I'm Asa (/ˈeɪ.sə/). I have a website now!

CSS is left as an exercise for the browser.

Isometry Group

I host the Isometry Group, a Mastodon server mostly for my friends. If you want an invite link to join it, ask me or anyone else who has an account.

math

Theoretically, I'm a full-time math student researching something called "number theory", which sounds like a fake subject invented by someone who doesn't know anything about math. I'm told it is in fact real.

I like teaching math, and the different approaches different books sometimes take to the same subject. Some of my favourite math books are Topology, by James Munkres; A Book of Abstract Algebra, by Charles C. Pinter; and Algebra: Chapter 0, by Paolo Aluffi.

theatre

I'm interested in technical theatre, especially lighting technology and design. I've done lighting design at Tuesday Night Café, the McGill Savoy Society, and Home Theatre Productions, among others. I also helped found Accordion Theatre, where I recently produced its (and my) first show, in addition to doing the lighting design.

High-quality theatre lighting consoles are extremely expensive, even though the technology doesn't seem fundamentally too complicated. I once had some fun writing a basic DMX controller using a few cheap electronic components. Someday I'd like to try expanding it to be useful for theatre design.

governance

I'm also interested in organizational governance and democratic meeting procedure. I'm quite familiar with Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised—I've read the 11th and 12th editions cover-to-cover—and I've read much of the American Institute of Parliamentarians Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure. I think both are flawed but also widely misunderstood and underrated. I've also read Boards that Make a Difference, by John Carver. I really like most of it, but I'm not convinced by some details. Next on my list is Beyond Adversary Democracy, by Jane Mansbridge.

I'm especially interested in organizations with small or no paid staff, where the membership does most or all of the work, like many activist and student-run organizations. I think labour union locals are also often like this, but I have little experience with them outside my own. I'm also interested in how written rules affect an organization.

If you want to talk about how organizations work, or if you're starting or involved in an organization and want help figuring out how to structure it, let me know!