More about me

This is a page dedicated to my non-work interests. I think it’s important that we remember that research is our professional life, and having non-productive interests is good! If you see me at a conference and need a break from linguistics talk, feel free to come grab me at any point to talk about the following topics.

Coffee: To say that coffee is an interest is somewhat of an understatement. I’m deep down the rabbit hole and not looking to get out. I’m currently spoiled, as there are a number of world-class coffee roasters based out of Barcelona, so buying local is super easy and rewarding. If you are visiting Barcelona, I recommend visiting either Nomad, Right Side, Three Marks, or Hidden. If you, like me, really like good coffee and are going to find yourself in Paris, I recommend visiting Substance Cafe. You must book in advance, but the experience is truly something else.

If you ever happen to be in Poblenou visiting UPF, you could even stop by my office, where we might even have a pour-over setup and excellent beans ready to go…

Making music: Sadly, playing guitar was a casualty of graduate school for me. The time spent learning all the things I needed to learn to finish my degrees, plus my nature of being one-track-minded, left little time for playing. I’m now taking the time to get back into playing on a regular basis, which has been a lot of fun and a medium about of humbling (my fingers hurt).

Fantasy books: Reading for pleasure is something that many of my cohort lamented losing during their studies. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen to me. I read enough non-fiction at work, so fun reading is pretty much exclusively fantasy. Rothfuss and Martin are obviously great, when they get around to publishing something, and Sanderson is so prolific it makes my brain hurt. I’m also a big fan of Robin Hobb, athough sometimes I have to take a break between books, as Fitz just can’t catch a break. I recently embarked on The Wheel of Time, which has been good so far. If you have any recommendations, feel free to send them my way!

Food: I’m a few years into the process of learning how to cook. It was an awesome decision which has been pretty great for my whole family. I just dipped my toe into the world of molecular gastronomy, which has led to one excellent dessert that is now perfected as well as some truly revolting mistakes (don’t ever apply heat to Santa Claus melon).