off three good fitness habits: a weekly swim, regular bike commute to work, and a quick 7-minute workout three times a week.
- Pet sadness. We lost our dear little rat Addy to misadventure. Hard to believe such a tiny little creature can have such a big impact. But we also adopted two new rats to accompany the surviving rat and they are all keeping things lively.
- Life admin: for the first time in over a decade I can actually put my clothes into a closet. Taxes, wills & estate plan, and life insurance got sorted. We had to replace the hot water heater.
- Podcasting! I started a dumb hobby with a smart awesome friend and we’re having lots of fun.
- Social media! I made a post that got more than two likes.
Books Read
This isn’t an exhaustive list because I’m terrible at keeping track of what I’ve read. I’m considering using BookWyrm in the future if I can get my shit together. This was the list according to a collation of my Apple Books “Finished” list and some additional odds and ends like comic books.
- The Navigator’s Children - Tad Williams
- The You You Are - Dr Ricken Lazlo Hale, PhD (I couldn’t resist. Yes, I am a fan of Severence.)
- Cataveiro - E. J. Swift
- Tamaruq - E. J. Swift
- The Others (series) - Anne Bishop
- Echo of Worlds - M. R. Carey
- Murderbot (series) - Martha Wells
- The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association - Caitlin Rozakis
- Or What You Will - Jo Walton
- A Sorceress Comes to Call - T. Kingfisher
- Brigands & Breadknives - Travis Baldree
- The Prize in the Game - Jo Walton
- The Cerulean Chronicles (series) - TJ Klune
- Elantris - Brandon Sanderson
- Warbreaker - Brandon Sanderson
- Broken Earth Trilogy - N. K. Jemisin
- The Unicorn Project - Gene Kim
- Livesuit - James SA Corey
Graphic Novel Series - just what I can vaguely remember off the top of my head, and I have no ideas what volumes have been finished when.
- Saga
- Paper Girls
- Rat Queens
- Delicious in Dungeon
Wrap Up
I’m not sure what else I’d want to track. Maybe movies / tv shows. I did sign up for Letterboxd at some stage not that long ago and got frustrated with trying to remember / backfill what I had already seen. The only film I can remember seeing last year was the Minecraft Movie in the cinema. That’s right, I have no shame.