Introduction#
This article is a record and reflection on life from 2025-04-07 to 2025-04-15.
This weekend, I attended a Yixi event in Hangzhou, and I was deeply impressed by several speakers and topics. I recorded some feelings and reflected on the disappearing era and free will; I finally finished moving and have a very satisfactory office and living area; there are also many interesting things.
Yixi Speech#
Yixi is a localized offline speaking event, with the slogan "Humanities · Technology · Daydreams," sharing stories and research from the perspective of those who have experienced them. I had attended a session in Beijing before and participated in their offline study tour in Nanjing last year (see "Weekly Report #60 - Insect Side, Educational Philosophy and EpubKit"), and this time there happened to be a session in Hangzhou. My senior sister booked the tickets early, and I went to listen over the weekend.
The entire event lasted more than six hours, with a brief 40-minute break. I felt that aside from coding, I hadn't been able to focus on just one thing for so long in a while. Reading or watching shows seemed unable to immerse me in the same way, so it was quite a novel experience.
Just like I often prefer to watch movies in theaters, not just because of the superior visuals and sound, but because in a theater, it seems all I need to do is watch the movie. I don't think about replying to messages or doing something else simultaneously. This feeling is completely different from watching on a big screen or projector at home.
The Disappearing Era#
Whether by coincidence or design, it seems many speakers at this event subtly expressed a record or nostalgia for a bygone era. The alleys of Beijing, the streets of Tokyo, and even the once elusive ideal society seem to be drifting away from us, leaving us powerless, with only the ability to record and narrate.
I lived in Beijing for a brief two or three years, so when architect Lu Wenhui and director Zhan Hanqi of "Dongsi Forty Streets" spoke about the "wild design" in the alleys and the golden age of the Drum Tower, I felt a resonance.
The architect delved into the alleys of Beijing, documenting the wisdom of life born in cramped spaces. Art does not necessarily exist under high walls; it can also be found in the bricks and tiles of low alleys or in the accidental yet exquisite "designs." Even these unregulated expressions carry an extra layer of freedom and purity.
The alleys are not just a physical space; they sometimes embody a microcosm of an era. I particularly liked the director's description of the "stuck generation" at the Drum Tower. I appreciated her concept of being "stuck," which resonates with the "Adulting" I frequently pondered last year (see "Weekly Report #76 - Thoughts on Adulting").
In their twenties, people are most prone to confusion, unable to revert to the carefree campus days and unwilling to become "boring" adults, thus getting stuck in the cracks of time and era, caught in a dilemma.
The former Drum Tower alleys became a utopia for these young people. Day by day, no matter how painful and difficult life was, they could always return to this harbor that temporarily set aside reality, just like she mentioned seeing two people in fencing gear fencing on the street one day—magical and romantic, the shackles of the mundane diluted infinitely. Here, they did not need to rack their brains to ponder the meaning of life; they were the meaning itself.
But this crack, like a bug in an old version of software, has already been "fixed." The alleys have been demolished, and these former inhabitants either succumbed to the "mainstream" values of this era or continued to search for the shadow of utopia in the concrete jungle. Regardless, they can never go back.
Free Will#
A speaker from Japan, Matsumoto Kai, also mentioned this point. He graduated during the collapse of Japan's bubble economy in the 1990s and has spent thirty years in the lost era.
However, he does not seem so pessimistic. He chose to open a second-hand store, an izakaya, and a guesthouse in Koenji, creating various "mysterious spaces" that embody his and those around him's rebellion against the era and free will.
After listening to his speech, I realized why Nintendo and Persona (P5) were born in this soil; their lives were inherently filled with such romance.
He talked about how he couldn't find a job right after graduation, so he has been running these unreliable shops until now. Even in his fifties, he still "can only" open and close the shop at random times, drink all night with friends, and meet backpackers from around the world, creating stories.
He said ——
If I had found a job back then, life would probably have been like that, how boring it would have been. Luckily, I almost went astray.
He does not aim for any grand goals but simply wants to protect his and those around him's freedom, allowing everyone to do what they love without succumbing to a money-centric society, instead carving out their own post-revolution world in a piecemeal, self-directed manner.
Yet even such a refuge cannot escape the fate of being swallowed by the tide of "modernization." However, Matsumoto Kai plays the game of life more creatively, organizing some magical events, such as "Rent is Too Expensive" or "Anti-Koenji Redevelopment" parades, raising a glass with the police maintaining order, using this seemingly nonsensical way to protect his and those around him's free will.
Interesting Things and Objects#
Inputs#
Although most interesting inputs will be automatically synced in the "Yu's Life" Telegram channel, I still selected a portion to list here, making it feel more like a newsletter.
I built a microblog using Telegram Channel messages as content sources — "daily.pseudoyu.com," making it easier to browse.
Favorites#
- GitHub - enescingoz/roocode-workspace - a project template designed to simplify development workflows using Roo Code.
- GitHub - fuma-nama/fumadocs: The beautiful docs framework with Next.js.
Articles#
- Rescuing ENS names from compromised wallets., saving my ENS/NFTs that have been stolen for over a year 🥲.
- Two Years After Coming to America, about to adapt to a new place, using A/B testing to cope with the rhythm/mechanism is quite enlightening.
Videos#
Series#
- Bittersweet Encounter with You, found a new show to binge.
- Black Mirror Season 7, just finished the first episode, somewhat reminiscent of the stunning earlier seasons.