Graphic design is my passion
Published:
Simple rules for creating effective graphics.
Yappy Hew Near!
When I figured out that I could make significant changes to my life at any time of the year, New Year’s Resolutions lost their luster. But in honor of my worst year on record (age 5 is probably a top contender, but I don’t really remember it), feeling like I’m wiping the slate clean seems nice.
For each resolution, I’ll briefly outline the details and subgoals and also explain why I chose the resolution.
List of resolutions
- Start blogging
- Miscellaneous productivity improvements
- Downsize to prepare for moveout
- Read more philosophy
Start blogging
I started blogging in December, but on recommendation from my friend1, I transitioned from GitHub pages to Ghost today. Personally, I want to move back to GitHub pages, but I’ll try Ghost for at least two months. Most posts will be cross-posted on my GitHub site (open here).
For January and February, I want to aim for an average output of two posts per week (“average” because I will be offline for a week in January). I don’t expect this to be successful; my realistic estimate is five posts before March.
My motivation to start a blog mostly came from Alexey Guzey2. Guzey states that “writing helps you think better”, which I agree with based on my experience with essays. Arguments that seemed clear in outlines required more support. Verbally pitching ideas also helps with better thinking, though writing has the added benefit of requiring more thorough source management.
Miscellaneous lifestyle improvements
I’ll be light on explaining these because they seem fairly well known. Though I might report on whether anything helps later
Better relationship with social media
Enjoyment of social media has turned to resentment. (Pinterest is still fine, because it’s been the most helpful source for helping with illustration and graphic design).
I’m avoiding concrete sub-resolutions until I better understand why social media can be useful. Many very responsible people, like my PI Megan Murray and the head of the CDC CFA Marc Lipsitch, have Twitter accounts. People who I consider “probably good at thinking”, like those in effective altruism or the rationality community, also enjoy an active Twitter community. Then again, many don’t.
The first step is reading Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier.
Improving sleep/rest quality
Over winter break, even after getting 9-10 hours of sleep per night, I still don’t feel alert.
First, I’ll try and shift my schedule to sleeping during dark hours. As part of this I’ll be shifting electronics usage to stop before 1 AM.
Email and task management
I keep losing track of emails and things I need to do. I’ve shifted toward an Obsidian daily task list, but I still need to build the habit of updating it. Not clearing my inbox also makes this difficult.
Downsize to prepare for moveout
I don’t know if this counts as “spring cleaning” or a New Year’s resolution, but before commencement, I need to pare down my stuff to fit into a single car. When Harvard forced all students to move out in Spring 2020, my items (uncomfortably) fit into a Honda Pilot. I have noticeably more things, so I’ll have to KonMari my way through it. I somehow doubt everything in my room “sparks joy”.
Read more philosophy
Last fall, I took PHIL34: Existentialism in Film and Literature and GENED1069: Faith and Authenticity. In conversations since, I’ve been able to see new connections because of the readings (for example, I have a post in mind parsing through my understanding of Sartre’s “bad faith” and how it applies to social media). Apparently, I forgot that reading philosophy could be good for you.
Some authors I’m interested in are Cornel West, Derek Parfit, and Michel Foucault. Since Cornel West is probably more readable, I’ll start there and trace his influences.
When I get back to school, I’ll read a collection of essays on anarchism that I picked up at Gray Matter Books in New Haven.
Accountability
For blogging, I’m going to set up some system of accountability with my aforementioned friend. This is the only resolution I really care about. An interesting positive punishment system would be donating to a disliked organization if we fail to meet specified goals.
I prefer doing resolutions in sequence, to give me more time to plan, so no accountability for the others yet. For reading Lanier’s book, I’ll set up some annoying reminder in the last week of winter break, though.
2024
Local testing of GitHub Pages on MacOS
Published:
I can’t believe this took me so long to debug.
2023
Understanding pragmatic differences in autism as framework variation rather than deficiencies
Published:
Observed pragmatic differences seen in autism spectrum disorder can be better explained as a difference in pragmatic principles.
Review of Jaron Larnier’s “Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now”
Published:
Larnier presents an outdated take on the social media ecosystem, with arguments that probably didn’t make sense in 2018 and make even less sense in 2023.
Yappy Hew Near!
Published:
When I figured out that I could make significant changes to my life at any time of the year, New Year’s Resolutions lost their luster. But in honor of my worst year on record (age 5 is probably a top contender, but I don’t really remember it), feeling like I’m wiping the slate clean seems nice.