I like running, even though I’m not particularly good at it. I ran the Chicago Marathon in 2012, the Copenhagen Marathon in 2013, and the New York Marathon in 2015. I hope to do some more (and my dream is to participate in the Polar Marathon, but I doubt if I will ever be able to prepare for this challenge).
For many years I have been practicing some martial arts, not very seriously (mainly as a less boring fitness drill) – about 4 years of aikido (I ended up with 4th kyu), then some 12 irregular years of karate (for many years I got stuck at 3rd kyu, I was alternating mostly gosoko-ryu and shotokan, but occasionally attended also wado-ryu and enshin dojos). Since 2012 I’ve started krav maga and I’ve been enjoying it a lot – I’m currently a certified Krav Maga Global instructor, and in 2019 I passed my black belt (Expert 1) exam. I’m also a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner, as of 2023 – a blue belt, training 4-5 times a week.
I also like poker, sailing, board games, scrabble, negotiation games (such as “Diplomacy”, “Macchiavelli”, etc.), Role Playing Games (the old-school ones, with narrating and storytelling, such as Amber Diceless, Vampire the Masquerade/Requiem, D&D, Star Wars, Legend of Five Rings, etc.). I used to read a lot of sci-fi and I still have a huge sentiment to the genre (most recently, I’ve been quite impressed with Kiln People, and The Windup Girl. I also believe that if ever Other songs get decently translated into English, it will be a sure candidate for Hugo/Nebula/whatnot awards).
Occasionally, I take photos (I currently shoot with Nikon D7000).
 This picture was used in 2014 by International Business Times to illustrate “top 10 unbelievably beautiful places to visit before you die” |
 Quora.com approached me in 2014 to use this picture of a cave in Guilin in their mobile app – sadly, they dropped out when they found I’m more after attribution than a licence fee. It is also used by Thousand Wonders website |
 This picture of Li River in China seems to be popular at tourist websites, e.g. here, or here, or here. |
 This pic from Inari gates in Japan may be oversaturated, but I still like it 🙂 |
 A fisherman feeding a bird in Mexico |
 An orthodox priest in Moscow |
 I really like this picture from Utah |
.jpg) I’m not a fan of color pick/selective coloring, but this tacky hotel in Las Vegas combined with an American flag strangely appeals to me |
.jpg) Death Valley. Just because there ain’t no grave 😉 |
Harvard Business School – a photo used e.g. by Boston Magazine |