My name is Christer van der Meeren. This is my blog.
I’m incredibly privileged, to say the least. I live in Norway, a country regularly rated as the most stable and well-functioning in the world. I love my job. My largest disappointment with life so far has been the cancellation of Firefly, and although I wish there were more than 24 hours in a day, I have sufficient free time to pursue multiple hobbies and blog about them.
I mainly write about my interests. My primary motivation for writing is because it challenges me to reflect on my opinions. I enjoy reflection, whether it’s critical reflection on games or problems with spending time on hobbies. I enjoy the act of starting with a nearly subconscious idea, bringing it up into the conscious, pondering on it to get at the core, researching it, and refining it until it both sounds good and is consistent. For a couple more reasons why I blog, check out the post Why I blog.
As for my interests – in no particular order:
I enjoy programming. Programming was what I loved most about during my PhD in space physics, and I have yet to regret making a career switch from academia to software engineering. Programming stuff will be posted under “Tech”, which will also be the section for all other technically related posts that doesn’t fit under the other categories.
I enjoy reading. Reading expands my horizons, and through it I learn new stuff all the time. I read both fiction and non-fiction. My reading isn’t limited to books – I enjoy longreads on the web as well.
I enjoy gaming. Gaming lets me walk a thousand different worlds and live a thousand different lives. Gaming recharges my batteries, and good games make me see aspects of the real world in new ways. And of course, games push some buttons in my brain that like being pushed. I’m a bit more sceptical of that aspect of gaming.
I enjoy photography. This includes, but is not limited to, actually taking photos. Which I do way too little. I like both the technicalities of photography as well as the creative aspects of it, but find myself much less proficient at the latter.
I enjoy a lot of other stuff too, and I’m sure there’ll be a post or two about it from time to time.
If you enjoy something, please comment! From “Thanks!” to proper discussions, every comment is a huge boost to my motivation. :)
I hope you find something worth your time!