Thucydides, Book 4
a petition to preserve Spartan dignity in misfortune takes us back to Solon's warning
1 min read
Page 3 of 10
cruise to alaska
just returned from a 7-night Disney Cruise to Alaska. When two toddlers and their tantrums are involved, my small Sony A7Cii with the tiny 24mm prime turns out to be too much to carry.
2 min read
Celeste was born to sing Mi Enfermedad
and that's because this song was inspired and written for Celeste, and our Argentinian Janis Joplin was born to sing this song. Am I not right?
1 min read
history's first (and grandest) funeral oration
an answer, perhaps the answer, to "what we fight for?", "what we die for?" and, most importantly "what we live for?"
1 min read
the non-linearity of having kids in quick succession
non-linear effects and negative convexity can be described and explained using different methods. Depending on the method used, a different level of understanding is attained.
2 min read
"daily standard deviation of 1% moves 1% a day" - not so
In the financial markets, the definition of volatility is assumed to be standard deviation. However, in practice, people seem to either forget the definition or completely substitute it with the mean absolute deviation. For example...
2 min read
placing high-confidence bets in mediocristan and winning
life in Mediocristan is quite enjoyable. It reminds me of Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria. The ocean is nearby, and the climate is pleasant. Never too cold, never too hot.
1 min read
Featured
shorting stocks based on fragility
On principle, therefore, a small short position is in order. Small because we cannot time markets, and small because it's an expression of a philosophical view, not an attempt to make fuck you money with one trade.
1 min read
dying a good death and reading antifragile
against my (acquired) skepticism of anything published in the last 50 years (exceptions: Kazuo Ishiguro's novels, The Selfish Gene), I picked up Nassim N. Taleb's Antifragile.
1 min read
basic hiking gear (2025)
nowadays our hikes are frequent, easy, and short. We drive long distances to reach the trailhead, and typically do not make it to the main attraction (the waterfall, the pool, the giant sequoia), but we do have lots of fun.
2 min read
tahquitz canyon - evacuating from the L.A. fires
morning hike in the desert
when you cross the street, you remove data
more data--such as paying attention to the eye colors of the people around when crossing the street--can make you miss the big truck.