I like to take pictures, especially historic architecture such as old villages in China, and cities at night. On my separate photography page, you can see my favorites organized by location and theme. I have also been spending time in Wuhan. You are also welcome to follow my Instagram feed.
I also like to read mystery novels. Lately my favorite authors have been Karen Fossum, Arnaldur Indriðason, Denise Mina, Qiu Xiaolong and Leif G. W. Persson. I also like the Sueño and Bascom novels by Martin Limón. I have been a longtime fan of the Bernie Gunther novels by Philip Kerr. Aside from mysteries, I like Thomas Pynchon novels and now have read all of them. My own favorite is Against The Day. I also like reading biographies of major American political figures.
As for music, I like listening to jazz, late nineteenth and early twentieth century classical, and alternative and electronic music. For jazz, I especially like piano trios. My favorites right now are the Brad Mehldau Trio, Bill Charlap’s trios, Jason Moran Trio, Vijay Iyer Trio, the Keith Jarrett Standards Trio, the Bad Plus, and the Fred Hirsch Trio.
For classical, I like late 19th century and early and mid-20th century composers, including Fauré, Satie, Bridge, Scott, Shostakovitch and their contemporaries. I especially like piano quintets.
For alternative and electronic music, I like Caribou, Four Tet, Skyphone, Christopher Willits, Deepchord, Recondite, Taylor Deupree, loscil, The Field, Monolake and Robert Henke’s other projects. I buy a great deal of music, probably more than I should, at Bandcamp, and I invite you to check out my profile there .
My sister is an artist. Her web page showcases her work, which focuses on minimalist representations of cats and other animals. This is a portrait she did of me.