Hi! đź‘‹
My name is Lev. I live in Emeryville and work in the tech industry. I am passionate about building teams and helping people solve complex business problems. I'm currently working at Foxglove building the observability stack for the world's largest robotics companies.
Outside of work I enjoy cooking, eating, chess, reading, writing, music, peloton, traveling, and public transit. I spend a little bit of time every day studying Chinese. I am surrounded by great friends and a wonderful family. I am traveling on a journey through space and time with Aosheng, who is a brilliant designer and my favorite person in the world.
Recent Posts
Tony
warning: may contain some spoilers, go see the movie!
I grew up watching “No Reservations” at a time when I could never have imagined being able to see the world. Anthony Bourdain took me on a journey near and far and taught me two important lessons: Try all the food at least once, and stay away from tourists traps.
For the last few years I have been reading, or rather listening to, “Kitchen Confidential” by Anthony Bourdain every year around by birthday. At this point its safe to say that this is my favorite book. It’s a book that I never get tired of. It’s like an old friendship where you hear the same stories over and over again but they always bring a smile to your face. The book stays the same but I keep changing every time I read it, I always walk away with something new. I have read it several times, but I particularly love the audiobook version since Bourdain reads it himself and his narration abilities are remarkable. It feels like sitting down with and old friend over a long meal with endless rounds of drinks. He’s able to bring life to his story in a way that no one else ever could.
2025
Looking back through the last year of photos and thinking of all the great memories has become my favorite way to spend January 1st, I highly recommend it. Here is how my life went in 2025.
Friends and Family
No one died this year and lots of my friends had babies.
Coming out to Grandma
Feeling really touched today after reading a letter that Corry Frydlewicz wrote coming out to her grandma:
https://corryfrydlewicz.com/dear-grandma/
By the time I came around to coming out to my grandpa a few year ago my grandma already had dementia and was no longer able to have a meaningful conversation with me. I have no idea why I waited so long. My grandparents were proud of me and supported me my entire life and whatever toxic fantasy I came up on my own mind about how they would react never came to pass. I told my grandpa I was happy, in love, and not going to spend my life being alone. Maybe he didn’t fully understand but he was happy for me, and he finally stopped trying to connect me with single women he knew or ask me when I was getting married.
Simply More by Cynthia Erivo
I love Cynthia Erivo. When I saw her singing “The Wizard and I” at the AMC IMAX in San Francisco last November I felt like I saw Elpheba herself for the very first time. I sat there bawling in my seat remembering the countless times I would listen to Idina Menzel on the original soundtrack sing that song. Back when I also felt like an outsider with big dreams. I told Aosheng after we saw “Wicked: For Good” a few weeks ago that Ariana Grande did a good job playing Glinda, but Cynthia Erivo is Elpheba.
Great Lakes, Illinois
I must have looked so desperate on the evening of December 11, 2006 when I asked the woman standing outside in the freezing cold at O’Hare airport for a cigarette. “Excuse me, can I please bum a smoke? I am going to boot camp today and this will be my last one for a while.”
“Here, have two” she said, handing me some Pall Malls and going back to shivering.