This is some info about myself, that I didn't feel like putting into my
~/.project. A mini-autobiography of sorts. If you want things like my
contact info, please finger(1) aa at this server, or see project.txt on
the web/gopher/gemini.


TIMELINE

My memories of what has happened before 2014 are a bit foggy, so that may
be not entirely accurate.

2000: get born in Moscow
2005: finally manage to pronounce the Russian rhotic sound! still hate
      it after, though
2007: first year at school; am hated by peers for being smart, short
      and girly
2008: the teacher tells us to be quiet; other children violate that
      order immediately; I don't join; am punished along with the rest
      anyway; begin internalising a disdain for authority
2009: probably the first time I am told that I am just "not a language
      learner"
2010: teacher tells me to promise that I'll receive a 5 (i.e. the
      highest mark) for the upcoming test; I am confused -- isn't she
      the one who decides?
2011: we move to a different apartment, I lose all of my pre-school
      friends
2012: mum hires a private English tutor, and I switch Minecraft to
      English; most other programs on my computer are soon to follow
2013: learn a bit of HTML; love it, but don't know what to do with it
2014: Putin annexes Crimea; the ruble plummets, and everyone starts
      hating Ukrainians; I begin googling "how to emigrate"
2015: move to a school for the mathematically inclined, get familiar
      with Pascal; have some friends again, but don't trust them
2016: switch to Python
2017: teacher tells me to leave the school, and go back to one for
      non-mathematically-inclined after I fail a test I didn't care
      about; I proceed to pass most other tests as usual
2018: graduate from school only to immediately get into a cybersecurity
      bachelor program to avoid army conscription; make some pretty bad
      friends there
2019: conclude that the only thing way in which the university is better
      than school is that they don't care if I show up or not; proceed
      to stay at home and play video games all day -- just in time for
      COVID!
2020: install Linux for the first time (later switch to OpenBSD), begin
      reading lots of nonfiction, and actually doing stuff besides
      playing video games; university "friends" do not approve
2021: fire my toxic "friends"
2022: Putin invades Ukraine, and I get my bachelor's diploma; instead of
      going for a master's, I go for a job, because the IT and CS
      workers are now exempt from conscription; coworkers turn out to be
      pigs, and money to be the only redeeming thing about it all (the
      military commisar doesn't seem to care for my exemption)
2023: notice that I have "just about enough" money; terrified of further
      inaction, secretly prepare the documents, and, on the last work
      day of the year, tell the boss I'm leaving
2024: am renting an apartment by the Kutaisi opera house, making money
      from a remote job at 34 times the hourly rate (though only 2
      monthly) over the previous shit-show; meeting people from England
      and New Zealand; thinking about how to get a residency, and create
      a business


A LITTLE ABOUT ME

My name is Alexander. I am a free software developer and a cosmopolite.
I love learning, but hate bigotry and hypocrisy. I grew up in the
gulag-land, but now I am free, and will not exchange that for anything
in the world.

I do most of my computing on an old ThinkPad, running OpenBSD. I try to
avoid social media as much as possible, and I keep my Android phone in
the cupboard most of the time. I don't read news, don't watch TV, and
at most play a film, or a video game once in a moth, or two.

I used to read lots of fiction when I was younger, but now I read
non-fiction almost exclusively. I still like getting through a couple of
chapters of a novel before I go to sleep.

I used to be very "busy" all the time, mostly due to spending an
enormous amount of time at school/university/office. I am not anymore.
I am in control of my time. Now that I am a free man, and don't have to
do what someone else tells me to, I try to find an effective approach to
most things, and end up doing them faster and better.


LESSONS LEARNED

When I was about 21, it dawned upon me that a lot of the things I used
to believe were false, and a lot of the rules I used to live by had a
negative influence on me. Here are a few things I learned from my
mistakes (and successes) so far:

- Disregard unsolicited advice, specifically:
  + Never believe absolute statements. (Even this one ;)
  + Never believe people who say that something is impossible.
- Believe in yourself. No one else will. But if you do you'll be able
  to achieve anything you want.
  + But don't confuse belief with wishful thinking. These are completely
    different things.
- Freedom is the best.
- If you are in a bad environment, change it.
- Raw intellect might get you through the basics, but it's never enough
  for important things. When you set your mind to something, spend your
  time preparing, or you'll miss all the opportunities.
- Take walks.
- Read books.
- There's nothing like having friends. But assholes are not worth your
  time. Which ones you get largely depends on your environment. Seek
  better environment.