Thought

Dear Huanhuan, “If you were Charlie, would you choose to undergo the surgery?” you asked in your last letter. At the time, my answer was no—ignorance is bliss. But after reading most of the book, I’ve begun to reconsider—this time, through the lens of love. In the first half of Flowers for Algernon, I had always believed that Charlie’s mother, Rose, was the only person in the world who truly cared for and loved him. I even mistook his father Matt’s calm demeanor for indifference. When everyone else had given up hope that Charlie could ever become “normal,” I was moved by Rose’s relentless determination—whether she was scolding Charlie, pleading with doctors, or arguing with Matt. ...

09:30 Waking Up Lately, my sleep schedule has been irregular, making it hard to fall asleep. When I lie awake and observe my thoughts, I realize that on the surface, I don’t seem stressed, but my mind is flooded with all sorts of distracting and annoying thoughts. Where do I need to go tomorrow? What do I need to do? And the day after? This is the most fragmented and complicated question. How’s my CSC application going? Why hasn’t it been processed yet? How should I respond to different possible outcomes? I might not finish all the food I bought—what should I cook tomorrow, or what should I do with it? Suddenly remembered an idea for fixing an unresolved bug on my website—feels like I should jump up and work on it right away. What other optimizations can I make? I haven’t read a book in a long time, and my mind feels empty. I really dislike short-form videos; I should treat them like enemies. What happens if I stay awake for too long? Will it affect important tasks tomorrow or the day after? Gotta take a photo of little Huanhuan. Oh, I should also shower tomorrow. What might my friends and family be up to these days… Suddenly feel like buying something, but I don’t have much money left—maybe look for alternatives. Then I remind myself not to buy non-essentials. And then I think, having a stable monthly income would be nice. I remember going a long time without insomnia—what’s going on lately? Need to reflect on what’s different about my current state and make sure I don’t slip into depression. …… 10:43 Spent Some Time Organizing My Blog Realized my old blog was a mess—lots of tiny, trivial posts that didn’t deserve standalone entries. Also, categorizing articles is an important issue—it needs to be logical. Ideally, it should be based on the file directory structure, with additional fine-tuning via frontmatter tags. ...

Dear Zhuzhu, Recently, my work has started to slow down. I really love this grounded feeling of focusing intensely to finish tasks and then leisurely sending emails. Today is Friday, and we’ll be seeing each other soon. Just thinking about it makes my heart play Like Sunday, Like Rain uncontrollably—haha, I’ve been completely obsessed with this song lately. I want to share with you a book I just finished: Flowers for Algernon. By the end, I was sobbing uncontrollably, secretly shedding “little pearls” again. ...

Is There a Stop Button for Life? Without relying on any external forces. On a Saturday evening, I was strolling down the street with my partner when I received a call from my dad: “Your grandmother isn’t doing well. I’m taking leave tomorrow to visit her.” Later that night, my mom also tried to video call me. My phone was on silent, and by the time I noticed the missed call, it was almost 11 PM. When I called back, she didn’t answer. ...

Is the Impact of AI on Writing Motivation Positive or Negative? First, let me state my viewpoint. This question arises from observations of internet blogs, and personally, I hold a positive stance. Before the advent of AI, many people would document their learning processes and outcomes when they acquired new knowledge, publishing these on their technical blogs. With the help of search engine SEO, we could easily find out if others had encountered the same problems we faced. More often than not, we relied on this process to seek solutions to our issues. ...

Is Our Earth Real? Yesterday, I came home for the holiday and went to bed early. In the morning, Manman ran to my bedside to play with my phone, but soon got bored. After glancing through the app list, I opened Google Earth and asked Manman where she wanted to go. Man: I know this is Earth, our planet! It’s so, so big! Me: Yes, Earth is very big, but it’s also very small. Look at those stars next to it—they seem tiny, but many of them are likely bigger than Earth. ...