My Experience with Tarot Cards

I can imagine a psychic tarot shoppe here

Due to my fascination with mortality and the humanistic stages of life (it's certainly more interesting than school-college-career-retirement to write about), I splurged on a seemingly pointless purchase of Rider-Waite tarot cards.

While I did not become a cross-dressing gypsy (yet... just kidding) or lose all my marbles (I lost my Christmas yarn bag of green glass marbles a long time ago), I wanted to embrace more of the mystical, humanistic traditions like the Kabbalah, which even Madonna was influenced by, and religion without actually having to go through all the effort and conversion. Who has time for spiritual texts and interpretation when there are textbooks to be read?

This is one of the bamboo offshoots of my quarter-life crisis that I experienced, in which admittedly and embarrassingly a professional services firm rejecting me played a large part, but I will not express more opinions for fear of my public blog opinions coming back to haunt me. Anyways, a quarter-life crisis is not necessarily a bad or depressing thing, but merely a time of reflection and contemplation, and, like with Apple apps, there's even a tarot card for that: the 4 of Swords! It is also a period of urgency with the feeling that certain periods like college will graduate in the near future and what one really wants to do will be siphoned off, and also a period of consideration of one's place in the world, which can be satisfactory or unsatisfactory, with the underlying motivations. Check out this spread:

According to the video below, the 4 of Swords can be seen as a knight resting and contemplating in a coffin built for him in the case that he doesn't return alive from a crusade.

Clearly, I am educated enough to know that the future cannot be divined by plastic cards biased by the reader's touchy-feeliness, which in psychology is the confirmation bias. Misinterpreting symbols and superstitions can be self-imagined constructs, but this doesn't destroy the main reason I bought the tarot cards: not to predict the future, but to see perspectives on life. 

While life in the Middle Ages depicted in the cards seems irrelevant to today, life is surprisingly still relevant with many emotions little changed through time, such as in a quote that I read somewhere that poignantly mentions that we all lived and died under the same sun.

A note must be made for the artist, Pamela Colman Smith, who died in obscurity and before recognition like Van Gogh, which is what the majority of the world will admittedly, including myself since there are too many people. People have the gift and curse of rationalizing death, but I must point out a funny card that I think is in error: How can the contemplative guy in the 2 of Wands see the world as a globe when the Middle Age people didn't know that the Earth was round?

Hmm... Reminds me of the faultiness like with Chinese knockoff Chrisdien Deny of which I actually saw a store of in China

In this individualistic society, it is sometimes hard to think about other people and their concerns. The tarot cards are supposed to tell the story of life and beyond. This is why I keep all the business cards I get; they represent a large culmination of a single person's activities, and we know that the most important person in America and the world is him/herself. This recalls a premise from How to Win Friends and Influence People; what are another person's concerns worth when one is personally struggling with bills, balding, etc.? It is a little myopic but unfortunate and inescapable.

I admittedly wanted the fast path to simple understanding and interpretation of the cards being swamped with schoolwork at the time, so I found this video extremely helpful in illuminating the intricate stories, pronouncements, realities, and symbolism in the cards, which includes things like the sun, moon, death, and even society.

While I don't shuffle the deck to keep them in my order of 56 minor arcana and 22 major arcana, I keep the box on my desk as a warm reminder of the stages of life. Occasionally, I slide through the cards when I need perspective to recall many of the stories that shed light on our short lives.

Ultimately, this purchase was extremely worth it and is my cerebral but emotional type of endless toy, sort of like a Rubik's cube or kinetic sand. It is something worth revisiting to remind ourselves that what concerns us now also concerned our ancestors even if knowledge has accumulated significantly to allow things like the Internet and skyscrapers in the modern age.

Even if I am not an expert, I <3 my tarot cards! Fun trivia: the standard 52-card playing deck evolved from tarot cards.

Back 2 School

After moving in my stuff and settling down to classes, I must post something witty and disparaging. Now that I have the exorbitant privilege of a refrigerator and no mandated meal plan, this means no more awkward wasted time at the dining hall and 1 hour plus food binges. Speaking of awkward, I managed to get 2 photos with our great President Joseph Aoun:

1/2

2/2

Con$idering that I am looking for co-op and have several new commitments this semester, I had to engineer a new diet and schedule worthy of the Mayans and their calendar.

The Joy of Rice
Sweet, white grains of jasmine rice! A rice cooker is a godsend to college students and can even be your only cooking utility, although I also bought a combo pan-pot thing from Amazon just in case.

When the rice begins to form and solidify, you can throw in your meat or "sides" as said in Cantonese to steam-pressure cook. This can include, for example, sausages and Chinese sausages. Best of all, you can save valuable time and eat pre-cooked rice! A miracle!

The ceremonial first rice of the semester. I am proud to eat this nutritious staple of my ancestors eaten even in the Qin dynasty.

My school convenience food pyramid

So far, I have infallibly eaten rice at every meal with a side, which makes me feel less tired than eating bread for some reason. You can even pair it with a two-serving Boloco bowl. I thought I reached new lows when I ate Boloco rice with rice, but talk about economical!

Let's do some sophisticated, high-level accounting. $1620/110 = $14.73 per meal swipe. Boloco bowl = $9.82. NO THANK YOU MEAL PLAN

Saying that the meal plan is not highway robbery is like saying fast food doesn't cause obesity.

Ready for the next nuclear attack

How about some tuna tartare? IS CANNED TUNA

I wonder if I will eat so much canned tuna, get mercury poisoning, and become a thermometer.

Incredibly Funny Professors
I had the amazing luck of getting a gaggle of funny professors this semester. Being tired increases the delirium and makes their jokes 2x funnier, and when I want to sleep in class (don't judge me, I study a lot outside of class anyways), I somehow start cracking up at their incredibly cheesy jokes.

For example, my mid-level accounting professor asked on the first day to ease the tension (but ended up creating more), "How do accountants get paid?" Student: "By providing a service." Professor: "Yes, that's right, just like a doctor. He tells you to pull down your pants, sticks a shot up your butt, and gets paid." (NO JOKE)

Now, my management information systems teacher is a true comedian, and the Boston accent helps. When he was concerned that the unusual two-tiered class schedule would mess with his SoulCycling class, he said, "I want to weigh as much as I did when I first started: 8 pounds, 9 ounces."

If my mouth could send text messages and emojis, LOL chat bubbles and Pusheens would be flooding out.

The Value of a Day

McDonald's in Times Square, not my photo

I’m sure all of us have experienced some days that are more positive than others, or even some days that are more profitable than others. Not to create stress, but to evaluate the maximum value of day, I conjure thoughts of a large multinational corporation.

Let’s say a company like McDonald’s has around $27 billion in yearly revenue. Dividing by 365 and disregarding holidays off, that’s about $74 million in average daily global revenue with a net profit margin of 17.34% in 2014. This implies that good or bad shocks can be virtuous or devastating especially with how efficient markets are today; I’m sure there is a lot of pressure for an ad launch to be successful and viral, while a scandal or bad earnings can easily take a few notches off market capitalization.

However, with less pressure, let’s estimate the average life expectancy of an American as of now at 79 years. That’s about 28,835 days of which we have lived a varying portion of it. Thus, I think a day is quite valuable! I think of Steve Job’s various enlightening quotes on life and mortality.

A Different Kind of Success

Not me in photo, I'm not that curvy and feminine (I hope)

Is anyone else really inspired by very smart people and/or people who became surprisingly successful from modest means? I feel that drive and hard work are parts of the essence of America. Still, America has one of the highest inequalities among developed nations, so realistic expectations are important since most people aren't likely to become obscenely rich, including myself. Therefore, I think success in happiness and efficiency are important too.

People are relative creatures who think at the margin, so while the average American citizen is much better off than the average citizen of the world, we are surrounded by media that frequently touts wealth and conventional success. Furthermore, friends, neighbors, and strangers may be better off, and people tend to form friendships on similarity despite America being a relatively egalitarian society. Despite these adverse trends, I think success should ideally be personally defined.

I thought this short article by Marilyn vos Savant was an interesting read, and you might too: "Achieving Your Potential"

Ah, the joys of being an idealist millennial whose views may shift in the future…

I Don't Like Blogs About Blogging

First, I am reluctant to call myself a blogger due to mysteriously negative connotations. However, there is a certain breed of blogs run by intelligent, opportunistic people who capitalize on the moderately dead but never fully-dead allure of blogging. They mostly sell pipe dreams which can be seen in many shady industries like penny stocks, covered call writing (which can work I guess), and the lottery.

I may sound like a spited person because I am not a successful blogger, although that can't be expected for a website two weeks old, and I will test basic monetization strategies in the future. However, my website's main purposes will probably be to advertise future services and allow me to write as a hobby.

I'm sure some people end up successful. SOME. However, in the mostly competitive Internet marketplace, this is like selling hopium or, as the phrase goes, "shovels to gold prospectors" during the Gold Rush. That is an intelligent business idea.

Monkeys at the zoo

However, the image of the super-successful blogger used to market crap is like the monkey who takes a crap on all the other monkeys by taking their money through ebooks, courses, and other paraphernalia. I'm not saying that the value of blogs about blogging is completely worthless, but the majority of the time it is. They provide unrealistic expectations with most of their attractiveness coming from the fantasy they sell, and only a fraction of vocal supporters experience strong gains.

My advice is that for small-scale websites, don't buy any advice unless it has essential value-added as most information can be found for free on the Internet even if provided in piecemeal by the blogs about blogging. The irony is that I just made a blog post about blogging and that there may be tinges of hypocrisy, but I prefer blogs with different purposes.

"Beast Mode" - Turn Off Animations in Windows 8 and Android

She turned off animations.

If you are a free spirit who flies like a hummingbird and don't want to be encumbered by animations or suffer motion sickness from badly-rendered 3D, then consider turning off animations in your Windows 8 and Android.

Windows 8
For Windows 8, there are two components to turn off animations. First, I think it is more convenient to use the search shortcut Windows+S rather than swiping manically with the mouse or touchscreen and searching for "PC settings." Open the Metro "PC settings" app version, and go to "Ease of Access." Go to "Other options," and turn "Play animations in Windows" off.

Next, search (Windows+S) "View advanced system settings," and click on "Settings..." under "Performance" to get to Visual Effects. Here are my minimal preferred settings that I find provide the least frictional issues.

Android

For Android, here is a more complete guide by How-To Geek. Basically, if Developer Options aren't available, activate them by going to "About Device," and keep tapping "Build Number" until they appear. Then, in Developer Options, turn off "Window animation scale," "Transition animation scale," and "Animator duration scale."

It may take some adjustment to what now seems like a jerky lack of motions, but you'll probably find your productivity, battery life, and Sonic the Hedgehog need-for-speed aided.

The Angsty College Student's Guide to LinkedIn Registration

The 6 emotions you're supposed to get when using LinkedIn. 6 is also indicative of 666, aka the Devil.

Like vegetables or dentist appointments, LinkedIn is one of those things certain people need to have but do not necessarily want. It has about as many useful or interesting functions as a toaster does for banana bread (getting a job), and this is coming from a business student who's supposed to love it! However, I am not a LinkedIn expert.

It fills the role as the annoying middleman like the troll living under the bridge. Then again, I'm only so cynical now because I see opening and maintaining an account as a chore. Clearly, LinkedIn is not as sexy as Snapchat or even Facebook, but it can be very useful for pre-professionals after some major caveats.

Registration

Enter and give your data to "the man." You've already created so many mandatory accounts that your data is like an Internet Horcrux now. I skipped almost everything after because you can backtrack and fill it in when you're not on the spot and understand the beast better.

Turn Off All Emails
This is important if you don't want the displeasure of receiving over 9000 emails. Luckily, I don't get harassed and especially not by people whom I want to harass me like 50 Shades of Grey. I turned all the emails off before even receiving one as I did not want the deluge from Noah's Ark. Go to Profile->Privacy & Settings->Communications for most of the toggles.

LinkedIn Premium
I'm sure that there is nothing else that college students would rather spend $30 a month on. Don't get it unless you need it, which implies that you are already high in the professional pecking order.

Max Privacy Settings
I'm a human, not a lab monkey, so I don't want to participate in your research. Go to Profile->Privacy & Settings and turn off everything you can/want to.

Stalking Mode

Source: Buzzfeed 

Something that is both creepy and a turn-on is that you can see who viewed your profile and others can see when you viewed theirs. To go incognito like Carmen Sandiego and avoid awkward relationships, you can disable this feature briefly for the period of stalking and turn it back on after you are done to receive profile stats again. Go to Profile->Privacy & Settings->"Select what others see when you've viewed their profile" and chose among the bottom 2 options. Honestly, LinkedIn is not fun to stalk because you only see clean-cut versions unless you want the juicy details of someone's GPA. Don't forget to turn it back to "Your name and headline" if you want stats again!

These are quick "pro" tips (lol) for getting set up, after which you are free to explore the professional jungle where dreams are made of. When you're done working on your profile, consider putting LinkedIn in your bookmarks and downloading the app.