Life
Santa Fe: “Remember This”
Santa Fe and my family go way back to the early 90s. It all started with my father and my stepmother. My father had his paintings exhibited in a gallery on Santa Fe’s famous Canyon Road. A few times a year, they would load up paintings in a minivan and drive them to Santa Fe.
De-Numb Your Mind
I can definitely see how we are always trying to numb our minds. We constantly need the mental organ entertained and well-numbed with external stimuli. It seems that whenever we are left with ourselves, that is, with our minds, we reach out for our favorite portable numbing device and happily lose ourselves in Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, or YouTube. We spend little or no time with ourselves.
Rebuilding Good Habits after Lockdown
Though I loved working from home during the lockdown, I now realize that it came at a cost – in March and April I destroyed most of the good habits I had worked very hard to build over the last few years.
The Jet Lag Series: How do I work? When do I find time to write?
How do I work? When do I find time to write? I get asked this question a lot. People wonder when I have time to do research. Do I do research at all? Or do I have someone else do it for me?
The Jet Lag Series: There is no “I” in Hannah (But There are Two in “Vitaliy”)
Last summer Hannah started playing volleyball. She really fell in love with the game. She was one of the best players. Then the program director noticed Hannah’s play and told me that Hannah had “good hands” and suggested that we transfer her to a more advanced team of 15-year-olds (Hannah just turned 14). I instantly started calling her “good hands Hannah.”
The Jet Lag Series: Art or Craft
Severe repetition could turn an art into a craft – as our skill improves creative tension is reduced. Repetition may slowly drain the emotion out of each iteration. Craft and art are both components of creative activity, but art is the component that keeps us improving.
Set Your Egg Timer to 6 Months
If we had our egg timer set on six months, we’d prioritize what really matters: relationships, inhaling life, walking in the park. We’d reset what we care about, and it wouldn’t be things. We are given the rare opportunity to prioritize what is most important to us without guilt. The material world is on pause, at least for a few weeks.
The Jet Lag Series: Inhaling Europe
I was inhaling Europe on a trip to Switzerland and Italy with my brother Alex and my son Jonah. This was Jonah’s first time in Europe, and I really wanted him to love it as much as I do.
Daily Journal
I started keeping a daily journal to see how journaling will impact what I write about. Writing down important conversations I have may allow me to explore them further on my own.
Cultural Calendar
I listened to Tim Ferris’s interview with Neil Degrasse Tyson. There are a few insights that I got from this interview. You need to expose your kids to the world, so I set a day each month where I look ahead a month or two and plan our “cultural calendar”.
Broadening Our Horizons with Complexity
The Santa Fe Institute takes an interdisciplinary approach to research, and is a leader in complexity theory, which looks at the economy as an organic, ever-evolving ecosystem. How can I apply this theory to my own mental models
My Single Greatest Achievement
My son Jonah is taking a gap year after graduating high school and will spend the next two semesters in Israel. Before Jonah boarded the plane, we exchanged letters. What he wrote to me stands above anything else I have accomplished in my life. This is my single greatest achievement.
Personal Finance Advice That Changed My Life
Today I am going to write about a topic I have never written about before: personal finance. I am writing about this not so much for you, faithful reader, as for my kids.
Transgender Trees, Homelessness, and a Dare in San Francisco
I was on a trip to San Francisco with my kids. As I am flipping through the memory bank, I am shocked at how many experiences we packed into three days.
Looking for Denny Crane at a Star Trek Convention
My daughter Hannah and I visited the Star Trek convention in Denver to meet William Shatner because of his role of Denny Crane.
Idealist, I Am
My wife and I recently watched a Ukrainian comedy series. A history teacher is caught on video delivering a passionate ...
Who Am I? (and my composers)
Someone recently asked whether I think of myself as Russian, or American. My initial response (without thinking) was – American. But as I gave this question more thought I realized that the answer is more complex.
Zurich to Nice – Travel Notes
I'm sharing my experience of traveling from Zurich to Nice, and I'm struggling to organize my thoughts into words.
Zurich to Nice
On January 28th, my brother and I are flying to Zurich to attend the by-invitation-only VALUEx Klosters conference. Attendees are expected to present and share their best investment ideas, and we will also get to ski and enjoy the food in the Swiss Alps. Afterwards, we will rent a car and embark on a six-day journey from Zurich to Nice, France.
