pieces

It feels natural to me to continually wish I were writing more, in this space and elsewhere. It’s been a while. But also, it’s now been two full years of contributions of monthly writing for…

surgical wing

I wrote this a while ago, but I was just reminded of it today, so I pulled it out of the file folder and put it here. The hospital is a strange place to me…

your being

I remember certain features of the night you were born with complete clarity. I know the view our hospital window faced; I remember we went to get ice cream earlier in the day; I remember…

in summary

I’m giving a the weekly public seminar in my own physics department on Wednesday. 1 This talk is particularly hard for me to construct, in large part because I haven’t figured out what it’s about….

learning to see: my racism

I grew up with a fundamental idea that all people are equal. At least, that’s what we would say out loud, and I know that we believed ourselves. It’s easy to believe this when there’s…

learning to see: geology

I got back from a trip up into the mountains with a question about geology, because this is what always happens to me after a trek with cliff faces and talus and high elevation. I…

learning to see: a preface

Observing comes naturally to us. Maybe it’s so natural to us that we take it for granted, our eyes and ears and noses just consuming surroundings so automatically that we’re seldom consciously aware of the…