You always remember your first...

I have a tendency to enjoy the process of optimization more than some might feel is optimal, though this of course begs various chicken-or-the-egg question of how to optimize for optimality. In particular, I am of course boundedly rational -- that is, my behavior, like everyone else's, violates the axioms associated with the traditional economic model, in that it is costly for me to engage in picking and choosing different colors of wall paint, researching this or that mortgage, etc. I may often prefer to go with a default restaurant, rather than dither indecisively about the many appealing options available to me as a Manhattanite. Nonetheless, I derive significant utility from the very process of optimization to the extreme, or even discussing the multi-layered nuances of everyday decisions -- a tendency that I have to remind myself to keep in check all too often.

I'm mostly interested in posting uncommon advice on commonly encountered problems, what should be commonplace advice for uncommon problems, overly detailed musings on everyday phenomena, and debunking common wisdom when appropriate. In short, I plan to blog on whatever I feel like, as long as it stays within rough bounds of relevance, and I can envision at least someone out there enjoying some of what I write.