Compared to the magical daily life in my home country, living in Scotland this year has been quite stable.
Annual Best#
Let's start with the joyful DIY Annual Best Awards Ceremony.
Film and Television#
I watched 19 anime, 18 series, and 6 movies: https://movie.douban.com/people/62759792/collect?mode=list
DIY Anime of the Year: "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Entertainment District Arc"
This year, the anime was a fierce competition, with "Re", "Made in Abyss", "Cyberpunk", "Spy x Family", "My Dress-Up Darling", "Chainsaw Man"... so many excellent works, but my favorite is still "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Entertainment District Arc."
As a long-time fan of Demon Slayer, the emotional highs and lows really hit me. I returned triumphant, thanks to UFOtable for their hospitality.
DIY Series of the Year: "Public Servant"
A shining series and protagonist, but life is always more magical than drama. May the world be free of war.
DIY Movie of the Year: None
I watched too few movies this year and didn't encounter any that could be celebrated for an entire year.
Books#
I read 9 books this year:
- "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People"
- "Road to Serfdom"
- "Flowers for Algernon"
- "The Golden Age"
- "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin"
- "Hackers and Painters"
- "The Eternal End"
- "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind"
- "The Courage to Be Disliked"
Although the number is small, it's a significant improvement compared to just 1 book in 2021, and I've gained a lot of insights and joy.
DIY Book of the Year: "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin"
"The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin" has had the most significant impact on me. Its simple yet profound sentences reveal life wisdom and pragmatic thoughts, bringing me much reflection. I have also adopted the 13 virtues for daily self-reflection.
Electronics#
DIY Electronic Product of the Year: Xiaomi PGG Neck Massager
Compared to "Cervical Spondylosis Rehabilitation Guide," the massager is much more practical. A must-have for programmers, just make sure to get the Xiaomi app version with full-body massage pads. It's a lifesaver for back pain, though the neck massage function doesn't feel as effective.
Product link: https://www.mi.com/shop/buy/detail?product_id=14282
Applications#
DIY Application of the Year: Obsidian
After losing a bunch of notes due to a bug in Notion, I started looking for a local note-taking app and discovered Obsidian. I was instantly attracted by its powerful automation capabilities and high degree of freedom, as detailed in “Life Recording System Based on Obsidian”. However, its limitations are also apparent; constrained by Markdown format, its table and layout capabilities are much weaker than Notion, and being primarily local, collaboration and sharing are also lacking.
Games#
Games I played this year:
- "Pokémon Legends: Arceus"
- "The Last of Us"
- "Fitness Boxing 2"
- "Elden Ring"
- "God of War"
DIY Game of the Year: Elden Ring
Open world, souls-like, even a noob can play. Elden Ring is divine.
The most memorable part was the story of Wolf Brother; it was too painful to bear, so I turned and ran for a forced happy ending.
Figures#
DIY Figure of the Year: Kizuna Ai Hello World Blonde Ver. Figure
So cute! Although it was delayed multiple times and I waited two years, even as Kizuna Ai herself went into hibernation, the moment I saw the physical product, it was all worth it.
Life#
At the end of last year, I finally ended my long-distance relationship and reunited with my childhood friend, which significantly improved my mental health and quality of life.
Also, my weight.
Unfortunately, I couldn't bring yogurt; all the paperwork was ready, but I never waited for a direct flight between China and the UK. The best plan from the agency was to transfer through Malaysia, which took a long time, and I was worried about safety, so I gave up.
Food#
British food has always been a struggle for me, but cooking alone is very inefficient. With two people, the cooking time is about the same, but the benefits double, plus it saves time on washing dishes.
At first, my friend cooked, but they really had no cooking talent and occasionally triggered fire alarms, which made me both anxious and scared, so I took over.
I started learning from Bilibili's Cooking with Xiao Pang and Food Writer Wang Gang. Initially, I was a bit lost, but after getting the hang of it, I found that many things are universal and quite easy.
Some dishes I’m particularly satisfied with include tomato sausage rice, tomato egg noodle soup, cola chicken wings, spicy stir-fried meat, cabbage stir-fried meat, sukiyaki, and tomato meat sauce cheese pasta.
Housing#
Scotland has very comprehensive legal protections for renting, but finding a place is particularly troublesome. On one hand, landlords have many legal responsibilities, so they are very cautious. On the other hand, Scotland has a sparse population, and housing mobility is poor. Additionally, the university in my city irresponsibly expanded enrollment this year, leading to a situation where there are many wolves and little meat.
In Scotland, landlords generally require a relatively high income, a local guarantor, proof of employment, company recommendation letters, references from previous landlords, third-party credit checks, and a whole bunch of documents. Among these, credit checks usually require stable housing in the UK for more than 6 months. Only after meeting all the conditions can you qualify to apply for a viewing, which is mandatory. It’s akin to a job interview; after both parties are satisfied, you can submit a rental application. Once the landlord receives enough applications, they will select their favorite or the best-qualified applicant to rent to. If you are fortunate enough to be chosen, then the rental process is complete.
So, the process is quite challenging. Since August, I have been immersed in various rental websites daily, sending countless private messages and making numerous phone calls. I have almost exhausted all the nearby Airbnbs. The ups and downs have been common, but fortunately, the ending is good. I finally rented a place in October that exceeded my expectations. The landlord is a very lifestyle-oriented interior architect, and the layout and decoration are fantastic. The neighborhood is safe and convenient, with plenty of light, underfloor heating, a large TV, and a fun attic.
Travel#
This year, my friend took me to many places.
January
Celebrated the New Year in Nottingham with Henry's family, setting off fireworks and watching deer fight.
April
Drove around the Lake District National Park with Henry's family.
Then we went to London.
May
Visited Manchester, the Gay Street, and a comic shop (at that time I didn't know about Chainsaw Man).
July
Traveled to Northern Ireland and the Scottish Highlands with Henry's family (I still need to update a vlog about this).
Hiked and had a picnic with classmates nearby.
August
Went to Birmingham with Henry's family and Nian Nian, but we couldn't go to the live-fire shooting that my friend wanted to do, so we stayed in the hotel all night playing murder mystery games.
December
Traveled to Liverpool, Barcelona, and with Cu Cu to Rome, Vatican City, Venice, Milan, Zurich, Interlaken, and Paris.
In Barcelona, my phone was stolen, but the Boqueria Market was cheap and delicious, with fresh juice for just one euro; in Rome, I found Italian pasta to be quite disappointing; celebrated Christmas in Vatican City and caught COVID for the second time; Venice was all about water, with no buses, only water buses; in Milan, I had delicious Peking duck, but Cu Cu, as a Beijinger, was quite upset about it; my friend injured his leg while skiing in Interlaken and was carried down the mountain by several kind Swiss people, which canceled our Iceland trip; spent New Year's Eve in the emergency room in Paris; at the airport, my friend enjoyed super VIP service as a disabled person...
I will also update a vlog later.
Some Small Things#
There are also some small things that left a deep impression on me.
January
The squirrels in the school park are very friendly; I high-fived a cute little squirrel Twitter.
June
I contracted COVID and had a fever for a few days, but it wasn't a big deal Twitter.
July
The battery of my Xiaomi 10 Pro swelled, and there was no place to repair it in the UK, so I ordered a third-party battery from Taobao and successfully replaced it Twitter.
October
A strange cloud resembling a black magic mark appeared in the sky.
November
Saw a double rainbow on the way to drop my friend off at school Twitter.
I got a 20TB mechanical hard drive; see New Stuff | What Did I Buy on Black Friday 2022?.
December
The blog post “Scottish Residents Can Move Around Downstairs” was deleted at the request of the Chinese government, becoming part of the "correct collective memory."
(It turns out that being blocked can also attract attention, and it might be monitored even more closely.)
Life Management#
Since 2020, I have been using bullet journaling to record my daily life (see 2020 Year-End Summary, Life Recording System Based on Obsidian), which has been very helpful. It allows me to keep track of my recent life status and partially compensates for my poor memory.
I previously saw New Yi publicly release their weekly reports, which I felt was a great format. Being public can make one take life more seriously and receive feedback from friends, so I'm also considering starting to write weekly or monthly reports.
I increasingly feel that an all-in-one life record is not very feasible, so I have delegated some functions to Toggl and TickTick. I use Toggl to record what I'm doing at each moment and how much time certain tasks take, and I use TickTick for task management.
Additionally, I am using Eagle to manage images (looking forward to the next major version's plugin system), Anybox for managing bookmarks, and MoneyWiz for managing finances.
Production#
This year, the company developed very quickly and faced many challenges, becoming stronger and stronger. See “A Letter to the RSS3 Community”. I'm glad that the bear market didn't have too much impact on us, and we can continue doing things we love and find meaningful.
Most of the company's projects are open-source, so I don't need to summarize them separately. This has led to many repositories I participated in this year, with many interesting projects. Among them, I spent the most time and enjoyed working on xLog, a blogging platform based on the Crossbell blockchain, where all articles, subscriptions, comments, etc., are on-chain. You can see the blockchain information for this article at the bottom of the page.
However, I have been absent from maintaining old projects this year. RSSHub's work cannot stop, so I hired TonyRL for daily maintenance, while the maintenance of other projects has been almost zero.
2023#
In my last year in the UK, I will be going to Singapore in the second half of the year.
Wishes#
My biggest wish is to reunite with yogurt as soon as possible 😭
I have already passed my physical peak age, and my second wish is to be healthy.
OKR#
Personal OKR for Q1 2023:
-
O1: In excellent health
- KR1: Body control, body weight 70kg and body fat 17%
- KR2: Early to bed and early to rise, 12:00-9:00
- KR3: Healthy Eating, light and less, increase the proportion of white meat and reduce the sugar
- KR4: More exercise, at least 2 times per week
-
O2: Highly productive like a sow
- KR1: Blog, at least 1 blog per month
- KR2: Painting, at least 1 painting per month
- KR2: Vlog, at least 1 vlog per two months
-
O3: Knowledge overflows my brain
- KR1: Reading, at least 7 hours per week
- KR2: Professional learning, at least 14 hours per week
- KR2: English learning, at least 7 hours per week
-
O4: Explore new horizons
- KR1: Try 1 new thing per month
-
O5: I am Franklin
- KR1: Guarantee 1 virtue per week
- KR2: Record virtue status daily
-
O6: Run like clockwork
- KR1: Write bullet journal daily
- KR2: Bookkeep weekly and monthly
- KR3: Do things on a daily schedule
-
O7: Writing code is like writing the poem of life
- KR1: Focused work for at least 7 hours per day
- KR2: Actively maintain and contribute to open source projects, this week's issue will not be left until next week
- KR3: Expand the scope of coding knowledge
🥳 Happy 2023!