Artem Tyurin

January 2022

As I sip my coffee and type these words, I look outside at the morning rain. Through my window, I have a view of the bay of the IJ river. It is usually still, but today there are noticeable waves caused by the wind. It is that type of day when you turn on the lights in the morning. Exactly one year ago there was a strong snowstorm in Amsterdam, but no signs of snow coming now. Is this climate change?

Writing public lookbacks every month can be inconvenient for mentioning long-term events that span many months and have some degree of uncertainty. A few of those did consume my energy in January. I hope I can share the outcomes soon enough, regardless of the results.

After I was done with cat-sitting for a friend, I got my booster shot and boarded the train for a short visit to London.

Even small adventures remind me how they are always underrated in my personal list of activities.

On my way to Tate Modern, which I usually try to visit, I've stumbled upon the Barbican which I've never seen before. Astoundingly beautiful urban ensemble of buildings. I wish Amsterdam had a few places with several height levels. Utrecht has something similar with two-level canals.

After the return, for the last 2 weeks of the month, I've been hit by flu. Multiple tests ensured me that it is not COVID, but it still took away lots of energy.

Fighting my random prejudice against online language lessons, I've signed up for Dutch lessons online and it turned out to work well.

Continuing on the theme of inviting other people to my learning process, I've signed up for in-person guitar lessons as well. Now trying not to shy away from barre chords.

I've finished a book about Russian hackers, see my notes.

A mini TV series Mare of Easttown had the right amount of suspense packed into the appropriate duration of 7 episodes.

Another notable mention is warm and charming C’mon C’mon.

Out of all 3 social networks I've deleted at the beginning of the month, I only miss Twitter a bit. Facebook and Instagram were good riddance.

I wonder if allowing viewing without the login can be combined with the paid subscription model in one social network. That reminds me of the Open Access model that some scientific journals adopt.

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