- More happened in 2023 than I ever imagined. I know the steady rhythm and the tolerance for error of my student days are gone for good. A butterfly flapping its wings can start a tornado.
- My current belief: you have to go through some unusual things — eating, drinking, messing around all count — so that at the end of the year there is something worth savoring. Life may work the same way.
- If work squeezes life too hard, you lose the time to think and to experience. That time is not only the hours at the office; it is also the recovery time after getting home.
- Sometimes there is no need to worry too much — what is the worst that can happen? But work must be done with care and responsibility. My biggest worry now is that my professionalism in this industry is far from enough. Without the platform behind me, how would the market price me — how much value can I actually create?
- Treat interactions between people from a win-win angle.
- Have your own judgment about metrics. Care less about some, care more about others.
- Having a kitten really can change a person’s state of mind.
- The economy and the job market make me feel insecure about my finances.
- I did poorly on health and social life this year. Room to improve.
Most of what I read and watched below was unplanned. All serendipity.
Books
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant · Designing Data-Intensive Applications · Make Something Wonderful · Yu Jun’s Product Methodology · Within the System · My Altay
TV Series
Huanyan · The Knockout
Films
The Wandering Earth II · Top Gun: Maverick · Chang’an · Journey to the West · Creation of the Gods I · No More Bets · Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse · Yao—Chinese Folktales · We Made a Beautiful Bouquet · The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse · Togo · The Call of the Wild · The Blind Side
Music
Negatives of the Future · Goodbye, Kasukabe · Cheng Aiying · Life Is Elsewhere · Cloudy Day · I Remember · simple times · Crystal Ball · All about Anna · Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now · Ferrari · Anywhere Is · With an Orchid · Nijamena
Documentaries
American Genius · “Lao Fan Gu”: Zheng Xiusheng · Life Is Fruity
Variety Shows
Go for Happiness · Happy Old Friends · HaHaHaHaHa · An Exciting Offer · Friendly Love
Bilibili and Weibo
legal Boys · Guozijun Can’t Edit · Yutang Yisu · the dance drama Dream of the Red Chamber · Hardware Tea Talk’s PC-building tutorials · Where Does China Come From? — a geographic view · “History books are too small to hold one person’s magnificent life; history books are too big, holding five thousand years of China” · Lan Xi · Boguji · Baoyu xp · Chai Knows
Podcasts
Ah! It’s Cats! · Northwest of the West Bank · Joe Rogan
Blogs
CoolShell (Chen Hao) · Product Musings · Ruan Yifeng’s Blog
Information Management
Obsidian · RSS (Feedly / Agr Reader) · Total Commander
Trips
Dongguan · Shenzhen · Yangzhou · Zhenjiang
Out and About
Pearl Spring · Hongshan Zoo · He Garden, Dongguan Street, and Slender West Lake in Yangzhou · Beigu Hill and Jinshan in Zhenjiang · ice skating at the Olympic Sports Center · Xiangshan Lake Park · Green Expo Garden · Nanjing Museum · Xuanwu Lake · the European-style town in Dongguan
Food Exploration
Guolifang hotpot · Chidori yakiniku · Hu Chao’s egg-stuffed flatbread · fried chicken legs and egg burgers on Kexiang · Lixiahe local restaurant · Xiangru rice noodles · Azhu spicy skewers · Leo’s Pizza · Along fried snacks · Honglu tea banquet · Shui Lin Jian · Yiyuan Restaurant · Zhenjiang pot-cover noodles · Wei the Crayfish God · Yangzhou morning tea · Xingzhou Bistro
Games
Honor of Kings · Forza Horizon 5 · Street Fighter · It Takes Two · Elden Ring
Tinkering
Built a personal blog with HALO · flashed a TV box with Armbian · Midjourney · set up a multi-node Linux server environment
New Family Member
Leduo, a cat.