I'll state the obvious first: it actually is as hard as you think. When I began this process around around this time last year, I told myself not to overthink it. I was going to write a novel, simple as that. I wasn't going to agonize over plot lines and details. I wasn't going to… Continue reading Three early observations about writing a novel
Origin story of my protagonist’s wife
Here's the result of another exercise. My protagonist's wife, Jo, will play a big role in the novel and I needed to figure out what she stands for. The first thing she noticed was the smell. It was dusty and sweet, like a rotting peach. She yawned as the staff ushered her to the front… Continue reading Origin story of my protagonist’s wife
My first protagonist’s origin story
In case you weren't aware, about a year ago I started writing a novel. It's bound to be a tragedy. In the end, my protagonist will die a lonely death. Readers will know this upfront; the opening scene is his terminal cancer diagnosis. There's a lot more to it, of course, and I've read Story… Continue reading My first protagonist’s origin story
Ten years of marriage
March 14, 2008. Kennebunkport, ME. It was hot in June 2010, but not too hot. I remember being worried that the flowers at the estate where we had our wine country wedding might wilt in the Windsor, California heat. We picked Madrona Manor after touring a few other venues earlier in the year. It was… Continue reading Ten years of marriage
Personal, Perceptible, Practical
Some time ago I learned about Susan Solomon, the atmospheric chemist who discovered that chlorofluorocarbons (a.k.a. CFCs) caused the huge hole in the ozone layer. Remember all that noise about this from the 90s? It went away because of Dr. Solomon. She received her PhD from UC Berkeley and she is currently still teaching and… Continue reading Personal, Perceptible, Practical
How I could be Republican
A year and a half ago I published a piece here describing why I'm a Democrat. It was a bit of a diatribe, really, and it railed against the California Republican Party's platform. I titled it "Why I'm not a Republican." A friend recently challenged me to take a different spin on this topic. Even… Continue reading How I could be Republican
Read Write Play: Q4 2019
Last quarter I maintained a good mix of all three hobbies. My writing was the big focus, though, although you wouldn't notice it from my blog activity. I'll get to that. On the play front, although I continue to progress on piano, the real story was that my wife and daughter started playing too. I'll… Continue reading Read Write Play: Q4 2019
The case for decentralized workforces
Spoiler alert! At the end of Season 5 of HBO's Silicon Valley, Richard Hendrix, the CEO of Pied Piper whose company built the world’s first “decentralized Internet,” steps into his massive new headquarters and pukes. It’s a running theme in the season: Richard is deathly afraid of public speaking. When the CFO-type executive on his… Continue reading The case for decentralized workforces
My next 10 years
I started writing this post back in July 2019. Since 2020 is almost up, I figured now would be a good time to finish it. These past ten years have been all about myself: My education, my companies, my career, my health, and my family. The ten years before my 25th birthday I was more… Continue reading My next 10 years
How chess and entrepreneurship are the same
I’ve always been a decent chess player, but recently I’ve started playing a lot more. Like, a lot more. I am happily addicted to the beautiful game once again. I learned to play when I was really young and have always enjoyed chess despite the fact that I haven’t improved all that much in the… Continue reading How chess and entrepreneurship are the same