I've stored some fun stories on this page.
Over the course of the summer 2024, my wife and I dedicated ourselves to transforming our yard into a beautifully paved space, intended as a special gift for our son. The project was a labor of love, involving meticulous planning and hands-on effort from start to finish. While the result doesn’t look very professional, we are still very proud of this achievement. As two people who grew up in Asian cities, this was the first time in our lives that we completed a task that involved physically transforming the land. Through this yard work, we got a firsthand experience of the daily labor of early Americans. Anyway, the yard is now a space where the whole family can play, relax, and enjoy the outdoors, surrounded by the care and effort that went into creating it.
+ preparing the groundWe had to dig down 2 inches into the existing ground and compact the soil to create a solid, level foundation that would ensure the longevity and stability of the paving. This step was physically exhausting but crucial, as it prevented future shifting or sinking of the pavers. In the end, we gave up and hired professionals to handle it. Watching them finish in a few hours with an excavator what we thought would take us a month really made us appreciate the greatness of the Industrial Revolution.
we sourced the materials, selecting high-quality pavers that would not only be durable but also aesthetically pleasing. My wife carefully considered the color, texture, and size of the pavers to ensure they would complement the overall design of the yard and create a welcoming atmosphere. Once the pavers were chosen, we spread a layer of sand over the compacted soil. The sand served as a cushioning layer, providing a smooth, even surface for the pavers to rest on.
When the pavers were delivered, we began the painstaking process of laying the pavers. Piece by piece, we carefully placed each paver according to the design, making sure that they were properly aligned and snugly fitted together. We paid close attention to maintaining consistent spacing between the pavers, ensuring that the overall pattern remained true to the design we had envisioned. During the process, we had to continually check the level and make adjustments as needed to ensure a natural slope, which is crucial to prevent the water from pooling on the surface during rain.
Once all the pavers were in place, we added a final layer of a special glue sand, sweeping it into the joints between the pavers. This sand helped to lock the pavers in place and provided a stable, secure surface that would stand up to foot traffic and weather conditions.
Irene Heim and Hans Kamp
have been awarded the 2024 Rolf Schock Prize in Logic and Philosophy,
a highly prestigious honor (sometimes referred to as the Nobel Prize of Philosophy).
This is the first time the prize has been awarded for work done in linguistics.
Their groundbreaking work on the dynamic nature of language meaning has profoundly impacted both linguistics and philosophy,
bringing about transformative changes.
While the necessity of adopting a dynamic perspective on meaning remains a topic of debate,
its influence is undeniable. Based on my research experience,
exploring dynamic approaches not only offers a rigorous model for capturing discourse effects in natural language
but also provides fresh insights into the issues of compositionality.
See the MIT news
My first course in semantics was with Professor Haihua Pan
(referred to here as Pan laoshi*) at City University of Hong Kong.
Pan laoshi is an outstanding semanticist and a passionate teacher.
However, having forgotten most of the math I learned in high school,
I struggled to keep up with the class and often found myself dozing off during lectures,
leaving me with little to show for my efforts.
Still, I could sense the rigor of semantic analysis,
rooted in the universal formal system of mathematical logic,
which hinted at a wide range of applications.
Motivated by this, I decided to take the course again.
To stay engaged, I copied Pan laoshi’s compositional derivations onto my notebook
as he worked them out on the whiteboard, even though I didn’t fully understand them.
I continued copying diligently until, toward the end of the semester,
I suddenly grasped the basic concept of lambda calculus: ‘Ah, so that’s how it works!’
From then on, I could perform compositional derivations on my own,
which marked the beginning of my first project in semantics.
*'laoshi' (literrally mean 'teacher') is an honorific term of respect for teachers in Asian cultures.