Beyond Research
Hobbies
I am now closer to 30 than to 20, which, as far as I can tell, is the ideal age to start two new sporting careers at once.
I have reinvented myself as an occasional, low-level surfer and a padel player with a decent smash and a certain elegance at the net.
Surfing
Occasional and unmistakably low-level. The ocean and I have a deal: it lets me try and have fun, I let it win.
Padel
A decent smash, and an elegant way of moving at the net that I stole from tennis. Still figuring out how to use the walls.
Football, past tense
Former attacking midfielder. Without all those ankle and knee injuries I would have… still not made it.
I grew up on Aerosmith and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, played loud with my dad in his old Toyota Avensis. Somewhere around high school rock quietly gave way to RnB and Hip Hop, and it never really moved back. My favourite album is probably Take Care by Drake (honourable mentions to Nonostante Tutto by Gemitaiz - a skipless record and by far my favourite Italian album; Views by Drake - the soundtrack of my life across all seasons; Get Rich or Die Trying - the first album that comes to mind when I hear the word 'hip hop'; the 'College' trilogy by Kanye West - to boost my self-esteem; and Rated-R by Rihanna - one of the best pop albums of the 2000s).
I spent high school reading Murakami and picturing Japan. In 2024 I got the opportunity to live in Tokyo for four months as a visiting researcher at NII, and the city is even better than the one I had imagined through Murakami's lens.
