Category: Brainwaves

Many of the topics for these newsletters come from conversations I’ve had during the week. This time, a discussion about relationships stood out. It’s not a subject I’ve touched on much, but it’s an important one. The conversation revolved around whether people should wait for the “perfect” person or “settle” in relationships. I don’t believe… Read more

For this newsletter, I wanted to write about philosophy (at least I think this counts as philosophy because I remember having to write about something similar in a college class), inspired by an anime I just watched called “Parasyte: The Maxim.” The anime follows a high school student whose hand is taken over by an… Read more

In the last edition, I ranked all the places I visited in 2024 and mentioned there was one more to add—Martinique! It’s an island in the French Caribbean, and it turned out to be one of my favorite trips this year. I stayed on my friend’s sailboat, along with his mom, for a few days… Read more

I recently counted the number of countries and states I’ve visited—around 17 countries and 32 states, depending on what counts as “visiting.” I only included places where I spent a “considerable” amount of time. Most of the states I visited were on road trips, but in nearly all cases, I stayed overnight or did something… Read more

This is my 26th newsletter edition! That means I’ve been writing these once a week for six months! For this one, I just wanted to reflect on starting this newsletter and writing it each week. I think my two main takeaways are: When I first decided to start the newsletter, it actually took me a… Read more

This week, I want to write about fear.  I’ve been fortunate not to have many scary experiences in my life. One exception was at Great America when there was supposedly a shooting—though it turned out to just be a loud sound. Still, it was scary, and it’s sad that these are things we even have… Read more

I was talking with a coworker who also just visited Spain, and we both agreed on how much we enjoyed it there. We found the culture is just very welcoming. Whenever I think about why I always enjoy visiting Spain, I usually attribute some of it to being able to speak a bit of Spanish… Read more

Today marks my three-year anniversary of working at Amazon. Over these years, I’ve been lucky to meet some really cool and smart people. Some have become friends that I plan to stay connected with even after I move on from Amazon. In this letter, I want to reflect on my experience identifying the kind of… Read more

I feel very lucky to be able to travel for work and meet smart people from around the world. One thing I’ve realized is how productive working in person with your team can be. That’s probably why Amazon is requiring employees to work five days in the office starting in January. However, I’m not sure… Read more

As some of you know, I’ve been thinking about relocating abroad. I’ve lived in the same 50-mile radius in California for 25 years, with the exceptions of being born in Baltimore and a semester studying abroad in Spain. I think it’s one of the best places for me to live and I never left on… Read more