0x00 A Few Words Before
Could I actually publish my year-end summary on time this year?
If last year’s keywords were ‘street photography’ and ‘premiere screenings’, then I think this year’s keywords are ‘alcohol’, ‘freedom’, and ‘anxiety’.
0x01 Alcohol
This year, maybe around March to May, I started drinking alcohol. I drank a lot, and my spending on alcohol wasn’t small either. It started with having a bit of whiskey at my desk, then buying my own tequila, and later visiting cocktail bars and craft beer bars… In the end, I found I preferred craft beer bars. One reason is that craft beers offer richer and more diverse flavors, while many cocktail bars serve common drinks; their signature cocktails often don’t match my taste, and you usually can’t sample them beforehand. So I prefer craft beer. Also, the alcohol content in cocktails is hard to judge. A few times, I felt like I was just drinking soft drinks, almost like drinking beer mixed with water… The amount of base liquor added depends entirely on the bar’s integrity. Craft beer, on the other hand, comes directly from the brewery’s barrels, so there’s no room for faking it. Another main difference I feel is that cocktail bars are mostly for a few people to meet up and chat, often with everyone sitting at one table. Craft beer bars have a slightly more relaxed atmosphere, with seats closer together, lower alcohol content, and it’s easier to strike up conversations, which is quite nice.
I did get drunk a few times this year, but I’ve gained a clearer understanding of my own tolerance. Basically, I now know how much I can drink to feel relaxed, how much makes me excited, how much gives me a buzz, how much leads to a headache the next day, how much makes me vomit, and how much might cause blackouts… However, this tolerance is dynamic and depends on my condition at the time.
I even bought a set of cocktail-making tools, but I haven’t used them much. Most of the time, I don’t drink just to drink, and I rarely drink alone. I mostly find friends to hang out with, wanting to chat and absorb some of their ’energy’.
0x02 Friends
This brings us to the topic: the friends I’ve made this year whom I’m very close with were all met at bars. The ‘universe center’ can indeed introduce you to many high-quality friends! I met everyone in the AI4Life group here, and I really like you all!
0x03 Anxiety
Speaking of this issue, I’m getting a bit anxious again. The main reason is related to my application process. May was truly the peak of my anxiety, and it was also one of the reasons I went to bars frequently. If I hadn’t taken some measures, I might have been waiting for the sun to rise just to fall asleep. Later, why did I stop feeling so anxious? Maybe I just started giving up a bit…
0x04 Movies & Premieres
This year, I caught up on many classic films. I didn’t go to the cinema much, mainly because I didn’t attend many premiere screenings. The only one I went to was ‘Sheep Without a Shepherd 3’, which happened to be the last episode of the ‘No Spoiler Screening Group’ in 2024, also marking its 500th episode. Unfortunately, no cast or crew members were present.
Oh, and there’s movie recaps. For a while, I was crazy about watching movie recaps because I felt one wasn’t enough, so I’d watch another, and then another… It never ended. A single movie recap isn’t short either, probably around 20 minutes, so time just flew by. Later, when I started watching the actual movies again, I found recaps less interesting. Mostly, I’d watch a recap to see what movie it was about, then go watch the movie myself, or check the recap again if there were parts I didn’t understand.
0x05 Books
This year might have been the year I read the most books in recent times. A big credit goes to @Yannan. Yannan recommended many very interesting books to me. I love the unique scent of paper books, the sound of turning pages, and the feeling of reading with headphones on the subway…
I also enjoy thinking about the viewpoints in books, critiquing the author’s subjective opinions, and pointing out their biases. Some of the books I read this year were quite opinionated.
0x06 Music
Like last year, I don’t have a membership on any domestic music platforms, so I can’t see any year-end listening summaries. My go-to music apps have always been Bilibili and YouTube. After switching to a Mac, I started using Apple Music, but I still prefer finding playlists on Bilibili and YouTube to listen to.
0x07 Games
Looking at Steam’s 2024 year-end review, I spent 75% of my gaming time using a controller hhh. I’ve basically become a ‘controller dog’. For the first five months, my Apex Legends skills were quite high. Then, I played a bit more in September and October, but by the end, I even quit gaming entirely… Maybe playing a few games a month now.
0x08 Stargazing
Thinking about it, since moving out, because my location is relatively remote, light pollution is less. One late night, I suddenly noticed how many stars were above my head. After that, I brought over the tripod and camera lens I used in my dorm and started astrophotography. Although APS-C sensors are slightly inferior, they’re more than enough for fun. I’ve captured Venus approaching the Moon, Orion, the Big Dipper, and the Geminid meteor shower (I even captured a full 3 meteors!!). Later, I also did some stacking using Siril, but I can only say I still have a lot of room for improvement in post-processing hhh.
Gradually, I’ve come to love looking up at the night sky. Orion in the winter sky is always the easiest to spot. You can see Mars twinkling with a reddish glow with the naked eye. I love stargazing because the stars are just there. I love photographing stars to see some stars, nebulae, and their unique light and colors that I can’t see with my naked eye.
0x09 My Monthly/Annual Subscription Projects
Actually, I’ve wanted to write about this for a long time, but I kept putting it off. Taking this opportunity to write my year-end summary, I’ll simply take stock of my monthly or annual subscription projects.
First up is the Aliyun Drive membership (168/year). Although Aliyun Drive can be quite frustrating—for instance, it doesn’t support sharing ZIP files, and its backup feature often creates redundant copies, wasting a lot of space—I’m satisfied with it as a backup cloud drive, especially regarding storage space, file synchronization, and speed. I also like the online playback feature and its potential for extensibility. I’ve found files on Aliyun Drive multiple times that I couldn’t even locate on my own computer, so I really have to thank its backup function.
Next is Apple Music: 3 months free, then 11/month. I think it’s pretty good; almost all music is searchable, and there aren’t many tracks missing due to disputes. Of course, niche music is still somewhat limited.
Then there’s the Fengchao membership. After moving out, I used Fengchao frequently, but the free storage is only 18 hours—not even 24. So if a package arrives right after I leave in the morning, and I go out again in the evening or forget to pick it up, I’ll likely exceed the time limit and have to pay. Once, I had quite a few packages and exceeded the limit for three of them at once. At the time, I thought it was no big deal and just paid. Later, I exceeded the limit again, and when I calculated the fees, they were enough to buy a month’s membership. So I decided to just get the membership; no more worrying about forgetting to pick up packages.
Shi Pindao’s charging support has been intermittent, mainly because their update frequency can’t keep up. If I were to donate 10 yuan per month just to watch one charging video, it would be better to save up for three months and watch three videos instead.
Mobile phone SIM card: yes, I got one and switched it to a 9-yuan number-retention plan. As for its purpose, it’s mainly to allow me to open a few more accounts.
Overall, my monthly fixed expenses now add up to 168/12 + 11 + 5 + 10 + 9 = 49. At first, when I hadn’t calculated it, I thought it was quite a lot, but now it seems okay?
0x0A Freedom
Doesn’t ‘freedom’ and ‘anxiety’ seem a bit contradictory? Let’s talk about freedom. I included this keyword in my list for this year but never mentioned it until now. There’s no such thing as true freedom; only the freedom of one’s own heart and soul. I feel free right now. I do what I want to do. I’m still young, and I’m willing to try anything I want to do or anything I enjoy. If I had to name one thing I do in my life, I wouldn’t say ’to live,’ but rather ’to live my own life.’
There was a time when I wondered about the meaning of life. Later, I realized that the meaning of life is simple: it’s ’to live.’ As a living being, just ’living’ is already great—that is your meaning in this life. So, what I’ve actually been searching for isn’t the ‘meaning of life,’ but rather the ‘meaning of my life’ or the ‘meaning of living.’ Living authentically is the most important thing. This might be the biggest realization I’ve had this year :)
0x0B 2025
I don’t have any special New Year’s wishes. I really dislike the word ‘wish,’ as if they can only be ’longings’ or ‘fantasies.’ So let me just hope for good health and smooth sailing in 2025.
Wishing you a Happy New Year!
