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No. 7
Creative Writing
I occasionally compose both prose and poetry. One of my first literary projects was a draft historical novelization about American trench dogs in the Great War (which, alas, I never completed). I have submitted poems in various writing contests (such as the Gerald F. Berlin competition), including an award-winning composition ("Fossilized Sound") in the literary journal Miscellany. I also have written satirical articles for the now-defunct independent student media The Rival–CofC, as well as my own short-form satirical newspaper, The Triple Entendre.
No. 6
Boating & watersports
In 2020, I co-founded the Quinsigamond Yacht Club—an informal freshwater boating and outdoor recreation association for Lake Quinsigamond and Central Massachusetts—with some friends. The club hosts excursions on local lakes and rivers during warmer months. As a club leader (officially a "commodore"), I own and maintain various registered watercraft, including a motorized canoe and inflatable dinghy. Our club features its own insignia, including a nautical burgee. Waterside activities include swimming, rope-swinging, fishing, and picnicking. Outside of the yacht club, I also enjoy occasional waterskiing and river float trips.
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No. 5
Cooking & Grilling
I prepare various vegetarian dishes inspired by global cuisines. Some of my favorite dishes to cook are saag paneer, Thai curries, tempura vegetable and tamago futomakizushi, Vietnamese-style tofu summer rolls, garlic dan-dan noodles, Mexican-style elote, rotini with feta and sundried tomatoes, gorgonzola-pear salad, mixed vegetable pakora, homemade hummus, vegetarian borscht, jerk plantain and coleslaw tacos, and whatever other dishes catch my fancy. I prefer to make dishes from scratch using fresh ingredients; I even make my own semolina pasta on occasion.
No. 4
Calligraphy
I enjoy practicing calligraphy (especially English Roundhand) using fountain pens and India ink. I can produce traditional calligraphic forms in Latin, Cyrillic, and Greek scripts. I often use my calligraphy to create aesthetically pleasing envelopes, signature blocks on correspondence, or greeting cards.
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No. 3
Brewing & Winemaking
My first entry into home brewing was a semi-sweet sparkling perry made from a hand-pressed d'Anjou pear must. I subsequently expanded into dry and sweet ciders and pear wines. I meticulously control the brewing or vinification process with pre-sterilized food-grade fermentation vats and airlocks, hand-blended musts, premium yeast strains, hydrometric monitoring, decanting and filtration, treatment with industry-standard clarifying agents and preservatives as appropriate, curation of the flavor profile (back-sweetening, sur-lie aging, etc.), and hand-bottling and capping. I produce my homebrewed products under various labels, including Cidrerie Broda and Hesperides Orchards. At present, my small-batch products are exclusively available as gifts for friends.
No. 2
Tabletop Game Design
I created an irreverent hospital medicine–themed derivative of the popular Cards Against Humanity game (permitted under a Creative Commons license), using amusing allusions to pervasive clichés or controversial topics in medicine and medical education. In addition to the physical card game, I created a digital version compatible with the Massive Decks online platform (deck code: 8GXGK). I plan to develop more games in the future.
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No. 1
canning & Pickling
I began making canned goods in 2014, when I prepared a batch of spiced marmalade with the harvest from my small kumquat tree. My canned goods include marmalades, spicy pepper jellies, poached pears, ginger syrup, sweet pickle chips, kosher pickle spears, chile con queso, and more. I always make my canned goods with the freshest produce and spices (ideally locally sourced). I prepare my products with appropriate acidity, sterilized canning materials, and boiling-water immersion processing for optimal food safety, shelf stability, and flavor. I currently label my canned goods under the Broda's Best brand. At present, my small-batch products are exclusively available as gifts for friends.
No. 8
Liqueur Making
I began making liqueurs in 2023, leveraging my existing experience with syrup infusion, brewing, and mixology. I start by infusing a high-proof neutral spirit (typically azeotropic grain alcohol) with botanicals, flavoring agents, and colorants. I then carefully blend the infused spirits with a homemade syrup or cream base, adding emulsifiers or stabilizers as needed to create a smooth, flavorful, and shelf-stable product. I currently produce my liqueurs under the Broda Liquoristery label. At present, my small-batch products are exclusively available as gifts for friends.
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Additional Pastimes
My other diversions include alpine skiing, backpacking, hiking, reading, traveling, elaborate Halloween costumes and April Fools' jokes, coding projects, music festivals, and making memes.
To see more of what I do, follow me on social media (links in footer)
No. 12
Leech Husbandry
Okay, this isn't a hobby per se, but I do keep two pet medicinal leeches, named Galenus Avicenna Paracelsus Diocles Hirudinalis (GAPDH) and Lawyer (because they're a bloodsucker, get it?). As a medical student and history buff, I was fascinated by the crude pre-scientific treatments of Galenic medicine, especially bloodletting by leeches. Moreover, my alma mater (College of Charleston) was once home to Prof. Roy Sawyer, the foremost expert in leech biology (he wrote a definitive three-volume work on them). Thus, it was only fitting that I chose these intriguing annelids as exotic pets. As you might naturally wonder, yes—I feed the leeches on myself (they are obligate sanguivores). But they only feed once per year and live in a simple glass jar.
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No. 11
Mixology
I enjoy crafting traditional and experimental cocktails with fine ingredients and technique. I created a home bar (The Apothecarist) with an accompanying menu featuring some original cocktails. I especially enjoy making early twentieth-century drinks and tiki cocktails (my preferred spirits are rum and tequila, although I also like whiskey-based drinks).
No. 10
Baking
Baking—largely an empirical application of food chemistry—befits a chemist like myself as a pastime. I bake a variety of goods, including dessert breads, baklava, cheesecakes, tiered cakes, cupcakes, pies, and seasonal pastries. My favorite baked goods (to make, as well as to eat) are cranberry-orange bread, pistachio-rosewater baklava, apple pie, and strawberry-rhubarb pie. I occasionally bake savory goods as well, such as manakish.
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No. 9
Parodic Songwriting & recording
Throughout my education, I have produced niche informative content for my peers in amusing formats, including parodic rap tracks and music videos about chemistry and medicine under tongue-in-cheek pseudonyms. I weave themed puns and amusing technical commentary into the rhythm and phrasing of the original tracks. I record and edit the tracks in Audacity, an open-source audio editor. I also create accompanying parody album art (and occasionally entire music videos).