This year was my fourth competing in the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, and the first time they’ve taken it online. Each year up until this point I’d done better than the previous one, both in terms of overall ranking and in percentile. This year, however, there are ~1000 competitors (versus 740 in 2019), so the…
The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament is going virtual this year! I finished around the top 7% in 2019, and last year it was cancelled. There are likely going to be as many (or more) people than ever competing, since traveling to Connecticut necessarily limited the attendance, but I’m hopeful for a top 5% finish. Sign…
As a relatively new parent, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I owe my children, particularly in terms of their privacy. Extreme cases seem fairly obvious; I can tell friends at a dinner party an amusing anecdote about their (mis)-behavior and not feel that I’ve violated their privacy. But what if I told that…
I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the arguments for a weak safety net based on the logic that everyone who can work for pay, should. One argument would express this as concern for the national GDP and the federal budget. Work inside the home doesn’t increase GDP, work outside of the home does. Workers…
I sing of sore arms with protection at last And the hope that the scourge of infection has passed That the bars will reopen, the gyms and the stores And we won’t have to worry when meeting indoors. The churches and temples and mosques fill with praise We’ll watch college sports and see middle school…
My wife’s been participating in an exercise of writing a poem a day in the month of April. I can’t keep that pace up, but have at least been inspired to try writing a little bit again. I recently read a book about the French “Commune” that held Paris briefly in 1871 and the violent…
Choreographing fights for the Ithaca Shakespeare Company over the past few years has been one of the highlights of coming back to Ithaca for me, and I was honored and delighted to join the Board this year. This summer, we’re inviting our audience to weigh in on what we perform. Vote for what you’d like…
I am a lawyer by training. In the U.S., this implies a certain belief in (or at least acceptance of) the value of precedent: that evaluations of disputes (and even of the meaning of the text of laws) should take into consideration how previous courts have interpreted those same texts, or held in related disputes.…
Over the course of my work as a career advisor I’ve heard a lot of truly awful networking conversations. Candidates who have worked really hard to try and do things “the way they’re supposed to” wind up frustrated and feeling like networking is a scam by which recruiters pick whomever they like personally, rather than…
My wife won 4th place for her grammar-related poem in the ACES contest this past week. Mine’s not as solidly grammar-related, but in that spirit I came up with the following: In the world of professional toesThe happiest ones must be thoseThat crush grapes into wineThat is luscious, divine,Effervescent, and purple like prose.
As a new parent, I’m trying to figure out more effective ways of concisely describing my personal ethos, partly to try to uphold it more consistently, but also to communicate it to my daughter if/when she asks. A number of lessons that I think are a start to a code, in no particular order, follow:…
For many years, Google’s unofficial mantra was, reportedly, “Don’t be evil.” This sounds simple, and is a great aspiration, but is a) too low a bar (note the double negative, it’s not “be good”), and b) presumes that a bunch of computer scientists and business leaders are also fairly sophisticated philosophers who have a robust…
NOTE: The following post discusses the New York and multistate lotteries as an exercise in probability and decision-making. It does not constitute financial advice or recommendations. You must be 18 years or older to purchase a lottery ticket. If you are struggling with a gambling addiction, please call the HOPEline 1-877-8-HOPENY (1-877-846-7369) or text HOPENY…
Who are our forefathers? Why do we care? At one level, all identity/lineage, whether family, religious, or national is in pursuit of the same validation, that we know/have a place in the world, that we are part of a bigger story that runs deeper than the shallow activities that fill much of our days. We…
