The rattlin' blog

A rare post indeed. How many times have I told myself before (and others, foolishly) that this year is when I would start writing? Any year would have been good, but 2025 stirred something in me to finally take a serious approach to writing. We’ll call it part of my quarter-life crisis, since this is the first year of my 30s.

So let’s kickoff my writing journey and my next decade with a blog.

The post in the blog

A self-introduction is as good a post as any for the first one.

I am an economist and data scientist. This year I will complete a master’s degree in economics and a program in statistics and data science. My goal is to get a job where I can apply the economic theory and statistical tools I’ve learned toward a research career. To that end, I also hope to one day do a PhD in economics or something similarly quantitative.

This blog is my little corner of the Web to discuss my interests, progress, and struggles. The site you’re reading it on is part of a bigger commitment to become a better programmer. I worry my programming skills have atrophied lately from too much recipe programming and from a lack of motivation. I built this site from scratch to rediscover my motivation and to learn some new skills along the way.

Writing code is like writing prose. I’ve always felt most of what I write is too shoddy to share, yet I know I have to keep writing regardless of quality in order to improve. So why not publish? It’s likely that no one will be reading my prose and code except me, but the more comforting perspective has been that I should write for myself. It’ll be nice to look back on these paragraphs and programs years later and see how far I’ve come.

And the blog down in the valley-o

So what’s with the title?

I’ve been fond of Irish traditional music for as long as I’ve played the violin. (That’s twenty years now!). My middle school fiddlers ensemble introduced me to jigs and reels that I still play today. I’m not Irish nor have I ever been to Ireland; I just really like the music.

I now get to share this music with my toddler son, but he’s been introduced to it by the Wiggles, of all sources. It’s been delightful to discover that the Wiggles record not just nursery rhymes but also folk music and children’s songs from different cultures. Thanks to them, one of our favorite Irish tunes is “The Rattlin’ Bog”. My son insists I sing it to him every night before he sleeps.

Little nuggets like this are inspiration for what I’d like to write about in addition to my studies and programming endeavors. I want to write about cultural interests like music, language, and travel, as well as more personal subjects like parenting and family life. Whatever the posts to come may be, there’s plenty of room in the rattlin’ blog.

Hi-ho!