(Translated from the Chinese version with the help of ChatGPT.)

A good part of my evenings last week was spent exploring and learning about classical music. But my reading hasn’t stopped, and I’m continuing to write notes to catch up. I also discovered the GEB Fandom during this time. I’ve updated the Chinese versions of my first two posts with some new insights I picked up there (the English versions will have to wait). It’s quite satisfying to realize that I can independently get most of the jokes and references.

(Translated from the Chinese version with the help of ChatGPT.)

I was delighted to hear from an old friend on WeChat last week. We went to elementary and middle school together for seven years. After that, she pursued a career in music at full speed, while I followed the conventional path of further education and then a job. Since graduating from college, we’ve met only a handful of times—literally, I could count them on one hand. I was studying in Chicago when she came to perform at a music festival; I was working in Los Angeles when she came through with her orchestra.

(Translated from the Chinese version with the help of ChatGPT.)

Three-Part Invention

Following the music recommendation, I listened to the first piece of The Musical Offering, BWV 1079: the three-part ricercar.

The dialogue Three-Part Invention features three characters: Achilles, the Tortoise, and Zeno. Here are a few of the jokes and references:

(Translated from the Chinese version with the help of ChatGPT.)

How It All Began

Last weekend, I dropped my son off at a classmate’s birthday party. As expected, the kids had a blast, running around until they were sweaty and exhausted. What I didn’t expect was to have such a stimulating conversation with another parent. We talked about AI, work, philosophy, the self, and so on.

At one point, I asked him, “Have you read GEB?”

(Translated from the Chinese version with the help of ChatGPT.)

A while ago, while listening to Bach, I decided I wanted to systematically fill in some gaps in my knowledge of music—music theory, history, and so on. I remembered that I had saved Introduction to Classical Music on Coursera years ago. It was quite good, and I had worked my way through part of it on and off.

Recently I finally had some free time and opened it again, only to discover that the free audit option was gone!

(Translated from the Chinese version with the help of ChatGPT.)

I visited the museum toward the end of last year. The experience hit me so hard that I kept putting off writing about it. Today I went through the photos again, along with some of the articles and videos I had seen before, and finally put some thoughts together. It is still a very heavy feeling.

On September 11, 2001, the attacks happened on a Tuesday morning in the U.S., while it was already nighttime in China. I think it was the next day at school when a classmate told me that the World Trade Center in the U.S. had been bombed. I remember saying, “No way?” I can’t remember whether it was at school or at home when I saw the towers burning on the news.