Shoveling Snow With Buddha Billy Collins In the usual iconography of the temple or the local Wok you would never see him doing such a thing, tossing the dry snow over a mountain of his bare, round shoulder, his hair tied in a knot, a model of concentration. Sitting is more his speed, if that is the word for what he does, or does not do. Even the season is wrong for him. In all his manifestations, is it not warm or slightly humid? Is this not implied by his serene expression, that smile so wide it wraps itself around the waist of the universe? ...

“Happiness is not something to be pursued, it is something met, an encounter. Most encounters, however, have a sequel; this is their promise. The encounter with happiness has no sequel. All is there instantly. Happiness is what pierces grief.” ―- John Berger

From the start of COVID-19 pandemic, there are a lot of things happened. Wars are still raging including both Ukraine and Gaza. BLM protests around the world happend after George Floyd was choked to death. During this period, many notable leftists turned right. It is like a deconstruction process. Then I start to read James Baldwin and Hannah Arendt like unlearning or deprogramming. Just imagine that you had lived and grown in a different place or time, read different books, you might have different expereinces and beliefs. You might convince yourself that your current worldviews are correct. Now the question is that how we know what we know is correct and other people are not? If everyone had a firm stand in his or her views, how are we going to resolve the conflicts among us? So regardless of our difference, we must have an open mind. “The mind is like an umbrella. It’s most useful when open.” ...

I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, “Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.” PS. another manga book: the ends of a dream

How could Isreal army be so cruel to bomb Gaza so indiscriminately? Factual truth is in great danger of disappearance. It is engaged in a battle with political power, and it is the vulnerability of factual truth that makes deception possible. But this isn’t new either. Factual truth has always been in danger. It is easily manipulated and subject to censorship and abuse. Arendt cautions that factual truth is in danger of “being maneuvered out of the world for a time, and possibly forever.” “Facts and events”, she writes, “are infinitely more fragile things than axioms, discoveries, theories, which are produced by the human mind.” ...

Sometimes I wonder if beauty like all other feelings is just chemical and unconscious. The thinking is a game of words where logic should be the rule, however not always. Here is one piece of evidence: “Beauty hates ideas. It is sufficient to itself. A work of art is beautiful just as a person is beautiful. The beauty I speak of provokes an erection in the soul. One cannot argue with an erection.” ...

输是最后总归要输的 连人带绳都跌过界去 于是游戏终止 ——又一场不公平的竞争 但对岸的力量一分神 也会失手，会踏过界来 一只半只留下 脚印的奇迹，愕然天机 惟暗里，绳索的另一头 紧而不断，久而愈强 究竟，是怎样一个对手 踉跄过界之前 谁也未见过 只风吹星光颤 不休剩我 与永恒拔河 1978.2

First, an interesting book is coming, The dream you ordered is sold out what if money expired? There is an interesting article on money. Below are some notes. Bartering is inconvenient because it requires “double coincidence of wants.” This makes it highly inefficient too. As it evolved, money became increasingly symbolic. Money is abstract. It’s a belief system, a language, a social contract. Money is trust. But the rules aren’t written in stone. ...

There are several ways to add artistic touch to the PCB. One way is to use SVG2shenzhen to create the KiCAD modules. Another way is Boldport PCBmode. Both use Inkscape to create SVG. The former is a kind of plugin for Inkscape. The latter is a part of interactive process using Python and has nothing to do with KiCAD. Boldport and Inkscape forms its own process. Recently I noticed an OSHPark blog that mentioned another blog by Anne Barela from AdaFruit. The approach is different from the above. It uses AffinityDesigner, Gingerbread on Winterbloom, and KiCad. Basically it creates a KiCAD module designed by AffinityDesigner and transformed by Gingerbread. ...

Most of people will side with the power to survive, not the truth, not the beauty, not the kids because the society is structured with power. I have to say that there are definitely a few exceptions out there. They are the light in the darkness and the hope out of desperation. On March 31, 2023 at online Bucha Summit, Secretary Blinken commented as follow: “One year ago today, when Ukrainian forces liberated Bucha, they discovered a massacre. Hundreds of men, women, and children killed indiscriminately by Russian forces.” So Blinken is talking about to hold Russia accountable for its war crime in Ukraine. ...