Noblesse oblige →

We have more than enough

I grew up in a frugal immigrant household. My parents liked saving money and encouraged me to do the same. Somehow along the way I internalized that wasting money was immoral. Mom clipped coupons and...

Starlink Mini →

Notes on installing satellite internet on the van

Part of why I love getting in the van and going off grid is that I'm away from internet connectivity. That said, Starlink had a sale on their Mini product, and its specs presented a compelling value p...

Five Mindfulness Trainings →

How a set of precepts has improved my life

In January 2025 I chose to take the Five Mindfulness Trainings as the culmination of our five night Family Camp at Deer Park Monastery. At first I was confused as to what this was all about. I thought...

Utah and back in 3 days →

We picked up a puppy

This is a quick trip report on our trip from the Bay Area Friday to Santaquin, UT and back over the Memorial Day long weekend of 2025.

Calm AI →

Thoughts on AI, career, and humanity

CEOs are stoking anxiety about AI replacing our jobs while using it to justify lay offs. This seems to be the latest chess move by those in power, a retaliatory response to the unprecedented COVID era...

California Sober →

Leave it to Californians to rebrand sobriety

I don’t drink much these days. Maybe a cocktail or beer once or twice a year, for a special occasion. It’s not something I’m super rigid about, I just find that defaulting to no alcohol reduces the me...

Vajrapani →

We took a leap of faith and joined this Sangha

That same summer Eliza first went to Quaker camp, we later participated in a family camp at Vajrapani in Boulder Creek. A number of conditions fell into place to make it happen. We wanted to round out...

Shishi Odoshi →

I made a water fountain

Japonaiserie! Zen! Back yard! DIY! Solar! Over-engineering!

Over the past few months I've been tinkering away in our back yard building a Shishi Odoshi-- one of those Japanese fountains that go tock...

Society of Friends →

Eliza goes to Quaker camp

The summer when Eliza was 11, she went to a week long sleep away camp at the Ben Lomond Quaker Center. We’re not members of the Religious Society of Friends, but Julie had long been curious about thei...

Camping: Sno Play →

Spicy Spicer

Over the years another type of camping we've done is for snow play. For some reason our family doesn't go much to Tahoe, but we've head out plenty on the Sonora Pass out towards Arnold. We get the Cal...