about

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the short

I’m a Canadian Morehead-Cain scholar at UNC-Chapel Hill. You can subscribe to an email “newsletter” ¹ on Substack for completely erratic, irregular updates on this blog. I study mathematics in reality and I study political science according to my visa. I’m now Americanised enough for non-Americans to think I’m American, but not enough to convince anyone else. My email is [email protected]. There is nothing you could email me (or tell me in person) about this blog that would cause anything other than deep joy and pleasure. Send me your favourite story! or your favourite book! or anything else! I will be extremely happy you said hello.

the medium

Most of my free time is spent reading (fiction) or non-seriously writing (this blog). My favourite academic courses so far have been EATS101, discrete math, a guest-lecture series on Israel/Palestine, a guest-lecture heavy class on diplomacy and Beowulf, a premed health writing class, and an internship recording the oral history of Southern union labour organisers.

I spent more time stalking other people’s blogs (see blogroll) and brushing with quantitative reasoning after ASPR. I now maintain this blog because I like what writing does to me, and also so that the external viewer (you!) can see what I like thinking about in case you ever want to reach out (which you should totally do, please.)

the long

I started writing this blog during my year abroad (which is a pretentious phrase that disguises how I lived out of a 30L backpack). I logged my travels with — similar to all other written things I produce — too many em dashes, commas, and bracket asides. I spent my gap year travelling Europe and Asia, reading a book a week, nearly dying at the summit of kilimanjaro, spending time with family, and meeting some extremely inspirational people that I continue to look up to (and shamelessly copy).

Growing up, I cycled through three different suburbs in Ontario before moving to Toronto to attend the boys-only private school I eventually graduated from. Somewhere in between, I debated for the national team (some indirect thoughts here and here), assisted on research into Ghanian graveyards, and did some student government stuff. I also learned how to tie a tie three different ways, did an educational biking trip through Belgian/French WWI battlefields, and befriended some incredibly uplifting, supportive, and energetic people.

More miscellany: I’m right-handed in every task except brushing my teeth. I’m currently in an ongoing struggle to learn how to read poetry (and how to let poetry affect me). The trait I admire the most is adaptability; the trait that irritates me the most is deliberate close-mindedness. My favourite author is Christopher Buckley; favourite film is The Hustler; favourite artist is a tie between Laufey & NIKI; favourite book is Lucky Jim, by Kingsley Amis; and my favourite reader is you, no question.

Footnotes

1. This implies I often have enough news to put in a letter, which is not true. ↩