Cooked
“I cross out words so that you will see them more.” — Jean-Michel Basquiat
Playing Games
I used to think that I would never get bored of playing games, but I guess I just don’t enjoy it as much anymore.
Schedule
Next semester, I will be taking Ma 2, CS 156a, Ec 11, CS 24, and some hum.
Just kidding, it’s impossible to get hums as a sophomore. 😝
Instead, I will probably take Ma 6 or CS 13 or Ph 2a.
Quantum Computing
AI is the big thing right now, so of course everyone is taking courses in machine learning like CS 156ab and 155.
However, I get the sense that it might be more interesting to go into quantum computing because Caltech is getting a new quantum research building, and it seems like big things will happen in quantum computation in the next few decades.
Music really brings us all together
W restringed the cello 🎻 in the Avery music room so I learned the first five seconds of Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1, which I first heard in 2nd grade in music class.
Mr. A
A lot of things carry over from my elementary school experience on the violin but I think that cello is a bit more effort to play.
It’s harder to press down on the strings and it’s hard to figure out where the notes actually are compared to guitar. 🎸
Furthermore, you need to really stretch your fingers to use your pinky to press the 3rd note, and you need to use good posture and keep your left arm up the whole time.
Guitar Teacher
I’m not sure if I’m qualified to teach guitar, but I think that I do have some fun tips for people.
- Learn to play 1 or 2 chords per day. If you try to learn more, you probably won’t be able to remember that well.
- Practice switching between chords. You can’t learn rhythm without being able to switch fast.
- Cut your left hand’s nails. It’s harder to play with nails.
- Have fun! If you aren’t having fun, then you’ll quit and lose your progress.
Belief
Even though the following advice sounds like some positivity BS, it’s very important to believe in yourself.
For example, I thought there was no way I could play guitar and sing for “Treasure” by Bruno Mars because the guitar is offset from the lyrics.
However, after two days of practice, I’m able to play it decently well, although without all the fancy flairs.
My band Shadow Garden is performing at Faculty Dessert Night, and we originally planned to do two songs, but it became three songs after the rehearsal at the start of the week.
Treasure to Trash 🚮
After performing at Faculty Dessert Night, I can confidently say that I did not have enough practice on “Treasure” because I
- Played two semitones below the actual song for the first 10 seconds
- Forgot the lyrics in the second verse
- Forgot the bridge doesn’t come before the second verse
- Was singing an octave down on the chorus
So, it didn’t go that well, but it was definitely better than two Open Mic Nights ago.
Speaking of which, we are doing the same three songs we did at Faculty Dessert Night for the Open Mic Night on the coming Friday, so hopefully I remember the lyrics this time.
I think I’m pretty hard on myself because other people said it was good but I don’t know if they actually mean it.
Habits
Although I’m going to the gym relatively often, my eating habits seems to counter the calories that I burn.
Every time after I go to the gym, I head to RD and get a drink, usually lemonade (half-water) or iced black tea. However, until recently, I also bought a cinnamon roll.
Unfortunately, the price of eating a cinnamon roll is eating a cinnamon roll, which is 300 calories.
At that point, it’s as if I didn’t go to the gym at all; so, I decided I would stop eating pastries.
Sleep is much more important though in so many ways. Also, drinking more water is a good way to feel less hungry.
Keep the tape rolling
I recently watched a YouTube video about the Prince, a musician who could play any instrument and created full songs every day.1
Although it may not be possible to reach that level of creation, that’s not what really matters for making art.
What the ideal art means to me is having no fear about before or after and only caring about doing my best in this moment.
Figures, huh
My drawing journey started just more than six months ago on Nov 28, 2023.
I’ve been doing figure drawings of live models for maybe 1.25 quarters now, I think the first one I did was on Feb 28 in the second quarter.
Mr. B doesn’t teach much, but when he does, it’s very important. He said to use different colors to mark confident boundaries and shade. After the next drawing he took a look and I said, “I’m using colors!”
He replied, “Well, you’re in the right place!” 😂
May 28, 2024: 15 minute pose
Every time I make a good drawing, I worry about how hard it will be to draw something better than it. My friend O said that it’s a bad idea to think that way, which I agree with.
Prince’s audio engineer said that he always viewed every day not as an attempt to create a masterpiece, but as another day of adding to the catalog.
Art is not about improving what’s on the canvas; it’s about improving yourself.
Ceci n’est pas une pipe
Another good thing about art is that it reminds me of different ideas and helps draw connections.
For example, after watching a video about Rene Magritte, a father of surrealism, I noticed that the Garfield “You are not immune to propaganda” 😼 paradox mural in Ricketts is actually a version of Magritte’s “This is not a pipe” 🎨 painting.
What’s new?
At the start of the year, I said that I could meet everyone at Caltech if I met one new person every day.
That was clearly an overestimation because meeting new people randomly becomes very awkward at some time after the first two months.
However, it is still very valuable to meet new people because you might like them a lot.
L Guesses
For some reason, T asked how long 15 cm is, so everyone at Red Door (E and S) chucked2 their hats in the ring.
Three Caltech students guess how long 15 cm is…
S guessed the bottom one (distance from the top of the table), E guessed the middle one, and I guessed the top one.
Now, S and E are incredibly accomplished people, but there is definitely always something new to learn every day.
What’s old?
I actually forgot the names of a lot of people I knew in high school. Maybe it’s just because there aren’t actually a lot of people I still talk to.
Also, I forgot many details about people that I’ve met earlier in the year at Caltech. It all just goes to show that there’s no need to worry about bad first impressions.
Even with the first school year ending, there is plenty more time to make a bad second, third, fourth… Nth impression.
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