I have studied basic Chinese language – speaking, reading, writing – and I have finally realized the complexity in writing. Personally, my fluency in Chinese would track proportionally with my written vocabulary. If I can write it, I could use it. So I thought writing demonstrates mastery of the language. I am aware of the skill in writing and experienced chinese are quick to recognize the beauty of written words, but I had chalked it up to penmanship similar to English handwriting. My lack of artistry did not realize the huge stylistic side, which can be considered similar to calligraphy. At the time, my parents began learning artful writing around middle school.

Alongside my epiphany, preparing the mj tiles was equal parts fun, disappointment, delight, and elegance. Computers are great at geometric shapes like rectangles and circles, so that was fun. Realizing that my attempts at the tiles with chinese words are ugly because computer drawing generally uses fixed width lines, was disappointing. Taking a step back and seeing all the tiles as a whole brought delight. Knowing that several programming tricks mesh well with drawing the tiles is admired as programming elegance. Programmers find moments of happiness when blocks of code can be simplified, not merely for performance, but as a sign of mastering the art of programming.