![[February Update.webp]] > After the mock exam, February felt paradoxically empty and full at once—empty because the pressure of grades had lifted, yet full with final assignments and lingering work that demanded attention. The Carnival Break provided a wonderful journey through Stockholm and Helsinki, but upon return, I felt the weight of my final month of school life pressing down. Freedom was visible on the horizon, but the distance to reach it still felt arduous. Lots of great ideas are taking shape, but implementing them will have to wait for April. ## Book [[Worn -- A People's History of Clothing]] ![[Worn -- A People's History of Clothing.png|250]] Discovered this book in a bookstore in Stockholm. ### Note This month I went heavy into reading short-form contents like papers, blogs, and X articles, so unfortunately books got left behind. Since the launch of "Bases" in Obsidian last month, I have reworked my Obsidina vault a bit and set up my read-it-later and note-taking pipeline system to process web clippings. I have already processed 99 pieces of content till today. I can't wait to share all my media sources (and all the books I have read) with you in a much better format, but we will have to wait for Obsidian's support of Bases for Publish -- which is already on their [roadmap](https://obsidian.md/roadmap/). So stay tuned for Jimmy's Library -- all my books & clippings, or everything I consume and read. ## Essay [“Enjoy Your Break” -- Why I don't like it when people tell me to enjoy my break](https://jimmyzhang.org/think/enjoy-your-break) ![[Generated Image February 20, 2026 - 5_10PM Large.jpeg]] ## Projects Most of the month is taken by schoolwork and the trip to the Nordic. So progress on personal projects are slow and mostly in terms of ideation. ### Fine-tuning a Language Model One interesting project that I did want to share: [[Fine-tuning a Language Model to learn the literary style of 王小波]] ### LifeTrace & Language Learning App There are a few other projects that I have started but not fully completed. First, inspired by the app 一生足迹 (which tracks GPS locations and maps your journeys), I created a simpler, more battery-efficient version. I've built an MVP but haven't tested it extensively yet, and plan to add more features later. Second, inspired by the language learning framework [Lute](https://luteorg.github.io/lute-manual/install/install.html#using-pip), I'm planning to build my own language learning app. I've outlined a general plan with AI and will hopefully spend a weekend developing it next month, after finishing my English and French IO. ## Experience For Carnival Break (Feb 13 -- Feb 19), I went to Stockholm and Helsinki. See more pictures at https://jimmyzhang.org/look/stockholm-amp-helsinki ![[IMG_3763.webp]] > [!Upcoming] > <u>journey.jimmyzhang.org</u> > > Will showcase all my journeys and experiences of my life, as an important complementary to roadmap.jimmyzhang.org which focuses solely on projects and career progress. > > This reflects my 2026 belief that experiences are increasingly invaluable in our future world— and that a person without life experiences is incomplete. <br> <br> <br> <br> [](<https://www.buymeacoffee.com/j1mmy2hang>) Questions / feedback / to connect -- [email protected] 2026 Jimmy Zhang. All rights reserved.