Flow on Zihe Liu

Transition

zl559@cam.ac.uk (Zihe Liu) — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:05:50 +0000

He could not see the ground. No horizon visible other than that of metal against sky, grey against brown. There was scarcely any motion to be seen - save for a few pleasure-crafts lazed against the sky - but all the busy traffic of billions of men were going on, he knew, beneath the metal skin of the world.

Modified from Foundation by Isaac Asimov

I’m on a plane right now with this particular book in hand. To be honest I didn’t finish it because it got too boring and confusing, but I tried :p Actually, the flight destination is back to my hometown 郑州 in China, and I told none of my relatives I was coming. So 姥姥，老爷 and 金刚 will be in for a big surprise. I’ve never surprised someone like this before, so I’m quite excited to see how they’ll react. Hopefully 姥姥 doesn’t get too shocked.

A Box

zl559@cam.ac.uk (Zihe Liu) — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 20:25:51 +0000

Dear Pat,

You came upon me carving some kind of little figure out of wood, and you said, “Why don’t you make something for me?”
I asked you what you wanted, and you said, “A box.”
“What for?”
“To put things in.”
“What things?”
“Whatever you have,” you said.
Well, here’s your box. Nearly everything I have is in it, and it is not full. Pain and excitement are in it, and feeling good or bad and evil thoughts and good thoughts—the pleasure of design and some despair and the indescribable joy of creation.
And on top of these are all the gratitude and love I have for you.
And still the box is not full.

John

Golden

zl559@cam.ac.uk (Zihe Liu) — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 04:05:50 +0000

golden

Kpop demon hunters.

A good boy.

Golden. Retriever. Another night… with the Singaporeans yipeeeeee :p

Fasho

zl559@cam.ac.uk (Zihe Liu) — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 03:20:06 +0000

five bucks
Bezos?? >:( come back plsssss
sorry my granny
squad is on the way
skrrt

Cortis

Cortis.

I may be slightly tipsy while writing this. I got kicked out for dancing too hard to this song. In my defence, I actually learnt the choreography and was on beat. I love my friends though. I recently realised maybe my family and friends really mean the world to me. Its kinda my last (?) year. I’ll miss yall.

如燕

zl559@cam.ac.uk (Zihe Liu) — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 03:51:34 +0000

A swallow, generated by GPT.

思念如燕它飞舞舌尖
若是真爱配尝几分苦甜
意念婆娑时间里推磨
追随到何处才结果
燕如针线在青空缝编
几幅女红将以泪缀点
誓言斑驳情雾只是经过
风雨中且让我盈步婀娜

Olivia Ong/王俪婷

Recently I did a pretty difficult thing. I put in alot of effort into it, and it paid off. Sure, it came with a couple of trade-offs, but it was well worth it in comparison. I tried really hard to get better at this one other thing (dance), but fell short of my own goals. So I’m a bit at a loss of how to advance on this front, at least for this year. You could say I’m feeling slightly empty, but some people would probably say I’m just being entitled, and I should be grateful for what I already have (rightly so).

Grateful

zl559@cam.ac.uk (Zihe Liu) — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 23:44:25 +0000

The Fallen Angel by Alexandre Cabanel (Wikipedia)

Excerpt from Paradise Lost, by John Milton

What though the field be lost?
All is not lost; the unconquerable Will,
And study of revenge, immortal hate,
And courage never to submit or yield:
And what is else not to be overcome?

I didn’t read Paradise Lost, but I found this painting of Lucifer that was inspired by Paradise Lost somewhat soul-stirring. We see Lucifer’s intense gaze as he looks (at the viewer? slightly off centre? maybe is he angry at us?) ahead, a mixture of angst, betrayal, remorse, anger, and other emotions up to viewer interpretation. I love how the darkness of the side of his face and his right eyebrow contrasts with that blinding gaze, accentuated by small white highlights. I could almost feel what he must have felt getting cast out from heaven.

Always The End

zl559@cam.ac.uk (Zihe Liu) — Sat, 03 May 2025 23:32:42 +0000

Composed and written by Jhung

It’s always the end when I see things different
Always the end when I see you
OK last take, last take
2,3
Then you come in like this
La-la-la, la-da-da
Please!
Don’t you forget about me, no
Cause I can’t let this go
Don’t forget to let me know

Nowadays, a significant portion of my time and energy is channelled to dancing. One thought occurs fairly often to me recently, as I start to see frontier AI models get increasingly intertwined within the lives of the people around me. Perhaps my dance is the very last thing that I can truly call my own. Whatever piece of good quality work I produce nowdays - from supervision answers, code, hell even writing some of these posts - are informed by AI in some way. Especially since my background is in everything AI. But dance is different. I cannot foresee AI generating choreographies anytime soon (certainly not executing them). When I dance, I really do feel the rhythm within me, and getting all the moves on the right beats feels like riding a wave. How I use my body to express the sounds I hear are unique to me. I’m still not sure yet how I feel about this, but I genuinely think my dance is the last thing that’ll be taken away by AI.

The Dog

zl559@cam.ac.uk (Zihe Liu) — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 15:00:10 +0000

I like a dog at my feet when I read,
Whatever his size or whatever his breed.
A dog now and then that will nuzzle my hand
As though I were the greatest of men in the land,
And trying to tell me it’s pleasant to be
On such intimate terms with a fellow like me.

I like a dog at my side when I eat,
I like to give him a bit of my meat;
And though mother objects and insists it is bad
To let dogs in the dining room, still I am glad
To behold him stretched out on the floor by my chair.
It’s cheering to see such a faithful friend there.

A dog leads a curious life at the best.
By the wag of his tail is his pleasure expressed.
He pays a high tribute to man when he stays
True to his friend to the end of his days.
And I wonder sometimes if it happens to be
That dogs pay no heed of the faults which men see.

Should I prove a failure; should I stoop to wrong;
Be weak at a time when I should have been strong;
Should I lose my money, the gossips would sneer
And fill with my blundering many an ear,
But still, as I opened my door, I should see
My dog wag his tail with a welcome for me.

Edgar A. Guest

A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes

zl559@cam.ac.uk (Zihe Liu) — Sat, 29 Mar 2025 23:56:58 +0200

Written and composed by Mack David, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston

A dream is a wish your heart makes
When you’re fast asleep
In dreams, you will lose your heartaches
Whatever you wish for, you keep

Have faith in your dreams and maybe someday
Rainbow will come shining through
No matter how your heart is grieving
If you keep on believing
Then the dream that you wish will come true

The original version of this was written for the Walt Disney film Cinderella (1950). When I first listened to the rendition by British artist Puma Blue, I was completely captured by its darker tones and soft vocals. I really did feel like I was in a dream.

Unconditional

zl559@cam.ac.uk (Zihe Liu) — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 23:56:58 +0200

Composed and written by Jaehyun

I just, I just bought my baby Prada
Got another for hеr, straight from the store
Fly her ‘round the world so she can hang by the shore
That’s my baby, that’s my sugar
I don’t need no honey on the side
That’s unconditiona-nal
For her, I’d break the law, just take me straight to the court
Buy a billion roses and I’d still get her more
That’s my baby, that’s my sugar
I don’t need no honey on the side
That’s unconditiona-nal

Alright I’ll be honest, the lyrics aren’t the most refined. But the song is an absolute banger. Some songs make you want to get up and dance, and this song is one of them.