Prior to September, 2022, I took a five month sabbatical from work. Here are some of the things I worked on:

• Improved l1, my Lisp dialect written in Go, and wrote the beginnings of a roguelike-inspired mini-game in that language.
• Made a tiny 1-d roguelike in Python.
• Improved my Scheme implementation in Python.
• Tinkered with Common Lisp projects, including this library of functions inspired by Clojure, a text-based histogramming library, and a bookkeeping program for War Permutations.
• Did the first 50+ Common Lisp problems on Exercism to train myself better in this old, strange, fast language.
• Paintings and relief prints. Example: War Permutations print. See also works in progress here, or my Instagram feed.
• Practiced Python programming (again!). I did a lot of Python development up until about 2014, after which I switched to mostly Clojure for day jobs. But I still like Python and it's fun to get back to it for awhile.
• Learned about Quantum Computing by reading books and playing with Qiskit.
• Worked on the Web site you're reading.
• Journaling and working on improving my handwriting.

• Implemented a Lisp in Go, with detours into Crafting Interpreters and Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs.
• Learned the Go programming language. I've written a few modestly useful things and am really enjoying the experience after years of focusing primarily on Lisps and functional programming. Go emphasizes a different kind of simplicity than Clojure does, and it seems to occupy a sweet spot on the speed vs. power spectrum. I'm regularly stunned by how fast Go programs are, including the code used to build this site.
• Learned some Mandarin (reading, mostly). I got my vocabulary up to about four hundred words. It's a beautiful language, and a slog to learn, but thanks to technology it is definitely possible!

Until late April, 2022 I was a staff software engineer at OppFi, where I wrote software (mostly in Clojure), mentored and taught other engineers, and tried to improve process, code quality, and architecture wherever I could. I spent nearly four years at OppFi, learned a lot, helped a lot of people, and am happy to move onto other things.