Archive for January 2023

Minority Leader of the U.S House of Representatives Hakeem Jeffries delivered his first speech as leader of the Democratic conference earlier this week. Near the end of the speech, he offered a series of alphabetic comparisons between his Democratic conference and that of the Republicans. Normally I’d say that a contrived bit of wordplay like…

I sat down in front of the camera in my studio and said, “When last we left our hero…” My friend, Kaia, heard this and laughed. It hadn’t really occurred to me, but I do this all the time. Whenever I return to a project – a book, a video. a pile of math tests…

Elysha had a miscarriage between the births of our daughter, Clara, and our son, Charlie. It was a difficult time for us. She was only pregnant for a few weeks, but we had already begun to think of that tiny collection of cells inside her womb as a new member of our family. Not an…

Generational observation: My generation – Gen X – the very last generation to exist in a truly analog world – has spent much of our life, at least when we were younger, aggressively and relentlessly trying to make nothing out of something, oftentimes characterized as slackers, cynical, apathetic, indifferent, and disaffected. Conversely, subsequent generations seem…

Elysha is taking a walk with a friend this morning. This may very well be the best decision of her week. Walking has a long list of scientifically-proven physical and mental benefits. It’s perhaps the easiest, absolutely free habit to level up your entire life. Just a tiny sampling of the benefits of walking: ​Stanford…

Happy birthday to my brilliant, beautiful, hilarious, and eminently wise wife, Elysha. The calendar says that she is one year older today, but truly, she seems to grow younger in spirit as each year passes. The first time I celebrated Elysha’s birthday with her, we weren’t yet together. I had dropped in on a dinner…

I was recently asked about who I admire most. The person asking the question was looking for the name of a specific person, but my response was this: Low-wage workers who do an outstanding job every day and take great pride in their work despite the size of their paychecks. This includes everyone from fast…

Just when I was feeling productive, I read about the silkworm: Each silkworm produces a single strand of silk that’s 915 meters long. That’s 30,000 times longer than the silkworm itself. And it accomplishes all of this in less than two months. Damn showoffs. Then, in the same hour, I read about Emil Richards, a vibraphonist…

I refer to the idea expressed in this brilliant graphic as “Taking care of your future self.” I am constantly telling my children, my students, and even some adults to take care of their future selves by investing now to ensure that tomorrow will be bright and happy. My former principal, Plato Karafelis, would tell…

At the beginning of every year, I establish a list of goals (or New Year’s resolutions) for the coming calendar year. I post this list on my blog and social media to hold myself accountable. I recommend this to everyone. I’ve been engaged in this process since 2010, and I am convinced I have been…