What I’ve been up to
Outside of work, I enjoy creating and playing board games, blending strategy and creativity. Iām constantly learning through various media like podcasts, videos, and articles, broadening my horizons. Sci-fi books captivate me with their imaginative worlds and thought-provoking ideas, fueling my curiosity and passion for storytelling and exploration.
Rankings of Hard Science Fiction Novels
As of Aug. 2020, this list merges the following internet lists that include books commonly tagged as or near 'hard science fiction': Hugo, BSFA, NPR 2011 SF & Fantasy, Arthur C. Clarke Award, Reddit Fantasy 100 List, Goodreads SF/Fa Top 300, Misc. Internet Lists, Locus Fantasy Award, Nebula, Locus Scifi Awad, Hugo (Retro), Reddit Best Scifi List, Top 200 Sci-Fi Books, Top 100 Sci-Fi Books [double counted with Top 200 Sci-Fi Books, given that it is a meta list itself].
Of the top 100 here, I have consumed about ~75% in some form (85%+ by reading) and of the top 250 about ~50%.
Ignoring the top 10, I've included a column of "Tim's opinions about whether this book is notably underrated/overrated *relative to this list*."
š¦ Fantasy Bonus
This is the break out of "books that are sometimes tagged as fantasy that were also in best of scifi lists."
Disclaimer: I've only read about 30% of these books, and I'm not a connoisseur of fantasy, so any underrated/overrated tags should heavily discounted and understood as "in relation to lists optimizing for hard scifi."
The family that plays together...
For many years, my group of musician friends have been exchanging links of fun and eclectic music performances, music theory, and musical art. Here is a sample.
Learning Through Media
In 2020, I scraped my email account for every youtube video I'd ever sent anyone. These were the videos that generally fell into edu, humans, and technology categories. Some of them are probably dated, but perhaps interesting nevertheless. I don't necessarily agree with or support everything said in all of these videos, but at some point, they made me think differently or want to have a conversation about the subject. From about 2006 - 2009 I watched every single original/archived TED Talk (pre-TEDx) -- those early talks were very influential in my thinking about innovation.
Games
Trivia Nights |
Board Games |
HOMER -- The Game |
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For several years, I wrote and emceed bar trivia. Once a year I still try to write and host a night for friends and family. Here are some Picture Round highlights, mostly featuring "rebus puzzle."
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Every year during the holidays, I research dozens of games, buy 5 - 10, play test them with friends and family, and then give them away as presents. Some of the games are not my personal favorites, but there are people in my life who really like them. Some of the games are among my personal favorites, but I don't have people in my life who want to play them on a regular basis. There are some games missing from this list that I think I would like a lot but haven't had time to learn (e.g., Terraforming Mars, Wingspan). There are other popular games missing from this list that just aren't for me. My personal preference used to be for long, technical strategy games. These days I play more co-op games or ones where kids and older people can all have fun. I respect that aspects like theme, artwork, piece feel, etc. matter a lot to some people -- but they do not ultimately sway my opinion of a game. I love board games, but many of my most favorite games require only pen and paper or, better yet, only enthusiastic people. I've provided public Amazon links for easy access to reviews -- not an endorsement of buying games from Amazon. |
In 2006, my goal for the year was to see video of people in a foreign country playing this game. If you're college student reading this message, if you have access to a pool table, I strongly advise you to learn to play this game. If you do so, please send me a picture. WARNING: The group of friends I play this game with have a standing group insurance policy that if something gets broken, whomever was playing has to help pay for the damage. |
"The typical 'working mathematician' is a Platonist on weekdays and a formalist on Sundays. That is, when he is doing mathematics, he is convinced that he is dealing with an objective reality whose properties he is attempting to determine. But then, when challenged to give a philosophical account of this reality, he finds it easiest to pretend that he does not believe in it after all." Rueben Hersh
“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.” ā Mahatma Gandhi