A Literary Portrait
Written on 05/02 at 01:37 PM by Andy Posner
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Musings
Prose
Several months ago I received a request from Helen Mou, a Brown University Junior, to sit down for an interview for a writing class she was taking. The assignment was to write a literary portrait of a person of interest. I greatly enjoyed the process of being interviewed by Helen, and I think she did a great job of capturing my personality in the portrait. I want to thank Helen for choosing me and for putting so much care and attention into this work. Read on for the full-text of what Helen wrote.
A Milestone, and a Crash
Written on 04/20 at 11:55 AM by Andy Posner 0 comments
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Cycling
A little over a month ago I went through another one of my down periods, during which I felt incapable of doing anything. For a while I was afraid that I would find it impossible to complete my thesis, and I was also very disappointed with the fact that I had once again ceased riding my bike. When I finally started feeling better, I quietly resolved to ride my bike at least an hour a day, not so that I could achieve glory in cycling, but more importantly so that I would avoid falling into periods of inactivity. Granted, I had already tried this before, with rather unimpressive results: I made it about 20 days into the goal before I started overtraining (feeling tired, having trouble sleeping, etc) and had to stop. Yet something felt different this time: I was riding, not with the aim of becoming the fittest cycling in the world, but rather with the goal of feeling fit and happy. With that positive attitude, I started riding, and I haven’t stopped since. Yesterday I completed by 30th consecutive ride, and not only have I lost some weight, but I also feel very fit, very happy and I have managed to do all this without the usual overtraining!
I was thrilled to reach this milestone yesterday, and indeed the first 35 miles of the ride were absolutely beautiful: my friend Mike and I rode a good, hard pace over country roads in Massachusetts, the weather was great, and I felt really strong. Unfortunately, as we were cruising back to where we had parked our cars (finally enjoying a tailwind) we both went down at one of the worst railroad crossing I’ve ever ridden across. Pictures and details after the jump.
A Fantastic Quote
Written on 04/07 at 02:50 PM by Andy Posner 0 comments
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Musings
I wanted to share a fantastic quote by Albert Einstein:
The efforts of most human-beings are consumed in the struggle for
their daily bread, but most of those who are, either through fortune
or some special gift, relieved of this struggle are largely absorbed
in further improving their worldly lot. Beneath the effort directed
toward the accumulation of worldly goods lies all too frequently the
illusion that this is the most substantial and desirable end to be
achieved; but there is, fortunately, a minority composed of those who
recognize early in their lives that the most beautiful and satisfying
experiences open to humankind are not derived from the outside, but
are bound up with the development of the individual’s own feeling,
thinking and acting. The genuine artists, investigators and thinkers
have always been persons of this kind. However inconspicuously the
life of these individuals runs its course, none the less the fruits of
their endeavors are the most valuable contributions which one
generation can make to its successors.
Photos of My Cervelo Race Bike!
Written on 04/06 at 12:56 PM by Andy Posner 0 comments
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Cycling
As readers of this blog must have deduced by now, I am rather obsessed with bicycles. I have gushed about my folding bike, my 29er mountain bike, the trailer for my touring bike, and the recent upgrades to my racing bike. In line with that passion that borders on obsession, several months ago I upgraded my racing bike to a new carbon fibre frame from Cervelo, a carbon fibre fork from Easton, a carbon fibre handlebar from Zipp, and a beautiful, lightweight clincher wheelset from HED. Though I got the bike in December, the rather long and cold winter here dissuaded me from doing much riding outside, and I haven’t put in serious miles on the new bike until now. I wanted to share some photos of the bike and describe its rather amazing qualities--namely, light weight, stiffness and an incredibly smooth, comfortable ride. Read on for more photos, details and thoughts on the bike.
Thoughts From Austin, Texas
Written on 02/14 at 04:48 AM by Andy Posner 0 comments
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Musings
travel
I am currently writing from a hotel room in Austin, Texas, where I am visiting for the second annual Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI-U) conference. Last year I attended with Mike, and this year I am representing the Capital Good Fund, along with two of our other core team members. On the flight out here I listened to recordings of Martin Luther King speeches, and reflected a great deal on the nature of greatness, the nature of history, and the nature of those that bend history in the direction of justice. I was amazed--and excited--to learn that from 1964 (after the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Bill) and his death in 1968, Dr. King devoted himself tirelessly not only to racial justice but also to poverty alleviation and peace. In fact, in some of his speeches and sermons, King even talks about the need for black owned financial institutions--something I find tremendously interesting as I work to create a borrower-owned, environmentally focused financial institutions.
But above all else, what stood out to me about Dr. King as I listened to his voice bellow from the past and pursue the future was the extent to which his entire mental and physical life was absorbed by the pursuit of justice. Long before he died at the hands of an assassin he had given up his life to his cause, and I began thinking about my own life, my own pursuits.
Welcome. On this blog things get a little more personal. This is where I chronicle my struggles and triumphs, my attempts to better myself and my world, my poetry, my prose, my bike rides, my travels, my day-to-day activities. If you want to know more about Andy Posner--that amalgamation of poet and monk--you’ve come to the right place. So have a look around, and enjoy the opportunity to learn what goes on inside my mind--only beware, my mind is quite a place!
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Green Microfinance: Advancing Social Equality and Environmental Sustainability in the United States
Click here to download a PDF of my complete thesis. Questions and comments are much appreciated!
My masters thesis in Environmental Studies at Brown University looks at how microfinance--the provision of small…
A Solution to the Limited Success of Micro-Credit in the United States?
Micro-credit has undoubtedly been a runaway success in developing countries as a tool of both poverty alleviation and economic development. To date, some 100 million people have been reached by micro-loans, and Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank…
Tonight, the Oneness of Things
It is late and my mind should be drifting through the colorful abyss of deep sleep, yet instead i find that tonight sleep will not come. I am like a hungry flower who dreams of bees so ardently that all…