I'm back. After a long break.

Hey there my dear friends, it's been a long time since the last Edition of this newsletter came out. And I feel sad about this, I really do.

The truth is, I got annoyed by the current hype cycle of AI. It seemed like everything became more and more productized and less research-oriented, less beautiful somehow, less meaningful to me. To write the link section started to feel like a slog, and at some point, I didn't want to continue doing it. So I stopped the newsletter altogether.

Now, some time has passed, and this sentiment still rings true. AI feels the same; the bubble dynamics and progress genuinely worry me, and so I will keep my distance from these topics. However, many of you approached me and were like, "wtf... what happened to the newsletter?"

To those who asked, thank you. Your caring means more to me than you think.

It was you prodding me that made me think about how to continue, or restart.

And if I am honest with myself, I still want to write something regular, a check-in, something more free-form, maybe including some writing every time, maybe something nice I found, the travel updates, and so on. But the focus will be much, much less on AI and much more on the whimsical things I find interesting. Quotes, songs, images, maybe articles or books.

Live and Learn will, therefore, be more true to me and the original title of the whole thing.

It will become, in a way, more human again and not so focused on AI, and that thought makes me smile. Thanks for sticking around. I hope this finds you well.

✨ Quote ✨

The longer I live, the more deeply I learn that love — whether we call it friendship or family or romance — is the work of mirroring and magnifying each other's light. Gentle work. Steadfast work. Life-saving work in those moments when life and shame and sorrow occlude our own light from our view, but there is still a clear-eyed loving person to beam it back. In our best moments, we are that person for another.

– Maria Popova - (source)

🌌 Travel 🌌

I'm writing this to you from a beautiful hut a bit outside of the small tourist town of Pai, somewhere in Northern Thailand.

There is a big green patch of bamboo outside my window, and I can see the ants from where I am sitting. A sammelsurium of crystals, mushrooms, and flowers collects on my desk—all things I found in the nature around here. I even have a butterfly wing sitting there in all its fragile glory. These little treasures make me so immensely happy that I am struggling to find words to express it.

Every morning, I wake up to the soft sounds of the small river nearby, gargling a happy glucking sound and the chirping of birds in the trees.

There are no sounds besides those.

This place is truly serene, and I am tremendously grateful to be here. My heart goes out to Neil, who invited me to come and stay here, to simply be in this magical place for as long as I want, to only exist. It's such a gift to have friends like this.

Time, works differently here. It contracts and expands, all at once. The days are short, yet incredibly full, and long in hindsight. They pass quickly, but linger. They blur into one another, a stream of blissful moments–memories of dancing, laughter, new friends, solitude, but also the sunlight streaming in through the window, crystal hunting, and playing board games. Life can be so sweet, and my mind clings to these moments like honey.

The little details, the texture of experience, the way light catches some of the stones I found, or how the green of the leaves shimmers in the sunlight, translucent, the rich texture of the Kao Soi I had the other day. It's all there, almost too much, dreamlike.

The week before Pai was nothing less magical. Spending it with a few more good friends of mine, Amit, Rishita, Aaditya... eating amazing Indian food every day, going to art galleries, and beautiful archeological parks. I missed traveling so much that I only began to realize how much a part of myself this really is.

🎶 Song 🎶

Qué Maravilla by Mandelbro

This song is so deeply beautiful to me and has given me a lot these last few days. I have been finding myself listening to it on the bus in Istanbul, on the flight to Delhi, while walking around in Pai. It's just so life-affirming, while also not trying to hide the ugly details of life, in a way that I find magical.

Youtube Music | Spotify

That's all for this time. Cheers,

– Rico

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