On Crucibles
Hazing rituals at frats are falling out of fashion nowadays, but I think the core concept of the ritual is valuable to any organization. Pressure is a tried and true way of establishing rapport and building intimacy between a shared group. It’s not something that is guaranteed to build relationships, but it’s certainly conducive to it. Think of situations like army troops that survive multiple battles together. There’s no way Read More
On Human Relations
I feel like HR in a business is widely considered to be a job for soulless workers who exist in an adversarial capacity against anyone who threatens the livelihood of the business, but mostly in the form of internal threats. Largely, when I hear of HR, I hear of ways in which the business finds ways to proactively shield itself against its own employees. I understand the need for this Read More
May 2017 Update
Damn, it’s been a full months since my last update. There’s a really good reason for that – I’ve been on vacation for half that time, and in that time I haven’t kept up with any of my habits. For me, anyway, vacations are a good way to reset and destroy and preexisting habits I had before leaving. This is both good and bad. Bad, because it destroys my good Read More
Random Musings on The Next Generation
I think I’ve watched about the first two to three season of The Next Generation, but in the meantime, I’ve accumulated some thoughts about the show: Data: Sex Robot? That episode where Data plays at Sherlock Holmes is great. I love the twist at the end where Moriarty turns out not to be a mustache twirling villain, but a living being with agency who is desperately clinging to life. Such Read More
Asian Connection is “The Shit”
The Asian Connection, a straight to DVD production. With a cast of Michael Jai White and Steven Seagal, among others. This movie is totally my shit. “You’ve got to tell me where you got this money.” “No.” *Like two minutes later* “Bang me on this pile of money” “ok” “You’re not a murderer, Jack.” *Jack proceeds to kill like twenty cops* The guy who plays Niran is funny Read More
Star Trek The Next Generation: The Inner Light Review
The Inner Light is one of my favorite episodes of The Next Generation. The basic premise is that Captain Picard gets hit with a magic beam by a passing drone. The beam renders him comatose, but in his coma, he dreams of a different life as a family man. Over the course of decades, he gets a chance to raise kids, participate in his community, and grow old with his Read More
Magic Food Power Combinations
There are some food combinations that become more than the sum of their parts. Combining these ingredients leads to a transcendent food item. Most of you are probably thinking of peanut and jelly as an example. That’s certainly a good example, but here’s an obvious one that people will probably skip over: Bread. Bread is delicious. Bread is life. At its core, bread is just water and flour. I’d recommend Read More
On Diversity
I was watching this episode of Bizarre Foods where Andrew Zimmern goes to the Ozarks to eat bear. I guess it’s pretty popular up there, because he was talking about how limited the hunting season was and it’s supposedly really hard to get a permit to actually hunt bear. Anyways, there were butchering the bear to eat and Mr Zimmern starts talking about how bear fat is used for everything Read More
On Vegetarianism
One of the biggest ethical issues I deal with in my daily life is my treatment of animals. While I never directly inflict suffering on animals, I implicitly support it by continuing to eat animal meat and animal products. I don’t think eating meat can be morally defensible in developed society. Having said that, I do eat meat every day, because it’s ingrained into me and my culture. That’s not meant Read More
On Preventative Care
I recently found out I have a cavity on my top right molar. I only realized this when I ate something cold and an aching pain shot up in my mouth. I went to the bathroom, took a look in the mirror, and pulled back my gums to see the damage. It’s actually pretty severe. This is compounded by me not going to the dentist in several years. In fact, Read More