Areas of interest

2025-01-26 16:29

I've been clearing out my subscribed podcasts list because I've noticed I'm no longer listening to certain categories, and I don't want to have to think about what to listen to next, rather just play whatever is the most recent, knowing that it is something I'll want to listen to. I'm finding I have a certain list of categories that remain, and a certain list that I've dropped, all of which reflect a lifetime of "areas of interest" that ebb and flow in degrees of interest, depending on my current state. Nevertheless, if someone were to bring any of these areas up for discussion I will not hesitate to search back into my memory banks, and hopefully have a good yarn.

My bookshelf is similar, I have a bunch of categories of non-fiction that I consume for months on end, and others I neglect, until the time is right. Same also for web content.

So, what are these areas of interest? I'll start with what is probably obvious from the content on this website, and move onto those dormant ones which a reader may or may not have guessed. Is there a link to these? Well yes, it's me. I'm drawn to these things because something internally is sparked. One interest often leads to another, but circumstance, state of mind, relationships lead to interests as well.

Running

This would be the most consistent area of interest I've had my whole life. I've been running since 2008, the only time I've stopped is due to illness or injury. I don't consume much content on it other than a few books (I actually can't stand running podcasts), but rather just do it.

Computering

I'll keep this term pretty broad - it covers all my nerdy stuff like coding, web building, Linux, weird phone apps, plain ol tinkering, social media (not necessarily use-of), fediverse, smol web, small web, terminals, PKM and note-taking systems etc. I've been in and out of things since mIRC and warez days, but really this last year I've dived a bit deeper, and it seems to be sticking.

Data visualisation

I've had a couple of jobs where I've had to present data to a range of audiences, but I enjoy making graphs and charts with my own personal data (mainly running). Ties in with computering.

Gardening and permaculture

Ever since Jean-Martin Fortier and Curtis Stone visited Sydney and talked about backyard market gardening, I was hooked. I subsequently did a permaculture course and consistently turn my lawn upside down and into vegetables wherever I live.

Systems Thinking

My head is always sparking connections between one thing and another (who's isn't), but I like to read about this stuff. Patrick Hoverstadt's book The Grammar of Systems - From order to chaos and back explained things best for me. It is a deep topic. Systems are all around (and in) us, and understanding them is a useful toolkit in itself to tackle many things.

Creativity, art and expression

This is a newer area I am interested in, or at least aware of, and linked to a lot of things above areas. Learning about the areas allow me to create things and express myself through these, maybe not explicitly, but in fragments. Learning about creativity helps to give me the bandwidth to create, and is something I've realised recently I want to do more of.

Trading

I picked up an interest in trading financial markets when I had a back injury so wasn't running or gardening. I was first introduced to it around 2002 with one of Dad's workmate's showing us about CFD trading, which was way too complicated for me at that time. The injury many years lately got me on my own path which was more around technical analysis, and then eventually systematic trading using tools like Amibroker to write systems that scan the market and return buy/sell orders based on criteria I've set. I went to a few ATAA meetups when I lived in Sydney, but just tinker and read at home now (usually moreso when I'm injured). Lately I've been using a tactical asset allocation service to do monthly trades taking me no longer than 15 minutes a month. I would love to dive back into Amibroker, but I think I'm getting my technical fix in other obvious places for the moment.

Organisational development, continuous improvement, business

This is an interesting one because I think this topic ultimately burnt me out last year by leading me into a role that was interesting enough on paper, but ultimately not for me. Similar to Systems Thinking, these topics are very fascinating to read about, giving great understanding of how organisations work and improve (or fail), but if I had stayed focused on the doing part of the roles I was in, and learning how to do them better, I probably would still be in one of those roles and enjoying it. Anyway this area led me to a role not great for me, but I'm out through that now and into a new career completely which is waaaay better than anything I've had before (at least that's what current me thinks). Out of any books on my bookshelf I doubt I will return to these.

That's it for now. Of course I'm interested in other things, but these are the big ones. This kind of turned out to be a bit of an "About" page.