Miscellany

My free time is mostly occupied by a convex combination of the following:

Magic the Gathering

I am an L1 judge for the Turing complete children’s trading card game Magic the Gathering™, and competed in my first regional championship in 2025 in Vegas. I mostly play the modern format, but occasionally I dip my toes into standard (before I’m reminded of how terrible it is) and Canadian Highlander.

I have earned a reputation in the Bay Area as the “resident control player,” and have been piloting various flavors of reactive “draw-go” decks in most 60-card constructed formats for many years. Somehow, despite my truly heinous amount of experience with this archetype, I routinely manage to find new and creative ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Public Transit Haikus

I mostly get around using public transportation, so I often have time to kill while riding the bus or train. I’m not sure when exactly this started, but at some point I began writing amateur (load-bearing adjective) haikus about my adventures on AC Transit, which I’ve included a small selection of below:

“Doors are now closing”
Body melts into the seat
I am homeward bound

Old man on the train
Why have you removed your shoe?
Bare toes on the seat

Sweltering cabin
Pointed absence of AC
This bus is too hot

Bus guy with bouquet
I know that it’s new year’s eve
But please stop singing

Dearest bus driver
Please do not pull further up
As I run to you

Young couple on BART
I would be grateful if you’d
stop fucking smoking

Photography

I got really into macro photography in high school after taking the same photography class three semesters in a row. Due to a lack of camera access, I have not been able to keep up with the hobby, but my hope is to obtain a decent camera and some wide angle lenses in the not-so-distant future so I can get back into taking pictures. Here are some photos I’ve taken in the past that I’m proud of:

Lockpicking

Still improving, but soon I will be in your walls. :)