2024: By the Numbers

How it felt

It’s been a good year. I’ve felt more engaged, more sociable, and more cheerful. By all means let’s look at the stats, but the most important things in life can be the hardest to measure objectively.

Having spent way too much of the last decade focused on work, I wanted to spread out a little. I wanted to explore new areas, learn new things, and see what stuck. For the most part, it worked a treat.

Film

This was the first year I stayed up to watch the Oscars. I also managed to watch all 10 Best Picture nominees in time. My predictions were a little off - I didn’t get the fuss over Poor Things - but it was fun to give it a go.

According to Letterboxd I’ve watched 225 films this year, totalling 397 hours. That includes a few shorts and stand-up specials, but overall I have to say that seems like a lot. Possibly too many.

I also joined a film club, which has turned out to be a great choice. At first I was nervous that I wouldn’t have much to say, but it turns out that most people at a film club are introverts too. Who knew?

My top 5 new releases of 2024:

  1. Dune: Part Two
  2. Anora
  3. It’s What’s Inside
  4. Conclave
  5. Didi

I also had a blast at rep screenings. Brazil at the UPP knocked my socks off, while Coen Brothers season at the Phoenix was terrific from start to finish (Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Big Lebowski). Hundreds of Beavers and Grand Theft Hamlet were bizarre cinema experiences that I will remember for a long time.

My birthday movie this year was a rewatch of Logan Lucky. Adam Driver is an incredible comedic actor.

And at home I managed to watch some real gems, along with a lot of bizarre nonsense. Midnight Run, Modern Times and Le Samourai rank right up there as some of the best movies I’ve ever seen.

Music

This year felt like a return to form. It’s taken a long time for the live events industry to recover from COVID-19, and even now I’m not sure things are entirely back to normal. setlist.fm says I went to 16 live shows this year, which is the most since before lockdown. 5 of those shows were here in Oxford. It feels terrific being able to cycle home from a gig and be in bed by 11. Am I losing my edge? It’s generous to suggest I had an edge to begin with.

According to last.fm I listened to 17872 songs this year, from 1717 different artists. According to Spotify, that’s a little over 100 hours.

My top 5 artists of the year were

  1. Bruce Springsteen (478 plays)
  2. NOFX (215 plays)
  3. The Smashing Pumpkins (192 plays)
  4. Death Cab for Cutie (179 plays)
  5. The Menzingers (175 plays)

I saw all 5 of those bands live this year, so clearly I’ve been doing a lot of gig revision. This is the second year in a row where The Boss tops my most played. Springsteen at Wembley was an unforgettable experience. Maybe next time I’ll manage to drag some mates along…

The other live highlight was All Points East, with The Postal Service playing a breathtaking set. Give Up is one of my go-to comfort albums. It got heavy rotation while I was at uni, but it’s stayed in the mix since then too. I never thought I would get the chance to see those songs performed live. I went absolutely nuts for [We Will Become Silhouettes] and have no regrets.

A few other honourable mentions: Everything Everything were the only band I saw twice this year, which means they join the 5-timer-club. They just missed out on the top 5 artists (166 plays), but their latest release Mountainhead (68 plays) makes it into my top 5 most played albums of the year. They’ve been a reliable live act for many years, and the new songs now mean their live setlist has very few dull moments. Wunderhorse’s Midas (68 plays) is tied with Mountainhead for my most-played album release of 2024. It’s a cracker.

2025 looks set to be another great year for live shows, with tickets for Fat Dog, Justice, Doves, Viagra Boys, Cleopatrick, and (of course) Oasis already secured. Fingers crossed I can get a twicket for Bullet For My Valentine celebrating 20 years of The Poison - my most played album of 2024.

Sports

It went down to the wire but I hit my running and cycling goals for the year - 1200km total distance for each. I end the year with 1202km run and 1213km cycled.

In 2024 I decided to log every single bit of cycling I did, which included a lot of 10-15km rides to the cinema and back. The hope was that this would encourage me to cycle more. It did not. For 2025 I intend to keep the same distance goal, but without logging those short rides.

This has been my best year for running yet. This year has seen a lot of group runs, with GoodGym and Parkrun but also with RunTribe. For the most part that is great, but it does mean an injury could wipe out a big part of my social life.

My main time goal was to get my 10km time below 45 minutes, which I managed on the first attempt in February. I ran faster and further than ever, crossing the 30km barrier for the first time, before smashing my half marathon PB twice in a calendar year. I was dead chuffed with 1:42:12 at Hackney Half in May, but then I followed it up with an unreal 1:35:57 at Oxford Half in October. That may be the fastest half marathon I ever run.

One other running feat: I signed up for a marathon. I’ll be taking to the streets of Edinburgh in May 2025. Let’s get cracking!

The rest

It’s been a quiet year at work. This was deliberate, to some extent. After 8 years of startup it’s been nice to take a step back and focus on other areas. Next year I’ll push for some more challenging professional opportunities.

I’ve made some big progress on a side project: 737 commits is a decent effort for evenings and weekends, especially with everything else going on. More on this, I hope, as 2025 unfolds.

Goodreads says I read 40 books, totalling 11802 pages. My habit tracker reckons the page count is lower, around 9200 pages. The difference is probably due to audiobooks, which have continued to be a pleasant part of my gentle weekly wander to the grocery shops. I’ve written a lot privately, especially about the things I’ve read, but haven’t published very much at all. I’ll be looking to revisit that in 2025.

And finally, my health. I’m grateful for another year of good health, both physically and mentally. Over the festive period I hit two years sober, which has continued to help on the mental health side. Some time over the summer I lost my 500+ day Headspace streak, but this was somewhat of a blessing. My meditation practice had become a chore - something I did to keep the streak alive, rather than for the activity itself. After a few months of neglect I did start to notice a bit of a dip in my mood. I’ve started to meditate again, but it may be some time before I notice any effect.

I’m optimistic about 2025. I have a few major plans, most of which I’m keeping close to my chest. There are a couple of personal changes I need to make, but 2024 has shown some good steps in the right direction.