I. I am generally considered to be a pretty smart guy. Now to say this directly is to invite doubt and disaster. I know that. I feel it deep in my bones. It’s been drilled into me that, outside of certain domains (like rap and sports), it’s impolite to talk...
[Cross-posting this here, from my blog, Echoes and Chimes] When I was a kid, I’d spend the hours after school on the circular trampoline we had assembled in our backyard. I’d go into a kind of trance. Though my body would be engaged in jumping up and down — or,...
I.
I am generally considered to be a pretty smart guy.
Now to say this directly is to invite doubt and disaster. I know that. I feel it deep in my bones. It’s been drilled into me that, outside of certain domains (like rap and sports), it’s impolite to talk directly about one’s abilities. But I’m pushing through my instinctive discomfort to write this, as I think it might be worth it.
When I say I’m a “pretty smart guy”, immediately I feel compelled to clarify what I’m not saying. I’m not saying I’m the “smartest” (whatever that might mean), or that I’m made unique or special by my above-average intelligence. I’m just saying that... (read 2511 more words →)
[Cross-posting this here, from my blog, Echoes and Chimes]
When I was a kid, I’d spend the hours after school on the circular trampoline we had assembled in our backyard. I’d go into a kind of trance. Though my body would be engaged in jumping up and down — or, when that grew dull, and when the blue plastic cover that obscured the springs wore thin and blew away, in walking around the trampoline’s perimeter in a game of balance — my mind flew far away. I constructed an elaborate fictional world in which to pass my afternoons.
Hopelessly derivative, it was inspired by whatever media I was consuming at the time - I... (read 1376 more words →)