Hobbies

Hobbies

I have always believed that passionately pursuing hobbies is an essential ingredient of the good life. So although I love philosophy, I do lots of my favorite things outside of work. I am an avid tennis player; I run; I bike; and I love the ancient board game go. When I was living in Madison, I became fond of sailing in the summer and pond hockey in the winter. My deepest and most abiding passion is music. I have played in several bands, written and recorded some songs, and I dabble in classical guitar (here's me playing a piece by Tárrega, and one from Villa-Lobos). Here's the song that I wrote and recorded most recently.

I also enjoy learning languages. I have studied Greek and Latin (though I'm much better at the latter than the former). I read French and German (and speak them a little). I speak fluent Spanish and semi-fluent Bengali (I lived in Bangladesh for a year). I know a little Italian and Portuguese (I have a soft spot for bossa nova music, and those two sound pretty familiar to a Spanish speaker). And I speak a bit of Thai.

I love to cook, and I'd like to think I'm pretty good at it. My wife and I eat a mostly plant-based diet (I don't think bivalves morally count as animals). We enjoy exploring all kinds of cuisine. We're working on a website of recipes that we hope to share with friends and family whenever we manage to get enough content on it. We also love to play board games...well, not boring ones like Monopoly, but good ones like Agricola, Five Tribes, Castles of Burgundy, Carcassonne, etc.

The last item on the list is less of a hobby and more of a second job, but I have two daughters named Iris and Rosa, who are, in my totally unbiased opinion, absolutely amazing (pictured below).