April 2024, first week

There's a silly thing I started doing in 2008: during the month of April I take one photo every day to “document” my day-to-day life for my future self.

The idea, at least initially, was to be as “natural” and “honest” as possible, and to take pictures of myself doing all kind of things during the month — from household chores to work to time with friends to special events. In the first years I was much more meticulous about selecting varied and representative moments each day, and about using timers, mirrors, stands and even other people to help me capture the moment as faithfully as I could. I always thought: “I want my 80-year-old self to be able to peek at my life as it is today”, because I have a bad memory in general and I think I will like that. And indeed, it's been “only” sixteen years since I started, and I already enjoy browsing past April photos and reading the comments I wrote at the time.

I always posted the photos online, but hid the most intimate ones from strangers: those are visible only to family and/or to friends — and a few are only available to me (that's why you probably see fewer than 30 photos in each of my albums and sets online).

In the goold old days of Flickr, a bunch of friends and acquaintances liked the idea and even played along for a few installments. It was good fun for one month every year, some of us who had met mostly over the interwebs got to know each other a little better, and some people took it almost as seriously as I did. When we all most of us abandoned Flickr, I used Pixelfed for a while (eg, April 2021 here and here). During the transition, I never got around to publishing the photos I took one year (2020, I think). Some of those years I set myself a theme or a prompt for the month: “16:9 aspect ratio”, “black & white with dashes of colour”, “repetitions or reflections”, etc. And one year, I forgot to take one of the photos (but I have forgiven myself).

Anyway, here goes my first week of daily photos this year!

You will notice I've become much more careless (and shy) with time. I just don't have the time nor the motivation to occupy my mind so much with the daily photo as when I was childless and there was a small group of friends sharing and commenting on each other's photos. Back then, I sometimes tried hard to come up with something funny or creative, and spent a while shooting and retouching or creating some effects.

tripu of 2060, this is what your routine looked like in April 2024:

Monday 1^st
With the kids at home. Schools were closed but it was a working day, so I took the day off to look after them while my wife went to the office. We rode the bus to the local library (a little adventure).

Tuesday 2^nd
In the evening in Madrid, waiting at the doctor's for a check-up.

Wednesday 3^rd
At the gym during my lunch break (WFH).

Thursday 4^th
Commuting. On the train, going to the office, reading Y: The Last Man. I try to go to the office one day every week.

Friday 5^th
In the evening, at a local ball park with Miss Entropy and her classmates, celebrating a bunch of recent birthdays.

Saturday 6^th
With the family, eating in the open air a delicious paella made by my sister-in-law.

Sunday 7^th
Short biking route, ~50 km on picturesque local roads. I had to call the insurance and get them to send a mechanic with a portable battery to help me start the bike (again).

(→ Continue to the second week)