Saturday 27 December 2014

The Nature of Luck

I'm very lucky.

It manifests in a few ways; the obvious but often overlooked things like being a western white male with a job and home, having consistent access to current knowledge and technology, having somehow convinced a gorgeous clever sweet woman to marry me...

One of the ways in which I am currently experiencing my luck is in the quality and quantity of presents my family and in-laws provide me. I never really ask for much anymore as there have been too many times where I've got what I asked for and then never used it, but at Emily's insistence I maintain an Amazon wish list to point her family in the right direction. Here's the haul:

  • Lip-shaped soap on a rope
  • "Brain bender" wire puzzle
  • "Play!" Chocolate gamepad
  • Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies
  • Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs
  • The Chanur Saga, C. J. Cherryh
  • Nova, Samuel R. Delany
  • "We R Igors" Discworld Diary
  • "Dragon Wars" Volume 1 Parts 1-4
  • Tetris lights
  • Tekken Tag Tournament 2
  • Blood Omen 2: Legacy of Kain
  • Assassin's Creed: Rogue
  • Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl
  • Pokémon Alpha Sapphire
  • Bravely Default
  • Suikoden Tierkreis
  • The Planet Construction Kit, Mark Rosenfelder


I'll also list my wife's presents, because I'm sure I'll get around to the games and books eventually:

  • Pokémon Omega Ruby
  • Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
  • Rooms: The Main Building
  • More Brain Training from Dr Kawashima
  • Martin the Warrior, Brian Jacques
  • Outcast of Redwall, Brian Jacques
  • Mariel of Redwall, Brian Jacques
  • The Witches of Karres, James Schmitz
  • On the Town
  • The Night of the Hunter
  • Rock & Roll Music IQ, C. Dismas Burgess
  • Dragons at Crumbling Castle, Terry Pratchett
  • Mind-Boggling Lateral Thinking Riddles
  • Another chocolate gamepad
  • Maneki Neko

Now is also the traditional time for retrospective. This year hasn't been great; we've both suffered from illness and Emily has mourned for a long time. Thankfully, we've come out of it alive and ready to keep going, so here's to an excellent 2015.

Next year, I resolve to make better use of my time. On too many occasions have I complained of having nothing to do, or too much to do, or of being bored or directionless. It's making it difficult to achieve any of my goals, and I want to become more efficient. To this end I'm putting together a schedule and attempting to stick to it.