Writings

Taken on Mt. Lukens, December 16 2023—I think I’ve taken some variation of this photo, from this spot, at least a couple dozen times. I just love what it looks like from right here. This time, I’d accidentally set the exposure at +3 while fumbling with my

This was taken on a hike up grass mountain, one of C’s favorite hikes in all of SoCal. We do it nearly every year. This particular year, the flowers were blooming like crazy, but you had to get above the clouds to even see them. The gradient of the

The inventor of the audio cassette, Lou Ottens, died this past week. My favorite quote from him captures the revolution that cassettes were, “Everybody could put music in their pocket.” Growing up, my dad was big into mix tapes. It seemed like for every road trip we took—and there

Everyone hates Californians. Hey, I get it, I live here, and I hate Californians. It’s an absurd state, filled with absurd people, often doing absurd things and waiting in line to do them. That’s part of what makes it great. If it wasn’t absurd, it’d probably

It’s right there in the name, “guilty.” Sure, you can listen to this album, read this book, watch this movie, enjoy this TV show, or whatever, but you shouldn’t be proud of it. In fact, you should only enjoy it with a side of shame. And you know

At some level, most of us interact with discovery algorithms on a daily basis. They take the form of “new music for you” playlists, “Picks for you” movies, or “Recommended” books. These tastemaker algorithms are supposed to look at what you enjoy, then recommend new and exciting things to you.