The first week has been an avalanche of starting projects. Probably too many projects. Some of them have sustained through the week and others have been put on hold quite quickly.

The core project, some theoretical research into AI techniques, is moving along. The availability of time to be able to work on it has sustained its pace of progress, if not yet significantly accelerating its pace.

Other projects include learning Mandarin using the HelloChinese app on Android (a DuoLingo style app for Mandarin.)  It is early days but Mandarin is actually quite a nice language to learn.  I think a part of this is knowing that I have time to learn it – rather than having to run to a self-imposed demand to try to get through the lessons as fast as possible, or to a given timescale.

Music has also come to the forefront.  As tracks pop into my head I now stop for five minutes, find it on YouTube and listen to the track.  The source of the playlists that I can hopefully sustain over the long term.  It has highlighted to me that I need to discover new music – and that there are tracts of time where I was just not engaged with the chart and so have no sense of what was the excellent music of the time.

Playlist

Whatever / Oasis

Wake up it’s a beautiful morning / The Boo Radleys

Somebody to love / Queen