Preface
This piece is a record and reflection of my life from March 25, 2024 to March 31, 2024.
The happiest event this week was meeting Randy. My fan dream came true, and we had a delightful conversation. To avoid impacting work, I woke up at 5 AM for four or five consecutive days to practice driving at the school. It was tough, but I passed the second stage of the driver’s test in one go - worth it. I continued with fitness and exercise, and my overall physical condition is quite good. I’m preparing to move back to Hangzhou after the holiday, feeling I might be able to participate in more “Crazy Thursdays”. There were many other interesting happenings as well.
Meeting Randy
I once read an article saying that if you like a piece of writing, an open-source product, or anything, don’t be stingy with words to express your gratitude and thoughts. Perhaps just a single sentence can greatly encourage the author. So, I quite cherish the opportunity to communicate face-to-face with the person behind the screen.
Long ago, I saw Randy post on Twitter that he was coming to Beijing and could meet for coffee. Last time he went to Liangzhu Yuniao Ji for Crazy Thursday, I happened to be away from Hangzhou and always regretted it. But when I actually had the chance to meet my idol face-to-face, I hesitated. There was the nervousness of a first meeting, and I worried about not having much to talk about and wasting his time.
I first learned about Randy around 2021, from a sentence at the end of an article by Frost titled “Self-hosted, Free, Open-source Comment System Solution”:
Finally, I also recommend the author’s blog, which has high-quality content that greatly inspires thought.
At that time, I was just entering the tech field, didn’t know many developers, and had no concrete concept of open source. I was just curious about what kind of person was behind such a niche, high-quality comment system, so I clicked in.
Before I knew it, I had read all the articles. I can say he met all the expectations I had at the time for the programmer I was about to become.
He had technological ideals and creativity, able to realize what he wanted to do through technology yet not confined by it; he had his own views and pursuits about life, with more interests and hobbies beyond code; he was willing to share his thoughts, with sincere and infectious writing; he was not bound by worldly standards and so-called halos, dropping out of undergraduate studies and quitting big tech companies.
At that time, I had not yet graduated from Hong Kong, was about to start job hunting and interviews, looking forward to yet confused about the upcoming tech career. I was worried about whether I could continue on this unknown path, and whether I would lose my creativity and passion for technology under heavy workload. It can be said that he showed me the kind of person I wanted to become in the future and the possibilities, and also made me truly start thinking about the essence of open source, sharing, and creation.
Later, I used his Cusdis comment system, and participated in some minor development when he recruited for the v2 team. We had our first private chat, and I received some code review and guidance; I followed his video to build my own personal project/knowledge management system with Logseq; when he released notepal and epubkit, I was among the first to experience them and report some small bugs; until this time when I mustered the courage to ask for a meeting.
Before meeting, I wanted to choose a gift as a thank you for his inspiration and help all along. In the end, I chose a LEGO set of the Harry Potter Sorting Hat and a small book by Maugham titled “Reading is a Portable Sanctuary”.
For me, just stepping into the world of code, this “magic” world, there were countless unknowns and choices ahead. He was like the Sorting Hat, letting me listen to my inner voice and firmly choose my own path.
We happily chatted for over three hours after meeting. I was surprised and delighted to hear that he often reads my weekly reviews; I learned about his life state and thoughts after leaving Microsoft, consulted him about some of my confusions regarding work planning and development direction, collided on some ideas about independent blogs, front-end learning, and self-media, excitedly planned some interesting things, and much more.
The me who first clicked on Randy’s blog homepage three years ago would never have imagined that one day I would be face-to-face with him in a coffee shop in Beijing, chatting freely. Besides the joy of successfully meeting my idol, I also marveled at the ups and downs and changes I’ve been through. Everything seemed worth it.
Taking the Driver’s Test
During my senior year, I once learned to drive at a driving school near the university and even passed the second stage of the test. But due to various reasons like graduation, going to Hong Kong for studies, and the pandemic, I kept putting it off until it expired. The unpleasant experience of practicing driving under the scorching sun back then made me lack enthusiasm for learning to drive, and even feel somewhat resistant. It wasn’t until this year that I made up my mind to start again.
After passing the first stage of the test before the New Year, I procrastinated again until mid-March to start practicing driving. I signed up for the second stage test on Thursday morning, and after four VR simulated driving practices, I woke up at 5 AM for three consecutive days this week to take the shuttle bus to the driving school for real car practice. The pain of early rising and the unpredictable positioning points made my anxiety peak on Wednesday. I took the early morning test with a casual attitude, but passed with a perfect score on the first try, so happy!!! It’s been over two years since I graduated, and I feel like I’ve regained the pressure and sense of achievement brought by “exams” that I haven’t experienced for a long time through the driving test.
However, due to the devil’s schedule of learning to drive in the morning, rushing work in the afternoon, and having to get up early the next day, it was difficult to take care of input and output this week. I hope I can pass the third stage smoothly next week!
Interesting Things and Objects
Input
Although most interesting inputs are automatically synced in the “Yu’s Life” Telegram channel, I’ll still select a few to list here, feeling more like a newsletter.
Books
- The Red and the Black, saw an interpretation from a video, the description of Julien’s self-esteem and the arrogance he displayed because of it left a deep impression, currently reading.
- Notebooks by Albert Camus, just started reading.
Bookmarks
Articles
Videos
- study vlog #49 | The more overtime, the more I want to study | A programmer’s after-work study routine | Must record life more | English learning | Finished “365 Days of Mindful Meditation” | Some random thoughts
- At the end of the world, let’s start over!
TV Series
- The Three-Body Problem Season 1, I’m not exactly a purist for the original Three-Body Problem novel, and I didn’t have many complaints about the viewing experience of the domestic version produced by Tencent before. But I still had quite high expectations for the Netflix version. I binge-watched it in a few days as soon as it came out. Overall, the visuals, plot, and pacing are all acceptable, but I didn’t see any highlights. It’s a qualified adaptation that will make people look forward to the second season.
Music
- Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence by Ryuichi Sakamoto
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