Blog

A senior recital makes for a great graduation party

June 01, 2025

This morning, I attended my cousin's senior guitar recital and high school graduation party. She performed a selection of solo pieces, two duets (one with her dad playing the guitar and one with my sister singing), and a quartet with her teacher and two other students from his studio. The performance was sandwiched by thoughtful speeches from my cousin, her parents, and her teacher and was followed by a lunch reception. It was an enjoyable program, a worthwhile culmination of her fourteen years of guitar training, and a wonderful opportunity to celebrate her.

I mostly helped with setting up the …

Some thoughts on telling time

May 20, 2025

As a frequent storyteller, I often refer to days, dates, and times to help my audience gain a temporal understanding of relevant events. However, I've found that the typical way of telling time is inefficient or confusing for many of my stories. Many of the events I describe stretch past midnight, and it may be difficult to quickly map phrases such as "Saturday 1:30am" to one's mental calendar in a story that also includes e.g. Thursday morning, Thursday night, Friday night, and Saturday morning.

The main problem is that events occurring past midnight are linked much closer to events before …

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (of One) Review (obviously spoilers)

March 25, 2025

Note: I started writing this review on July 30, 2023, just a week after returning from Zürich, but I forgot to complete it. I rediscovered it earlier today while scrolling through my blog post drafts folder. I hadn't watched or thought about the movie since then (although I do occasionally listen to the soundtrack album), so I rewatched it earlier today to refresh my memory before I began writing. My initial reaction to the movie was a bit critical (maybe this is why I held off on publishing it), but many of my thoughts about the movie have softened over …

In Memoriam: Padmakar Joshi (1937-2025)

March 07, 2025

Good afternoon,

My name is Om Joshi and I am the grandson of Padmakar Joshi. I knew him as Ajoba, which is the Marathi word for grandfather. When I was a child, he lived in Boston, so we would also call him “Boston Ajoba,” which he found endearing and cute. He moved from Boston to San Antonio in 2011, which means he was actually in San Antonio for most of my life. Nevertheless, the nickname stuck, and I still sometimes instinctually refer to him as “Boston Ajoba.”

In honor of Boston Ajoba, I wanted to share some memorable anecdotes of …

Childhood's end

August 19, 2024

I finished moving into my apartment earlier this evening, and now I'm settling in for my first night of graduate student life. At this transition point in my life, it seems like the perfect time to share how my move-in went and write some thoughts on maturity and youth.

The trip

Although I was initially resistant to having my parents help me move in (after all, I'm twenty-two, fully grown, don't need any help), they convinced me otherwise. I'm glad they didn't let me go alone, because we had such a fun time and they were incredibly helpful and efficient …

"Hey mister," puzzles, and social media apps

August 08, 2024

Time flies

Yesterday, I stopped by my old high school to visit some of my teachers before I head off to grad school. I graduated from high school only four years ago and it doesn't feel like it was too long ago.

On my way out, someone yelled at me, "Hey mister, where is the band hall?" I walked them up the stairs and pointed towards the band hall. During this thirty-second encounter, I mentioned that I was only twenty-two years old and that that was likely the first time someone had referred to me as "mister."

Later, I remembered …

Night train to Budapest

July 07, 2024

A childhood train hobbyist, I enjoyed visiting various mountain villages and cities by rail during my first two months in Switzerland last year. It was especially fun to plan out journeys with multiple "via" stops and to read and understand all the routes and schedules. Impressed by the Swiss rail system, I wondered where else in Europe I could travel to by train from my home base in Zürich. Coincidentally, this article on European dining cars was published, and it linked to another article about European night trains being on the rise again. Taking a night train seemed like a …

I'm a vegetarian. Here's every restaurant in Austin I tried this past school year.

June 02, 2024

I explored a bunch of vegetarian(-friendly) restaurants in the Austin area this past school year. Some of them were solo trips, and I went with friends/family to the rest. To rationalize forgoing the incredible cost savings (and enjoyment) of cooking at home, I mostly went out on days I had clocked in hours at the lab. I tried to stick to local places and avoid national chains as much as possible. For each category, the list roughly reflects my preferences in descending order, although most places were worthy of future visits.

Casual

• Nori. Vegan restaurant on Guad and 33rd serving …

Nothing but blue climbs, all day long

April 04, 2024

Bouldering has become one of my main activities over the past year. I had visited Armadillo Boulders in San Antonio once or twice before, but my interest ramped up in Switzerland as I explored various gyms around Zürich with one of my flatmates. Last semester, I purchased a membership for the bouldering wall at the campus gym and went often between classes. This semester, I've been going to Austin Bouldering Project several times per week in the mornings and evenings.

In a single session, I tend to pick one or two problems at the edge of my ability and fixate …

Seventeenth violinniversary

January 30, 2024

Today marks seventeen years since my first violin lesson. Wow!