The Blog

Notes on life and the world.

  • The Student Ghetto

    writing  ·  · 3 min read

    Thousands of University of Texas students, myself among them, live in the crowded West Campus neighborhood adjacent to the university. The insatiable demand for housing close to campus has spurred a construction spree of high-rise apartment buildings catered to affluent student residents. Tiny apartments fit two, three, four, or even five students, usually randomly matched by management. To cut costs,...

  • Proposition One “Mobility Bond” Represents Business as Usual for Austin Transportation

    writing  ·  · 2 min read

    This piece was originally submitted to The Daily Texan as an op-ed, but wasn’t published.

    Soon, Austin voters will decide on the $720 million so-called “Mobility Bond” that promises much-needed relief for our city’s traffic woes. Though overshadowed by this year’s unprecedented presidential election, there’s plenty of enthusiasm to go around for this important local issue, too. “Vote Prop One”...

  • A Portrait of Wilmington, Delaware

    writing  ·  · 4 min read

    Take a ride on DART route 11, and by the mere act of considering it, you feel as though you were in some exclusive club.

    One glance at the schedule leaves you immediately overwhelmed. A stylized map purports to depict the general layout of route 11, but the geography is so distorted that whether the route traverses Wilmington or some...

  • My Thoughts on Avatar: the Last Airbender

    writing  ·  · 6 min read

    American cartoons will always hold a particular place in my heart. They defined my world when I was a kid, for better or worse, and instilled in me a penchant for good stories.

    I didn’t follow any cartoon regularly; I sort of tuned in to whatever was airing and considered each episode as a standalone experience. This tended to define...

  • The Technology Gap

    writing  ·  · 2 min read
    As written in an application for the East Bakersfield Rotary Scholarship:

    The greatest enigma that we face today is that people do not understand how technology works.

    While we are quick to admit that our elders have trouble using computers, the younger generation gets a pass on technology education. We don’t usually think of Internet hipsters using Facebook on the...

  • The Problem with City-Building Games

    writing  ·  · 4 min read

    For me, that something was SimCity 4.

    I loved it – and that is probably an understatement. I built villages and towns on rolling hills, coastlines, and plains. I enjoyed laying out cities and watching the grand effects...