Hobbies

• Journaling: I’ve journaled on and off since 2007. Currently split most of my journling between an A6 Hobonichi Techo and a Nolty 2025 day planner.
• Nature Walks & Hikes: Even more fun with curious little kiddos.
• Running: I’m one of those “slow and steady wins the race” kinda guys now. Probably run about 3-4x/wk.
• Cycling: Almost exclusively on an indoor Wahoo Kickr trainer using Zwift. I found that riding on the roads around our house was just too dangerous to be worth the risk. No bike lanes, virtually no shoulders, copious blind corners, almost exclusively extremely hilly terrain. No, indoor, all-weather training is fine by me. About 2-3x/wk.
• Other Sports: Trail running, walking/rucking, soccer, frisbee, basketball, badminton, swimming, rowing, and skiing in no particular order.
• Reading: Too many great books/authors to list. E-reading is primarily done on a Kindle Scribe.
• Scale Modeling: Got into this in college as a way to de-stress. Turns out handling minuscule plastic pieces can also be stressful, but on the whole I find building, painting, and weathering scale models to be a cathartic activity, especially with an old movie playing in the background. Haven’t built a model in years, but when I do I mostly stick to classic WWII vehicles. My favorites have been the Academy TBM Avenger, the Tamiya A6M5 Zero, and the Airfix Fw190-A8.
• Amateur Ham Radio: Got my technician license (Callsign: KK7KAQ) in early 2023. Mostly enjoy listening to local nets I happen across and taking my radio into the mountains with my brother-in-law and dad. Recently got a DMR I’m excited to delve into when I get more time, and am planning on working toward my general license in the coming months.
• Watercolor Painting: I’m so bad but it’s so fun. I’ve put a decent amount of mileage on this Sakura Koi Pocket Field Kit.
• Sketching: Used to draw much more than I do now. Still, I enjoy sketching the occasional building, spaceship, or elderly man (according to my wife it’s the only type of person I can draw with any degree of accuracy). I tend to draw with a N0 Gray Copic marker and Pigma Micron ink pens.
• Fishing: Trout, salmon (still seeking my elusive first), panfish. I really only got into fishing in mid-2023. Every time I go I ask myself, why didn’t I get into this sooner? When you have a decent clue what you’re doing, fishing is so enjoyable on so many levels. My wife is my good luck charm.
• Rockhounding: Hunting agates, jasper, carnelian, petrified wood, quartz, and chalcedony. A great excuse to get into nature and learn about things we take for granted; the PNW has some of the best rockhounding in the country world.
  
• Crossword Puzzles & Scrabble: I plug away at these types of games from time to time. Much preferred to, say, number games like Sudoku.
• Chess: Low elo legend. Big fan of the London system (when I can remember how to use it).
• Stamp collecting: Took my kids to the annual stamp expo in Portland in 2023 and 2024. They were the youngest one’s there by two generations. The various booth owners doted on them, giving out plenty of stamps and covers (old letter envelopes) to start their collections. Philately is a great hobby for kids and adults alike—it involves history, geography, culture, and art. I’m only just scratching the surface, but I like how each stamp tells a unique story–either about those exchanging it or the time in which it was produced.
• Camping & Backpacking: In (2023) I took A on his first backpacking trip. An incredible memory—the first of many, I hope. We also like camping in our yard, an annual tradition. We set up four or five hammocks in a grove of pear trees, call it “hammock city,” and sleep out whenever the weather is good.
• Archival Research: Here.
• Soccer: Grew up playing & watching. Big Arsenal fan.
• Language learning: Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Spanish (in that order).
• Letter Writing: I sometimes wish people still sat down and corresponded like they used to. It affords the space and time to think about what you really want to say in a way texting and phone calls can’t. I love pounding out letters on an old IBM Selectric III typewriter I found online. If you ever need a pen pal, I’m here for it.