more
Here’s a lot more random things that I participate in and enjoy, ranging from the semi-serious to the definitely-not-serious.
interests
- A Cappella
- For the first two years of grad school, I was part of the MIT Centrifugues, a group that sings predominantly mashups and medleys. I sang baritone, learned how to arrange songs and beatbox, and was a Music Directors for a bit c: I hadn’t been a part of organized music since middle school, and have greatly enjoyed getting reacquainted with my musical side. My favorite arrangement was my “Senior” Solo, a mash-up of Vienna and Landslide — link coming soon!
- Musicals
- I love musicals! Favorite ones I’ve seen in-person are Hadestown, Waitress, and Les Mis. I’ve also recently tried out acting, participating in the Next Act 2023 show, Remembering Her! I played Kevin, a wholesome, slightly empty-headed, Prius-driving highschooler who forgets his girlfriend (but eventually remembers!). Shyeah! (Perhaps more acting to come…)
- Bouldering
- I picked up bouldering right before starting grad school. I’m currently considering defecting from Boston Bouldering Project to Central Rock Gym, and climb roughly at a V3 level. I go much less regularly than I’d like to given how busy graduate school is, but enjoy it every time I go.
- Puzzle Hunts
- I participate in Mystery Hunt (and many smaller hunts) with NES, a team composed of many former and current residents of Next House (my undergraduate dorm). I do hunts because they’re fun events to think hard about incredibly unproductive things were there is an answer to find, and also just to reconnect with friends.
- Crosswords
- In 2022, I finally subscribed to NYT Games and began doing the crossword daily. At this point, I can solve them without needing any hints, but still working on bringing down my averages to competition level :P
- Biking
- Over the past few years, I’ve gotten into taking long bike rides! Hoping to start getting into bikepacking over the next summer or two as well.
- Deep Discussions
- I love talking to people to learn more about who they are and how they see the world. One semester, I ran a small discussion series to bring strangers together to talk about big questions like “How do you define yourself?” and “What brings meaning to your life?”
- Jeopardy
- I’ve always wanted to make it onto to show. Now that I’m past college-age (and thus only eligible for regular Jeopardy), I’m slowly working on shoring my literature and pop culture knowledge. Fingers crossed.
good things on the internet
- Entertainment
- xkcd
- Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
- Semantle
- Down for a Cross
- Critical Role
- Jelle’s Marble Runs (go O’rangers)
- Thinking
- Wait But Why
- YearCompass
- Although of course you end up becoming yourself, a blog post by Petey
- Rabbit holes I’ve been meaning to explore
- The website of bill wurtz, maker of history of the entire world, i guess
- Wikipedia’s list of list of lists
- this blog
- Better Explained (here’s a blog post about it)
- Google Patents (try searching random nouns, like football or pasta, and read the actual patent for entertaining content)
- wholesome links
- hugs
- my favorite train video