About James Hawkins » More Personally
I grew up in the Midwestern United States, with my earliest years spent in Kansas City, Missouri, then later the Wichita, Kansas area. Although I can’t say I’d want to move back, I enjoyed growing up there, and appreciate what a Midwestern upbringing has contributed to my mannerisms and values.
I’ve lived in Miami since 1990, originally on Brickell Key, back when downtown was a fraction of what it is today. Most of my years in South Florida were spent in Coconut Grove, living first in the north part of the Grove, then the south, and then smack in the middle of its village. Today, I’ve returned to the Brickell area, which has changed dramatically since my time here in the 90s. Back then, there were only a couple of restaurants downtown, and no real shops, with residents like me then driving to dine in Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Miami Beach, etc. Today, there must be over 100 places to dine within a comfortable walking distance, and countless shops – witness Brickell City Centre, plus increasingly convenient and useful public transportation via Miami’s Metromover and Metrorail. Love it.
A Tennis Legend in My Own Mind
I spend my free time playing tennis, reading, and (egads!) watching a bit of television. I love playing tennis, managing to play consistently one to two times a week. I manage a regular doubles group with 160 members that fields multiple courts each Saturday on Key Biscayne. I also regularly participate in the online tournaments of Tennis-Miami.com, where I managed to win one season when I was on a particularly energetic and injury-less run. I’m a solid amateur player with a game that likely gets as high as a 4.25 USTA equivalent every now and then, dipping back down to maybe as low as 3.75 after some period of not playing due to injury. I’m known for being a 6’3″ tall big wingspan menace at the net – oh how I love the net – and for getting to shots most would have given up on. On the latter, on hustling to heroically get to shots, my mind can’t seem to grasp my body’s age, thus the intermittent injury breaks that cause my quality of play to dip. What can I say? I love the game.
I finish about 20 books a year, almost exclusively non-fiction, and start another couple dozen that I elect not to finish. Some of my favorites are history books that offer a unique perspective or fresh insight, biographies about business or political leaders, books about current political or military topics, and about anything related science provided it is, at least for the most part, within my grasp. I’m particularly interested in anything that provides insight into why as people we do the things we do, i.e. books about behavioral economics, tribal tendencies, crowd psychology, and the like. Some of my favorite authors include Malcolm Gladwell, Nathaniel Philbrick, Mark Bowden, Michael Lewis, and Jonathan Haidt. You may review my list of books read on GoodReads, where you’ll notice a prevalence of these themes and authors.
I occupy virtually all of my drive time, when not on the phone, as well as time in the gym listening to podcasts, including various ones by The Economist, Lex Fridman, Sean Carroll, Radiolab, and more. You’ll note that my favorite podcasts fairly well match up with by reading preferences. My favorite podcast of all time is 13 Minutes to the Moon by the BBC. If you’ve not yet listened to it, stop what you’re doing now and start; it’s a masterpiece.
Although I know one is not supposed to admit such things publicly, I also enjoy a bit of television, with an internal timer working to keep this consumption on the moderate side. I regularly watch Fareed Zacharia and Bill Maher each week, catch some NFL during the season, and every month or two tend to happen upon some series or another to steadily work my way through. I prefer documentaries more than anything, followed by anything at least approximately true.