The story starts in Ann Arbor, Michigan. My only memories of my birthplace are images of pure white. I lived there for a few short years, and then moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. I grew up in suburbia.
Many years after my arrival, my Michigan roots emerged as I learned to play Ice Hockey. I did participate in the usual California sports: Football for a season,
four years of Track, Tennis lessons, and Little League Baseball. But I really enjoyed Ice Hockey and still play to this day.
When it came time to choose where to go to college, I wanted to try something completely new: East Coast, snow, and independence. So I packed up and moved all
the way across the country to go to school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). I studied computer science and engineering at MIT.
During the first semester at MIT, I felt overwhelmed and even thought briefly about dropping out. But it was a new environment, homesick, new friends, and luckily,
freshman year at MIT is pass/fail. So I decided to stick it out. I was never really challenged before MIT, so MIT pushed me harder than I was ever pushed. I learned a lot
about myself and my limits.
I have two brothers, both of whom are married. My older brother has a son and daughter. My niece and nephew are the highlights of my life. They were a big reason that I moved from
Boston back to San Francisco. I really wanted to watch them grow up. It's amazing to watch them learn and interact with the world. One of the great things about them is that I get many of the benefits of
having kids, without a lot of the troubles. There are (or will be) plenty of pictures of them in the photos section.
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My first year of Ice Hockey, 1980 |
