Justin Jay Wang

10 notes tagged Reflection. View all

When I visited my childhood home last year, I brought back a binder filled with guitar tab printouts of songs I played throughout my teen years:

  1. The Trapeze Swinger by Iron & Wine
  2. Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles
  3. Starman by David Bowie
  4. Knock Yourself Out by Jon Brion
  5. Dirty Dream Number Two by Belle & Sebastian
  6. Girlfriend in a Coma by The Smiths
  7. Mother by Pink Floyd
  8. You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away by The Beatles
  9. There is a Light That Never Goes Out by The Smiths
  10. Song 2 by Blur
  11. In My Eyes by Minor Threat
  12. Some Song by Elliott Smith
  13. Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
  14. Today by Smashing Pumpkins
  15. Say It Ain’t So by Weezer
  16. Green Eyes by Coldplay
  17. Sunday Morning by The Velvet Underground
  18. Vincent by Don McLean
  19. Disarm by Smashing Pumpkins
  20. After Hours by The Velvet Underground
  21. Flake by Jack Johnson
  22. Yellow by Coldplay
  23. Creep by Radiohead
  24. Photograph by Weezer
  25. Over the Hills and Far Away by Led Zeppelin
  26. Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd
  27. The Biggest Lie by Elliott Smith
  28. Karma Police by Radiohead
  29. Velouria by Pixies
  30. Say It Ain’t So by Weezer
  31. No Name #3 by Elliott Smith
  32. Tourette’s by Nirvana
  33. While My Guitar Gently Weeps by The Beatles
  34. Free Fallin’ by Tom Petty
  35. Ask by The Smiths
  36. Rose Parade by Elliott Smith
  37. Pale Blue Eyes by The Velvet Underground
  38. I Melt With You by Modern English
  39. Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison
  40. New Slang by The Shins
  41. The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts by Sufjan Stevens
  42. Casimir Pulaski Day by Sufjan Stevens
  43. Romulus by Sufjan Stevens
  44. John Wayne Gacy, Jr. by Sufjan Stevens
  45. Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us by Sufjan Stevens
  46. Michelle by The Beatles
  47. Nothing Better by The Postal Service
  48. I’m a Cuckoo by Belle & Sebastian
  49. The Mistress Witch from McClure by Sufjan Stevens
  50. Me and the Major by Belle & Sebastian
  51. I Don’t Love Anyone by Belle & Sebastian
  52. My Wandering Days Are Over by Belle & Sebastian
  53. The King of Carrot Flowers by Neutral Milk Hotel
  54. The King of Carrot Flowers, Pts. Two & Three by Neutral Milk Hotel
  55. The Boy with the Thorn in His Side by The Smiths
  56. Boys Don’t Cry by The Smiths
  57. First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes
  58. Something Vague by Bright Eyes
  59. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right by Bob Dylan
  60. Julia by The Beatles
  61. Piazza, New York Catcher by Belle & Sebastian
  62. Fox in the Snow by Belle & Sebastian
  63. Kissing the Lipless by The Shins
  64. The Avalanche by Sufjan Stevens
  65. Such Great Heights by Iron & Wine
  66. Communist Daughter by Neutral Milk Hotel
  67. Butterfly by Weezer
  68. Norwegian Wood by The Beatles
  69. Movement of a Hand by Bright Eyes
  70. Say Yes by Elliott Smith
  71. Girl by Beck
  72. The State I Am In by Belle & Sebastian
  73. Such Great Heights by Iron & Wine
  74. Expectations by Belle & Sebastian
  75. I Love My Car by Belle & Sebastian
  76. The Rollercoaster Ride by Belle & Sebastian
  77. Signal in the Sky by Apples in Stereo

We did some spring cleaning this weekend, so I moved the physical printouts to a digital archive. I spent a rare couple of hours to myself in the afternoon with a guitar and played through them again for old times’ sake.

Filed under: Lists Reflection

Reflecting on everything that’s happened in the past couple years, a few thoughts and lessons come to mind:

  1. Don’t be afraid to scrap something or walk away, even if you’ve already invested a lot (the sunk cost fallacy).
  2. Keep things close to the core.
  3. Hiring is the highest-leverage investment of your time.
  4. If something smells a little off, it probably is.
  5. The truth can be inconvenient and easy to dismiss.
  6. Life is full of sliding doors moments.
  7. Go towards good vibes.
Filed under: Reflection

This new year’s resolution: be more grateful, patient, and kind.

Past resolutions:

  1. focus (2016)
  2. take action (2015)
  3. stay inspired (2014)
  4. go with the flow (2012)
  5. connect with people more (2011)
  6. don’t be lazy (2000)
Filed under: Reflection

Things I believe:

  • Straightforward is best
  • Constraints help creativity
  • Critical thinking is invaluable
  • People respect honesty
  • Process matters
  • Consistency is underrated
  • Humor shouldn’t be forgotten
  • New is not often an improvement
  • Sometimes “nothing” is better than “something”
Filed under: Lists Reflection

The following is a letter to myself, written five years ago on this date in 2013.

Justin,

I hope you’re doing well. I just wanted to provide a good checkpoint for you, so double check that you’re on your way to achieving what you want to during your time.

I’m predicting that you:

  • Are working a job that you’re passionate about
  • Became an even better designer
  • Love where you live
  • Love who you’re with
  • Kept in shape
  • Traveled the world a bit
Filed under: Reflection

Virtues:

  • Honesty: towards self and others
  • Frugality: want less and lead a simple life
  • Industry: no wasted time
  • Humility: every man is your superior in some way
  • Moderation: do things that are mostly sustainable
  • Tranquility: maintain composure
  • Preparedness: put yourself in the best position to succeed
Filed under: Lists Reflection

How do you lead a simple life? By identifying what’s most important to you, and focusing on these priorities. What I value the most:

  • relationships, with family and close friends
  • creating things, be it design, art, music, food
  • taking care of myself—eating well, staying active
Filed under: Reflection

Author Richard Koch of The 80/20 Principle spoke about “Happiness Islands” in an interview:

I encourage people to think about the small chunks of time—this week, this year, the years during their whole lives—that have given them far more happiness than most of the rest of their time. I call these periods “happiness islands”. Try it for yourself. Ask what the happiness islands have in common—why were you unusually happy then. You can do the same for your “achievement islands”—and for the opposites too, the times when you were least effective (“achievement desert islands”) or happy (“happiness desert islands”).

I’ve been thinking about my Happiness Islands lately. What do they all have in common? Friends and family—people who understand me. And a lot of times, food. Playing sports, or getting exercise, too.

Filed under: Reflection Media

I finished reading Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs biography, using iBooks, on my iPhone. Some thoughts and takeaways:

  1. Importance of intuition, often times over rational thought.
  2. Product, not profit. I remember being surprised at how profit-driven some of the business students were in my collaborative MBA/engineer class last year. Focus on making a great product, instead.
  3. Less is more. Giving the user fewer features and fewer options means a more focused, elegant product and experience. I agree often times users don’t know what they want.
  4. In some cases, Jobs took the approach of prioritizing design, and finding a way to engineer it later. Even better, make great engineering the essence of the design itself, so that a product’s aesthetic elegance is exactly its elegance in engineering or manufacture. It’s hard to decouple design and engineering, so arguably the best of both worlds would be an engineer who understands the importance of design.
  5. The people you work with and quality of work. It’s not hard to differentiate great work from not-so-great work; I’ve been fortunate to have worked with a handful of people who produce great work in my time at school.
  6. Take inspiration from nature. Make products that are harmonious, that take the path of least resistance.
  7. Look at how the tools and products that humans create fit into the big picture. Then make a dent in the universe.
Filed under: Reflection Design Media Technology
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