Weeknotes 2024 W05: London calling

Quick bits:

• I have handed in my work laptop, and now I am free.

I wrote some flash fiction: The Doorbell. It’s a three-minute read or so.

This particular one could be turned into a short film fairly easily. That’d be fun to do, though I lack the skill and equipment to do it, and all the other people you need to put a short film together.

For the last few weeks, I’ve been playing with the idea of moving to London.

I have done some research and talked to a handful of people about this, and it certainly is a polarizing idea: some people have told me it is a fantastic idea and I absolutely need to do it, while others have told me I would regret it dearly.

I have a handful of reasons why I’m considering moving to London:

• I’d like to be in a place that has English as the default language. I’m much more relaxed and social in English than in German. The language barrier here is still quite noticeable.

• London is a bigger tech hub than Berlin, offering more opportunities which is always good.

• I would like a larger variety of English-language entertainment. There is really not that much in Berlin. In Germany, movies are still often dubbed, which I strongly dislike.

• London provides more creative opportunities in English, in particular fiction writing (in all its forms) and acting.

Berlin has been quite good for me, and moving here (more than ten years ago now) was one of the best decisions I have made in my life. Living here has given me a much better view on so many things, from society to culture to politics. I wouldn’t want to have it any other way.

Still, Berlin sometimes feels a little small, and not providing the right opportunities for me. I’m worried that I am growing roots that anchor me into place. I’ve settled comfortably and my pace of living has slowed down to the point where I feel like I’m regressing.

I feel the call of adventure, to change up my life, to be out of my comfort zone trying radically new things, to have a voice in my head say “what the heck was I thinking?” I need to feel alive.

So, I’ve been on the lookout for London-based roles. I’ve written up some more details here: Get me a job in 2024!

Entertainment:

• Fallout 4¹¹¹ Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios, 2015), published by Bethesda Softworks.  is such a boring game. I’m near the end and I’ve given up on it. I did play most of the Far Harbor DLC, which is much better than the base game: there are actually choices you can make that have an impact on the story! There are choices with trade-offs and no “best” outcome!

• I picked up Baldur’s Gate 3.²²² Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios, 2023), published by Larian Studios.  I’m still only at the beginning, but it feels like a game that I could really enjoy. Coming from the train wreck that is Fallout 4, it is refreshing to play something with genuine storytelling.

Links:

• CV of Failures (Dr. Veronika Cheplygina): I adore the idea of a CV of failures. Now I’m thinking about what I would put on mine.

• 1.8 Million Subscribers (and no one cares) (Adam Neely): Damn! But understandable.

• Immeasurable Impact (Jim Nielsen)

• The Questioning Mind Is Most Alive (Lawrence Yeo)

• The significance of plot without conflict (Still Eating Oranges)

• The numbers 0–99 sorted alphabetically in different languages (Udzu, for r/dataisbeautiful): Whoa!

Tech links:

• The indie web (James G): “To have a personal website is, presently, an act of rebellion. It is a statement. You are saying: I want to define my experience on the web.”

• What Makes Software Resilient?

• 32-Bit Cafe: Lots of neat ideas to flesh out a web site. I might steal a few of them for my own site.

• Who Pays Technical Writers: Maybe useful for some of you technical writers our there!