Yesterday I went to New York City to club with a friend at Knockdown Center in Brooklyn. It was Valentine’s Day. We started the night by going to a local gay bar to enjoy some espresso martinis and take in the bar’s atmosphere. We met a young professional who had recently moved to New York from Washington D.C. and was exploring the nightclub scene in Hell’s Kitchen. As the night progressed, my friend and I headed into Brooklyn. Once at the club, we met new people in the dance floor, including a marine officer and a Yalie —the dance floor attracts the highly accomplished. I was energized from the few espresso martinis we had in Hell’s Kitchen and the Red Bull I was holding with my hand. I wondered if having too much caffeine was a wise decision.

As the night progressed, the venue got crowded. Very crowded. It was almost impossible to move around in the dance floor. The main room felt like a giant container of sardines. At some point my friend left, and I was still in. I was dancing near the D.J. booth and was eyeing someone I had a crush on, someone I had expressed interest for quite some time now. He was with his friend group. I thought it would be difficult to break in a clique —a feature of the New York City gay club culture. Then I remembered the lesson that I have learned from a friend I met at the dance floor in D.C. a few weeks ago. He taught me in the way he expressed his energy and how he interacted with people the following: as long as you feed into your own corporeal energy and are enjoying yourself, the attractive people are going to come after you. You don’t have to chase them. So I danced for myself, forgetting that judgmental self-consciousness that sabotages everything. I remembered the lesson that one of the lead dancers of Bob’s Dance Shop taught in a Flash Bob in Central Park the summer before: you need to believe your own delusion. The confident and ridiculous are sources of strength. At some point we made eye contact and read each other’s energy. We hit it off. It was pure bliss.

A quote I’m pondering today from the East-European dissident Václav Havel:

Life rebels against all uniformity and leveling; its aim is not sameness, but variety, the restlessness of transcendence, the adventure of novelty and rebellion against the status quo.

This characterization about life (variety, adventure, spontaneity), in contrast to death (uniformity, discipline, sameness), is related to the “erotic” of Esther Perel in Mating in Captivity and the “quality without a name” of Christopher Alexander in A Pattern Language. Perel says that the erotic is the antidote to death. Alexander proclaims that the “quality without a name” manifests in the flourishing of chaos within rigid structures.

Both Perel’s “erotic” and Alexander’s “quality without a name” share a rebelious and subversive character, apparent qualities of that which is alive. To be alive is to be free. And to be free is to be alive.

Today I had a 6-month dental appointment early in the morning before work. The dentist hygienist was very happy with my teeth. At the end, she applied a poultice of pumice on my teeth, and I learned that pumice is used as a micro-abrasive that effectively removes plaque. I shared with her my research on the role of pumice as aggregate in acoustic tiles. I showed her some photomicrographs of pumice rock as thin sections under the microscope, explaining the geology of pumice, its mineralogical closeness to obsidian, and how the flow of lava was visible in the direction of the vesicles. She could see how the angularity and the overall morphology of pumice grains made it an effective material in cleaning teeth. I talked to her all these curiosities about pumice, and she seemed impressed about the depth of knowledge I had about a seemingly boring rock. She wondered if I studied elsewhere besides Penn. It seemed to have brightened her day.

I came to realize that you can develop a depth of knowledge in any subject if you just keep feeding your curiosity, regardless of what people may think. That curiosity cannot be manufactured –it can only come from within, and one must nourish it as it presents itself.

Last night’s Super Bowl halftime show by Bad Bunny delivered a powerful message about humanity that resonated across borders. For about 13 minutes, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, the now internationally acclaimed rapper and singer from Puerto Rico, delivered a set that was dense in simple statements about humanity that should not be controversial.

Who could be against love? The phrase, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love,” was broadcasted in a huge billboard at the Levi’s Stadium. A real-life wedding was officiated. “Mientras uno esta vivo, uno debe amar lo mas que pueda”.” Nuptials followed a surprise appearance by Lady Gaga singing a bachata-style version of Die with Smile, a song that celebrates love and caring for each other in the face of the brevity of life.

Who could be against joy? A 2024 NIH study revealed that dancing is the most effective exercise for reducing depression. Latin-American dancing styles are very rich in sensual movements. Moving the body with other bodies is a form of communication that recognizes each other’s humanity. Yo perreo sin miedo. Using your body to perrear is an act of defiance against assimilation imposed by high brow culture. Perrear helps you recognize your body and the body of others. In doing so, you are celebrating joyous subversion in a corporeal way.

Who could be against healing? Benito never forgot his roots. He made them his strength. “Si estoy en el Super Bowl LX, es porque nunca dejé de creer en mí. Tu también deberías de creer en tí. Vales más de lo que piensas, créeme.” (If I am here at the Super Bowl LX, it is because I never stopped believing in myself. You should also believe in yourself. You are worth more than you think). In a moving act, Benito gave away his Gramophone trophy to a child, a symbolic gesture of healing by nurturing your inner child.

Who could be against culture? A very interesting detail of the study of Latino culture was the inclusion of a kid pulling 3 chairs together for a makeshift naptime bed, something every Latino remembers doing as a kid during family weddings and Quinceaneras.

Who could be against freedom? There was a history lesson in the subtext of costumes, the selection of songs, and the choreography. Bad Bunny’s performance spoke to the discomforting events in the history of the United States and Puerto Rico. The sugarcane plantations remind us of the international networks of slavery that enabled an extractive economy. Ricky Martin’s “Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii” (What Happened to Hawaii?) was really about gentrification and the colonialist history of Hawaii and Puerto Rico. The utility poles recalled El Apagón, an island-wide outage in Puerto Rico that followed the 2019 hurricane. It reminds us that climate change is impacting developing countries far more than rich countries.

Who could be against universal truths? America is a continent. Benito promoted the patriotism of every country of the Americas. At the end of the set, his “God Bless America” followed naming all the countries of the Americas. He cleverly listed them in an inverted way, from south to north. In doing so, he challenged a worldview that legitimizes a form of colonialism of the mind: the southern hemisphere is unfairly positioned at the bottom –promoting an arbitrary, Eurocentric representation of the world.

From the perspective of the Universe, where there is no up and down, left or right, we are all floating in a tiny blue dot amidst a vast sea of darkness. Who could disagree with these simple statements about us?

Workplace politics is an inevitable bug. You can choose to ignore it, and you will either be used as a pawn or seen as a lonely weirdo who does not speak up. Power structures are very real, and a lot of perceived animosity is fueled by two people believing each holds the higher moral ground. Enmity often borns out of misunderstandings and poor introspection.

Learning how to navigate the political landscape effectively is an important skill that, alongside house chores and personal finances, are not taught in school. A good heuristic to follow is this: criticize in private, praise in public. Raise concerns directly to the people you have a concern about behind closed doors, and genuinely celebrate and help them grow in public. Avoid gossip at all costs. If you find yourself listening to a friend vent, you can always just offer a good ear (that is all they need). Make sure what you say in private is aligned to what you say in public. Stand up for what you believe in, and make clear you are willing to take risks for people you care about, your beliefs and your principles. A person with that kind of backbone will eventually earn the trust of those who are worth trusting, and they will create a community, a safety net around them when things go haywire.

Above all, enjoy yourself. Don’t take yourself too seriously and enjoy some ice-cream.

Today I went to a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new academic building across my workplace with two colleagues. I had some unexpected interactions with other colleagues and friends. There is so much that is communicated with our bodies in a physical setting that helps practice compassion for others. In the presence of other bodies you recognize their humanity. And in recognizing them, you recognize yourself inhabiting your own body. That connection is lost in the screens. No wonder vitriol fuels the digital sewers of social media, but rarely does so in the real world.

Somewhere sometime ago I heard someone saying “the best way to succeed is to help others succeed.” I believe it is attributed to the organizational psychologist Adam Grant. There is so much truth in that statement. I derive so much joy finding opportunities for others, whether it is writing a letter of recommendation, researching fellowships for a newsletter, or dreaming together with a friend . When you enrich the life of people around you, you are enriching your own spirit. This in turn makes you a warmer and lighthearted person to be around, which in turn opens you doors to new opportunities. It becomes a virtuous cycle. It is Newton’s third law of motion, “you get back what you put in.”

Today I spent a good portion of my afternoon enjoying coffee and lunch with the company of a dear friend at a fireplace in a restaurant. I have been craving that spot for a while now, and felt so energized after spending hours catching up on each other’s lives. There is something quite refreshing and replenishing both spiritually and physically just enjoying the company of another human being. The fireplace itself was key. It created a protective atmosphere of trust, warmth, and relaxation that cannot be delivered at a bar or a table. At the end I felt a high that usually comes from drinking at a bar with friends, but this was purely good company under the auspices of caffeine and the warmth of the flames.

Friends, a fireplace, and good conversation, the recipe for a well spent weekend.

When asked about how does one become an accomplished historian, Prof. Timothy Snyder said in a podcast that if you are going to be in academia, 1: you better go international; 2: it is a good idea to always be thinking about being good at something else besides your academic role; 3: getting along with multiple types of people is critical. Perhaps his most important piece of advice, though, was when he revealed he always had women bosses. Now that is some insightful career advice.

There are a few reassuring things than a warm handshake with your swim mayes after finishing a long and brutal workout. The eye contact communicates reassurance, a honest camaraderie, and a good teammate. We may all be in our own minds while enduring strenous laps, but in the end, we went through it together.