Random stuff and things

Piano pieces I’m currently practicing…

Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52 (Chopin)
Prelude and Fugue No. 20 in A minor, BWV 865 (Bach)
Préludes Livre 1, No. 5 “Les collines d’Anacapri” (Debussy)
Ghibli Best Stories (Hisaishi)

What I’m currently listening to…

Piano Concerto No. 4 (Beethoven)
Symphony No. 8 (Mahler)
La bohème (Puccini)
Waltz for Debby (Bill Evans Trio)
nintendo summer music :)

Books I’m currently reading…

Pachinko (Lee)
Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History (Laudan)

Math books I’m currently working through…

Abstract Algebra: An Integrated Approach (Silverman)
Generatingfunctionology (Wilf)

Weights I’m currently lifting :D

Incline bench: 225lb x 6
Barbell squat: 315lb x 3
Weighted pull-ups: 10lb x 8

“Recent” photos from my camera roll (depending on when I remember to update it)

I got to go on a tour of The Washington Post’s printing press! I went in expecting kind of just a glorified printer; it’s not at all that. The sheer scale and efficiency is breathtaking. The passion of the people working at the plant who took us on the tour also made the whole experience super engaging and interesting – and also made me kind of sad that the peak of this magical era (of presses running at full steam through the night, printing copies for millions of households) has passed, with software engineers like me mostly to blame.

Fireworks in the National Mall on the 4th of July. I was sitting at the Lincoln Memorial. There was an unbelievable number of people there; I arrived 20 minutes early and slowly wormed my way through the crowd until I found a decent spot to sit down and watch.

My first time trying Nepali cuisine! Really delicious. The dish I got was called ghar ko thali; from left to right, a rice pudding for dessert, black lentil dal, spinach, bean/potato/bamboo curry, and a goat curry. Picked radish on the side as well. I also got momos and sel roti.

I stumbled upon this quaint little bookshop in DC. There were books absolutely everywhere: piled from floor to ceiling, stuffed horizontally above other shelved books, stacked on the window, hanging above the doorway, you name it. And tons of whimsical little notes and labels scattered about to help navigate. I could spend weeks here! (Shop is Capitol Hill Books, near Eastern Market)

On this night, there were supposed to be northern lights visible in much of the country. Some of my friends and I rented a car and drove out into rural Rhode Island, where we stopped at this bridge overlooking a reservoir. We didn’t get to see any auroras, but after a few minutes of adjusting to the dark we could see beautiful stars in the night sky reflecting on the water below. Such a tranquil and serene experience.

A beautiful spring day at Brown. Some of my most contented memories are coming out of a long study session at the library, feeling the gentle warmth of sun on my back, breathing in the fresh, cool air, and listening to the breeze rustling through the branches of the flowering trees.

Brandon Gong