2025! What is it good for?

This is a submission for the 2025 New Year Writing challenge: Compiling 2025.

I haven't set goals for myself before. I expect either huge disappointment or inconsolable joy, nothing in between.

Hobbies

Finish the legendary relic in Guild Wars 2

This one is a gimmie, and should be complete in about 14 weeks, so long as I play enough.

Knit a patch with a name in it

I've been learning to knit, on and off, during 2024. I want to be able to combine two different colours of yarn so that I can create a patch that has someone's name in it.

Do something with a story I wrote

In 2023 I finished NaNoWriMo with 50000 words that don't really make a coherent story, so I will analyse what I have and turn it into something readable.

Side projects

QR code generator

I want to create a python library for generating QR codes with arbitrary data, possibly making multiple codes if the data is too much for one.

Proof of concept turn based Android game

I want to make a turn based game for Android. I don't know what the game is yet, but the gimmick is that the turns are transmitted over SMS or email or blue tooth, so no need for a server.

Fix up my website.

My current website (matthewellen.co.uk) looks awful. I need to take some time to put it to better use.

Career goals

Learn Rust

Pretty self explanatory. I have written a fair amount of C, but I'm currently mostly writing python and I'd like to keep up with trends in lower level languages.

Learn about managing people

I think it might be time to face my fears and learn how to be a team lead, so I can find a better paying rôle, hopefully in the same company.

That's about it. If I manage the knitting one I'll consider this year a success.