After watching the presidential and vice presidential candidates’ debates, my family and I were discussing how they can be improved. Some were in favor of muting the candidates immediately upon the conclusion of their allotted time, or having the moderator mute the candidate if they strayed from the question that was asked. I can understand…
I started out thinking I’d be an econ major in undergrad. The positivity (v. normativity) of “rational actor” analysis appealed to me, and it felt like a way to employ my talents for quantitative thinking for something more than simple math problems. I took Microeconomics with Prof. Robert H. Frank at Cornell, and his “economic…
I’m extremely proud of the work that Ithaca Shakespeare did this year to present Comedy of Errors and Romeo & Juliet as livestreamed virtual performances. Choreographing remote fights was challenging, and lacked the thrill of seeing the performers feed off of each others’ energy in the way that they can in-person, but it forced me…
I’m coming to appreciate the importance of humility. I consider myself a pretty smart/knowledgeable guy about a lot of different topics; prioritizing breadth of education and learning has been a central element of my self-identity for a long time. As a new parent, though, I’ve been thinking a lot about how much I don’t know…
There’s a meme going around that purports to have a great response to people who use “All Lives Matter” as a retort to “Black Lives Matter.” It uses the analogy of a house that’s on fire, stating that if the Smiths’ house is on fire, you wouldn’t say ‘All Houses Matter’ and spray water equally…
I struggle with the tension between wanting to promote my work/make things accessible to the largest possible audience (including to help make a living) and not wanting to lend my support to organizations that I think are harmful to society or give away my data to those who seek to treat their customers as lab…
Every hour has its costIn roads not taken, jobs not doneInfinities of options lost,Of time not spent on work or fun. Comparative advantage freesThe insect just to play one roleIt’s fine for ants or honeybees,But humans need more to be whole. To test ourselves, with brawn and brainTo make what we could well afford—I’ll treasure…
Hank and ChopperGrew distressed byThe gunshot thatShattered their peaceIn the dramaWe’d returned toAfter holding offFor yearsTo manage your anxietyAdopted fromFamily trauma ofSeptember 11th andTwo friendsLost to suicide.Hank and Chopper:Two friendsAdopted fromFamily drama.He’d shattered his peaceFor yearsGrew distressedTo manage our anxietyFrom the traumaOf September 11thHe returnedAfter holding offThe gunshotLost, a suicide.
Second poem of the month: something light and fun today after 21 days of self-isolation. Hank and Chopper Our house isn’t ours, it’s Chopper’s and Hank’s:One likes to dig and the other one stanks Hank’s a retriever who loves orange toysAnd Chopper gets scared of the tiniest noise. They wrestle ferociously, but with affection(Though Hank…
When I was in 8th grade I wrote a thousand lines of poetry. All rhyming, all to try and impress a girl (she wasn’t). Most of it was pretty bad, but it helped me cultivate a sense of meter and an appreciation for the well-chosen word and line. I kept writing semi-regularly for a decade…
My grandfather passed away last week, at the age of 92. He had a strong Jewish education (Yeshiva Flatbush), led our family’s Passover seders when we visited, and appreciated the pulls of identity. He married an Irish Catholic before she converted to Judaism, and celebrated both the Irish and Jewish sides of his children’s heritage.…
I was recently asked to help out with a student-directed production of “The Nether” at Cornell. There aren’t any full-on “fights,” but the director recognized that they would benefit from assistance with a lift and some brief moments of physical aggression between the characters. The show is challenging, touching on themes of abuse and manipulation…
In thinking about how we can promote positive, healthy masculinity, if we don’t want to raise sons who think that all art/film/literature began in the 21st century it’s worth thinking about what classics exist that already promote positive (masculine) identity. Brit Marling’s recent critique of film tropes and Ross Douthat’s piece from last year in…
I have a confession to make: I use a flip-phone. Not sometimes, as a break from my smartphone, not as a statement of fashion, but every day, as my phone. I’m probably not the typical non-smartphone user: I’m 34 years old, I first got a Facebook account while in college (though I rarely use it)…
When I was in eighth grade, I (along with about seven other students) took Geometry (and at a local high school first thing in the morning, then bused back to our school, where we’d wait in a windowless room (and ostensibly do homework, though I remember one kid playing with a lighter, and us mostly…
