Robby

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte

Reading

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte

Robby2020-03-22T20:42:23-04:0010 March 2020|Reading|

My journey to this book was a bit unusual. Though it’s been more than a decade now, I still have vivid memories of watching Dinotopia, a TV adaptation (featuring the incomparable David Thewlis) of a book by illustrator James Gurney. I rediscovered Gurney’s work about a year ago on a YouTube binge and was hooked immediately. Gurney is widely considered the world’s preeminent dinosaur artist, using fossils and discussions with scientists to produce lifelike portrayals of dinosaurs. Seeking more information about the animals depicted by Gurney (and to pull myself out of the YouTube sinkhole), I picked up this book by Steve Brusatte to continue my exploration of dinosaurs in a [...]

Resolutions and New Directions

Thinking, Reading, Doing

Resolutions and New Directions

Robby2019-02-20T15:10:39-05:0017 February 2019|Thinking, Reading, Doing|

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here – over two years, in fact. It doesn’t feel that long. I’ve been busy, distracted, focused on other things. I didn’t do a great job of making the time for this site. In the time since I last posted, though, I’ve done a lot of other stuff: Finished a master’s degree at Cambridge and moved back to the USSpent five months in Missouri learning how to be an Army Engineer OfficerMoved to Fort Stewart, Georgia and joined the 92nd Engineer BattalionSpent a year as a Horizontal Construction Platoon LeaderExplored Savannah and went on many other adventuresDeployed to KuwaitLearned about myself, made and [...]

Paris is About Life Learning to Cherish Hope

Thinking

Paris is About Life Learning to Cherish Hope

Robby2019-02-17T17:11:25-05:0013 November 2016|Thinking|

One year ago today, on 13 November 2015, terrorists struck Paris. I was on a plane as it happened, flying from London to Vienna with friends from Cambridge for a weekend of concerts and Christmas markets. We were completely unaware of what had happened until our landing at the Vienna airport. Our wheels touched down, and a slew of text messages and emails began inundating my phone: “Where are you?” “Are you okay?” “Do you have any friends in Paris?” My first concern was for my friend Renée, a West Point classmate attending grad school at Sciences Po in Paris. She was thankfully alright and you can read her reflections [...]

Partisan Politics Seeking Moderation in a Polar Era

Thinking

Partisan Politics Seeking Moderation in a Polar Era

Robby2019-02-17T17:15:05-05:0012 August 2016|Thinking|

It probably isn't a stretch to suggest that the US is now entrenched in one of the most politically partisan periods of the past century. While we seem to have moved past the era of politically-motivated dueling and cases of Senators attacking each other on the Senate floor, things could be much better. The past decade has been defined by partisanship, and evidence suggests 2016 will continue that trend. Read the Pew Institute's long-form analysis of 21st-century partisanship here: Political Polarization in the American Public What does this mean for voters? On the surface, we see increased animosity and political vitriol - the ongoing Presidential campaigns offer no help here. Name-calling has [...]

NPR’s Best Fantasy and Sci-Fi In Flowchart Form

Reading

NPR’s Best Fantasy and Sci-Fi In Flowchart Form

Robby2020-03-22T18:24:18-04:003 May 2016|Reading|

Fantasy and science fiction have long been been my favorite literary genres. They provide an opportunity for authors to describe worlds that do not exist, to pose questions that would be odious or untenable in our society, and to explore the consequences of ideas and technologies that might never come to term in our own world. As a child, many of the worlds and technologies in science fiction inspired me to study engineering - to create the cities of tomorrow. At the suggestion of some of my friends here in Cambridge, I'm currently writing a short introductory guide to science fiction - Sci-Fi 101, if you will. Sci-fi isn't even two [...]

The Dawn of Environmentalism A Review of "Silent Spring"

Reading

The Dawn of Environmentalism A Review of "Silent Spring"

Robby2020-03-22T18:14:04-04:0015 April 2016|Reading|

It has been more than half a century since the original publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in 1962. While much has changed – agricultural technology now incorporates transgenic crop modifications, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been formed, and a wide variety of chemical pesticides and fertilizers have been banned in the US due to their established harms, to name just a few – the core substance of the book and Carson’s broader analysis and conclusions (oftentimes in the form of her warnings to future generations) are still relevant today. Humans, despite and often as a result of their wisdom, have a powerful effect on nature and global ecosystems. [...]

Status Quo

Robby2018-08-10T16:46:10-04:008 March 2016|Reading|

"I hate a Roman named Status Quo!" he said to me. "Stuff your eyes with wonder," he said, "live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. Ask no guarantees, ask for no security, there never was such an animal. And if there were, it would be related to the great sloth which hangs upside down in a tree all day every day, sleeping its life away. To hell with that," he said, "shake the tree and knock the great sloth down on his ass." Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

On Poetry The Irony of Abandonment

Reading

On Poetry The Irony of Abandonment

Robby2019-02-17T17:11:34-05:007 March 2016|Reading|

While most of my reading time is spent on novels, I always enjoy finding and reading good poetry. Poetry is a unique form of art; it distills emotions and experiences into a compact form. Poems are the most musical collections of words in our language – an amalgam of letters that fiddle with rhyme, rhythm, and meter in search of the perfect balance of sound and meaning. In late 2013, probably cleaning for some inspection at West Point, I leafed through a black leather Moleskine journal on my bookshelf. I hadn't written in the journal in almost a year... I tend to get easily distracted from one project, going off in [...]

Constant Questions, Occasional Answers

About Robby

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte

Resolutions and New Directions

Resolutions and New Directions

Paris is About Life Learning to Cherish Hope

Paris is About Life Learning to Cherish Hope

Partisan Politics Seeking Moderation in a Polar Era

Partisan Politics Seeking Moderation in a Polar Era

NPR’s Best Fantasy and Sci-Fi In Flowchart Form

NPR’s Best Fantasy and Sci-Fi In Flowchart Form

The Dawn of Environmentalism A Review of "Silent Spring"

The Dawn of Environmentalism A Review of "Silent Spring"

Status Quo

On Poetry The Irony of Abandonment

On Poetry The Irony of Abandonment