Writings

A few years ago, when I wrote a post about the history of Smallpox, I… got a little obsessed. I went DEEP down the rabbit-hole, learning everything I could about how smallpox affected people, families, and civilization. In the event that you and I had any long conversation during that time, I almost definitely spent some of that time talking your ear off about it. (sorry, not sorry) I thought that the story of smallpox and its eradication had to be one of the craziest stories in global medical history. As if no disease in history could have impacted the course of civilization more than smallpox. ...

Do you litter? Probably not. Or, at least, probably not often. Not a lot of people actively try to use the planet as their personal trash can… Yet, often it seems like so many public spaces are a MESS. İt’s interesting to ponder why… İmagine for a moment that 1,000 people walk down a clean street, and just 1 out of 10 of them drop just a single piece of trash onto the street. ...

There exists a well-known relationship between identity and action. So much of how you and I navigate our lives comes back to identity. If, in your internal world, you think of yourself as someone who is passionate about fitness, you will be more likely to get to the gym or go on that run. If you think of yourself as an effective and persistent problem solver, you’ll eagerly jump into creating solutions for hard problems, instead of giving up when they seem too hard. ...

I heard this piece of advice recently: Never let a day pass without doing something that will serve you 10 years from now. I LOVED it! I want to make a habit of that. But, it got me pondering, why stop there? What if we never let a month pass without taking tangible action to make life better for our great grandchildren, 100 years from now? How would your life look different if you were regularly thinking about, and working towards, making the world 100+ years in the future a better place? ...

A few years ago, I found myself in a bit of a culinary rut — whenever I would cook for myself, it was usually the same 2-3 meals. I needed to expand my horizons a bit! So, I gave myself a challenge of trying 20 new recipes over the course of the year. (For many people, that might be a small number. But for me, it seemed a fitting target.) ...

I recently joined the executive leadership team at the non-profit Waha, as their Localization Director. I have committed to work with them for the next 3 years with the goal of shipping their app and curriculum in 80+ new languages during that time. This has been a role I’ve been really loving. It has been stretching and demanding in all the ways I love. The role requires a high degree of competence in online-communication, a deep appreciation of nuances in languages and cultures, and a broad understanding of current technologies and how they can be used to help simplify the workflows of our volunteers and partners. ...

I have been pretty outspoken on my love of RSS as a replacement for social media feeds. It’s a recurring topic on this blog. There have even been a number of people who found my post How to Subscribe to Mailchimp Newsletters With RSS through a random Google search, and later ended up reaching out to me and thanking me for writing it because they found it useful. (If you’re one of those readers, Helloooo! 👋🏻😊) ...

I’ve had lots of experiences over the years of looking forward to a new movie or TV show being released. In some cases, that excitement for an upcoming release would last months or years. The year-long wait for Endgame after Infinity War came out comes to mind. Lately, though, I find movies and TV shows to be much less the focus of my anticipation. I can’t currently think of a new movie I’m excited to see when it comes out. ...

“Imagine what would happen if we had as much courage for peace as we have had for war? What if we had as many monuments and holidays designated for the heroes of peace as we have for the heroes of war? What if we channeled all our incredibly gifted minds to devise ways to de-escalate violence rather than crafting new drones and bombs and guns? What if we were as willing to die for the cross as we have been willing to die for the sword? What if…” ~ Shane Claiborn in Beating Guns ...

Have you ever logged onto public WiFi, but when you try to open a web page that you already had open, it just won’t load? Sometimes this is because the WiFi is simply not working. In cases like that, it’s probably better to just pull out a book and read, instead of fighting a hopeless battle with bad WiFi. 🙃 Other times, however, the WiFi is actually indeed working, but it’s waiting for you to log in to it. ...