Snow Day At The University Of Washington

24 Hours of King County Metro

"This animation shows 24 hours of Metro activity, over 200 bus routes on more than 12,000 trips. In this animation every bus is on time. Each bus is represented by a black dot that moves between stops. The bus positions are computed every 6 seconds of real time, though the bus routes are approximated as straight lines between stops (faint grey dots)."

https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLL77IVn4yixWDfSq9uXP2xT-Qxab2xpOb

UW’s Got Talent 2015, a talent show organized by UW’s Operation Smile chapter.

Confessions

The One About Trader Joe's Chili Spiced Dried Mango

A Reflection on Life, Love, and the Universe

The abridged version of this piece that I hastily submitted to the (No) Regrets Vocal Media challenge

2013 World Population Map by Seven Billions

"@mollyx9120 1 day ago

I’m glad you brought it back around to the dehumanization of children, because that’s what underlies the entire cultural process of infantilization in the first place, and what gives infantilization its meanings in culture. The oppression of children one of the most overlooked issues in U.S. society. My dad always said you can learn a lot about a culture by how it treats it’s children. And we as kids are forced to learn a certain way, forced to perform to certain expectations, forced to suppress and ignore our natural inclinations and needs, and given no platform for autonomy in the world that controls us. So it’s no wonder many of us seek to comfort our inner child when we are grown. This is why children and teens are so effective as activists, because by the time we grow up the determination is starved out of us, and we are tired and burned out. We need youth liberation for effective progress."

Mailbox Peak

Mailbox Peak is one of those daredevil hikes people go on just to brag about it on social media. 4000 ft of elevation gain in 3 miles (or 6, if you go on the new trail), and there's a colorful mailbox on top that's plastered with a bunch of stickers you can take a picture with. It seems like the kind of thing you'd put on your college bucket list to tackle while you're still young and reckless. I first heard about the trail through seeing a couple ladies I knew post about it on social media-- and my young, reckless college brain vowed to one day trace the steps of those pairs of suave Gore-Tex boots clad in tight yoga pants. (I was and still am a connoisseur of yoga pants and the shapely beings that don them.)

Officially a published writer on Vocal Media! Hopefully the first piece of many to come! I originally wrote this for the Outdoor Shots challenge, but decided to spend more time polishing the ending. There’s no such thing as good writing, only good rewriting.

open.substack.com

the time when art was enough

but it doesn't satiate anymore, this "writerly" fate I once had

This piece by my high school prom date gets at why I decided to compartmentalize my childhood dreams of becoming a published writer into Vocal Media (link here: https://vocal.media/authors/james-bao-1)

What is it like to have perfect pitch?

Answer: It's actually pretty boring. If you play a note on the piano I can tell you what it is. If you told me to sing the note G I might be off, but if you sang the note G and asked me what it was, I would be able to correctly identify it. Basically nobody cares about this skill except my mother, who thinks I am very talented even though I haven't played music since I was twelve. 

400th Quora answer!  Yay