Harmony

“Alexa, turn on the bedroom.” “Okay!” my trusty AI robotically replies as the entire room lights up in an orange glow, sparking all of my pent up creativity. Outside, the Texan cicadas are buzzing away, and together with the crickets make a symphony.

Magic + Science

I believed in magic. At 11, I excitedly swiped through various contents of the Book of Potions, an alternate reality videogame by fictional wizard Zygmunt Budge. The closest person in my life—my grandfather, a Nepalese palm reader—often encouraged me to believe in inconceivable things that could occur in the future, even if there wasn’t a rational explanation for them. So, that’s exactly what I did.

Light/Umbra

Umbra: the innermost, darkest part of a shadow

Shapes

Circles, triangles, hexagons, and squircles. I have always been a lover of shapes. Some visually aesthetic, others mathematically complex, and all mentally intriguing.

Songwriting

“Put samba rhythm over fast blues riff.”  “Get deadlift to 300 lbs by December.”

Parkour

I’m standing on the roof of my gym looking down at the mats in the parking lot twenty feet below. I close my eyes to prepare for the plunge and calm my nerves, though logically, I know that I won’t miss my target. I take a deep breath, bend my knees, and dive downwards into my flip…

Lockpicking

“Nothing on 1. 2’s binding—set. No binding on 3, false set on 4. Counter Rotation from #1, similar resistance on 3; set. Something’s overset—relaxing tension—#1 dropped; set. Full core rotation.”

Quantum Mechanics

The first time I learned about quantum mechanics was at the breakfast table. My dad placed an article titled “Quantum Entanglement” on top of my eggs and toast.