An email from myself, four years ago

I received an unusual email today. It was from me, four years ago. I’d completely forgotten I signed up for, or used, Futureme.org. I had apparently written it on August 29, 2006, just at the end of my first year of graduate school.

Dear FutureMe,

Hi, this is me in grad school. Remember grad school? Yeah

Remember to laugh and love.

Remember how awesome Ann and Ryan and Dave and Suniti are.

Remember to be true to yourself, and to never give up.

You've been given a lot, so make the best of it!

-Ryan

Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them - Introduction

David Anderegg is a psychologist affiliated with Bennington University in Vermont. In addition, he runs a private practice specializing in psychotherapy for children. He has written a fascinating book about nerds. Yes, nerds. In case it’s not obvious, I do have a bit of interest in this topic, if for no other reason than an obsession with fruitless self-examination.

I came across Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them by accident. I was looking for Bowling Alone at Borders. But the tantalizing title drew me in. I also take it as a sign from God that the shelf had “fuck vegitarians” [sic] on it, underscoring the decline of spelling skills among America’s young vandal community.

He had sold me at “Why Ashton Kutcher is your kids’ worst nightmare” (part of the title of the introductory chapter).

Help for a friend seeking entrance into USMC Officer Candidate Program

Today I am appealing to you to help me find a way for a friend to successfully join the United States Marine Corps Officer Candidate Program.

I knew James in elementary school. He’d always been athletic, and a leader. From what I’ve learned about his cross-fit training, he’s continued that today. He’s come a long way from the guy who busted my chops because of lackluster performance on the flag football field. :) He’s lost a lot of weight, gotten fit, and helped inspire and train a lot of his friends. I believe he enjoys the respect and admiration of his colleagues and clients, and that both are well deserved.

What Cordoba really means to me

Olbermann's comments about Park 51:"There is no 'Ground Zero Mosque'"

Until now, I never really read much Olbermann or had reason to quote him. But he's right about this.

I can confirm, from my memories of Medieval History class, that the characterization of "Cordoba" by Newt Gingrich misses the point.

"Cordoba" is, in part, a microcosm of the history of Islam - it's bloody civil wars, its rise under relative prosperity, the stagnation that accompanies a large and diverse empire, and the collapse when the previous regime is seen as decadent, to be replaced by progressively more extreme and reactionary forms of governance. It’s a fascinating history – if nothing else, the journey of Abd ar-Rahman I, the last surviving member of the Umayyad dynasty fleeing Damascus in the face of revolt and murder and flight to Al-Andalus, as the region was known under Muslim rule, is worth reading just for its drama.

Thoughts while listening to Philip Glass

From half-remembered moments,
from half a lifetime ago
dendrites strain like monstrous hands
To strangle and elevate a connection.
To leave conviction stranded in the realm of truth.
The terror, the absolute terror of losing all,
waking one distant day to un-discover
a lifetime spent in a fugue state.

Proof that there is such a thing as a "bad poem"

I see a little kitty
Now isn't she pretty
A little kitty cat
Now how about that.

- an actual poem I wrote in 8th grade to try to fill space in an end-of-year project

Sharing a secret - hopefully funny, likely creepy, and definitely weird

Breaking News: I’m an odd guy.

I’m about to share a secret I’ve never told a soul. But it illustrates a quirk that, I suspect, is either quite common, or will certify me as completely insane.

Once upon a time, I was part of a performing church dance group called Inochi. I participated for much of my childhood until about fifth grade. It was filled with tons of wonderful, intelligent, and attractive teenagers and twentysomethings that I admired.


For a completely unknown reason, whenever I saw one young woman in her early 20s, I always thought the following phrase: "fucking (her last name)".

To clarify, “fucking” in this case was used as an adjective and an insult, not a verb with possibly somewhat flattering connotations.

How to calculate your 10,000th day on Earth

As usual, whenever I try to take a nap I think of something to keep me awake. This time, it was my 10,000th day of life.

It’s pretty straightforward to calculate, though one needs to exercise some caution when converting it into a memorable format (for example, October 15, 2010).

To convert into years, multiply the following factors

(Note: Throughout this post, I multiply conversion factors instead of simply dividing 10000 by 365 because experience has taught me that division without understanding units can be very, very confusing in the end.)

Whoopty doo. I'm sure you'll be able to impress girls at a bar with this knowledge.

However, it’s more fun to know the specific date of your 10,000th day of life on Earth. This will require us to calculate more carefully. I’ve deliberately used a lengthy approach to highlight the steps, and make sure it’s understood why each correction factor is applied.

On growing up "nerdy" and nerdiness at Harvey Mudd College

I started thinking about the extent of my self-identification as a “nerd” after reading David Anderegg’s book, Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them. A later post (or posts) will include a summary and analysis of his arguments. For now, as a starting point, I’ll stick with a brief, rough definition he offers. To paraphrase:

Nerds are characterized vaguely by a combination of school success, interest in precision, unself-consciousness, closeness to adults, and interest in fantasy. They are often pejoratively associated with asexuality, poor personal hygiene, sycophantic obedience to authority, ugliness, social awkwardness, and lack of athletic ability.

Growing up, I think I never really thought of myself as a nerd. Yes, I would “geek” out by focusing on areas of interest – one year it was presidential history, another year for mountains and volcanoes of the world, another for US states. I read a great deal, and spent a lot of time playing video games. But these were as much the product of being an only child of a single working parent as anything else. I was small for my age, and remained so for my entire academic life. (I’m born in May, which probably has something to do with it.)

Fairness

We must be fair,
because life is not.

From "Ulysses" by Tennyson

Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Moving White House AIM conversations to a new blog

Hi all,

Given the whimsical nature of the AIMconversations, and given its stark contrast to the moody and often downright depressing content of the typical post here, I've decided to move the AIM conversations to a new blog, White House AIM Conversations. I've also created a Twitter account for the AIM conversations (@WhiteHouseAim). Hopefully, this will prevent emotional whiplash, and preserve somewhat the semi-privacy that should exist between my personal life drama and political humor.

- Ryan