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Checking in – February 2022

A little bit late for this one for several reasons, mostly because I got sucked into several rabbit holes. We'll get to some of these reasons in this monthly diary.

Overall I would say that this month has been full of twists and short on time. Not very much to say otherwise.

Creative works

Unlike previous months, I had a bit of a brainwave with some of the creative projects that I have been pursuing. This means that there are a few more results than I was expecting.

Specifically, I have started writing a few bits of the Ùzje mahjong engine, which of course made gave it a few more progress points than it had previously. With any luck, some time next month I can get all the bits ready and the engine would just be missing the big picture things.

More on UJMJ

Furthermore, I wrote a few thoughts and bits about some other things.

About cars

About (ordinary) mahjong and π

Finally, I drew some fun little images for a prototype for a game called Inscryption, which I have obsessed over a bit previously:

Side deck image

Test card image

Overall, not a bad haul, although my usual output has been hurting a little bit as a result.

Careers search

Partly owing to the above I haven't spent much time looking for PhDs, but on the other hand this is kind of the slow season for openings so I don't expect to find any in the meantime.

Various types of brain-rot

(That is the term, apparently, for something that has taken up the majority of one's attention for a large period of time.)

Wordle

Surely you have heard of the phenomenon known as Wordle for a while. It has gotten to the point where there had are clones everywhere, even on Gemini. Sometimes they're straightforward clones, with no change in the gameplay. But there are lots of others that have some change in format. Here are the ones that I play:

Nerdle, with arithmetic equations

Diffle, with words of any length, but adding continuity clues to offset

Zidou (lit. "Tao of Sinograms"), Cantonese, 1

Lukhap (lit. six-together), Cantonese, 2

Mahjong Handle, Riichi Mahjong hands

Such is the massive outpouring both for the game itself, and the languages that are used to describe it, that there is now a big list of games that you can choose:

Wordles of the World

I will have to see to making such a list for Gemini, if possible.

Cars

I bought so many model cars this month that it's actually a bit silly. I like model cars a lot and have done so ever since I was young.

I've been told to box them up however as they attract dust, but even without that encouragement I would do so as it compacts the collection a bit so I can have more.

I use them to exercise my story-telling skills so it's not entirely frivolous.

Ukraine

Again, not surprising if you are within striking distance of any news outlets.

There's not much to say here, except for the fact that a lot of this sounds like what I have experienced in 2019, and also saw indirectly in Myanmar in 2021. I have been stuck inside a Twitter spiral for a while and only recently just got out after a few days.

I can only hope for the best for the lads in blue and yellow.

Health

Not much to say here. Will update later.

Family

Tensions at home persist. Not much to talk about at the moment.

The World, really

International

Last month I mentioned that it seems like war in the South China Sea is looking more likely by the day. The recent events have certainly not did anything to convince me otherwise.

Life has always been this unstable apparently, but people have always persevered. So I think I have to.

Virus

It's getting a bit wild here in HK. Cases are now passing ten thousand daily easily now.

There had been talks of lockdown and mass testing soon. There's been a lot of panic buying in light of this.

I am being restricted to exist only in a small chunk of land, but I can still go out. I wonder for how much longer.