While growing up in blue collar Buffalo, New York--think The Full Monty--I was often told that children should be seen and not heard.  For some reason, I continued to ask questions and explore, and the more I looked, the more interesting the world seemed to me.


I mastered the public transportation system by the age of 12, and by 13 I was taking multiple buses to get to all parts of the city, including the forbidden "west side." I was a paperboy from the age of 12 until I left for college, so I read the Buffalo News everyday front-to-back.  


I had volumes of books and 45 records, about the Presidents, which I read and listened to on a little, red Disney record player.  I was enamored with F. Scott Fitzgerald, since he lived in Buffalo as a child, and read all his books by the time I finished high school.  I especially enjoyed his short stories, because they really helped to more clearly define his characters in his novels.  I remember that during my Cornell admissions interview, which was moved to the telephone because I couldn't travel to Ithaca due to a snowstorm, I was asked what I was reading.  Well, I had The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald on my desk and rattled on for 15 minutes about how Absolution explained the main character in The Great Gatsby.  I'm sure it was my enthusiasm that got me in!


While I've continued to "explore" throughout my professional career I've increasingly become more interested in the meaning behind things, and how to understand a rapidly changing world.  This blog is my small way of doing this.  I encourage you to contribute your thoughts.  One disclaimer--I'm not a journalist, my grammar isn't perfect, and I sometimes take on provocative topics to better understand them.  


Lastly, I picked Curious Rob for my website as a homage to the Reys, and their famous chimpanzee, George.  I vividly remember walking to the local public library, just one block from my home, to read.  I would grab a dozen books, and sit at the dark wood tables and read, and read, and read, for hours.  And Curious George was my favorite!  The library was a warm, comfortable, and safe place to be a kid, dream, and be curious.  I miss those days, but so much more to learn!  



About Rob.

Quotes of the Week

"Do not follow where the path may lead.  Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail "

-Ralph Waldo Emerson