This article is a record and reflection on life from 2024-01-28 to 2024-02-03.
Back to Macondo#
In the second half of last year, friends in the reading group chose to read "One Hundred Years of Solitude" after finishing "Pale Blue Dot." Last Sunday, we, spread across three continents, finally found time to hold a sharing session online.
My reading experience improved in the middle of the book, but unfortunately, I encountered final exams and had to set the book aside. However, when I picked it up again after the exams, the names of the characters left me a bit confused, and I failed to read it multiple times. Although I eventually finished the book, I still felt a sense of regret due to these small setbacks. So I wanted to hear what other book friends had gained during this reading session.
Later, the book friends discussed a dilemma in reading this book: What do we expect to gain after finishing a book? Especially when reading classics like "One Hundred Years of Solitude," is it a regret if we do not read it in conjunction with Colombia's history? Reflecting on this, I realized it was a dilemma I faced before; whenever I prepared to read a classic, I always felt unprepared: I would want to do background research first, but then I would procrastinate and never actually open the book. One of the book friends provided an enlightening answer; she mentioned a tapestry that can be appreciated from different angles, distances, and light, offering different aesthetic experiences. Reading is similar; the entrance and exit of a book are both open. As readers, we have the freedom to choose our entrance and exit, and many books (including "One Hundred Years of Solitude") can be interesting even as pure story collections.
She inspired me to think about the so-called "utilitarianism" of reading; when we hope too much to gain a distinctly different aesthetic experience from classics, the result often backfires. We should have confidence in these books and in the authors, and interact with the texts with a more peaceful mindset. The personalized experience arising from resonance is the most precious part of the reading process. Always waiting to be pleased, educated, or surprised is actually no different from the state of scrolling through social media. I recalled what Lee Chang-ho said in his autobiography "No Need to Be Greedy for Victory": the ones who truly enjoy the fun of Go are the amateur players who are not obsessed with winning or the prizes behind it.
Looking back, my previous fear of classics was gradually dissolved when I read "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame" with friends last year. Although I still do not have a deeper understanding of the history of Paris as depicted by Mr. Hugo, the death of Fantine still evokes a sense of compassion in me.
Additionally, when discussing "One Hundred Years of Solitude," it is hard to overlook the names of the characters in the book. When we complained about this together, we gained another kind of joy from reading.
Going to Berlin#
A college classmate who had dinner with me in Xiamen last year messaged me saying he was coming to Berlin for an exhibition. I was happy and thought it would be nice to go out with Xiong Xiaohua after Valentine's Day.
Thinking about my understanding of Berlin, it seems to all come from World War II. In the book "There Are No Women in War," Alexievich recounts the story of a Soviet female soldier who fought alongside her boyfriend in the Siege of Leningrad, then drove a tank all the way to Berlin, writing their vows on the Reichstag. Even when I suggested this trip to Xiong Xiaohua, I suddenly saw the book "Archives: A Personal History" by Ideal Country on my bedside. The author attempts to review his life in East Germany through the Stasi's surveillance notes, and I hope to visit the Stasi Museum and the former Berlin Wall during this trip.
This time, I can also catch the 74th Berlin Film Festival. We haven't looked at the specific film list yet, but we'll see if we have time to experience the atmosphere on-site. I still remember at the 64th Berlin Film Festival, "The Grand Budapest Hotel," "Daylight Fireworks," and "Blind Massage" competed for the Golden Bear, and ultimately, Diao Yinan's "Daylight Fireworks" won the award.
Wonderful Connections#
One day, I felt a moment of connection when I was listening to "Sparkle" and checking the wiki of the artist Tatsuro Yamashita, only to discover that his wife is Mariya Takeuchi, who sang "Plastic Love." Both are musicians I really like; although their styles are slightly different, with Yamashita's being more passionate and Takeuchi's carrying a beautiful nostalgia from city pop, the arrangements in their songs are quite stunning. In Yamashita's "Sparkle" and "Ride On Time," as well as Takeuchi's "Plastic Love" and "Dream's Continuation," the densely layered bass consistently leads the rhythm of the songs, while the well-timed pauses provide rich movement without overshadowing the melody, giving it enough space to flourish. Both of them have indirectly influenced my transition from guitar to bass (aka Kings of Rhythm). Interestingly, my bass was unable to output audio to the speakers due to a detached pickup before the winter break, but last week, in that moment of connection, I managed to fix it 😆 and now I can casually play at home.
Echoes of Time#
I never expected that one day I would heal myself.
I habitually use logseq to record daily notes and have established a morning diary template. When I started writing this week's reflection and entered the start date of last week, I suddenly discovered a note from a year ago, January 28, 2023. Curious, I opened it and found the following record:
Completed the first lesson of the Headspace Basic meditation course. After a long time, I meditated again and felt that my focus and control over my thoughts were not as good as before. Of course, my mind has been quite chaotic lately, which is one reason.
During the first meditation, my wandering attention missed the prompt to close my eyes, and I continued the subsequent exercises with my eyes open. The second meditation also missed the prompt to close my eyes, and I found the point to close my eyes through the progress bar. Later, during the body awareness process, I was also very unfocused, constantly thinking about work. Although I am quite sure that by this time next year, I will have basically forgotten these things.
After the first meditation ended, I still gained some headspace, allowing me to temporarily detach from the whirlpool of thoughts. At that moment, I suddenly noticed the winter sunlight shining on the wardrobe beside me, looking very soft, a gentle light in a brand new day.
"Although I am quite sure that by this time next year, I will have basically forgotten these things." Now, I have proven my prediction, as I cannot remember what was troubling me at that time :)
In this self-dialogue that transcends time and space, I feel that the difficulties I am currently encountering in my studies and career have all been dissolved.
This incident also made me reflect on the power of recording.
This is my 5th weekly reflection. To be honest, when I set this goal last year, I didn't even think I would go this far. When I sit in front of the computer each week to review the past week, what I first feel is the power of forgetting. In such a short week, too many events and emotions have lost their details due to forgetting, leaving behind fragments of time occupied by emptiness, becoming a huge question mark. I am used to reviewing the previous day in the morning of a new day, and sometimes due to time constraints, I miss recording the previous day. When I try to record the skipped day the next day, I realize that the past day has already become vague, and I futilely try to trace my memory with words. This scene is somewhat similar to being trapped in insomnia in Macondo.
In these 5 weeks, my efforts in recording have gradually promoted small changes in my life. It's somewhat like when you always carry a camera when you go out; you become more aware of the scenery around you. Even if you don't take satisfactory photos in a day, this shift in awareness still provides you with a new way to actively interact with your surroundings. Unlike photography, this more personal recording has no unified standards and does not involve being scrutinized by others, allowing me to view and record the surrounding events more honestly and neutrally. In this sense, recording itself is also a meditative process. This experience reminds me of a quote on the Notion official website:
We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us. -- Marshall McLuhan
Data Science#
Last week, I attended the school's Best Thesis Symposium and met a classmate working on portfolio optimization. We discussed the dataset, and he kindly shared learning materials on time-series analysis, as well as data sources Fred and CRSP.
At the same time, another classmate's paper introduced me to the new concept of XAI (eXplainable AI), which inspired me greatly. This direction can help understand machine learning models and attempt to solve the black box problem. On one hand, unknown risks are more dangerous than known risks, especially in financial risk management, where risk control models tend to underestimate the tail risk represented by black swan events. On the other hand, this direction can address algorithmic discrimination issues behind the black box, such as algorithms considering factors like gender, religious beliefs, and genetic information as important considerations in model output. XAI can help organizations better understand the models they use in business to reduce compliance risks.
Django! Django!#
This week, I received a surprise from Manning Publication.
After completing the manuscript review of "Django in Action" the week before last, I thought I had finally finished a piece of work and could spend more time preparing for my studies, so I forgot about it. Then in the middle of the week, I received an email from Manning Publication informing me that due to my previous work, I could choose a reward: either an electronic version of the book and a $50 token or a physical copy of the book. Although the physical copy has more commemorative significance, since the book has not yet been officially published and is expected to take 4-6 weeks to receive, I chose the electronic version.
As someone who enjoys flipping through books, I am quite happy to have participated in the publishing process of a book, even in this small role.
Reading#
This week, I saw the expansion of chips in the civilian and military markets in "Chip War."
In the civilian market, Sony's "license it" strategy allowed it to leverage the mature mass production technology of Texas Instruments and American companies, combined with its product design capabilities, to emerge in the consumer electronics field. In contrast, the Soviet Union's "copy it" strategy could not keep up with the rapidly advancing chip technology under Moore's Law. Moreover, the bloated institutions and inefficient resource allocation made it difficult for entrepreneurs to innovate, leading to a lack of a "star-studded" moment in the American chip industry. For example, during this time, Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore left Fairchild Semiconductor to establish Intel (INTegrated ELectronics), making their first pot of gold in civilian memory (DRAM).
In the military market, at that time, the United States, mired in the Vietnam War, faced the important issue of how to improve missile accuracy, which brought military orders to Texas Instruments. The precision-strike weapons born from these orders not only provided funding for the U.S. chip industry chain but also drew the Soviet Union into this chip-based competition.
Weekly Gems#
Reading#
I heard about this book on the "Cultural Limitations" podcast. I really liked the content. Initially, I thought it was a documentary-style book based on the title, but after listening to it, I found that the author, Juan Yan, was engaging in more formal literary creation. He reflects on literature while working in delivery, considers the impact of "The Catcher in the Rye," empathizes with Mrs. Woolf, and cares about individuals' psychological landscapes. These reflections, which I thought could only arise in leisurely life, surprisingly thrive in a busy life, prompting me to imagine what kind of spiritual life we could lead.
An interesting detail is that Juan Yan is the pen name of the author Wang Jibing. The characters "胡，" "安，" and "焉" are all pronouns indicating questions in classical Chinese:
- 胡: "Why not return?" from "Return to the Countryside."
- 安: "How can a sparrow know the ambitions of a swan?" from "The Chen She Family."
- 焉: "How can one get a tiger cub without entering the tiger's den?"
Wang Jibing uses these three characters as a pen name, accurately conveying the instability of life itself.
This book is one of the reference books for my new semester courses. In Data Science, statistics is still an unavoidable theme, and I plan to study it well this time.
Language Learning#
I never expected that last week, a Dutch person taught me how to learn Japanese 😓. As someone who enjoys Japanese anime, he learned Japanese and went to Japan as an exchange student. He strongly recommended this website's plugin, which converts anime videos into Anki cards with the original sound.
Vidanki is another Anki card-making application that can read the original sound of YouTube videos and create Anki cards for learning. I plan to use this software for my future English studies.
Coding#
-
Google launched an online free course on machine learning from basics to advanced.
-
🦀 comprehensive-rust is a Rust learning course launched by the Google Android team. I found this tutorial to be very interactive, so I saved it.
Miscellaneous#
-
40 questions is a set of questions used by Obsidian CEO Steph Ango for annual reviews. I plan to use it to organize my summary for 2023.
-
gwern.net is the blog site of Gwern Branwen. Previously, I knew nothing about this person, but through the wonderful internet, I discovered this elegantly styled and interesting website. I particularly liked a quote he placed on his Me page:
The reader lives faster than life, the writer lives slower. -- James Richardson, “Even More Aphorisms and Ten-Second Essays from Vectors 3.0”