Michael He

Trying to get better every single day.

Pinned post from October 30, 2021

Tender Lightness

What makes life worth living? Fortunately, some moments are self-evident answers to that question. For example, right now. I'm sitting outside the biology department building, looking at the four-way street intersection. The sun is shining a bit extravagantly but the temperature feels just right. IU's 'Ah Puh' is playing in my ears. I'...

Pinned post from February 21, 2022

Small Moments Are All We Have

Today wasn’t productive by any account, but it felt wonderful. I read a fascinating story in bed to start the day. Then I walked to Trader Joe's to buy flowers for my friend's recital. After the recital, I walked around campus, spoke with someone I haven't seen for two years, ate some fresh chicken tenders, and started writing this pie...

Pinned post from March 9, 2022

AGUST 29

Min Yoongi (Suga) turned 29 today. I'm just going to write in a stream-of-consciousness style about Yoongi, while listening to all of his produced songs. Holy shit that is a lot of songs! The playlist came out to be 36 songs, around 2 hours. And these are only songs he produced, not written! Essentially, Yoongi produced three albums wo...

Pinned post from May 19, 2022

People: The Triumph of Happiness

Good music is a painting. You can tell it's good. Great music needs to have a bit more. You know it's good, but you also know there is something you can't quite figure out yet. You get attached to it, think over and over again, until one day you connect the dots and arrive at the epiphany. The truth couldn't be simpler. That is what yo...

February 14, 2022

How to Actually Win in College

Cal Newport's books helped me a lot during high school and college. Now I'm almost done with college, I can finally review his How To Win At College. How do these suggestions hold up? Given its publication date of 2005 and a global pandemic, a lot of the tips don't work anymore. But plenty of them are still helpful! Particularly good a...

February 12, 2022

Fast And Thoughtful

Can we be fast and thoughtful in terms of writing, making decisions, and so on? It is theoretically possible. Speed and quality are not mutually exclusive. If we draw a 2x2 grid, one corner will say fast and high quality. Of course, we know most things fall under the other three categories in reality: slow and high quality, fast and hi...

January 31, 2022

Email Woes

Here are some things that make emails suck. It doesn't matter whether I pay for my Gmail or Outlook. It still sucks. Most importantly, spam. I don't narrowly define spam as Nigerian princes or hormonal pill ads. Anything that stops me from using email as a communications tool is spam. Even newsletters count as spam, if I don't want to ...

January 30, 2022

The Negativity Checking Account

Negativity functions like a checking account. There is a balance and you add to it. You can withdraw, but like a regular checking account the default outcome is to let the principal accumulate. Of course, you want to do the opposite. However, that takes a lot of determination and continuous efforts on your end. If you don't withdraw, t...

January 22, 2022

Don't Read Everything, Don't Do Everything

I was browsing Pocket's top 2021 articles. Then a thought occurred for the fifth year in a row. Man, there is so much I have to read... Wait for a second! Do I have to read? No. I don't have to read anything if I don't want to. In fact, many people don't read. Then why do I think I have to read? My habit is certainly a cause. There is ...

December 12, 2021

Build Momentum

If someone asks me for advice, I will only say one thing confidently. Build momentum and don't lose it. Momentum means upward improvement. Don't lose it implies being continuous, sustainable, and long-term. Only continuous improvement brings solid wins in the long run. This applies to many things. In terms of book reading, consistency ...

December 1, 2021

So Much Time, So Little Time

The sun goes down at 5 PM now. I usually leave that hour open to catch a breath. Now it's necessary to save this time for sunset. As I am enjoying the sunset today, I see people staring at their phones. Usually that doesn't bother me, but this time I somehow have doubts. Doubts about what a neurotic environment like a prestigious colle...

November 13, 2021

Things I Wish I'd Known

I wrote a long list for my eighteen-year-old self in the summer. It is similar to this college guide but longer and more opinionated. I asked some friends about their favorite pointers, so you can see the (objectively) best ones. Special thanks to Theo, J.J, Alex, Andrew, and Samuel for their help and comments. Samuel contributed signi...

November 6, 2021

Travel to The Future

Listening to Rick Steves reminds me of why I love traveling. Reading and talking to people are the best ways to learn. Traveling (when done right) is a special combination of both. Instead of reading books, you read and experience the environment, the architecture and scenery, the food, the culture, the atmosphere, and of course, the p...

October 10, 2021

The Trust Battery

Human relationship are difficult to understand, but we can use the trust battery to understand the bigger picture. What is the trust battery? Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke uses this idea to describe work relationships at his company. When two people interact for the first time their trust battery is at 50%, which is a neutral level. The perce...

September 1, 2021

Basic College First Year Lessons

Many students are starting school this week. Here are some reminders for this exciting yet uncertain time: Wear masks, wash hands, get tested, and get vaccinated. Let's do this much to keep the colleges open and not on Zoom. Don't forget to lock your door at all times. I know people who lost laptops, driver's licenses, and wallets from...

July 28, 2021

The Never-Ending Writing Quest

Writing is a way to channel the creative energy but improving one's style and taste is a Sisyphean process. You will constantly be aware of the gap between what you know is good and your actual output. It is a lifelong uphill battle. As Steven Pressfield notes in The War of Art, "Resistance arises from within. It is self-generated and ...

July 27, 2021

Michael's SGV Eating Guide

The San Gabriel Valley (aka 626) in Los Angeles is one hodgepodge of great restaurants. It is one of the best places in America to enjoy all types of Asian food. Below are my recommendations. The restaurants are listed in no particular order, but grouped by cuisines or themes. Many thanks to the late Jonathan Gold, whose articles intro...

July 26, 2021

Reflecting The Reflection Process

I love to read people’s reflections. Michel de Montaigne and Marcus Aurelius are giants of the introspection genre. Warren Buffet’s annual shareholders letters and Howard Marks’s investment memos are must-reads for investors and reflection-aficionados alike. In the Chinese world, technology writer Dan Wang writes eloquent annual review...

July 5, 2021

Stop Being Jealous of WeChat

In the West, WeChat is known as a super-app. We don't want this one particularly, but we wish we had something like it. At least Facebook desperately wants to be the super-app. We shouldn't be jealous, because we already have our super-app. It's called the web browser. The web browser does everything WeChat claims to do, but better: • ...

June 23, 2021

You And Your Research

Richard Hamming's You And Your Research is excellent. Here are my favorite lines from the lecture. Start Big, Live A Meaningful Life As far as I know each of you has but one life to lead, and it seems to me it is better to do significant things than to just get along through life to its end. Certainly near the end it is nice to look ba...

June 17, 2021

A Random Poem for Someone

Random things happen So you meet random people But you don't want some to be random Sometimes it happens right there Other times it takes some time Nothing is different until a random moment When you can't stop thinking about that random someone Now, someone is no longer random to you Yet you may still be random to them What a random p...

June 15, 2021

New Year Old Me

"New Year New Me" is an illusion. When the clock strikes twelve on January 1st, it's natural to think about new year resolutions. I will get fitter. I will save more money. I will finally learn Python... And the list keeps growing. But you are the same old you in the same old new year. By April you feel bad about how little you have do...

May 24, 2021

Better Than Ten Years of School

A classic Chinese saying goes, "A conversation with a gentleman is worth more than ten years of school." It's not an exaggeration. You should try to have these conversations early and often. I know I have. I had a privileged year living with one of my role models. A true rags-to-riches millionaire. A humble man that speaks worldly wisd...

March 8, 2021

Why Kids Hate Writing

Why do people (especially kids) hate writing, and why do people think they can't write well? I know my reasons and they are not restricted to writing. It’s a broader problem. 1. We don't write for ourselves. 2. We don't read. 3. We don't edit. 4. We buy into the bullshit myth of writing. When we write essays in high school English clas...

March 6, 2021

Why You Should Cherish Senioritis

I love senioritis. Why? Some will ask. You don’t do anything. You just stay lazy and waste time. Sometimes that someone is you. People who judge you without making an effort to understand your perspective often bring you unnecessary misery. We all want to be understood and supported. Unsympathetic judgement is the direct opposite. If p...

March 4, 2021

Starting Here, Calm and Happy

Hello, World. This may be the eleventh time I start a blog. Please call me a serial entrepreneur, only because I failed all previous attempts. Not bad for a twenty-year-old. I start projects with reflections on past mistakes, since most of my mistakes happen for the same reasons. In the case of maintaining a blog: • The lack of consist...