what's happening
math
I've slowed down a bit, but I'm up to chapter 5 of Basic Mathematics. It can feel a bit repetitive, but it's been good to deepen my understanding of algebra.
machine learning
Although I don't do a lot of LLM/genAI work, I have done a fair amount of "traditional" ML in the past. It's been a good year since I've seriously done any ML work, so I'm re-reading the StatQuest ML and neural networks books. Great choices for learning concepts without needing a computer in front of you, by the way.
lisp
Scheme was the first language that I used that made programming click. I hadn't used it seriously in a while, however. I decided to delve into Common Lisp (using the CL Cookbook as a guide) and Clojure, and am having a good time... mostly. I don't love CL or Clojure syntax, but it's not bothersome enough to stop me. It annoys me less than the C# I have to use on a daily basis.
I decided not to use Scheme because I feel that CL and Clojure work better for my uses (mainly server-based and CLI work). I have used Racket in the past, but I feel that the Racket team is being distracted by other things a bit too much for my liking.
Last updated 2026-09-01.