TIM XU
idealist. intellectual. dreamer. thinker. creator.HELLO
I am, at heart, a dabbler. I'm an economics student at Yale University, and I'm fascinated by the world and its complexity. This is my life.ClintonMay 25
A few days ago, Bill Clinton addressed the Class of 2010, sending them off into the world with a few observations, a few opinions, and a common message. He observed that our world was too unequal, too unstable, and too unsustainable, and urged the graduating seniors to work together and do public good as private citizens for the good of the world overall. He decried cynicism, calling it a self-fulfilling prophecy, and touched on the state of the world while emphasizing his theme of this world’s inequality, instability, and insustainability. I did feel that his address, meant to be a message to the graduates, at times felt more like politics: the whole “do good” bit felt a little tacked on at the end. But nevertheless, he made a few observations that are worth thinking about.
His first and most striking observation was that, genetically, we are at least 99.5% identical. Metaphorically, he’s right: we often forget that we are all human, that we’re all bound by a common destiny of humanity. Recent technology has only pulled us closer together, entwined our fates even tighter with others’. We are, however, still constantly at odds with one another. Especially in this country, we remain divided economically, ethnically, religiously, ideologically. Millions of people wake up every morning wondering why we all can’t just get along, from the refugees in Sudan to the civilians in Palestine. Clinton wasn’t the first to make this message: one of Barack Obama’s favorite lines during his campaign in 2008 was “what unites us is greater than what divides us.” Yet all around the world, there are people who wake up every morning thinking about how to best attack others. Clinton urged the Class of 2010 to overcome these divisions, realize our common humanity, and work positively in the face of today’s challenges.
That was his second point: positive work. To me, this was his most powerful, yet subtle point. He first referred to the primordial ooze, and how life was able to develop from nothing because there were more positive charges than negative charges. He adapted this into a personal aphorism: whenever he makes a decision or chooses a stance, he chooses the side in which the positive overweighs the negative for all. He chooses the side in which there exists a non-zero sum, game theory code for a win-win scenario.
His other points were quite generic, as far as commencement speeches go: you’re the future, do good, etc. What really struck me, though, was how much science he referenced. Obviously, he’s a smart man – he went to Yale Law after all – but his awareness of current science and research really speaks to his curiosity and the breadth of knowledge that brought him to the White House. That, along with Al Gore’s work in climate change, shows that there are politicians out there who aren’t completely ignorant. Unfortunately, the ignorant ones often shout the loudest, to the detriment of the others.
Six Flags and Back AgainMay 21
What an adventurous day, from the start. I woke up before noon for the first time all summer! Drove around New Jersey, picking up Bing, Michelle, and Eric, before meeting up with Jasmine and heading to Six Flags Great Adventure. We got there around 1pm, due to unforeseen delays, so we only had five hours in the park. But boy were those five hours efficient!
Between 1pm and 6pm, we went on (in order): Nitro, El Toro, Bizarro, Kingda Ka, El Toro, El Toro, Kingda Ka, Nitro, Nitro. Yes, I got blasted from 1-128mph in 3.5 seconds to 456 feet twice in one day. Amazing. My favorite is still El Toro, though. You really can’t beat the beginning-to-end intensity, the nearly vertical drop, the head choppers, the weaving track whipping you around at high speed; this is THE roller coaster. Experiencing it once every time I go to Six Flags is awesome. Three times is… indescribable. The best part of the trip, though, was the empty lines. Note to self: go to Six Flags more often in May.
Afterwards, we headed back home and onward to Yale. After a string of bad luck involving traffic, missed trains, and wrong tracks, we go to Davenport gate a lot later than anticipated. My poor father had to drive back home (through traffic!) at midnight on a work night. But now here I am, back at Yale, sleeping on a plain, extra-long, twin-sized mattress with a sleeping bag over it. It kinda feels like band camp (the sleeping bag part and the dirty-clothes-in-a-garbage-bag part), but in a single with empty Yale furniture everywhere. I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do until Sunday (Clinton!), but I’m sure I’ll manage.
One more week until Hong Kong!
Master ObamaMay 19
RebootMay 17
After six months of procrastination, I’ve finally redesigned this website. I told myself that I’d start blogging again after the redesign (which may have contributed to its delay…), so here I am. I’m not entirely sure why I haven’t written anything here since September 2009, but it wasn’t due to a lack of content. A lot happened during my sophomore year of college, and I’m a little bummed I didn’t record it. I guess that’s why I’m writing again: to record my most interesting experiences, big or small, so I can look back and remember. I find that when I read my own writing, I get a better sense of where I was emotionally at that time. These posts not only give me a chance to reflect, but also a chance to relive. It’s the reason I created this blog two years ago, and I can only hope I don’t lose motivation (again) in the near future.
In a nutshell, I partied less and studied more sophomore year, though you wouldn’t see it in my GPA. I met new friends and grew closer to old ones. I moved into Branford, only to learn at the end of the year that I was moving back out. I met Phil, Ted, and Wes from Wong Fu Productions, Prohgress from Fareast Movement, Tim Be Told, and Whoopi Goldberg. I had my first relationship at Yale. I became President of CASA and got to know a wonderful group of peers. I got an iPhone. I went to New York City five times. I took Chinese. I got an internship in Hong Kong. I made good decisions and bad decisions, but I don’t regret any of them. Ultimately, I finished half of Yale.
Time really does fly.
LifeSep 14
What is the significance of a single life amongst billions? How do you quantify the value one life brings to the world? When do you realize a life has been extinguished?
We are individuals on this Earth, six billion strong, each possessing a life no more or less great than the any other. Yet over the past several thousand years, we have developed the ability to form connections to one another, connections in the form of families, communities, civilizations. With this ability, we transcend our individuality and spread intricate webs amongst one another.
And with that we have learned love and empathy. We have learned to care for individuals beyond the unconditional and to place another’s well-being before our own. We have become stronger and smarter by coming together and working together. As a species, we have conquered Earth by sharing.
Yet at the center of it all lies our individuality. At this very second, tens of thousands of people are waking up in the morning while thousands others slip into sleep. Several thousand more are eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Others are walking, driving, swimming, talking, listening, flying, sailing. Our hearts are beating, our minds are working, our bodies are living.
But everyone is thinking something different. Each individual has his own goals, ambitions and desires. No two individuals share the same set of memories, thoughts, and connections. No two individuals share the same life experience. And so, ultimately, despite the gains we achieve by coming together, we are still individuals, unique in every way.
It really is beautiful. 6.7 billion people on this Earth, yet each of them so starkly unique. Every single person has a story to tell, a picture to paint, a song to sing. Together, every individual heart beat adds to the symphony of human life.
And yet there exists individuals who purposefully extinguish the lives of others. To abruptly and meaninglessly end another’s song and story is beyond cruel. It is unforgivable.
I didn’t know Annie Le, but I now know her story. We all know her story. And as corny as it sounds, she will live on in our hearts. Her killer sought to end her existence, but he only amplified her beyond life. He sought to bury and hide her in the ceiling and in the walls, but he failed.
Tonight, in the light of a thousand flickering candles, Yale showed that Annie will not be forgotten. Her life was extinguished, but her memory will not. And so, her killer has failed.
I only wish that there was peace. What does it take to achieve that?
Boo Google MapsJul 25
Google Maps has been a very reliable tool since its inception – it’s high utility has made it practically ubiquitous in my car-going life. Today, however, it failed me.
I was driving to Paramus to proctor an SAT Practice Test, so before I left, I wanted to find a McDonald’s on the way so I can drive-thru and bring it to the classroom. After a quick search of “mcdonalds,” Google Maps gave me its usually reliable scatter of McDonald’s locations around my destination. I quickly found one that seemed on my route. It was on Rt-4 – perfect. Google Maps told me it was 247 Rt. 4, and I noted it was right before the Garden State Plaza.
When I drove by the area, there was nothing on either side of Route 4. I was quite confused. I drove all the way past the Garden State Plaza, made a U-Turn, and came back. Still nothing. I ended up going back and going to this McDonald’s, which was right past my exit. I had wasted about 10 minutes roaming around Route 4 trying to find this mystery Mickey. Instead of eating leisurely before the students came, I had to munch on french fries while they wrote their essay.
When I rolled past the McDonald’s driveway, I noticed that the address placard said “247 Rt. 4 W.” It seemed strangely familiar. When I got home, I checked the two McDonald’s locations on Google Maps. They had the same address. Then I noticed that the first one, the one I couldn’t find, was labelled an “Unverified Listing” in pale grey text. Well, I guess now it’s verified. There’s nothing there.
Now my question is: who posted this unverified listing, and why was it 1.8 miles away from the actual location?
A Great AdventureJul 19
So yesterday, a few friends and I went down to Six Flags: Great Adventure for a day. It was looking like a great trip at first, but by the end of the night, it turned out to be rather amazing and quite a great adventure. (ha. ha.) Up until 9pm, it was a fairly normal trip. We hit up all the good rides – El Toro (after a few breakdowns, it was still awesome), Nitro, Bizarro (the new Medusa), but not Kingda Ka, since it was unfortunately closed. We went on some water rides, some of the more relaxing rides – Batman, Great American Scream Machine – and chilled. It was a fairly standard affair. But at around 9 the night took a turn for the adventurous.
After getting out of the (lame) Dark Knight ride, we headed over to Nitro. By now, it was pretty much fully nighttime and we couldn’t even see the rest of Nitro in the distance. You can usually see some drops lifting out of the woods. The line was fairly quick and definitely worth it. Nitro’s intensity increases dramatically when it’s almost completely dark. It was exhilarating, but we wanted one better – El Toro.
After we got off Nitro it was 9:45. The park closes at 10. We speed walked to the SkyRide and rode its cable cars across to the El Toro side of the park. When we got off, the attendant told us we had 7 minutes. “Good luck.”
And so, in flip-flops, we sprinted. When we got to El Toro, the regular entrance was chained up, so we just followed the crowd into the Fast Pass lane and then hopped over the railing into the regular line. A security guard came up right behind us, but he didn’t say anything. Then, halfway up the line, the fireworks started. Apparently, every Saturday night over the summer there’s a fireworks show at 10. It was actually a pretty legit show with some big flowers (is that what you call them?).
By the time we got to the ride itself, the fireworks were still going. It made the ride even more epic. El toro. In the dark. With fireworks in the background. Photos are forthcoming.
When we got back to the car in the parking lot, it was about 10:30. We were tired, but exhilarated. The way out of the parking lot was basically a second parking lot. It literally took an hour to get out of the general Six Flags area (turns out there was an accident by the I-195 junction holding everyone up). After a brief pit stop at Mickey D’s, we hit the Turnpike.
It was a relatively peaceful drive northward. I had to drop my friends off in New York City, so we headed towards the Holland Tunnel. I brought along my trusty GPS, so I thought I was safe. Wrong. The GPS wanted me to go local, so I got confused and ended up making a wrong turn at the VERY confusing highway junction, and in order to turn around the GPS led me into Newark International Airport. Eventually, we made our way to the Holland Tunnel. A few moments later, we were in New York City.
A quick disclaimer here: I have never driven in New York City before, let alone by myself. It was around 1:30 at this point, and I expected the streets to be relatively clear. That was a terrible assumption. Canal Street was packed. Fortunately, the drop-off point was only a handful of blocks down Canal Street, but I did manage to cut off a NYC taxi on the way there. It was a proud moment.
After I dropped them off, I was truly alone. The Holland Tunnel closes its outbound lanes (into NJ) after 1am on weekends, so I had to detour over to the Lincoln Tunnel. This time, my trusty GPS was, indeed, trusty and led me up 3 miles of the West Side Highway towards the tunnel. Apparently, New York drivers don’t know how to stay in lane, because the guy going next to me was constantly infringing on my lane territory.
But after a traffic-light-induced jam at the approach to the tunnel, I was in. Moments later, I was back in New Jersey. Wide, open, expansive, taxi-less New Jersey. Truly a fantastic place. Half an hour later, I was home.
It had been 17.5 hours, 180 miles, and one spectacular great adventure.
Myrtle BeachJul 04
On Tuesday, we left Tennessee and drove to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We rented a condo there for a few days, and it was right next to the beach! The water was really nice (at least for the Atlantic..) and not that cold, with big waves. It was still ridiculously hot and humid, but at least there was a constant breeze coming off the water. It made it slightly easier to deal with the heat; in fact, it was pretty comfortable, despite 90+ degree heat. We threw a football and a frisbee around on the hot sand and just chilled. It was rather picturesque, with the sound of the ocean waves and random chatter in the background.
On Wednesday we decided to check out Myrtle Beach’s world famous golf courses (apparently Myrtle Beach is the golf capital of the world – who knew?). It was the first time I’d gone golfing for real and it was pretty fun. The best part was definitely driving the golf cart around: speeding over bumps and nearly flipping over the golf cart? Great fun. I ended up shooting a +57 on the 18-hole course, which is rather noob, but I’m okay with it.
Thursday was beach day, and we spent pretty much the whole day out on the sand. The waves were pretty big, but I tried to boogie board anyway. It didn’t end well. We graduated to the pool after an afternoon in the ocean, and it was generally fun. It’s been a long time since I spent so much time in the water, but it was great. Lots of flipping and splashing and swimming all around. Yesterday we went to a nearby waterpark, which wasn’t crowded at all. There were quite a few slides, and a decent-sized wave pool. Good, relaxing fun.
This past week has been a fantastic break from the summer. Family vacations aren’t always the best, but this one was one of the better ones. It’s hard to go wrong with some relaxing fun on the beach!
In other news…fifty-seven more days until I’m back at Yale!
Great Smoky Mountain National ParkJun 28
The park is quite beautiful. We spent pretty much the whole day driving up to its peak, then walking around its natural trails. Lots of walking and climbing (and falling) today, but it was pretty amazing. It also reminded me of what we can do to the beauty of nature, as a lot of the trees in the park were dead due to human-introduced bugs and acid rain from pollution. The dead, white, leafless trees stood as a gaunt and dramatic reminder of our sometimes terrible influences.
Most of those trees were along the trail to Clingmans Dome, which, at 6,643 feet, is the highest point in the park. It was a 17 mile drive into the park and a half mile hike uphill, but the view was fantastic. The mountains were blue, layered, and quite “smoky.” It was a great view, but again ruined by all those bleached, dead trees.
The dead trees ruin the view…
We then headed off to the Roaring Fork Nature Trail. We stopped a couple of times to check out the creek and went on one particularly long (1.5 mile) trail to see a 25-foot waterfall. Some of the scenery was truly breathtaking, but at the end of the day, it was just a lot of trees and greenery. There was really nothing to die for, which I guess was a little disappointing. Also, the wildlife was pretty much absent. There was a sign that said “Bears Active,” which got me excited; but alas, no bears interrupted our hike.
25′ Grotto Falls, off the Roaring Fork Motor Trail
But there were definitely a lot of waterfalls, small and large, and it was worth the rock-climbing and sore legs. Whitewater rafting (I think) tomorrow!
Tennessee?!Jun 27
Well, after a 10 hour drive through six states (NJ, PA, MD, WV, VA, TN), I’m now in a Comfort Suites in Kodak, a couple miles from Smoky Mountain National Park. It’s the first leg of our trip – we’ll be hitting up Myrtle Beach, SC in a few days! The drive was uneventful, i guess. But once we got out of it in Tennessee, the heat hit. It was hot, humid, and windless. Awful weather.
I’ve noticed something about this area – there’s not a lot of minorities. We were the only Asians there, and there weren’t a lot of other minorities either. There were a lot of old people and blondes. The rumors are true: lots of tall, blonde girls in the South. Oh and the “Smoky Mountain Parkway” is ridiculous. There’s a strip that covers maybe a mile on which every single building is either a hotel, a restaurant, a mini-golf place, a go-kart place, or a miscellaneous carnival type place. We went go-karting on a hilly and bumpy course. It was lots of fun.
We’ll be heading into the park tomorrow. Pics will be posted.
