Hiya Moses,
I fear it has been far too long (a full two months) since my last letter correspondence, but better late than never!
Having just finished watching Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility (1995), I also fear I will sound as if I am in a Jane Austen period piece. Nonetheless, I persevere.
Actually, this form of correspondence reminds me of sixth grade, when my friend Jasmine (a self-proclaimed Shakespeare nerd), convinced me to roleplay as Celia from As You Like It, while she embodied Rosalind. I confess that I learned most of my Shakespeare from reading manga adaptations and listening to Jasmine, but it was fun to slip dramatic letters to each other through our lockers. I also have vivid memories of us practicing Banquo's monologue on the walks afterschool from Taylor (which you recently visited!) to the public library (de facto childcare), while switching off who carried my bass clarinet each block.
But I digress with this bucolic image of middle school.
[Optional Playlist to listen to while reading: The Great Gatsby!!!! https://open.spotify.com/album/1ROa0bSRzWi67kUyzfyfq6?si=U0a4P3HCTl-zAi7j8PbpoQ]
Though we've touched on a few of these topics during in-person meetups (biking in GGP, whale watching, origami in Bernal Heights), I've been really treasuring the archival effects of sitting down and reflecting on life every month or so. I reread my June 9th letter and your June 27th response to refresh my memory, and just two months later, forgotten memories and emotions were able to resurface.
Beauty [continued]
Shaky eyeliner and tinted lip balm have been my boldest forays into makeup. It is either an indication of my overflowing self-esteem or poor makeup skills that I think I look better without.
As of late, I've been disliking the downsides of emphasizing beauty (though perhaps I conflate it with gender norms), after hearing some HR-adjacent anecdotes from my friend at work. However, I would be interested in any new thoughts or experiences you may have had recently re: beauty.
Ising Models [continued]
The concept of the order parameter is new to me! At least in the Ising Model, I believe that the magnetization is a net average of the spin states, and exhibits temperature dependence (possibly related to annealing and using temperature as a hyperparameter when attempting to simulate the spin states of the system). This does seem to indicate that the local magnetization is approximated as an average over the entire system, a simplification that apparently scales better in higher spatial dimensions. So, I think magnetization is still a vector in the sense that each electron may have 2 or 4 nearest neighbors (in 1 or 2 spatial dimensions), but the dimensionality is flattened when calculating a total energy ("but the energy is often pretty much independent of the direction of the magnetization" Source: https://sethna.lassp.cornell.edu/OrderParameters/OrderParameter.html). I am sorry to answer your confusion with more confusion, but let me know if you have more insights on the order parameter.
"Is the idea that you use a physical Ising model realization with its initialization representing some other system with some problem of interest, and letting it evolve and measuring a certain property (energy) solves the problem?"
This was exactly the use case when representing the Ising model as a neural network with known initialization (i.e. the edge weights for a max cut problem), then letting it propagate in the direction of energy minimization.
Media
Recent re/watches: InitialD, Didi, Baby Driver, Westside Story, Sense and Sensibility (1995). I also followed the NBC sports recaps of the Tour de France! I think the other movie that is most strong in my mind as of late is Anatomy of a Fall. I also enjoyed Past Lives/La La Land/Whiplash/Kung Fu (Stephen Chow). Anything with a good soundtrack :)
Some Responses to Teresa's Movie List (no need to share to her haha)
2. Spider-Man into and across the spider-verse (sound track!)
3. The Half of It (also a fave of mine, and I also like the Cyrano book + movie)
Some other faves:
Shrek (esp in spanish) -never really got on that hype train :')
A Quiet Place 1&2 -I am unfortunately too chicken for horror
Moonlight -still need to watch :')
Dope -will have to check out
Monkey Man -very fun, now a Dev Patel fan
Love Lies Bleeding -will have to check out
Juno -also a fave but I could not understand the Dad
(500) Days of Summer -the manic pixie dream girl of my dreams, but Premium Rush is also a very fun movie with JGL
Sparkle Identification
It was indeed the weekend. For your entertainment, here is a note I wrote to myself on June 10th, and the sparkles ended a brief month later.
Normal things that seem to sparkle when you are drunk on a weekend (as in drunk on the weekend itself, not on alcohol):
driving
running
the night sky
miatas
roses
table cloths
playlists
dreams
cinnamon bread
derailleurs
Pending recalibration on Monday:
earth bound
I empathize with the feeling of loss due to evolving friendship dynamics. I thought about some platitudes to declare the changes as natural, an opportunity for growth, or having the potential to revert back someday, but sometimes, it just truly sucks.
Backpacking
The trip to Henry W. Coe state park with my mom was simultaneously peaceful and an adventure. It was her first time backpacking (as opposed to car camping), and I think she was quite proud of surviving the trip! We saw many shooting stars, talked to other friendly backpackers while hiking to the campsite, and managed to ration our water (though we were slightly more parched than preferred). As a remedy, I bought a water filter so we won't have to roleplay the Fremin (Dune) on future trips.
Potpourri
The lyrics of Marry Me a Little capture my thoughts towards relationships quite a bit, but the rational part of me thinks that "I'm ready!" is more accurately, "I'm (not) ready!" Maybe that is the intention of the song? I don't know the fuller context of the musical it comes from.
Oh man, I re-read your 16A first week recap. To Past-you: nooo rest and food are non-negotiables! To Present-you: you survived! To Future-you: take care!
Is the Audio Processing Unit in the 2A03 still on the docket as a course project? Would be excited to learn more! You also mention a mind-mapping program (in your letter from Vivian's birthday). Has it helped with course planning or motivating/organizing your broader tasks/thoughts?
Re: Accommodating one's self: I think it is a mix of accepting of things we cannot control (the need to eat fiber, the necessity to go to work for self-sustenance, general responsibilities), pursuing things selfishly for the hell of it (triathlons, driving manual transmission, reading books), and trying to contribute to a slightly wider microcosm beyond yourself (spending time with friends/family, engaging in community events, contextualizing your existence in the broader world, composting). Some ratio of those three aspects are roughly what I am working towards in life. What do you think?
~~~
It is around 1AM and my coherency is rapidly decreasing. Please excuse the lack of proofreading.
I realize I did not ask too many questions this time around (since we've IRL caught up!), but please take that as an opportunity to write freely whenever you have time to respond. No need to continue old threads :)
Thank you again for your continued thoughtfulness, and the lovely birthday card and gifts. Their cuteness and practicality are very much appreciated.
Sincerely,
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