Hi, I’m Tom White and I tell stories
Thoughts to Sounds.
Sounds to Letters.
Letters to Words.
Words to Sentences.
Sentences to Paragraphs.
Paragraphs to Hopeful Cogency.
Write, Rinse, Repeat.
Who?
👋 Hey there!
My name is Tom.
During my days, I write, consult, pray, and think rigorously about my Telos.
I also pursue my passion for learning, understanding, and behavioral psychology as a (ghost)writer, advisor, editor, and investor.
After stints at Stonks, On Deck, Google, and Notre Dame, I now have a "portfolio career" writing professionally for a number of startup/F500 executives, VCs, and fund managers.
Informal Education:
Living with Tourette syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Donating my bone marrow to a stranger in Brazil
Teaching orphans at St. Aloysius Gonzaga in the Kibera neighborhood of Nairobi, Kenya
Commuting via train (LIRR), subway (A/C), and bus (M86) every day for three hours roundtrip to attend high school in NYC
Running a startup into the ground
(Still) HODLing cryptocurrencies
Unhealthily living and dying via emotional over-investment in the NY Islanders, Notre Dame, and the NY Yankees
Formal Education:
University of Notre Dame
I write a weekly email where I share the best of my creations, reflections, and pensées. Some of my most popular musings are below:
Standing Firm — A chronicle of my experience as a Tourettic ballboy at the U.S. Open
Verbal Portrait No. 1 — A specific, hyper-detailed description of reality
Tetris with Word and Phrase — An exploration of why we use words that mean nothing to attempt to convey everything
Stoicism as Salve — A short essay that brings my pandemic experience into dialogue with my liberal arts education
A Glaring Problem — A lively reflection on the outset of my time with Tourette
Verbal Portrait No. 2 — Thoughts on free prose and 9-to-5 corporatespeak
Short Story (Introduction) No. 1 — The tip of a narrative iceberg, the end of an indeterminate story’s beginning
If you like what you see and see what you like, sign up below!
What/Why?
White Noise will contain an amalgam of fictional prose and useful, nonfictional insight derived from my indiscriminate reading, listening, conversing, thinking, and real-life experiencing.
These writings represent my attempt to make sense of the content I consume and thoughts that give me pause in today’s information deluge. The act of putting pen to paper helps elucidate the what, the why, and the how of things.
I don’t kid myself thinking that any great human truth will emerge from my writings. That said, if I help another unearth some unrecognized connection, simplicity, or realization, I will consider it a small victory.
Hmms and ahhhs are good.
When?
I will write as often as I feel I have something worthwhile to share. I hope to post on a weekly cadence, however, as a devotee of Inbox Zero, I understand the value of your time and your email real estate. I will not waste either.
How?
“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
—Ernest Hemingway (supposedly)