wynlim

documenting myself & building a personal online library @ http://winnielim.org / chronically struggling with health & existence. moderately covid cautious. particularly interested in #philosophy. other interests: #cooking #photography #running

home: https://winnielim.org
instagram: https://instagram.com/wynlim

Public Key

npub1lflg3d0errv4nynu69vczfzhwww3c3ksw5yd5r2hu2dqn2zhszqqqrehf7

NIP-05 Address

wynlim_at_kopiti.am@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs05l5gkhu33k2ejf7dzkvpy3th88gugmg82zx6p4t79xsf4ptcpqqprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmntu8plqj

Publishing to

relay.momostr.pink

Author Public Key

npub1lflg3d0errv4nynu69vczfzhwww3c3ksw5yd5r2hu2dqn2zhszqqqrehf7

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Last Notes

2026-08-04 11:18:52 UTC

recently i found out that Daniel Levitin, the author of "This is your brain on music" is also a musician on top of being a neuroscientist, *and* also a music producer. I was wondering how one can have so much time and energy: https://winnielim.org/notes/daniel-levitin-and-the-age-of-distraction/
#blogging

2026-07-19 05:12:02 UTC

recently i noticed that my mental health has gotten better ever since i started listening to jazz, so i wrote about it: https://winnielim.org/journal/jazz-and-my-mental-health/
#blogging #writing #jazz

2026-05-26 23:59:25 UTC

so what annoys me about mastodon is that i can no longer see replies to my posts after a couple of days. :(

2026-05-17 13:51:17 UTC

listed my first favourite jazz albums: https://winnielim.org/journal/my-first-favourite-jazz-albums/
#blogging

2026-03-29 06:21:22 UTC

wrote about my chronic overwhelming sadness – please don't click on it if you're sensitive to triggers: https://winnielim.org/journal/overwhelming-sadness/
#blogging

2026-03-27 22:58:01 UTC

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so apart from oil, there is a shortage of helium due to the closure of the Straits of Hormuz which affects semiconductor manufacturing...coupled with the AI-fueled shortage – maybe it is a good time to consider getting that electronic device you want/need while prices are still reasonable.

2026-03-27 01:04:16 UTC

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at least you found it interesting! :)

2026-03-26 03:16:45 UTC

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my partner: you have the most depressing ig stories ever
after i shared screenshots of an official transcript from our minister of foreign affairs on the current situation: https://www.mfa.gov.sg/newsroom/press-statements-transcripts-and-photos/transcript-of-minister-for-foreign-affairs-dr-vivian-balakrishnan-s-interview-with-reuters-global-managing-editor-for-world-news-mark-bendeich--23-march-2026/
https://media.kopiti.am/media_attachments/files/116/293/299/243/035/235/original/8848724b4bcde09f.jpeg
https://media.kopiti.am/media_attachments/files/116/293/299/330/697/372/original/75276824ae99d59b.png

2026-03-26 02:38:49 UTC

feel like my adhd is getting worse due to existential dread from the war

2026-03-22 23:26:47 UTC

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yesterday while writing this post i found a post i wrote 10 years ago that expressed my concerns about the difficulties the world was going to experience: https://winnielim.org/journal/the-lack-of-hope-in-our-future/
for me, it matters that i documented my psychological footsteps – because even back then this was how i perceived reality. it reminded me why publishing is important to me even though i don't feel it day to day. it allows me to know who i am, and who i was.
#writing

2026-03-22 05:24:49 UTC

due to recent events i am concerned that what i think of as an ordinary day may become rare in the future, so i documented such a day: https://winnielim.org/journal/an-ordinary-day/
#blogging #writing

2026-03-19 05:32:07 UTC

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i only found out at age nearing 45 that a giant cello is called a double bass (or an upright)

2026-03-19 05:29:29 UTC

i brought my camera when we went to support an artist's exhibition more than a month ago. my photos tend to languish in my sd cards but today i managed to convince my brain to publish them : https://winnielim.org/notes/celebrating-an-artists-work
(every second i fight a battle with my brain seriously)
#blogging

2026-03-17 00:22:02 UTC

my partner is helping me to sell my old mechanical keyboard because i don’t use it anymore but when someone truly offered to buy it i had a visceral reaction like nooooooooo my preciousssss…
still selling it. need space. but i have serious emotional attachment to my gadgets even if they are unused.

2026-03-16 23:06:58 UTC

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the wonderful thing about being new to jazz is the sheer number of great albums i can experience and discover

2026-03-15 12:03:20 UTC

wrote a post on how i feel like a perpetual wet blanket and hence i prefer keeping to myself: https://winnielim.org/journal/wet-blanket/
#blogging

2026-03-13 04:52:06 UTC

my partner @npub1z9h…dmew posca-ed her headphones so i wrote an existential-sounding (as usual) note about it:
https://winnielim.org/notes/splashes-of-colour-in-spite-of-the-darkness/
https://media.kopiti.am/media_attachments/files/116/220/066/779/013/921/original/a435c1ebf11b2437.jpg

2026-03-10 04:25:25 UTC

i wish i can overcome my avoidant personality

2026-03-08 04:48:09 UTC

the way i cope with my existential anxiety and dread is to write – so as usual i documented my thoughts on the middle eastern war, the surreality of it all, the cognitive dissonance because most people don't seem to care or know about its potential impact on the rest of the world: https://winnielim.org/journal/living-in-surreal-times/
#blogging

2026-03-07 02:35:23 UTC

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it is interesting how at some corners of the internet people are predicting a major energy and financial crisis impending but everywhere else is business as usual.

2026-03-06 04:18:43 UTC

anyone else worried about the war and its implications?

2026-03-04 22:54:13 UTC

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thank you for the time and attention. all the best for your instrument, which one is it if you don't mind sharing? :) would love to read a blog post or two about it.

2026-03-04 22:52:36 UTC

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that is some serious affection for tinned fish when one values it over toilet paper. ;) you reminded me that we would probably starve since we have not stocked up on food...

2026-03-04 05:39:44 UTC

my partner and i sometimes half joke that we have to hoard creative supplies and equipment now in case there’s a war or another pandemic

2026-03-02 13:38:33 UTC

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118 months: reflecting about how much of a miracle we are still together because we are like aliens from two different planets…also featuring clothes made by @npub1z9h…dmew: https://winnielim.org/notes/118-months-like-two-aliens-from-different-planets/
https://media.kopiti.am/media_attachments/files/116/159/851/899/168/516/original/67315357f89436b4.jpeg

2026-03-01 12:33:14 UTC

been learning the piano for about 3 months so I wrote some thoughts on it, including how learning to take baby steps was essential to my learning experience: https://winnielim.org/journal/on-learning-the-piano-with-baby-steps/
#blogging #writing

2026-02-22 05:09:38 UTC

sometimes i write stream of consciousness posts and this is one of them: i jumped from my writing routine to music to existential thoughts: https://winnielim.org/journal/alone-with-music/
#blogging #writing

2026-02-20 04:52:19 UTC

sadly i think it may be time to get bifocals

2026-02-17 23:39:46 UTC

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i used to be a enthusiastic proponent of access and i am not arguing against that, but i think ironically the technological advancement has greatly limited the environment where people can develop their artistic sensibilities. maybe it is just a different spectrum of art, but can't help but feel like we are losing something very human.

2026-02-17 23:37:09 UTC

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thank you for the responses! i think fidelity can be defined in different ways: in terms of technical fidelity like you'd said, for example the bitrate of an audio file; versus the audio fidelity in the sense how faithful it is to the original sound? like recording actual drums versus using midi files? so for me audio has lost its fidelity because everything sounds computer-generated/flat since they are no longer recording actual instruments.

2026-02-15 05:07:58 UTC

wrote about the random things i learnt about music (particularly jazz) over the past weeks, and how it influences the way I think about life and myself: https://winnielim.org/journal/music-a-deep-rabbit-hole/
#blogging #writing

2026-02-14 00:14:18 UTC

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someone left a comment saying that they feel less judgey of people wearing masks after reading my post...i guess that is a win? https://winnielim.org/journal/1000-days-of-being-covid-free/#comment-30733
but it makes me feel like now they understand that some people have a medical history for wearing masks...but it seems like it doesn't occur to them that long covid could happen to perfectly healthy individuals too, including themselves?

2026-02-13 22:14:17 UTC

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this reminds me of my thoughts/ideas and Obsidian. As in it is a hassle to note/organise them but they tend to be useful for my future selves.

2026-02-13 00:59:53 UTC

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not sure if youtube is your thing — watched this video explaining why modern music is getting worse: https://youtu.be/1bZ0OSEViyo?si=XaKJ7-YZnfw8Eib2
it is interesting to think how advance of technology doesn’t always mean outcomes will get better, wonder if this would apply to photos etc too.

2026-02-12 23:38:02 UTC

i find it incredible that we can listen to some music from the 1950s-1970s at high quality. like you would expect crackling sounds or something due to old technology. some live concerts recorded back then sound miraculously incredible. like we managed to capture a fragment of time forever.

2026-02-12 11:53:04 UTC

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yes of course, please feel free to share any of my posts. :) and thank you for appreciating.

2026-02-12 11:50:34 UTC

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am slowly making my way through this list: https://www.reddit.com/r/JazzPiano/comments/1iryipw/favorite_solo_piano_albums/
but my current favourites are https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_to_Be_(album) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythical_Magic

2026-02-09 12:55:35 UTC

discovered a genre of music i’m currently very into: piano jazz, but specifically it has to be solo

2026-02-09 12:49:33 UTC

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I think for me the web was such a big part of my life but now there are other things that i want to do IRL.

2026-02-08 04:02:10 UTC

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documented 1000 days of being covid-free: why I am still covid-cautious, why it matters to me, and why I am still publicly writing about it: https://winnielim.org/journal/1000-days-of-being-covid-free/
#CovidIsNotOver #blogging

2026-02-02 11:36:35 UTC

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117 months: “and even if we’re lucky enough to live till our old age together, a hundred years still seem too short. this is how i know i love her. it is this greed, this anxiety, this poignancy.”
https://winnielim.org/notes/117-months-this-is-how-i-know-i-love-her/

2026-02-01 06:01:00 UTC

wrote how after belatedly realising i may be audhd, i am learning to take better care of myself – things I thought of as personal deficiencies are now being thought of as differences and needs – and why this matters https://winnielim.org/journal/learning-to-take-care-of-my-self/
#writing #blogging

2026-01-27 11:08:07 UTC

wrote a short note about Keith Jarrett improvising on a broken piano: https://winnielim.org/notes/keith-jarrett-improvising-on-a-broken-piano/

2026-01-25 07:37:10 UTC

wrote about how for past decade or so I've been trying to shed old parts of me so that new parts can grow: https://winnielim.org/journal/shedding/
#blogging #writing

2026-01-18 06:21:41 UTC

wrote about why I had to become a runner before I could learn the piano – tldr physical stamina builds mental stamina plus experiencing the potential of my body through running made me believe in the potential of my brain (also wrote about how adhd relates to all of this, and how learning itself is a skill that has to be learnt): https://winnielim.org/journal/why-i-had-to-be-a-runner-before-i-could-learn-the-piano/
#writing #blogging

2026-01-16 02:20:55 UTC

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that’s why i am training myself to take notes on the spot these days

2026-01-11 06:20:55 UTC

every year I write a post for the new year. this year I wrote about wishing 2026 to be a boring year, and why true boredom is precious: https://winnielim.org/journal/may-2026-be-a-boring-year/
#blogging #writing

2026-01-04 08:50:10 UTC

made a post looking back at 2025: https://winnielim.org/journal/looking-back-at-2025/
#blogging

2026-01-02 09:34:16 UTC

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116 months: "every morning without fail when she wakes up she comes to greet me as though i’m the most precious thing in the world. you would think after 116 months she would grow tired of me and just perceive me like i’m part of our home’s furniture but nope: still the sweetest smiles, the most tender hug, complete with sleepy eyes and unsteady movements as she slowly wakes up." https://winnielim.org/notes/how-i-wish-i-can-simply-tell-you-how-much-she-means-to-me/

2026-01-01 13:30:28 UTC

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lovely

2025-12-29 06:53:23 UTC

every now and then some readers will write to tell me my rss feed is broken — the fact that they even noticed in a very noisy world like this…
someone wrote to ask me if i was okay because they thought i stopped writing. it is quite amazing anyone would care.
(my website is buggy for a while: a post has relationships to many other items, the wordpress object keeps being rendered flat instead of having depths…i don’t know how to fix it for now except i keep emptying the pods cache manually.)

2025-12-29 06:44:31 UTC

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thank you for appreciating it. :)

2025-12-28 04:39:15 UTC

wrote about my fascination with human self and its capacity for change https://winnielim.org/journal/the-human-self/
#blogging #writing

2025-12-26 06:13:59 UTC

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looks amazing

2025-12-24 23:33:25 UTC

nowadays each time i fix a bug on my website i write a note in #obsidian so i can refer back to it when a similar thing happens again

2025-12-21 06:09:20 UTC

wrote about trying to learn the piano after a 8 year hiatus – how and why I'm approaching it differently, how this is only possible because I've aged enough to perceive myself differently: https://winnielim.org/journal/teaching-an-old-dog-new-tricks/
#blogging #writing

2025-12-17 13:04:18 UTC

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am using an app called Piano Marvel, starting from zero. hopefully i can learn to sight read this time. my old self was always looking for shortcuts. i love your drawing!

2025-12-17 07:53:51 UTC

i’m trying to learn how to play the piano again after maybe 7 years, and it is extremely mentally exhausting for me.
maybe i haven’t worked out my brain in a long while.

2025-12-14 06:05:19 UTC

documented some of the more unconventional part-time/temporary jobs i've had, and how they impacted me: i.e. clinic assistant, insurance claims assistant, manga rental shop assistant: https://winnielim.org/journal/unconventional-jobs-i-had/
#blogging #writing

2025-12-07 07:00:43 UTC

wrote about how i belatedly realised the availability of my phone and the speed it enables negatively impacted my capacity to tolerate slowness, and how as i age i realised there is a different dimension of gratification that I want to seek, the sort of gratification that is the outcome of going slow and long: https://winnielim.org/journal/a-different-dimension-of-gratification/
#blogging #writing

2025-12-03 11:56:21 UTC

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thank you!

2025-12-03 11:55:49 UTC

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thank you for appreciating! :)

2025-12-03 11:55:17 UTC

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thank you for appreciating and making the effort to write this. imo the feeling of not being organised is particularly emphasised when we come from a design background, because the systems-thinking kicks in. And yes as someone else has mentioned, I use the Periodic Notes and Calendar plugins for that little calendar widget.

2025-12-02 13:01:57 UTC

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115 months: "i feel like the past doesn’t indicate the future — hence even after 115 months i still won’t take this relationship for granted…because it is inherent in both our personalities to keep seeking change, that the person i loved yesterday will not be the same tomorrow. so i continue to tread carefully with tenderness, to cherish all of her laughter and her smiles" https://winnielim.org/notes/115-months-bending-towards-love/

2025-11-30 05:21:21 UTC

i have always wanted to keep notes but had struggled with it until I started to be okay with taking imperfect notes and storing them imperfectly – i call it my second subconscious instead of second brain: https://winnielim.org/journal/imperfect-notes-my-second-subconscious/
#obsidian #blogging

2025-11-23 05:23:30 UTC

today i questioned what is the point of online publishing for me while in the process of publishing a photoessay so i wrote about it (it may sound cynical so don't click if you're allergic to that sort of thing):
https://winnielim.org/journal/random-scenes-from-tokyo-and-some-thoughts-on-online-publishing/
#streetphotography #blogging

2025-11-18 05:09:44 UTC

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today i could lift the 20kg barbell over my head in an overhead press. i was slowly working it up on the smith machine, and had done 20kg before on it, but this is the first time with the olympic barbell. 3 sets of 4, so that wasn't bad for a first time. i guess i'll be better at lifting my cabin-sized luggage onto the overhead storage
#strength

2025-11-17 06:11:14 UTC

i packed some of my doom piles and i barely reached the tip of the iceberg

2025-11-16 23:23:02 UTC

is it cheating if i read graphic novels for my yearly reading goal

2025-11-16 04:46:46 UTC

wrote about how i feel like i have the emotional maturity of a child, how i have a deep fear of my loved ones ageing and dying, and that i am waiting for myself to grow up: https://winnielim.org/journal/waiting-for-my-self-to-grow-up/
#blogging #writing

2025-11-09 06:44:56 UTC

I am obsessed with drawing (particularly sketchbooks) in many ways, but I don't enjoy doing it myself. wrote a post examining the strange relationship i have with it: https://winnielim.org/journal/my-strange-relationship-with-drawing/
#blogging

2025-11-05 11:18:39 UTC

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apparently i bought the book in nov 2019, it took me 6 years to become a person who is able to read this.

2025-11-05 11:17:05 UTC

I just finished "being mortal" by Atul Gawande – had it for a long while but never felt like reading it. recently i finally felt like i was ready to meet this book. i regularly write about meeting people where they are, i realised it is possible to find books that meet us where we are too.
no one likes to talk about growing old, having a terminal illness, end-of-life care, and dying – but denying these conversations will make us unable to cope with these situations when the time comes.

2025-11-02 12:32:52 UTC

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114 months: "Yet like some miracle, after 114 months we are still together. Because our younger selves treated our time together as precious, we took a ton of photos and documented a ton of our time together. 114 months later with the knowledge I’ve acquired between then and now, I am so glad that my younger self was able to see ahead of time, sensing the sacredness of impermanence." https://winnielim.org/journal/our-memories-belong-together/
#blogging

2025-10-26 12:22:57 UTC

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thanks for the heads up! I have no idea why it does this once in a while. I do check on it (and fix it if it fails) at least once a week when I publish a new post.

2025-10-26 12:22:07 UTC

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did a photoessay on some memorable experiences in jeju: https://winnielim.org/journal/memorable-experiences-in-jeju/
#photography #blogging

2025-10-23 05:07:44 UTC

what i learned from strength training is to clench my butt whenever i am lifting something heavy

2025-10-22 00:29:12 UTC

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it is difficult to explain covid cautiousness when there is language barrier. the winds are strong and cold in jeju, the restaurant owners are perturbed when we insist on sitting outdoors. tbh even in english it is difficult, how do we explain airborne spread, and we are also insinuating that their restaurant is “dirty”.

2025-10-19 05:48:03 UTC

[tw: suicide] had a lot of thoughts and feelings after Baek Se-hee's passing, so I wrote: https://winnielim.org/journal/what-does-it-take-to-hang-on/

2025-10-17 13:04:46 UTC

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you have to know me in real life to know how weird it is! ;)

2025-10-17 12:58:55 UTC

after 9 years i still think @npub1z9h…dmew is really weird for liking me

2025-10-12 07:26:30 UTC

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wrote a post on meeting a place where it is: “I realised for me travelling is really a continuous test for equanimity. I can try to make the perfect plan in my head, but reality tends to have other plans for me. I could get very frustrated, or just focus on experiencing the present. I should meet a place where it is, instead of wondering why is it not adhering to some fantasy in my head.” https://winnielim.org/journal/meeting-a-place-where-it-is/
#photography #blogging

2025-10-05 07:56:57 UTC

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my partner commented that I am the only one who likes to take photos where the subjects are quite zoomed out, so I thought I might as well lean into it. I just think there is so much meaningful context surrounding the subjects. maybe this is how I perceive life in general too, and maybe that is why my mind is always exhausted. https://winnielim.org/journal/random-scenes-from-jeju/
#photography #blogging

2025-10-04 12:41:15 UTC

#photography
https://media.kopiti.am/media_attachments/files/115/315/942/550/229/064/original/288aea93b1dc376e.jpg

2025-10-02 11:32:36 UTC

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113 months with @npub1z9h…dmew: "may we continue to be able to know how to have fun until the end, whatever end we may be facing" https://winnielim.org/notes/113-months-fun-till-the-end/
https://media.kopiti.am/media_attachments/files/115/304/348/108/602/797/original/8a4ec611e0a9f276.jpg

2025-09-28 04:19:34 UTC

wrote about how my ageing body made me realise that I have to be creatively flexible about my routines, how over-optimising can be suboptimal, and how age has made me more close-minded and yet more open minded in other ways (guess my autistic brain cannot help meandering): https://winnielim.org/journal/ageing-uncertainty-and-creative-flexibility/
#writing #blogging

2025-09-24 21:56:39 UTC

wondering how am i going to survive perimenopause

2025-09-24 08:13:10 UTC

i know it is hard to believe, but there used to be many great stories on Medium, like this one on how video games saved their life: https://videoda.me/video-games-saved-my-life-probably-ad19ec08aa88
now they are probably buried somewhere.
#blogging

2025-09-21 07:24:16 UTC

I wrote about the huge role exercise has in my life, and how it contributes to an increased baseline capacity to cope with the daily demands of life. I used to always feel tired and burnt out. Made some illustrations with my eink tablet to go along with it, hopefully they help.
(also acknowledged the predicament of chronic illness sufferers who can't exercise)
https://winnielim.org/journal/preserving-and-growing-our-energy-capacity/
#writing #blogging #exercise

2025-09-17 11:08:23 UTC

stumbled upon a post i wrote 11 years ago today so i wrote a short note about it: https://winnielim.org/journal/recollection/
#blogging #onthisday

2025-09-16 10:48:59 UTC

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wow i am jealous of the steps chart. i love reading long trippy reports! :)

2025-09-16 10:43:38 UTC

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took a bunch of photos the other day at the beach: https://winnielim.org/notes/took-a-bunch-of-photos-at-the-beach-the-other-day/
#photography #streetphotography
https://media.kopiti.am/media_attachments/files/115/213/552/284/489/091/original/9b4c9293c83badb0.jpg
https://media.kopiti.am/media_attachments/files/115/213/553/085/212/185/original/65212dba70bfc4b6.jpg
https://media.kopiti.am/media_attachments/files/115/213/554/021/824/191/original/2777ef1f8f55c952.jpg
https://media.kopiti.am/media_attachments/files/115/213/554/386/864/384/original/092e077c64fc41b3.jpg

2025-09-15 06:08:24 UTC

guess this quote from my tweet on this day in 2019 is still pretty apt today: "In dark times, the definition of good art would seem to be art that locates and applies CPR to those elements of what’s human and magical that still live and glow despite the times’ darkness." – David Foster Wallace
#onthisday

2025-09-14 04:25:53 UTC

once in a while i write a post that has no particular topic but is a meditation on my thoughts at the moment. this is one of those, prompted by my partner suddenly falling sick, and how it reminds me of the impermanence in life: https://winnielim.org/journal/there-is-only-now/
#blogging #writing

2025-09-11 10:26:46 UTC

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kottke.org linked to the bmj article on the negative effects covid may have on the immune system: https://kottke.org/25/09/0047483-a-growing-number-of-scien
maybe this will start getting into the mainstream?
#CovidIsNotOver

2025-09-11 04:58:37 UTC

was discussing with @npub1z9h…dmew about possible doomsday scenarios, and the first things she said we should stock up on are colour pencils and a sewing machine 😂

2025-09-07 06:56:45 UTC

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searching for a dentist who is willing to wear a n95 mask triggered some traumatising feelings, so i wrote about why being covid cautious is actually triggering for me, but I still choose to carry on because health is precious: https://winnielim.org/journal/being-covid-cautious-is-triggering-for-me-but-health-is-precious/
#CovidIsNotOver #blogging

2025-09-06 03:42:34 UTC

i’m quite delayed in reading your mastodon posts, i try to like them but it tells me they are no longer on the server etc, so please assume i’ve ghost-liked them already

2025-09-06 03:40:30 UTC

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eink notes are searchable even in handwriting form, and anytime you can convert it to text. :)
also having a somewhat infinite notebook is nice vs hundreds of them in terms of portability.

2025-09-02 13:02:34 UTC

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112 months with @npub1z9h…dmew: "how impossible it still feels that we made it this far together, how hyper-aware i am to know that good things don’t last forever; hence to get to another month together, always feels like a miracle." https://winnielim.org/notes/112-months-thrive-physically-to-thrive-creatively/