#williamwouldhavelikedthis

He smoked, he loved clunky old things from the past like Casio digital watches, and if he'd had one of these then he would have taken great pride at whipping it out at parties to help people light their cig.

#williamwouldhavelikedthis

I sent him stupid shit like this all his life. I thought he just ignored it all. Maybe he did, but I cried when I saw his email folders had one called "From Dad" and all my stupid shit was carefully filed there.

#williamwouldhavelikedthis

We talked about how the metaphor for consciousness changed with each technological advance. He'd have laughed at this and then said "but bro, AI! All the world's a simulation, a plausible gloss, an interpretation!".

#williamwouldhavelikedthis

We could still chortle like 13 year olds.

#williamwouldhavelikedthis

He loved music of all types. His was a broad church for the music he'd listen to, and if he hadn't already listened to Stravinsky, I'm sure this would have sent him off on a Spotify jag and he'd have come back with Opinions about modernism.

#williamwouldhavelikedthis

He was struggling with math, then discovered Brilliant. It opened the world of math to him, and he filled notebooks with equations afterwards. He easily exceeded my high point of math, and I was so proud of him for it. He'd have laughed at this.

#williamwouldhavelikedthis

I used to send him silly memes and Wikipedia links about language quirks, philosophy, all sorts of strange stuff. After he died, I found a folder in his email called "Dad Stuff". ❤

#williamwouldhavelikedthis

He liked history. I think he got his interest from me -- whenever he'd encounter a word he didn't know, I'd reach for Partridge's Origins to contextualize it. I still remember the first time he went for it without asking me first. ❤️

#williamwouldhavelikedthis

He supported family and friends through their gender journeys.