This is a very very very silly article (I have nothing meaningful to shout into the void, only silly little ramblings that might entertain a couple).
I thought it’d be nice to talk about the goals/plans I have for the summer, mostly as a forcing function for me to expand on the bullet points I’ve already written down.
No phone summer.
I’m planning to jailbreak my dad’s old iPhone SE and use it (without a sim card) as my main phone. I’ve already downloaded some mp3s for music and some books for me to read, and I can always hotspot into my phone whenever I need. I hate the consumerist nature of the “analog movement” (you do not need a dedicated music player/ereader), so I think this is a nice balance. I’ve already decorated the back of my phone with stickers.
Start a youtube channel.
I posted a couple vlogs online last year, but stopped when I realized I was optimizing so much of my life to look aesthetically pleasing and pretty over camera. I haven’t posted anything on social media since, but I’ve been inspired by youtubers like jvscholz and jkwon and I’m tempted to post some tech-related content.
HCSSiM
I got into HCSSiM!!!!!!! My acceptance letter came at the last second - I genuinely thought I was going to be c*mpless this year (not an entirely bad thing, just a little bit sad hearing about all my friends summer plans). It’s the first time I felt… recognized, almost, for my mathematical curiosity, and I’m so unbelievably excited to be part of an environment of people who find the same joy and silliness in math as I do. I’ve been obsessively scrolling through blog posts and the HCSSiM homepage, and all the little things the camp does (yellow pig day is so cool!!!) is making me more obsessed over the camp. I’m so so so so so excited and I can’t wait to write about it in another post!
Tinkering
I recently purchased 6 broken and used Thinkpad x61s. I’ve already bought some of the parts to fix them, the rest are coming in a week or so (giving me a week to fix them before HCSSiM, sigh). After I do, I’m not sure what mods to do (?) (drop recommendations in the comments for a beginner like me :3).
I’ve also been waayyyy too influenced by tech youtubers, and have decided to build my own cyberdeck. It’s basically just a raspberry pi + 7” screen + keyboard (and a 3d printed case!), but I also have buttons + speakers + fans from past projects so hopefully it’ll be really cool! I can’t believe raspberry pis are so expensive now. Thankfully, my friend offered to lend me one (THANK YOU RYAN!!!), and those should be coming in a couple days.
Cleaning my room
I want to start being more intentional about the things I own instead of filling my room with mindless clutter. (For example, I still have notebooks and tests from school a couple years ago, so I moved all of the tech-y stuff scattered around my room into those two bins). I’m going to try and clean out the rest of my room.
Research project
Working on a research project on anticipatory music transformers. Like all other high school research papers, this probably isn’t going to lead to anything… notable, but it’s fun and I’m learning a lot! I’ll give an update another time.
Music
I’m currently working towards my ABRSM piano diploma, as well as learning a few new pieces (Chopin Ballade no.1; I need to learn a concerto and I adore the Rachmaninoff so probably that, as well as some others). I’m also learning and horribly butchering the Bruch violin concerto.
The Pi Project
I’m starting a math camp for underserved students with my friends called the Pi Project (my dog is named Pi!) (piprojectcamp.org). I’m trying not to take it too seriously, and it’s a lot of fun to work on something with my friends. I’m in charge of the tech, which I’ve basically built all of.
Hanging out with my friends!!!
This summer, I’ve been trying to go outside and hang with my friends more. I’m going to Coney Island today with my boyfriend. I’ve also had a picnic during the NYPhil concert in the part (we made hwachae hehe), had lunch with some friends, had a board game/video game night with my entire friend group… I’m planning on hosting a tea party sometime this summer too!!
I guess that’s it.
Love, Kira