Brian Belen
@brianbelen.bsky.social
President of First Asia Venture Capital and Chief Brain at Brain Drain (my blog). | AB/MA University of Asia and the Pacific | MA/PhD Fordham University. Helicopter pilot.
New on Brain Drain: Football Cliches brianbelen.blogspot.com/2025/11/foot...
Football Cliches
Cliches abound in sport, perhaps for the simple reason that both spectators and players alike necessarily gravitate towards a common way of ...
brianbelen.blogspot.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:26 AM
New on Brain Drain: Football Cliches brianbelen.blogspot.com/2025/11/foot...
Nine hours into Lumines Arise and I am totally locked in.
(GG, egmcary.)
(GG, egmcary.)
November 15, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Nine hours into Lumines Arise and I am totally locked in.
(GG, egmcary.)
(GG, egmcary.)
New on Brain Drain: Understanding Comics brianbelen.blogspot.com/2025/11/unde...
Understanding Comics
Scott McCloud published Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art in 1992, and I’ve been hunting down a copy for myself almost ever since. ...
brianbelen.blogspot.com
November 10, 2025 at 5:02 AM
New on Brain Drain: Understanding Comics brianbelen.blogspot.com/2025/11/unde...
Slow today but was breaking in a new pair of shoes.
(Felt it was a comfortable pace. As for the shoes…will need another go to decide.)
(Felt it was a comfortable pace. As for the shoes…will need another go to decide.)
November 7, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Slow today but was breaking in a new pair of shoes.
(Felt it was a comfortable pace. As for the shoes…will need another go to decide.)
(Felt it was a comfortable pace. As for the shoes…will need another go to decide.)
New on Brain Drain: -ism brianbelen.blogspot.com/2025/11/ism....
-ism
Capitalism will not save the world. Democracy won’t either. Neither will their opposites nor adjacents (communism, socialism, authorita...
brianbelen.blogspot.com
November 3, 2025 at 1:55 PM
New on Brain Drain: -ism brianbelen.blogspot.com/2025/11/ism....
Yesterday, a bunch of us got to talking about how much harder it is to keep running as you age.
So naturally I went for a run this morning.
(Confirmed: it’s every bit as hard as I remember!)
So naturally I went for a run this morning.
(Confirmed: it’s every bit as hard as I remember!)
October 29, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Yesterday, a bunch of us got to talking about how much harder it is to keep running as you age.
So naturally I went for a run this morning.
(Confirmed: it’s every bit as hard as I remember!)
So naturally I went for a run this morning.
(Confirmed: it’s every bit as hard as I remember!)
New on Brain Drain: Life After Cars brianbelen.blogspot.com/2025/10/life...
Life After Cars
It should be obvious that people who do advocacy work tend to be a passionate bunch, yet this fact frequently surprises me. It always catch...
brianbelen.blogspot.com
October 20, 2025 at 12:52 PM
New on Brain Drain: Life After Cars brianbelen.blogspot.com/2025/10/life...
New on Brain Drain: Useless Etymology brianbelen.blogspot.com/2025/10/usel...
Useless Etymology
"Is etymology really useless?" author Jess Zafarris writes in her book Useless Etymology: Offbeat Origins For Curious Minds. "Of course no...
brianbelen.blogspot.com
October 13, 2025 at 9:56 PM
New on Brain Drain: Useless Etymology brianbelen.blogspot.com/2025/10/usel...
The hero of the story is almost always caffeine.
October 8, 2025 at 2:14 PM
The hero of the story is almost always caffeine.
New on Brain Drain: The Art of Spending Money The Art of Spending Money brianbelen.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...
The Art of Spending Money
When I look back on my life, it's not entirely clear how I learned about money and personal finance. Not that I have any particular insigh...
brianbelen.blogspot.com
October 6, 2025 at 9:53 AM
New on Brain Drain: The Art of Spending Money The Art of Spending Money brianbelen.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...
Kids and I spent the afternoon assembling an Up-Scaled LEGO Minifigure.
If it’s “up-scaled” does that still make it a Minifigure?
If it’s “up-scaled” does that still make it a Minifigure?
October 5, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Kids and I spent the afternoon assembling an Up-Scaled LEGO Minifigure.
If it’s “up-scaled” does that still make it a Minifigure?
If it’s “up-scaled” does that still make it a Minifigure?
Renewed my pilot’s license yesterday. So I guess I get to look forward to five more years of building up hours.
September 30, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Renewed my pilot’s license yesterday. So I guess I get to look forward to five more years of building up hours.
New on Brain Drain: Be brianbelen.blogspot.com/2025/09/be.h...
Be
Reasonable. Kind. Generous. Fair. Brave. Happy. Healthy. Wise. The reason people smile in the morning. The change you w...
brianbelen.blogspot.com
September 29, 2025 at 3:31 PM
New on Brain Drain: Be brianbelen.blogspot.com/2025/09/be.h...
It’s been a while but I swear I know how to do this.
September 29, 2025 at 1:27 AM
It’s been a while but I swear I know how to do this.
New on Brain Drain: Upgrading, or Downgrading, a Smartwatch brianbelen.blogspot.com/2025/09/smar...
Upgrading, or Downgrading, a Smartwatch
I. During my last trip to the United States , I decided that I’d take the opportunity to get a replacement for my Apple Watch. At least ...
brianbelen.blogspot.com
September 22, 2025 at 1:30 PM
New on Brain Drain: Upgrading, or Downgrading, a Smartwatch brianbelen.blogspot.com/2025/09/smar...
My daughter pointed out a very clear rainbow while I was taking her to school this morning.
Not a bad start to the day!
Not a bad start to the day!
September 16, 2025 at 10:01 AM
My daughter pointed out a very clear rainbow while I was taking her to school this morning.
Not a bad start to the day!
Not a bad start to the day!
New on Brain Drain: It Gets Worse brianbelen.blogspot.com/2025/09/it-g...
It Gets Worse
The moment you are born is also the moment you begin to die. You will spend many years of your life in school learning things that you wil...
brianbelen.blogspot.com
September 15, 2025 at 12:00 PM
New on Brain Drain: It Gets Worse brianbelen.blogspot.com/2025/09/it-g...
Take that, blood pressure!
September 12, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Take that, blood pressure!
New on Brain Drain: Hoa brianbelen.blogspot.com/2025/09/hoa....
Hoa
As should be evident by now , finding video games I would be comfortable for my kids to play has become a minor preoccupation of min...
brianbelen.blogspot.com
September 8, 2025 at 11:18 AM
New on Brain Drain: Hoa brianbelen.blogspot.com/2025/09/hoa....