It’s 4:57 am right now. Already, I hear a few birds chirping from outside, despite no sun in sight, outside still pitch black. I am typing this blog post while sitting in my dimly lit kitchen. In the bedroom, my daughter is still fast asleep and hope she continues to sleep for another hour (i.e.…

If you are looking for a quick, delicious, healthy (no oil), plant based meal that takes only 30 minutes (15 of those minutes are waiting for the dish to cook in an instant pot) to whip up, look no further. Check out Jill McKeever’s video on “The Red Lentil Stew From Instant Pot”: I’ve taken…

For next semester, Spring 2020, I enrolled in what I expect to be one of the most difficult (yet rewarding) courses: compilers – theory and practice. I’m stoked and at the same time, feeling very nervous. I’m stoked for several reasons. First, according to the previous semester’s syllabus, I’ll be learning a ton of theory:…

At work, I’m subscribed to an e-mail distribution group called “dogs@amazon.com”, a list dedicated to anyone interested in dogs. And today, I read an e-mail that broke my heart. A fellow Amazonian just had their second child and they are now giving away their 3 year old Labrador because they can no longer give it…

My wife’s parents told us that when they first moved in together, they noticed that when they argued with one another, the arguments normally took place on Friday evenings.  And when they became aware of this pattern, the two of them agreed to shelve any important discussions for the next day. And surprisingly, this worked…

Although Jess and I legally married six months ago (February) in King County Court, a municipal court in Seattle, we threw our wedding ceremony just three weeks ago.  The Saturday ceremony was held in Malibu at Great Spirits Ranch, a ranch that overlooks the Pacific Ocean and Ojai mountains.  Most importantly, this venue was dog…

My wife (Jess) and I were both dead tired from yesterday—friends had come over to our house and cooked a Vietnamese meal the night before and we fell asleep around just before midnight, a little over two hours past our bedtime—and we had decided to spend the Friday night staying in doors, eating leftover, vegan…

I’m an early bird.  I find that I’m the most productive with a little extra time in the morning, which I devote to personal development — meditating, reading, and writing. I wake, usually, to the sound of the alarm; today, though, I woke up naturally. Or so I thought. I glanced at my watch. 05:30AM.  I gave…