Personal Reflections

Containing posts discussing larger issues of life, meaning, purpose, and other similar subjective topics.

  • The Purpose of New York

    Everyone on the trains always look so sad… – Dianne Dianne is a particularly special friend of mine, from long ago and far away. She recently wrapped up her undergrad career at a particularly unfortunate safety school, and is in New… Continue reading

    The Purpose of New York
  • Turn to Tech

    Sorry this blog has been so silent. From February through April, I was participating in the intensive programming course at the Flatiron School. It was fairly all-consuming, demanding about twelve hours of attention per day, and some weekends. It was… Continue reading

    Turn to Tech
  • The Young Jews of New York

    Nearly five months in New York, and I feel like I’ve started to get acquainted with some of the social worlds humming and shifting in this city. The civic technologists, urban planners, activists, med students, jewish philanthropists, and orthodox. Getting… Continue reading

    The Young Jews of New York
  • Against Music

    Listening to music on a music player is like taking  hits of a drug. You seek out some feeling, delivered on-demand from the little device hooked up to your ears. How is this different from any other drug? Our music players… Continue reading

    Against Music
  • Shifting Perceptions, Shifting Personality

    It’s interesting, noticing the ways our environments shape us. I’ve begun working at an office, a pretty classy kind of place. Smart people, sharp dressers, hard workers. When I got there, I went on a full-scale charm offensive — trying… Continue reading

    Shifting Perceptions, Shifting Personality
  • Powerless

    Someone stole my laptop charger yesterday. In an unusual twist of dramatic ambience, I was literally powerless. What an apt metaphor for my first three weeks in New York. I’ve been making it mostly on luck, some savings, the goodwill… Continue reading

    Powerless
  • Unpacking an Adage

    People always say you learn more from your failures than your successes. But they never say why, which I always found vaguely disappointing. It just supposed to “feel” truthful, right, for some reason we can’t quite pin down. But here’s… Continue reading

    Unpacking an Adage
  • Final Travel Article is up on HuffPo

    I wrote a big sort of “lessons-learned” blog post for the Huffington Post’s travel blog (where I’ve been an erratic fixture this past half-year) summarizing some of the lessons I’ve learned over this past year of traveling. I’m quite pleased… Continue reading

    Final Travel Article is up on HuffPo