Airing

Work#

This year, my work transitioned from Green Diamond to live streaming, and the keyword for the whole year became Flutter. I realized that almost every conversation with colleagues revolved around this word. Whenever I heard someone mention Flutter in the elevator, I couldn't help but turn around, and most of the time it was a familiar colleague... Sometimes, I even dream about the Flutter projects I'm working on.

During this year of working with Flutter, I gave a BU-level presentation, an external presentation for Tencent Cloud, and recently taught a special training course at the Music Academy. I wrote several technical articles in the first half of the year and a few project proposals in the second half, but I haven't written any articles yet. I will write one soon on the topic of Flutter downgrading.

I also participated in Hack Week mid-year and created my own product. It was exciting and joyful to revisit the days when I designed products and implemented them with my partners in college.

I received a five-star rating and the Q Music Star award in the first half of the year, and I was fortunate enough to receive another five-star rating in the second half. As a result, I reached T8 faster than expected, and I hope to reach T9 this year. To summarize my work experience, there are five keywords: communication, thinking, awareness, retrospection, and accumulation.

• Communication: The purpose of communication is to synchronize progress and drive projects. In the past year, as the person in charge of the Flutter project, I needed to communicate frequently with the client team and also provide output to other teams, which involved cross-team communication. I used to be shy and worried that frequent communication would disturb others, but this mindset is actually negative. If we want to actively promote project progress, we need frequent communication. If we want to synchronize progress in a timely manner, effective communication is required. When necessary, I also need to proactively propose solutions, hold meetings for discussion, and plan and implement the overall project progress. This is the guarantee for the smooth progress of the project.
• Thinking: The purpose of thinking is to broaden horizons and strive for excellence. Projects are not just about completing them; we need to research and question the solutions for upcoming requirements to see if there are better alternatives. We need to think about how to abstract principles to reuse repetitive work, and we need to observe data to think about possible optimizations for launched projects. All of this requires thinking. The process of thinking is the process of broadening horizons, and the result of thinking is to make the project strive for excellence.
• Awareness: In projects, each of us needs to have a sense of ownership. When a requirement comes down, we should not only be responsible for our own tasks, but also align with the upstream and downstream teams and our peers on the same level. Projects are interconnected, and if the product requirements are not reasonable, the backend interface design is not reasonable, or the interaction is counterintuitive, we need to raise these issues in a timely manner. We shouldn't ignore them just because they are not our own problems, but rather take a macro-level view of the entire product chain to assess the rationality of each link. We need to drive the project forward with the goal of exceeding expectations.
• Retrospection: Retrospection is something I do before leaving work every day. I record the problems encountered during the project, note down improvement plans and my thoughts, and summarize them before leaving. This way, when I encounter similar problems in the future, I can quickly trace back the historical problems and solutions, and quickly recall the path I took to solve the problem.

• Accumulation: The next step after retrospection is accumulation. Accumulation is a form of self-output, whether it's writing summary articles or project proposals, it's a form of self-output. Accumulation doesn't have to be the perfect solution, but I recommend periodically accumulating. Write something when you have something to write, don't hold back for a big move. Set a boundary, mark things that go beyond the boundary, but don't get involved immediately, otherwise there will be psychological pressure during the accumulation process. Recognize that it's just the best solution within a certain period, and there can be further additions and improvements in the future.

The above experiences are just my personal opinions. If readers have better suggestions or methods that suit them, feel free to share!

Life#

• Cats
  Puff recently broke through the fence and jumped from the 12th floor... miraculously survived without any internal or external injuries. However, his personality has changed to become very gentle and obedient. He no longer jumps around like before... As for Mittens, just like last year, he has the appearance of a pig but the personality of a dog.

• Cooking
  Due to the pandemic, I was forced to learn cooking. I can now make some simple baking dishes, and my specialty is beef curry, although it takes a long time to make (so I haven't made it many times). I hope to learn more new culinary skills this year.

• Farewell
  In the past two years, I have lost some loved ones. In the future, I want to spend more time with my family and cherish the people around me.

Friends#

I have met many new colleagues this year, and they are all interesting souls. It feels like being in high school again, joking and playing at work...

By the way, I met my neighbor on Thanksgiving, who is an excellent and thoughtful person. We can have deep conversations and help each other in life. It's truly a treasure.

Anime#

• "Attack on Titan": I caught up with the fourth season and finished reading the manga. I admire the author's ability to control the long story, the unique perspective and narrative skills, as well as the deep exploration of the themes. Before "Attack on Titan" ends this year, I plan to write a long article to analyze the plot.
• "Speed Racer": Reliving my childhood, I watched it from beginning to end again...

Movies#

• "Memories of Matsuko": Last year, I quickly read the original work, but a friend pointed out that I didn't fully understand the core of Matsuko's story. So after watching the movie, I read the original work again. Compared to the original, the movie lacks many details and psychological descriptions, but it tells the tragic story in a humorous and fairy tale-like way, making it less oppressive for the audience. I wrote a book review in the form of a letter, and I will discuss it in detail in the "Reading" section.
• "Mary and Max": I watched it again this year, I don't know how many times I've watched it, but I always have the same feeling. If I have to recommend my favorite movie, this is the first one that comes to mind.
• "Phone": A Korean thriller, it scared me so much that I couldn't sleep at night...

TV Shows#

• "The Queen's Gambit": Overall, it's pretty good. I watched two episodes every night during that period. If we ignore the last few episodes, it can be rated 4 stars or higher until Chu Ying's departure. But the last few episodes of shipping CP were really annoying.
• "The Silent Truth": I watched it during the National Day holiday, it's a very melancholic drama.
• "Hanzawa Naoki 2": I've been looking forward to it for a long time. During that time, I was most excited to go home on Monday nights to watch the show. I rewatched a few episodes several times, it's really inspiring. Especially when I'm not motivated, watching it gives me a lot of strength.

Reading#

• "The Weak Propagation": I read this book on a bus during a trip to Qinghai. There was no signal that day, and I spent the whole day on the bus from 8 am to 8 pm, so I had to calm down and read a book. It was a thick book, but unexpectedly, I finished reading it in one day.
• "Fifteen Lectures on Western Philosophy": It's a review of Western philosophy history. It reminded me of the enthusiastic feelings I had when I went to elementary school in the daytime and university at night, while also preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination. I didn't feel tired at all because I could have a dialogue with these thoughts, which made me feel clear-minded and fulfilled.
• "Fifteen Lectures on Aesthetic Reading": I found that I quite like the aesthetics of poetry.
• "Invisible Cities": It's like a dream city, but it's always filled with the smell of fireworks.
• "Existentialism as a Humanism": I wanted to study Heidegger and existentialism, so I flipped through several books, and this is the only one I finished reading.
• "Dangerous Venus": I read this novel while waiting in line for meals, rated 2/5.
• "Whirlwind Romance": Same as above, rated 3/5.
• "The House of the Sleeping Mermaid": Same as above, rated 4/5.
• "Memories of Matsuko": Some people say that Matsuko's tragedy is determined by her personality, and some people analyze how Matsuko should have made better choices. I didn't delve into it before and let it go. Matsuko felt that she was not understood by others, and indeed, she was never understood throughout her life. Even after writing the novel, I, as a reader, still couldn't understand her. Perhaps, this is the meaning of "being despised". Rereading Matsuko, experiencing her life with my heart, it is indeed a story full of suffering and hope. A person's life is full of hardships, and the sadness in life far exceeds the joy. So how do we face this difficult life? Matsuko tells us: As long as we live earnestly, everything is enough. Matsuko's life is a life of pursuit, a life of regrets, and it can be said to be a failed life, but it is a life lived earnestly.

Games#

• "Sky: Children of the Light": My favorite game of the year. I even spent the entire National Day holiday writing a 20,000-word analysis article about it. The "Zen" of Sky: Children of the Light - Airing's Home

P.S. Medusa is a friend I met in Sky: Children of the Light. I don't know what their situation is in real life, but if I see them online, I'm always happy to chat. However, Medusa's stars haven't lit up for months...

• "Animal Crossing: New Horizons": It helped me get through the difficult times from March to June. Every night before bed, I would go to the island and say goodnight to my neighbors. It was peaceful.
• "Spiritfarer": I played it on a bus during a trip to Qinghai. I experienced the story through the entire desert journey, and the hugging mechanic was really heartwarming.
• "The Last of Us Part II": I didn't have the motivation to play it every time I opened the game. I only played for one or two hours sporadically, so I probably only played for a total of one or two hours. I plan to continue playing it when I have time next year.

• "God of War": The plot progressed a little further compared to 2019...
• "Fire Emblem: Three Houses": I played it during last year's Spring Festival holiday and completed one route.
• "AI: The Somnium Files": I played it during last year's Spring Festival holiday, and I was close to finishing it. It's the type of game I like, but I didn't have time to play it afterwards. I plan to continue playing it during this year's Spring Festival holiday.
• "The World Ends with You: Final Remix": No one to play with, not fun to play against the computer, so the game has been collecting dust since I started it.
• "Moving Out": Same as above.
• "Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4": As a person with poor hand-eye coordination, I didn't find it fun. I just watched the special moves and effects.
• "Ring Fit Adventure": Um...

Travel#

I visited Qinghai and spent almost the entire trip on a bus. There was a day when there was no signal at all! I was forced to play my Nintendo Switch and read books. Personally, I highly recommend Dunhuang. I miss the lamb chops there. Also, Mogao Caves is worth a visit too. Sometimes I think, if I can work at the Dunhuang Research Institute after retirement, it would be quite interesting.

2021 Goals#

Finally, let me list my goals for 2021:

1. Read 1 book every month.
2. Write at least 1 article every month (can be technical articles or book and movie reviews).
3. Learn and make a new dish every month.
4. Watch 1 movie (or an equivalent length of TV series) every week.
5. Exercise at least 3 days a week.

Lastly, I want to share a song that I have been loving recently (the inspiration for the title):

I hope to embrace the future with hope and spend the next year earnestly.