Year 50 Day 221

Me, wearing a mask and a button-up shirt that’s black on one side and has Santa peeking out from behind the buttons on the other, in a hotel room with holiday decorations and people behind me eating and chatting.

Day 221: Today was the Norwescon December ConCom meeting, followed by the annual holiday party. Lots of good progress at the meeting (including getting not one, but two new website assistants to work with me), and then a fun time chatting at the holiday party. Even got some fun stories from Norwescon history, some of which are for ears only, and not for publication! Plus, many people were amused by my shirt.

Year 50 Day 219

Me in front of a window looking out onto a rainy courtyard with plants and a pond. A sign on the window says "To whomever placed fish in the pond in the courtyard: DO NOT ADD/PLACE GOLDFISH IN THE POND. There is no one here to take care of them and the building will be going away soon with upcoming construction."

Day 219: It does amuse me a bit that the goldfish in the pond in this campus courtyard just appeared at some point. I’m not sure how long they’ve been there, nor do I know what will happen to them when the building eventually does get demolished, but they’ve survived this long.

Year 50 Day 216

Me holding a can of Libby's pumpkin and a can of Nalley thick chili. Both cans use a yellow-and-brown design with a red-and-white logo.

Day 216: The label design for these two very different things is entirely too similar. One would go very well poured over a baked potato; the other…not so much. And for some reason, we keep putting them next to each other in our pantry (I think my wife does it on purpose; she’s told me that if I open the pumpkin on accident, I have to make pie).

Year 50 Day 215

Me standing in front of several rows of Christmas trees, all covered with white fake snow flocking.

Day 215: Saw this lineup of trees as we were out shopping this morning, and all I could think about was how anyone manages to get one of those home without that white fake snow flocking getting absolutely everywhere. What’s wrong with a nice green tree? Leave the snow outside where it belongs!

Not a Spotify Wrap-up

Okay, so lots of people are posting their end-of-year Spotify wrap-ups showing off their listening habits. I don’t subscribe to Spotify (they don’t pay their artists nearly enough, and they have a history of supporting podcasters I have issues with, so they don’t get my money), but I do have Apple Music (who, really, should also pay their artists more, but they’re at least better than Spotify), and Apple does an end-of-year “replay” thing.

Of course, even this is a very small peek at my listening habits, because I really don’t use Apple Music all that much. I get it as part of a subscription bundle, and only really use it briefly in the mornings before work, or occasionally in the evenings before bed. Most of the time I listen to songs from my local collection.

That said, though, here’s what Apple says about the, oh, 10% (if that) of my music listening that it knows about….

Top Artists

Top Artists
549 total artists
1
The Orb
137 minutes
2
Nine Inch Nails
136 minutes
3
4
Dolly Parton
128 minutes
Orbital
124 minutes
5
Underworld
89 minutes 6
Bonobo
71 minutes
7
Hooverphonic
69 minutes
8
Imperative Reaction
64 minutes
9
Velvet Acid Christ
61 minutes
10
Apoptygma Berzerk
51 minutes 11
VNV Nation
50 minutes
12
Seabound
50 minutes
13
Front Line Assembly
46 minutes
14
Rotersand
44 minutes
15
Icon of Coil
44 minutes

549 total artists

  1. The Orb 137 minutes
  2. Nine Inch Nails 136 minutes
  3. Dolly Parton 128 minutes
  4. Orbital 124 minutes
  5. Underworld 89 minutes
  6. Bonobo 71 minutes
  7. Hooverphonic 69 minutes
  8. Imperative Reaction 64 minutes
  9. Velvet Acid Christ 61 minutes
  10. Apoptygma Berzerk 51 minutes
  11. VNV Nation 50 minutes
  12. Seabound 50 minutes
  13. Front Line Assembly 46 minutes
  14. Rotersand 44 minutes
  15. Icon of Coil 44 minutes

I’m quite amused that Dolly landed so high on this list, particularly how out of place she looks. But her recent Rock Star album is great, and it has been getting a lot of plays since it came out. Worth it!

Top Songs

Top Songs
872 total songs
1
BAD GUYS
FEELIN' ALRIGHT
ELLE KING
Feelin' Alright (from...
Elle King
8 plays
2
Wide Open
The Crystal Method
6 plays
3
Cuts You Up
Peter Murphy
5 plays
4
Came Back Haunted
Nine Inch Nails
5 plays
5
Dial8
Velvet Acid Christ
5 plays 6
Modern Love
David Bowie
7
5 plays
HOOVERPHONIC
2Wicky
Hooverphonic
5 plays
8
IMMA ATE
Express Yourself (Edi...
Madonna
Madonna
5 plays
9
The Night (feat. Aliso...
Röyksopp
4 plays
10
Underworld
I Exhale
Underworld
4 plays 11
12
13
14
15
SOME NIGHTS
INVNATION
AUTOMATIC
Spock
VCMG
4 plays
Eraser E
Nine Inch Nails
4 plays
Some Nights E
Fun.
4 plays
Gratitude
VNV Nation
4 plays
Funk 4 Peace...
Fort Knox Five
4 plays

Again, I’ve listened to many of these tracks far more times this year than is represented here, and have listed to a lot of other stuff as well, probably far more than the 4-8 times shown in these screenshots. That said, it’s not really that bad of a sampler of what I listen to.

So…it’s a weird list, and only somewhat representative of my tastes. But hey, since I have a limited sample size to work from because I don’t stream much of what I listen to, it’s what we get.