I wrote a haiku-ish poem for every day of the year (an exercise I don't think I will ever repeat). They can be found here.

I read some books this year. I think my younger self would be horrified to learn that there was a stretch of time after leaving graduate school where I essentially could not read books. Thanks to my wonderful large-font large-size ereader, which now goes with me everywhere, and my new eyeglasses, I have started to get back into the habit. In 2024 I managed to read 8 fiction books (2 in German), the first 16 years of Peanuts, 8 volumes of manga in Japanese, and books on trigonometry, computers, evolution, sketch comedy, transgender history, and hot dogs. The full list:

• Poor Things by Alasdair Gray (1992) - Finished January 14
• Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs by Jamie Loftus (2023) - Finished January 27
• うんこドリル　かん字　小学１年生 (2020) - Finished January 31
• I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (2022) - Finished February 1
• Der Spurenfinder by Marc-Uwe Kling, Johanna & Luise Kling (2023) - Finished February 15
• The History of Sketch Comedy: A Journey through the Art and Craft of Humor by Keegan-Michael Key and Elle Key (2023) - Finished February 26
• うんこドリル　かん字　小学２年生 (2020) - Finished February 29
• Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon (2023) - Finished March 17
• The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel (1980) - Finished April 7
• The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales by Virginia Hamilton (1985) - Finished April 14
• うんこドリル 漢字　小学３年生 (2020) - Finished April 19
• Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity by Julia Serano (2007) - Finished April 27
• The Complete Peanuts Volume 1 - 1950-1952 by Charles M. Schulz (2004) - Finished April 28
• The Complete Peanuts Volume 2 - 1953-1954 by Charles M. Schulz (2004) - Finished May 5
• The Complete Peanuts Volume 3 - 1955-1956 by Charles M. Schulz (2005) - Finished May 15
• The Complete Peanuts Volume 4 - 1957-1958 by Charles M. Schulz (2005) - Finished May 24
• Who Ate the First Oyster? The Extraordinary People Behind the Greatest Firsts in History by Cody Cassidy (2020) - Finished May 25
• The Complete Peanuts Volume 5 - 1959-1960 by Charles M. Schulz (2006) - Finished June 2
• ヴァンパイア男子寮　１ by 遠山えま (2019) - Finished June 3
• ヴァンパイア男子寮　２ by 遠山えま (2019) - Finished June 7
• The Complete Peanuts Volume 6 - 1961-1962 by Charles M. Schulz (2006) - Finished June 10
• ヴァンパイア男子寮　3 by 遠山えま (2019) - Finished June 12
• ヴァンパイア男子寮　4 by 遠山えま (2020) - Finished June 14
• ヴァンパイア男子寮　5 by 遠山えま (2020) - Finished June 14
• ヴァンパイア男子寮　6 by 遠山えま (2021) - Finished June 17
• ヴァンパイア男子寮　7 by 遠山えま (2021) - Finished June 18
• ヴァンパイア男子寮　8 by 遠山えま (2021) - Finished June 18
• The Complete Peanuts Volume 7 - 1963-1964 by Charles M. Schulz (2007) - Finished June 19
• Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender by Kit Heyam (2022) - Finished July 10
• Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann (2017) - Finished August 7
• Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle (2024) - Finished August 9
• Hello World: How to be Human in the Age of the Machine by Hannah Fry (2018) - Finished August 26
• Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (2020) - Finished October 20
• The Complete Peanuts Volume 8 - 1965-1966 by Charles M. Schulz (2007) - Finished December 2
• The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty (2023) - Finished December 25
• Love Triangle: How Trigonometry Shapes the World by Matt Parker (2024) - Finished December 25

I saw 13 movies in theater this year. I particularly enjoyed Godzilla Minus One Minus Color, Hundreds of Beavers, Robot Dreams, and Deadpool and Wolverine. Full list:

• Godzilla Minus One Minus Color
• Argylle
• Spy × Family Code: White
• Flash Gordon
• Robot Dreams
• Deadpool and Wolverine (2x)
• Hundreds of Beavers
• Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
• Megalopolis
• Godzilla (1954)
• The Wild Robot
• Interstella 5555
• Sonic 3

I also saw live performances of She Loves Me, A Christmas Carol, Fiddler on the Roof and the first half of Anything Goes. I watched Good Mythical Morning Live, listed to the St. Louis Symphony and various classical guitar performances, and attended Bugs Bunny at the Symphony. I also went to a performance by Chuck Tingle, saw a total eclipse of the sun at the home of Popeye, a partial lunar eclipse, and viewed James Bond gadgets in Chicago.

I visited Munich for the first time in almost 12 years and was amazed at how much the city has changed post-pandemic. There are many more international restaurants, for instance, and most places take payment by card now. But it is hard to find food for someone with a milk-allergy ("kann Spuren von Milch enthalten" is a nasty phrase), and book culture seems to be disappearing. I took my family to Neuschwanstein Castle, the zoo, the Deutsches Museum, and the Glypothek. It was unusually hot, but I think everyone had a good time.

I got back into Spirograph drawing and, in an effort to placate my starved brain while also working towards something that can serve me practically, I enrolled in a Mathematics bachelors program, with the goal of finishing early 2026. To that end, I completed Discrete Mathematics and Calculus 2. On a related note, as of the last day of this year, I have paid off my remaining student loans.

Finally, some shows I particularly enjoyed on streaming/TV this year:

• Scott Pilgrim Takes Off
• Krapopolis
• The Apothecary Diaries
• Cherry Magic (anime version)
• Yatagarasu
• Dan da dan
• Dropout