Thought Diary - Upside Down Snow Globe

I like the night.  I have already written a post about it: Night Sky is Never Dark - Beauty in Darkness. However, I still want to write more about my favorite time of the day.  Art by dandragneel . Busy Daylight.  Daytime is the time when everyone goes to school or work and does stuff. I think after staying indoors for many years (at school and at home) my body has become a vampire. I do not particularly like the sunlight anymore. Often it is too intense and blinds me.  However, I do appreciate day moments when the temperature is slightly chill, the sun is not at its full brightness, and clouds are decorating a brilliant blue sky. Yes! I would love to lay on a slightly sloped field of grass and enjoy the beauty of nature. Unfortunately, that is not every day.  More so than ever, there are cars, buildings, noises around us that distract us. When day comes, the world becomes a beehive. People are rushing everywhere ceaselessly and making ...

When someone asked me what's my favorite book I casually went to two series: One, Eragon  by Christopher Paolini; two, The Magicians  by Lev Grossman. I like both books for a similar reason: they veer from the usual fantasy quest leading to a surreal romantic relationship. I remember the ending of Eragon when Eragon and Arya share their true names (that is probably the most romantic part in the book along with Eragon's purple mental picture creation of Arya). In the end, fate separated them. The bittersweet ending just tugs at my heartstrings.  Art by xLocky . Bittersweet to absolutely bitter.  The Magicians, on the other hand, is brutally realistic. Sure, there are magic, word jumping, and crazy stuff, but the "jerk-ness" of people is very realistic.  The scene that got to me the most is when Alice said nothing will satisfy Quentin, not even the magical land of Fillory.  This reminds me of how we always think achievements wil...

I look up at the night sky.  I see lights: stars, moon, and planes. The sky is not as dark as it seems. After a while, my eyes adjust to the night and allows me to see more light within darkness. Paired with cool wind of the night, night gives an awe-inspiring feeling.  Art from 5cm/s. I take out my smartphone to snap a picture.  Utter darkness. My smartphone sees no light. It is blind to the stars. It is blind to hope. Now this reminds of the rift between us humans and technology. Technology can almost do all the things a human can do with complex neural networks and machine learning; it can drive a car! However, technology still falters behind in the field of "experience."  Computer can see, but only through a camera. And while tweaking ISO and aperture can produce great pictures, it does not really convey the whole experience of feeling all the senses at once.  Life is beautiful.  The experience of feeling cold air around us when our...

Shinzou wo Sasageyo  Offer your hearts. There are many different lifestyles in this world. There are people who live it safe, follow the direction of the society, become successful, and enjoy their lives. There are other people who live on the edge, compete, and achieve fame through winning. The majority takes a path in between, but end up somewhere less than they wanted.  Art by An Amundsen. Risk.  Specialization is a risk. When we only focus on one thing and try to become the best, we are taking a big risk. Out of all the people in the world, there is only one best. Especially in games, Go, sports.... The matter of losing a world class competition may very well be the mentality on competition date.  Think about it. Years of training. Years of practice. And only hours to decide who is the best. Only hours to reach for the dreams. The best will be remembered. And the rest will not.  Now imagine defeat. Imagine coming very close to w...