What is this blog about?

Kind of whatever! My wheelhouse is mostly writing, psychology, and operations.

Who are you?

I support legal operations at Open Philanthropy, a San Francisco–based grantmaking foundation. In the past, I have worked at the Yale Child Study Center and taught English at the high school and undergraduate levels.

Here’s a video of me at eighteen (when I peaked) playing trombone with my foot for a college application:

Why is this blog called “The Elbow”?

Two reasons: 1) Peter Elbow, and 2) nudges. (More details in this overview.)

How frequent are posts?

I aim to put something out 3-5 times/month.

Of these, one is a list of quotes I like. (Think of this like other blogs’ roundups of links or recommendations—but more evergreen/impressionistic.) If you want, you can opt to receive just regular posts, or just the quotes series, under your subscription settings.

Help! Where should I start?

These are the three posts that people seem to find most insightful:

  1. Twenty Things I Learned in My Twenties — exactly what it sounds like (and a decent sampler of the blog in general!)

  2. Symmetrical Hypocrisy — a takedown, of a certain type of takedown

  3. Punctuated Equilibrium — a playful exploration of . , — ; ( ) : and …

These are the three posts that people seem to find most moving and/or entertaining:

  1. A Quick Goodbye — a portrait of my grandparents

  2. Sticky — reminiscing about some middle school shenanigans

  3. Hit List — from an old trope, new sci-fi—wunderbar!

Is there a way to view posts organized by topic/format?

Indeed there is! I tag every post with up to three labels I feel best describe it, using these categories:


To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.

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Sincere, eclectic, and packed with umami

People

Legal Ops @ Open Philanthropy • Former English teacher • Two parts golden retriever + one part Larry David