CTE brain May 3, 2025
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is a brain disease achieved by getting hit on the head a lot, and it's usually found in football players and boxers.  Some of the symptoms include impulsive behavior and aggression. 

It's a real thing, and I don't mean to make light of it.  But there's a pattern of behavior I've noticed in certain public figures in recent years that suggests something similar is happening to otherwise healthy people.  There was the football player Antonio Brown who walked off the field (i.e. quit) mid-game in a pretty dramatic fashion (though that might've actually been CTE).  There was the Dilbert creator Scott Adams who used to post benign little things on his blog and Twitter, but who has since devolved into a racist and an extreme fear-mongerer.  There's also Jordan Peterson, who achieved notoriety with a fairly benign self-help book, but who has since become an aggressively annoying Twitter personality.  Add to this list JK Rowling, who earned a billion dollars as a young adult author, but whose entire public life now consists of degrading transgender people for some reason.  And then there's Elon Musk, who used to be an awkward nerd but has since become a Nazi.  Also, Donald Trump. 

You could claim these people are just doing things for attention.  Or maybe that's how these people have always been, and social media has simply allowed them to be more visible about it.  But I think it's something else.  It might be that, similar to CTE, social media has altered peoples' brain to make them act more impulsive and aggressive.  Or it might be drugs (Elon) or supplements (Adams -- men that old shouldn't have abs).  I don't know what it is, but I don't like it, and I think social media should be abolished and people should have to obtain a license to use the internet. #psychology
Autism spectrum May 3, 2025
This is probably wrong, but if autism truly is a spectrum, it would sort of make sense that everyone is on this spectrum, similar to the spectrum of gender or sexuality.  You can't be on or off the spectrum; you're on it.  If this is the case, most people are on the low end of the spectrum, i.e. not very autistic.  The people we think of as "having autism" are on the high end.  That leaves a whole bunch of people in the middle, which would maybe help explain people with difficulty making eye contact, sensory sensitivities, and things like that.  In other words, I think we're all a little autistic. #psychology
Mirror bacteria May 3, 2025
This People I (Mostly) Admire podcast episode introduced me to the concept of mirror bacteria (or mirror life) which is the idea that biology uses molecules of a specific chirality, i.e. molecular formations that are either right-handed or left-handed.  The same chemical can exist in either form, but all biology tends to use molecules of a specific handedness, e.g. proteins are exclusively composed of left-handed amino acids.  There's a scary idea out there that if left-handed bacteria suddenly evolved or were created in a lab, the human immune system would be unable to defend itself because it evolved to recognize right-handed bacteria only. #science
More than five senses May 3, 2025
The traditional "five senses" we learned in grade school (via Aristotle) -- sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing -- are associated with specific sensor organs on the human body:  eyes, ears, skin, nose, and tongue.  But it's widely established now that there are more than five senses.  Temperature can be sensed by the skin or tongue, but it's different than simply sense of touch.  Balance and body orientation are sensed by the inner ear.  You can sense when you're moving versus stationary.  I would add a couple weird ones to the list:  You can often sense when someone is standing close to you, or if they're looking at you. #science
Finding concerts Apr 16, 2025
I'm always kind of surprised how difficult it is to find concerts I might be interested in, and how bad the search engines are at performing this seemingly simple task.  When I go to a website of a concert venue or ticket seller, I can scroll through their list of upcoming events, but it's a total mishmash of every style of music from every generation.  And when I make the unfortunate decision to buy a ticket for a concert I want to attend, I get automatically signed up to receive emails from the ticket seller that say, "Hey, since you're going to a concert, would you be interested in going to a completely unrelated concert simply for the pleasure of experiencing the sensation of live music?"  Like, no.  If I go to death metal concert, I'm not interested in going to a techno concert simply because both things fit neatly into the box of "live music."  That's not how that works, that's not how anything works, and I feel like this issue should've been resolved in like 2002.  How can I not simply select "live music" from a drop-down box, then further select "music that contains a guitar" vs. "music that involves a DJ"?  These are not overlapping Venn diagrams, and I shouldn't have to tell the likes of TicketMaster how to serve me the content I actually want to pay money for.  Use those ticket fees for something good, you dorks. #music
Pumping gas Apr 9, 2025
I moved from one of the few states that don't let you pump your own gas, to one of the many states that do.  I have a lot of strong opinions about a lot of different things, and this is refreshingly not one of them.  I don't know why, I just really don't care whether I pump my own gas or not.  This opinion occupies exactly zero processor cycles in my brain.  And this is quite different than pretty much every other person on earth, who feels extremely strongly about one side or the other.  I guess it's kind of gross to touch a gas pump that thousands of other people touch, while standing outside in the heat or cold, breathing in poisonous gasoline fumes.  But I don't have to interact with anyone, which is nice.  Two sides, essentially equal; opinion weakly held.
Athletic quarterbacks Jan 2, 2025
Athletic quarterbacks (quarterbacks who can run and scramble as opposed to passing from the pocket) are all the rage in the NFL these days, both because they're fun to watch but also because they're successful.  But watching mobile quarterbacks in college football makes it pretty obvious that having that strength is also a weakness.  In high school and college football, defenses are undisciplined enough to allow some backyard football to happen quite a bit.  So a quarterback who can move around and dodge defenders can look like a superstar.  But as soon as a competent defense is involved, a scrambling quarterback is more likely a liability (notable exceptions abound in the current state of the NFL).  Mobile quarterbacks get accustomed to using their athleticism to get out of sticky situations, instead of developing proper decision-making skills, learning how to read a defense, and being content with throwing the ball away when that's the smart play.  The very thing that makes athletic quarterbacks successful in college is the same thing that makes them fail in the NFL. #sports
College football talent differential Jan 2, 2025
One of the weird and cool things about college football is that there's an insanely wide talent gap between the best and the worst players, as well as the best and the worst teams.  That's partly why the Heisman Trophy is sometimes relevant -- occasionally there's a player who is just hands-down better than everyone else.  This unfortunately makes some games meaningless, such as all the "cupcake" games at the beginning of the season where a blue-blood team like Alabama or Texas plays an unknown like Tennessee ... State Tech, or Louisiana ... Monroe Community College.  Technically these teams are all at the same "level" but realistically there's no way in hell a blue-blood will lose those games. 

In the NFL, the talent gap is much less pronounced.  "Any given Sunday" means that pretty much any team can beat pretty much any other team on any given Sunday.  The NFL is much more uniform, almost predictable.  Sure, a great player can have a great game at times.  But more often than not, a good offense will find a way to beat a good defense, and a good defense will find a way to stop a good offense.  Players are more consistent, and coaching is more intelligent.  Talent is distributed fairly evenly around the entire league. 

In college football, great players are essentially unstoppable, even in a game between two good teams.  This is because the talent isn't spread evenly across the league or even across a single team.  A single amazing player can consistently beat a team of pretty good players simply because there's a measurable difference in talent.  Being taller, faster, or stronger is still a differentiator at the college level.  This difference is smoothed out a bit in the NFL, which is why it's still fun to watch college football. #sports
Alabama notes Dec 2, 2024
It's been almost two years since we've lived in Alabama, and I have some observations. 

First off, we live on the edge of a small city.  So when people think of Alabama, this isn't it.  Granted, driving a few miles outside our city will present you with the most stereotypical views you can imagine -- cotton fields, trailer parks, broken down cars propped up on cinder blocks, and front yard garbage piles.  But our city is a fairly standard small American city -- centered around a major industry, has a Trader Joe's, has a minor league baseball team with a silly name.  It's Alabama, but not that Alabama. 

Now for the good.  The people are friendly, which I think is related to the fact that the pace of life is a little bit slower, which I believe is caused by the general abundance of most things.  It just feels like there's enough space, enough housing, enough roads, enough jobs, and enough stores for all the people there.  There's no need to rush to get anywhere, because there's plenty of time to get there.  There's plenty of parking.  If you make a wrong turn, you can easily make a U-turn.  Nothing is a problem, which makes people move slower, which makes people friendly.  This was an unexpected improvement in my life. 

Compared to where we moved from, the property taxes are lower, there are more restaurants (that don't go out of business -- what's wrong with you, New Jersey?), there are more social spaces to meet up with family and friends, and there are more activities for kids (and adults -- if you like trampoline parks). 

Now for the bad.  We've lived in the New York City Italian/Irish Metropolitan Megalopolis our entire lives.  No one outside that area of the world can make good pizza.  Period.  Everyone knows this.  Certain restaurants can make "different" pizza that tastes good, and even Alabama has some of those places.  But the most expensive restaurant on earth could employ the most talented chefs for a million years and still not beat a lukewarm slice of limp, uninspiring pizza from any New York City grease pit called "Gino's" or whatever. 

But hey, that was no surprise.  What was a surprise was that Alabama isn't very good at making simple cheap sandwiches you'd get at any little Italian deli in New Jersey (related to the pizza issue).  Like, there are good sandwich places around, and I admittedly haven't tried them all.  But I miss the familiarity of, again any old "Gino's" or whatever, having a mind-blowing sandwich that sort of changes your outlook on life. 

A similar but different thing that's missing is of course Wawa, but more generally an overabundance of cheap, generic, reliable, clean, convenience store / gas station / sandwich place combination stores.  Those types of places provide a real sense of solace when leaving your house, and I miss not having a reliable place to stop for a breakfast burrito or coffee while I fill my tank. 

And finally, ice cream.  I'm gonna sound like a broken record, but ice cream is attainable in the northeast from any store named Gino's, or the Whatever Creamery, or Some Innuendo About Milk, and it's served by a bunch of teenagers with braces, and it's literally the best ice cream you've ever eaten.  Any flavor, any day of the week, any day of the year (unless they close for the winter).  Alabama tries, and absolutely fails.  I don't know what the problem is.  It has something to do with the flavor profile of the base mixture or something -- too much or not enough butter or something like that.  Ice cream is not and has never been a significant part of my life, but it's absence is devastating (I'm overreacting because I want ice cream right now). 

Yes I realize all my complaints are about food; no I don't know what that says about me.  If I could philosophize a little:  Life is largely about having experiences, seeing places, meeting people, and finding the activities, places, and people that provide you the most joy.  I weirdly have no problem finding new people to like, so that's sort of covered.  And most activities I enjoy can be experienced anywhere, or don't require a specific location to experience them.  But at the end of the day, when I'm done experiencing things and meeting people, I want to go to my comfortable home, be with my comfortable family, and eat comfortable food like New York pizza and ice cream.  It's not to say I won't find new comfort food in the future, but right now that's the comfort I crave. #lifestyle
Phish Mondegreen Secret Set Sep 15, 2024
I had the pleasure of attending Phish's Mondegreen festival a few weeks ago, and I happened to experience one of the most profound musical events of my life.  Phish has a history of doing an unannounced "thing" at some point during their festivals.  At a previous festival, it was a jam session from the top of an air traffic control tower.  For Mondegreen, there were some rumors about what it might be and when it might happen.  I heard it might be some sort of ambient instrumental thing in the middle of the night, which honestly didn't sound that appealing, especially after a full night of music, especially on one of four nights of music. 

What ended up happening has come to be called "the Secret Set," which was a 50-minute continuous improvised instrumental jam, with a series of trippy videos projected on a screen covering the entire stage.  It was performed live, in front of ~40,000 people, on the first try, in one take.  In a word, it was incredible. 

As I've mentioned before, Phish as a band is all about energy management.  And the Secret Set was no different.  It started off calm and breezy.  There were ups and downs.  Ins and outs.  Tension, release.  Deconstruction, reconstruction.  The entire thing was like a story -- birth, growth, conflict, chaos, despair, resolution, celebration.  It ended like an explosion. 

The main difference with this was that they didn't play a single Phish song.  Usually their jams are centered around a song, or sandwiched between two songs.  Even if the audience gets lost or bored, you know the band will eventually find their way back to familiar ground.  This had none of that.  What was interesting is that they almost played a few Phish songs.  And quite honestly it's surprising they didn't.  Musicians tend to go back to what they're comfortable with.  Also, there are only so many combinations of chord progressions you can play before you cover something you've done before.  And Phish did a little of that, but they seemed to intentionally avoid playing their songs. 

The most significant aspect of it all was the unknown.  The audience had no idea what to expect.  We had no idea what was happening, how long it would take, or where it would end up.  There was a palpable feeling of anticipation in the air.  There was a sense of familiarity, because we knew why we were there and generally what we were dealing with.  But there was also a sense of kid-on-Christmas-morning surprise.  Like, "I can't wait to see what happens, and I hope it never ends."  The final sequence of the set felt like a party, a reunion, something you've never seen or heard before, but exactly what you were hoping it would be.  I remember walking out of the venue and saying to some friends, "I don't know how they did it, and I didn't think they were gonna figure it out, but they got there."  Just absolutely mind-blowing. 

I've listened to the recording of the Secret Set a few dozen times now, and every time I get the same array of feelings.  But listening to it live for the first time was nothing short of magical.  Easily a top-five life experience for me. #music