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Nightly Efforts towards Order and Harmony

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Apollo in the Forge of Vulcan - Diego Velázquez “For a delight in bustling about is not industry – it is only the restless energy of a hunted mind. And a state of mind that looks on all activity as tiresome is not true repose, but a spineless inertia… A balanced combination of the two attitudes is what we want; the active man should be able to take things easily, while the man who is inclined to repose should be capable of action. Ask nature: she will tell you that she made both night and day.” – Seneca Letter III   Balance is key to sustained effort and discipline. I recently have been working to perfect my nightly routine. I find both my morning routine and nightly routine are somewhat difficult to keep set. I find that I have quite a variable wake up time and bedtime. Recently, I have been working to perfect just on aspect of my nightly routine so that I can build upon that for the next thing I do. I think this has been dubbed stacking or chaining activities and it is a strong w...
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Thoughts on Seneca Letter II

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Western Landscape - Johann Hermann Carmiencke I recently got a library card and have now started to read more. I really like to own the books I read so I can make notes and markings. However, some books are not worth owning and it is only worth sampling the author’s perspective. However, I have already come across two books that I would like to own the first is the modern western, No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy, which is the story that was turned into the now famous Best Picture by the same name. It is a stunning read and a great story with deep characters and themes wrapped in an engaging story. It is somewhat dark in it's themes, so I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. I will probably write about Sheriff Bell in a later post since I find his view and position clearly the crux of why there is no country for old men. I think he wonderfully embodies parts of an American soul that has hollowed out and disappeared from much of our modern United States. The second is the...
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How to restore leather boots

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Hey everyone, I just wanted to make a short post. I have recently gotten into thrifting. Emily recently celebrated her 24th birthday and we went to several thrift stores looking for hidden gems. I was able to find Vans that were like brand new and a set of burgundy woven dress shoes that were well maintained and taken care of. These shoes must have been previously owned by a caring and thoughtful owner. As I reflected on this imaginary man that was the previous owner of these shoes, I thought about my own shoes and how I was taking care of them. When we got home, I restored a pair of Vans, that I picked up thrifting using Dawn Powerwash and a hydrogen peroxide baking soda to gently bleach the fabric. It worked great, so I thought about my old Clark desert boots. I got these boots in high school and I haven't done any maintenance on them at all. As you can see below, the leather is brittle and need to be worked on. So I looked into what should be done to restore these boots. The fir...
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Reflection on my second MCAT attempt

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A picture of the Azores. I took this back in the summer of 2017.  On Saturday the 10th I took the medical colleges admissions test, known more commonly as the MCAT for the second time. Taking the MCAT easily ranks among the hardest things I have ever done. The sheer volume of information that you need to have knowledge on is enormous. The test requires you to have knowledge of general chemistry, biology, organic chemistry, biochemistry, physics, mathematical relationships, reading comprehension and analysis, sociology, neurobiology, physiology, and psychology. All that information is deemed important by the Association of American Medical Colleges or AAMC. How can one person develop, maintain, and apply deep knowledge of each of these topics?     When I first started studying for the MCAT three years ago, it seemed impossible. I looked at the thick Kaplan MCAT prep books and felt overwhelmed. Honestly, I opened the chemistry book briefly before I put them back on the shel...
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Beowulf: My thoughts on the opening scenes

  Recently I have been reading the classical Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf and this one thought has really been circulating my mind. For anyone who hasn't heard of or read this poem, I would recommend the poem. I'm currently reading the translation done by Seamus Heaney.  I like it because the translation is next to the ancient text. It makes me feel like I'm closer to the flickering fire-lit halls where this tale would have been told in its native tongue. Anyways, Beowulf, chronicles the life of the Scandinavian hero and his various struggles with monsters and humanity that creates those monsters. I have also been reading Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In part because I haven’t read very much poetry of my own volition and partially because of these poet’s fame and influence on much of modern literature. Tolkien often referenced Beowulf as a source of inspiration for his writings. Theodore Roosevelt was an avid reader of Longfellow. Seeing that these are two men that I look up...
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A Reflection on Boston's first couple months, Our black Labrador Retriever

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Before I go any further, yes Emily and I have a dog. He’s 85% good boy and 15% speed demon with his needle teeth. Emily and I have wanted to get a dog pretty much since we have been married but our school schedule didn’t afford the time or energy to train a puppy and our past apartment didn’t allow dogs or cats, so we didn’t get a dog. However, our new apartment allows for dogs so as soon as we moved in we start to look at KSL Classified, an extension of the local paper ads, for a puppy. We were pretty set on the Australian Shepard puppies or a French Bulldog, but then we saw an ad for a litter of Labrador retriever puppies. I have a soft spot for Labs because I grew up with a yellow Lab named Woody. He passed away last summer which was a hard goodbye. If you have to say goodbye to a good dog, definitely don't watch The Art of Racing in the Rain on the flight back home. I'll just say, its a tearjerker even on the best of days. So when we saw this litter of puppies we had to vis...
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At the Beginning of this Enterprise

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Beach campfire on Cape Cod, MA during the summer of 2021 I felt like writing about beginnings and what I envision for this blog I think that sometimes beginnings are the hardest part of any undertaking. There is a belief that if you don’t have some expertise in the field or some compelling why then you should stay in your lane. There is also a personal demon that I believe whispers in most of our ears," If it's not perfect than why even try?"   I have recently been trying to fight that voice and have been working to just dive all in. In this context, I feel it is important to remember we very rarely start from zero. We all have expertise and if you have felt compelled to pursue a new desire or want, then you should do it. Learn that new skill, start that new project and grow as a person. I have also been inspired by my little sister who runs a Boston sports blog .  She has just dove into the project and so I'm deciding to follow with my own project.   Sometime last m...
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