Submitted around 20,000 words of writing samples for my PEM. Hope they at least try to read it, but wouldn’t be surprised if they won’t.

Last tutorial: half an hour yapping about songs and sound designs—La La Land, Singing In The Rain, August Rush, even The Newsroom (That’s How I Got to Memphis, you know). If we see media as an extension of human capabilities, films are the extension of our lives—a dream within our dreamy existence.

New semester! Had a great time tutoring first-years. While they could pull definitions of digital cultures from the readings, I encouraged them to believe in REAL experiences in this mediated world—to feel the grass, to enjoy the sunshine. And for a moment, I swear I saw their eyes light up.

A milestone! Finally pinned down the research questions of my dissertation. One small victory in the epic journey, and storytelling-wise it is now officially Act II.

Got a new TV on Black Friday and played FF VII Remake in 4K for the first time—it was mind-blowing. Took me back to my younger days, tweaking every setting in FF VIII to potato mode just to keep my ancient PC breathing. Guess I’ll never catch up on all those pixels I missed.

Went to the Master of Film and Screen Art Showcase at Sydney College of Art and it was pretty interesting. Cinematography is great. Must be difficult to produce a short film with low budget and many union restrictions. Appreciate their courage to tackle the undocumented immigrant issues.

After our chaotic ACMI adventure yesterday, my partner and I found ourselves seriously tempted to move to Melbourne. Waiting forever for the tram and getting caught in sudden storms (multiple times) the day before suddenly felt like a minor trade-off.

A quick shoutout to my HDR peers—your research truly deserved more attention. It’s a shame that, so often, the most creative and energetic moments in our lives go unnoticed when people are busy chasing the spotlight. #aanzca24

My first AANZCA experience went so smoothly that I started to believe my half-baked research and presentation actually made an impact. Sitting in front of an audience and having people genuinely listen is truly a privilege—and it’s the kind of privilege that could easily send me on an ego trip.

Christmas but uncanny

Accidentally shattered a pepper grinder, leaving a mix of peppercorns and glass shards on the floor. Comforted myself with this thought: 400 years ago, this mess could have sparked a war.

I used to think that the film industry is dying everywhere in the world, but now I think it only happens where screenwriters and intellectual property were not taken seriously.

A popular show in China was accused of not giving credit to all screenwriters 4 years ago. Now, it still didn’t add their credits at the beginning of each episodes, just some unwilling mention at the end of credit roll. When will they learn to respect the screenwriters?

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