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 | Microsoft's Building 36, taken from the air. Redmond, WA March 11, 2006 |
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« July 2005 | Main | September 2005 » August 31, 2005One. Hundred. Miles.Tonight's the end of the month (remember, folks: rent's due), and I'm proud to say that I capped a pretty intense, crazy four+ weeks with an amazing run at Greenlake. Richard and I got out at 7:30, right as the weather was downshifting from 70-some degrees into cooler (saner) temperatures. So I went three times 'round, and it was wonderful. It also pushed me to a total of 100 miles for the month. One of the weird byproducts of marathon training (or, I suppose, any stretch goal) is that you start by climbing small mountains, and then progress on to larger ones. If I'd thought - seriously thought - about what kind of crazy wackjob would get out and actually put 528,000 feet on their tennis shoes in 30 days, I'd never have joined the club. But here we are, and here I am, and I'm amazed. Clearly, it wasn't as far as I'd originally planned. Hal called for 124 this month, and I chose to kick back on my vacation, chill with family and drink beer. Honestly, that's OK (the beer was good, and the company was better) with me. But still. 100 miles! I'll also say this: I'm astounded, at some level, that I can just walk out my front door and run for 73 minutes. In fact, it goes beyond that ... I found the run energizing, and not tiring; I'll undoubtedly be up until midnight. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 31, 2005 10:13 PM. August 28, 2005On Being A Storm FanSo at one point during the game yesterday, Jeff leaned over to me and asked, "So what got you in to this stuff, anyhow?" I get asked this question a lot, so I thought it was high time I wrote about my introduction to, and continuing enthusiasm for, the WNBA. It goes like this. Back in July of 2003, I tried to get my friend John Kaufmann to go see "The Matrix Reloaded I have a friend here from out of town, and I tried to talk him into some Matrix action tomorrow, but we're going to the Storm game instead (I've never seen a womens pro game, and I must confess I'm excited). As it happens, John enjoyed the game. In fact, he liked it so much that he sent me an e-mail on the 23rd to invite me to go to one with him: As for the Storm, August 6th pits them against their rivals in LA. That would be a great game to see. What do you think. Despite my misgivings, I agreed to go. Misgivings, you say? Yes. Most boys from the 'burbs grow up with sports, endlessly quoting players, teams, stats, and matchups, playing in "fantasy" leagues and whatnot. For me, as a young, sedentary geek amid all this sporting nonsense, a sports fascination seemed bizarre - like everyone around you being normal 95% of the time, but dropping into conversational Polish, say, when confronted with others of their tribe. It makes one feel like an outsider, to say the least. By the time I was 14, I had long since come to believe that the Sports Gene, or whatever the Human Genome people wind up naming it ("Sporticus Genus"?), was something I was lacking. Indeed, I'd decided that the space normally used in the Guy Brain for sports trivia was entirely occupied by computer stuff. Where most of my friends were happy to talk about the Mariners or the Seahawks, I was all about the C64 vs. the Apple II vs. the TRS-80 (go, Commodore!). I did attend Mariners games in the Kingdome, and, later, Safeco Field, but I just didn't see what all the fuss was about. So when John invited me to the game - this is women's basketball, mind you, which, last time I checked, was the least "macho guy" sport one might attend, save, perhaps, competitive crochet - I went primarily for his company (plus, John gets enthusiastic about stuff, and it makes you want to check it out). I didn't expect much from the game, really; I knew squat about basketball (I mean, I knew you had a ball, and you needed to put in the opposing basket, but that's still squat). But the prospect of spending two or so hours with John is a unique thing, and one worth treasuring. So I ponied up the $8 for the ticket, and off we went. I remember that first half of the game pretty well, mostly because it was so surreal. The fans were doing their strange rituals (standing and sitting on cue, booing at calls, and so on). The graphics on the Arenavision weren't too helpful, and I found a lot of the game mystifying - who fouled? what did that mean? why are people cheering? - but at some point, Sue got the ball, and ran with it, and lobbed it, and it went in. And I found myself on my feet, cheering and hollering, arms in the air, feeling excited and alive at having witnessed something that was, without question, just cool. I was hooked. Still sports-clueless, but hooked. There were only a couple of games left in the 2003 season, and I saw one more before calling it a year. But as the 2004 season approached, I started to get excited, and began making plans to go to games. My friends were skeptical ("Seattle has a women's basketball team?"), but I twisted a few arms and suddenly, surprisingly, wound up attending about half the home games for the year, usually with a different group of people. I found myself following the team in the newspaper (I'd habitually tossed the sports section for most of my life, so that was kinda new) and on the Internet. And then we started winning. And kept winning. And made the playoffs. And won some more. And, ultimately, brought home the first championship to Seattle in 25 years. All told, 2004 was an excellent year to get your Storm groove on. But why do I like this game? What makes the Storm special? This is a hard question. Marnie and I have had little conversations about "why we like" certain teams or sports (she's an M's fan, and a killer baseball player in her own right). Heck, Nick Hornby's first novel, "Fever Pitch For me, though, there's no one, single answer. I think the most honest thing is to say that I like the Storm because I like the Storm - there's some irreducible quality, there, that's not really pull-apart-able; even if you could isolate some aspect of the appeal, you'd only be talking about 10% or 20% of what's really there ... which is sort of like saying that you like the Mona Lisa because it's got blue in it. I like that the sport is a different style of basketball than the NBA. There's more passing, more collaboration, more team plays. WNBA has its star players, of course, but they don't hog the ball or the spotlight. I like that the players seem genuinely thrilled to be playing basketball - they love the sport, not the spectacle, and they love their fans. I like that WNBA is an underground, growing thing, gaining respect and converting fans through sheer will and determination. The league has been around nearly a decade, but ink spilled about the Storm is perpetually buried on Page 2 of the sports section. (Which is changing, and not a moment too soon for me.) But mostly, I like the fans. I like their energy, their positive vibe, their welcoming of anyone (and everyone) who wants to come and watch this team play. We've all been to sporting events where drunk boors shout obscenities and epithets at the players; those people don't come to WNBA games. Who does come? Families, young couples, 15-year-old girls who play high school ball, older folks. It's exciting, and novel, for me to see sports through the same lens that I've always seen music. I love New Order, right? But maybe not their latest album, or even that one track that everyone else loves, and that's OK. So, working with that analogy a bit, getting myself down to Key Arena for 20-some home games a year is kinda like seeing my favorite band play a string of local shows. Each one is different, each one is worthwhile. Even when they lose. Hey, it's the hottest ticket in town, if you ask me. And, if you're reading this Web site, well, you're asking. We're in the playoffs again. So try it. There'll be 17,000 people in Key Arena, and the games'll be awesome. Chances are good that you'll like it. And in the meantime, at least you know who Lauren, Sue and Betty are. Hell, you can impress your friends with your sports knowledge ("Seattle has a women's basketball team?") when you see them on Page 2 of the sports section. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 28, 2005 5:06 PM. The Art Of The AirbrushFollowing my post about Neil Gaiman, my good friend Rich Barrett e-mailed me to let me know that Gaiman has an active blog. I promptly put it in my RSS reader, and have been a regular reader ever since. Well, this morning I saw that Neil'd had posted about Glen Feron's "Art Of Retouching" site: [My daughters] would click on individual photographs, and mouse on them to see the original photo, mouse off to look at the photoshopped version that appeared in the advert or the magazine, and watch as human beings, with all the saggy bits that human beings have, would reshape or change into vessels of pure desire. It's pretty amazing. You'll never trust a picture again, ever. And if you're one of those gym-rat types who does 2,000 crunches a day to look like Brad Pitt ... well, you might want to see that even the super-beautiful have cellulite and back fat (pre-Photoshop, that is). So eat that donut. Life is short. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 28, 2005 2:18 PM. Way To Go, Elaine!Oh, and a big shout out to my friend Elaine, who has landed a rockin' position at Success Factors down in California. Way to go, E! They're lucky to have you. (But you know that...) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 28, 2005 1:47 PM. Sixteeen!I am pooped. Richard and I went out for a 16-mile run this morning, heading down Capitol Hill to Eastlake, then across the University Bridge, over to Wallingford, up to (and around) Greenlake, then south to Gasworks, and, finally, east along the Burke-Gilman to that overpass off Sand Point. We then turned around, and (finally) ended at the Jamba Juice at the University Village. After 16 miles, lemme tell ya: Jamba Juice never looked so good. (You can see a map of the route if you're so inclined; it's the same one I'd intended to do back on the 20th.) The final tally, according to Richard's GPS, was 16.08 miles, and about three hours. We didn't move fast, but we did it. This is now my personal-best distance record, too. It's great to be back in the saddle with the running. Taking a week off when I was lounging in Spokane threw a big 'ol wrench in my training, and I've had a hard go of it since coming back. So to be able to get out and do 2/3 of my marathon distance (and feeling, honestly, pretty good at the end) is a huge deal for me. Now that I've showered (the pipes are gonna corrode from all the salt, I know it), the rest of my day consists of curling up on my couch with "Freakonomics I'm gonna be soooooooooore tomorrow... Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 28, 2005 1:45 PM. August 27, 2005Running On Campus
There's a lot of talk in the business press (and in business schools) about "work-life balance" (business-speak for "you can go home at the end of the day and not feel guilty about it"), but many firms have a disconnect between their HR brochure and their day-to-day management practices. Tech firms are generally the worst about this, too - they suck you in and tell you that you need to be "balanced" in your professional pursuits, but what they really mean is, "you can work any 80 hours a week you like." Microsoft is not one of those companies. Indeed, last summer, I was very impressed by a talk Jeff Raikes gave to the MBA interns. In it, he exhorted us to maintain a good connection to our bodies, our families, our friends and our communities. He believes (as I do) that the one-dimensional, work-all-the-time routine is pure short-term thinking, and carries terrible long-term consequences. Selfishly, then, Microsoft wants you to stay balanced so you can produce for them over the long haul. All of this is a long-winded way of saying that I packed a gym bag on Wednesday, and, around 1, went down to the men's locker/shower in building 36, strapped on my iPod shuffle, laced my New Balance and did a few laps on some of the running trails (the photo above is a map of the trails around my building.) It was cool. I saw about a dozen other folks running, and a few dozen more on the soccer/softball fields, screwing around. My run wasn't long (only a few miles), but at least I got out, got a look at the paths, and got comfortable knowing that I have the option to burn off some energy during the day without going to the Pro Club and doing the hamster routine on a treadmill. There are defined 1-, 2.5-, and 3.5-km routes; there's also the option of running a bit to the East, hitting Marymoor park, and then sliding on to the Sammamish River Trail. Slick, huh? Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 27, 2005 9:23 PM. Storm 85, Mercury 74This afternoon, the Storm matched their franchise-high record (20-14) by handily beating the Phoenix Mercury, 85-41, at Key Arena. It was glorious. A lot of the bench got game time tonight; Anne pulled Lauren about five minutes into the second half, and didn't send her back out for the balance of play. Phoenix needed the win (they're now out of the playoffs), but we were pretty much bulletproof; as such, I think the strategy was to let some of our folks get out there and see what they could do. Sue and Betty both made strong contributions, but the night belonged to Tanisha, Izzy and Suzy. The Storm have momentum, and the fans know it. We had a lower-bowl sellout tonight, and there were a good thousand or so in the upper section of the Key. I was joined at the game by Jeff and his wife, Debra, along with their two (adorable) kids. Frankly, I think the kids were more taken with the International Fountain (we hung out there post-victory) than they were with the game - especially Gillian. So The playoffs await us, starting next Thursday at 7 PM. Let's remember what happened last year, shall we? Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 27, 2005 8:12 PM. Zero To Sixty In 5.8 SecondsCintra wrote me yesterday: How's the job? I read your blog, but the updates haven't been totally current (SLACKER). Yeah, I've been bad about blogging this week. And for that, I apologize. But I have a good excuse: I've been exhausted. It's been a while (like, at least six months) since I had to work consecutive, long hours for several days in a row. Spring quarter was a two-days-a-week thing, and, of course, I had my summer off. So getting back in the groove of being up at 6, out the door at 6:45, and at my desk around 7:30 is harder than I'd imagined. Pair that with the fact that Microsoft - especially Planning - is place where you have to use your brain 24/7, and you get that nice mental/physical fatigue 'round 6 or 6:30 at night. (I swear, I think I drooled on myself on the bus home last Wednesday.) So blogging, while it's something I'm always wanting to do, is not something that I've had the time to do during my work day. And when I get home, of course, I'm shredded enough that all I could blog would be the phrase "I am a fish" over and over, about 500 times. But the $100,000,000 question (at least, if you judge by the number of inquiries in my inbox) is ... "what's it like to be back?" Well, the word that comes to mind is surreal. I started Monday, right? And that day was spent in orientation. I had more orientation on Tuesday, and then got back to my office 'round noon. So I've only had about 3.5 days of "work" time with the other Planners. During that period, I've had to get my various bits and pieces of new-employee stuff handled (e.g., enrolling in the 401k program, ordering office supplies, setting up my desktop and Tablet PCs, meeting with my lead, and whatnot), while also getting the 411 on my project. It's all happening at an un-bee-lievable clip. And yet, it all feels shockingly normal. The team is the same, the building is the same, the people are the same, the work is the same - heck, I'm even sharing an office with Bo again. The ... continuity ... of all this stuff adds together to make me feel, in no small part, like I never actually left. Year 2 @ the UW is, instantly, reduced to some dreamlike state. But I'm in love with it, too, and that helps. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 27, 2005 12:13 PM. August 25, 2005Home Court Advantage
True to their word, Marnie and Gary joined me for the game (that's them in the photo, above, joined by fellow UW'er Mike Allen on the far left), and, candidly, I'd been worried. Sacramento's got an incredible record this year, and we lost to them by a good 10 points last Saturday. But last Saturday, we played in Arco Arena. Tonight was in the Key. There's something special about watching the team at Key Arena. The fans give off a certain energy, a vibe; the team feels it, responds to it, and plays outstanding ball. Tonight, for example, marked our eighth consecutive home win, tying the previous franchise record. When we close the season on Saturday by beating Phoenix (and we will beat Phoenix, oh yes...), it'll be the record. And then we're off to the playoffs, the first home game of which will be next Thursday or Friday. I'm hoarse as hell from all the cheering. Good thing I'm not presenting anything tomorrow. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 25, 2005 10:53 PM. August 24, 2005What If God Wanted Pasta Sauce?So there I am, reading BoingBoing this morning and minding my own business, when I see: FSM flotsam So let's recap what this is. Someone (ok, a guy named Alex) has decided to redo Joan Osborne's hit, tailored to the Flying Spaghetti Monster. This is not merely a lyric re-do - they frickin' recorded it, and are making it available for download. This is hysterical. I love the Internets. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 24, 2005 6:44 AM. August 23, 2005We're In The Playoffs!About ten minutes ago, the Storm secured their slot in the 2005 WNBA Playoffs by trouncing the San Antonio Silver Stars, 78-51, in Texas. This is very exciting! Our next challenge is to secure a second-place slot in the Western Conference, which will give us home-court advantage for the first round. As the Storm do much, much, much better in Key Arena, this is not a trivial benefit. So we've officially got a shot at a two-fer with the crown ... but the Monarchs (who are 23 and 8!) are going to be a real problem. (No matter. My playoff tickets are already here.) Wahoo! Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 23, 2005 7:07 PM. August 22, 2005Gavin's At Microsoft Dot ComI'm home, with my first day as a full-time Microserf under my belt. And I'm pooped. The fatigue is undoubtedly due to a combination of my lack-of-sleep-ness (I never sleep well before things like this), sitting on my ass for most of today (New Employee Orientation is a string of presentations and small-group workshop stuff, all of which takes place in a large, air-conditioned room), the diet of Conference Center box lunch + CLIF Bar, and just, well, a long damn day. It's a lot to take in. Some highlights:
Tomorrow is NEO, Part 2 (NEO, Reloaded?); in the meantime, I'm off to bed. With a smile. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 22, 2005 10:05 PM. August 21, 2005Big Day TomorrowTomorrow morning, I start my full-time job at Microsoft. This is a happy reunion. I'm going back to Office Product Planning (where I did my MBA internship last summer). I know (and really love) the work, and am seriously pumped about the people I get to work with. It's about as stimulating, challenging, and interesting a job as one could ask for. (In fact, funny story: I did a number of casual coffee chats with folks from all over Microsoft while I was an intern. Most of these chats were to help me understand roles across the company, and also deepen my understanding of how each of the core businesses make their money. However, at some point, I'd get asked what a 'Product Planner' was, and I'd tell them. Invariably, the other person would furrow their brow, get a mildly-envious look on their face, and say, "How'd you get that job?" No fooling.) My Monday is to be consumed with an all-day "New Employee Orientation", or NEO ("NEO": coincidence, or Matrix fetish? You be the judge...). I've got some CLIF bars, my passport, and a few magazines packed. Tuesday is another day of NEO, and then I get to tour my new digs. As luck would have it, Jeff is going to be my lead (which means, I guess, that I'm buying the coffee at Zoka after our Saturday runs from now on). He phoned me last week to talk a bit about the project they're giving me; it sounds fascinating. Oh, and I have to get a presentation together in the next five weeks. No rush or anything. Can. Not. Wait. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 21, 2005 10:20 PM. "The Aristocrats"Richard and I caught "The Aristocrats" at the Meridian yesterday. Hoo, boy. Don't bring the kids. This is a movie about a very, very dirty joke. The premise of the joke is simple: a family - dad, mom, two kids (and, optionally, a baby and a dog) - walks in to a talent agent's office and asks for an audition. The talent agent puts them off, saying, "I don't book family acts; they're too cute." The family begs for an audition, and the agent relents. The family then does their "act", engaging in a number of sick and disgusting behaviors with one another. At the end of the act, the agent - dazed, exhausted - says, "That's a hell of an act. What do you people call yourselves?" The family, beaming, says, "The Aristocrats." So ... the joke's not funny. At all. The punchline is weak, the setup is weak, it's basically a joke your grandfather might have told you (in a very, very clean form) and you would have groaned. But what makes the joke special - and therefore, the subject of an 86-minute documentary - is that its very weakness makes the joke the perfect vehicle for a given comedian(ne) to express his or her personal joke-telling style. The beginning and the end are sancrosanct, unmodifiable, but the middle part - the details of the act itself - is totally open. So comics have sat around for decades and told this joke to one another in clubs, at parties, you name it - always after the audience has gone home - with the intent to shock one another by making the joke a dirty as possible, with every kind of crazy, perverse, sick behavior you can imagine. If it's taboo, filthy, profane, or disgusting, it's fair game. Some comedian(ne)s go for length (one telling lasted for 90 minutes), some go for velocity and shock (the canonical telling of the joke was done by Gilbert Gottfried at the 2001 Friar's Roast of Hugh Hefner), others insert themselves into the joke, and make it very self-referential (and very, very uncomfortable for the audience). It doesn't matter. The point of the joke is the style in which it's told, which makes the joke an imperfect proxy for the soul of comedy; how can a comedian, like a jazz musician, take a well-known piece of music and make it their own? You can see a version of the joke - told by the South Park characters - online. (Not even remotely safe for work). Everybody is in this picture - George Carlin, Chris Rock, Whoopi Goldberg, Steven Wright, Paul Reiser, Don Rickles, Jon Stewart, Drew Carey, Sarah Silverman - you name it. Which is also what makes the film fascinating, because you see these famous comedian(ne)s talking about their craft in a very unguarded way. So ... I laughed. A lot. But that's because the movie is often very funny, even though it's not a funny movie. Some people walked out of the film because they couldn't handle the language (the film was going to get an NC-17 for language alone, but instead was released unrated). It's a rental. But see it. (And for love of His Noodliness, don't see it with your kids or with people who are easily offended.) UPDATE, August 5, 2007: One or more of the original hyperlinks on this page expired, and has been dereferenced. The hyperlinked text is now underlined. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 21, 2005 9:10 AM. August 19, 2005Flying Spaghetti MonsterismSo I'm sitting in an easy chair at my Dad's place last night. It's late - almost midnight - and I'm watching a TiVo'd recording of the Storm beating up on the Lynx ... while drinking ESB and goofing around online. So there I am, minding my own business, when I clicked a link and found myself staring at the Wikipedia entry for the Flying Spaghetti Monster. I think this is about the funniest thing I've ever seen - on par with the Aqua Teens, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and So I Married An Axe Murderer. I dunno. Maybe it was the time of day, maybe it was the beer, maybe I was just giddy from watching LJ kick some ass (one more victory and we're clinched for the playoffs). All I know is that I found myself laughing (quietly ... I mean, people were trying to sleep) at phrases like "His Noodly Appendage", "pastafarians," and "RA-men." How can you beat this stuff? It's been with me all day, too. It cracks me up! There also exists a branch of FSM calling itself the Reformed Church of Alfredo, which anoints its members with various sauces according to the appropriate holy day. As parodies go, this is just awesome. (And it's got pirates! And midgits [sic]!) After all, who's to say the Flying Spaghetti Monster isn't behind it all? Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 19, 2005 4:27 PM. Daily Ride: Priest Lake
Riding double tends to make my hips hurt (I'm a reasonably tall guy, which means a lot of me is leg ... and they've gotta go somewhere), but I didn't mind so much. I was distracted by the scenery (farms to towns to rolling hills to trees to lakes), by the endless, relentless wind, and that wonderful feeling you get on a motorcycle - the intoxicating blend of speed, open-air, and the potential to go anywhere your heart takes you. I've toyed with the idea of buying a motorcycle, but had always resisted. I'm not much of a "stuff" person, and I suspect the idea of owning a bike would remain much better than the reality. (It's like that old saying about boats: "The two best days in a sailor's life are the day he buys it, and the day he sells it"). That said, I am always captivated by motorcycles when I ride them, and that gives me pause. The Honda Shadow 750 is a nice, inexpensive, reliable machine. Hm... Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 19, 2005 4:24 PM. August 17, 2005August "Web Doctor"My most recent "Web Doctor" column ("Keep your Web site updated without stress") hit the streets in Friday's Puget Sound Business Journal. I'm kind of embarrassed that I spaced on this; I'd intended to blog about the new column on the 12th. Chalk it up to ... vacation(?), I guess. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 17, 2005 10:16 PM. Monorail UpdatesIt's been a bit since I've blogged about the Monorail, but there's a handful of articles out today that caught my eye. First up is the Seattle Times ("Report challenges monorail's growth"), wherein local economist Dick Conway believes that the Monorail-funding MVET will not grow as fast as estimates he's issued previously. The old estimate? 4.8%. The new one? Just 4.4%. It's notable that both of these numbers are well under the 6.1% that the Monorail authority is using to plan their finances. Second on the list is Seattle Weekly ("'Joel Horn Lied To Us'"): One of two elected members of the board of the Seattle Monorail Project says that former Executive Director Joel Horn lied about a bid to build the project, the details of which were at the time undisclosed, by telling her that news reports about the bid being $200 million too high were not accurate. Finally, the last article is an op-ed piece from Seattle Weekly's reliably-cranky pseudo-Seattleite Knute Berger, aka "Mossback" ("Time for a Mercy Killing"): [Seattle Mayor Greg] Nickels asked the Seattle Monorail Project (SMP) board to decide by Sept. 15 whether to ask voters in November to approve changes to the plan that might salvage the troubled line. Without voter involvement in November, Nickels effectively said, the city would bring the project to a standstill, presumably by refusing to issue permits to build the Green Line from Ballard to West Seattle. I've written before about what I think should be done with the Monorail, and I stand by that piece. It saddens me profoundly that the project has been so badly managed, and is miles from the mark. At this point, I'll be shocked if we wind up building the damn thing. Seattle needs good mass transit, and the Link light rail is only one part of that puzzle. Monorail could have been an outstanding in-city complement (and alternative to Metro). No wonder the Economist ragged on us (registration required). We frickin' deserve it. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 17, 2005 12:40 PM. "A Shot Of Their Own"Seattle Weekly has an article this week about the Seattle Storm (and the WNBA in general): Nine years ago, women stepped on the court as professional athletes with the birth of the WNBA. Five years ago, the Seattle Storm was born, and last year the team brought home Seattle's first professional sports championship in 25 years. They have a fan base. Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson are household names. The article talks a bit about the economics of the league, what the players make, fan base, and a few other notes. But the most important points are that the league a) has momentum, b) is starting to get respect and attention, and c) is solid enough that women can seriously consider playing ball when they leave college. The league is expected to be profitable in 2007; the 13 teams will become 14 when Chicago adds their franchise next year. Good news, all. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 17, 2005 12:05 PM. v2I'm pleased to note the launch today of the new-n'-improved gavinshearer.com. I've been using one of the stock MovableType templates ("Squash") since the launch of this blog, and have found it to be pretty constraining in terms of the ability to add content categories, features, and whatnot. The intent of this new look is to give me a foundation upon which I can roll out periodic, incremental improvements. I've also been working on some behind-the-scenes stuff to ensure XHTML compatibility and clean rendering on a variety of browsers. A lot of that work isn't very sexy, but the anal-retentive Web developer in me kind of insists on that sort of thing. Hopefully, y'all will like it. Please let me know what you think! Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 17, 2005 11:25 AM. Out And Back
The weather was spectacular - warm and dry, with high temperatures that were "invisible" to us as long as the motorcycle was in motion (stand still very long, and you heat up real quick). In fact, I'd dressed in long pants and a long-sleeved shirt to guard against exposure; nothing sucks worse than getting off a fabulous ride, only to find that your skin has turned a deep, dark red from the sun. Newport's a classic small town - one-way streets, a brick downtown business district, zillions of espresso stands and hardware stores, and the obligatory Bank of America. We stopped at a small general store with a bona-fide 1950s soda counter; dad had a handmade chocolate milkshake (reports were that it was excellent), and I went with the customary triple Americano (which, all told, was fine). It's raining this morning, so we've scrapped our plans for golf and a day ride; instead, we're going to head out to Priest Lake tomorrow, weather permitting. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 17, 2005 9:06 AM. August 15, 2005In Praise Of Neil GaimanI'm probably the last geek on Earth to know about/read/worship author Neil Gaiman (BoingBoing seems consumed with praising him, and rightfully so), but Marnie loaned me two of his books ("Neverwhere Wow. I'm thoroughly impressed. "Neverwhere" is right up there with "Snow Crash Interestingly, one of Gaiman's other stories, "Mirrormask God, I love vacation. UPDATE, August 5, 2007: One or more of the original hyperlinks on this page expired, and has been dereferenced. The hyperlinked text is now underlined. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 15, 2005 11:30 AM. August 13, 2005Not Quite ThereIn my mind, this post was originally called "Personal Best"; it talked about the fantastic, triumphant 15-mile run I had this morning out in the hills of Spokane. Sadly, 'twas not to be. I crashed - utterly, totally, and completely - at 11.4 miles, and that's all she wrote. Thank God my Dad was doing the sag-wagon business, handing out water and whatnot every couple of miles, or I'd have been really hosed. (I still had several miles to go to get home.) The first few miles were the usual - not great, but not bad; the body warming up. Then I hit mile 3, which marked the beginning of a mile-long, 400-foot climb up a winding hill. Again, not too bad, and when I got to the top I had one of those spectacular, top-of-the-world views that inspires people like Katharine Lee Bates. The middle part was awesome. Fast, light, fun. Miles 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 - no problem. And then, the wall. I can't explain it. But I knew right then that it wasn't as much about willpower (every run has bad patches), but instead I was just ... over. I was sluggish, lethargic, starting to stumble. I made it to the next water stop, and that was it. I'm too tired right now - just wiped - to be mad at myself or anything, which is, on its own level, healthy. Try, try again. Right? Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 13, 2005 10:48 AM. August 12, 2005"Hoop Dreams"The groundbreaking documentary "Hoop Dreams" released to DVD recently, but it's been sitting on my shelf for a while while I've taken advantage of NetFlix's "no late fees" policy, if you know what I mean. Over the last two nights, I finally got around to watching it. I remember that Siskel & Ebert fought for the film when it came out in 1994, and now I know why. It's a fascinating, painfully honest film about the lives of William Gates (no, not that one) and Arthur Agee - two poor black kids in Chicago that see basketball as their ticket to riches and fame. The film follows the two of them from ninth grade through senior year of high school, and tracks their development as players and people. The films is also an unblinking look at what many of our disadvantaged citizens deal with on a daily basis. Arthur's mom, for example, is left by his dad partway into the movie; she lives on public assistance of $268 a month from the city while raising a son, daughter, and grandchild. At one point, the power is turned off. The kids have crack dealers doing their business at the corners of their local basketball courts. And so on. Anyhow. It's a moving, wonderful movie, and well worth the investment of time. Get it in your queue. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 12, 2005 4:20 PM. SpokanistanI'm back in Spokane, visiting family and planning to do some motorcyclin' with my father over the next week. Our schedule is pretty loose, all told - mostly, we're going to go where the days take us. One thing I'm pretty excited about is my long run tomorrow morning. Hal says I have to put in 15 miles, which will be a personal distance record. My dad took some quality time with MapSource and mapped out a loop that takes me from his house, out, around, and finally back to the front door. He'll be on the motorcycle, providing water and the occasional CLIF bar. Should be great. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 12, 2005 4:01 PM. August 11, 2005My Evening With iChat Given my recent Mambo project launch, that someone would be me. Tim lives in Anacortes, Dave is holed up out in Issaquah, and I'm in Seattle. Rather than try to work out some kind of in-person, we instead opted to try a multipoint video conference, hosted by Tim (you need a G5 processor to do multipoint iChat, and neither Dave nor I have burly-enough machines. A point, truth be told, of which Tim reminded us. Several times.). So what did I think? I think it's easily the best, most productive use of videoconferencing I've ever seen. A lot of my friends have iSights, so I videochat a lot. But most of this conversation is point-to-point, one-on-one stuff, which makes it (more or less) a glorified VoIP call. It's cool, it's fun, and it's nice to see the whites of someone's eyes (I love videochatting with my Dad, for instance, because I don't see him in person very much). But it's not necessarily a "better" experience than using the telephone. With a multiparty chat, however, all that changes. I think everyone's been on a bad conference call at some point in their lives. You have some group of people - 4 or more - who are "on the call" to talk about some issue. The problem is that nobody can see one another - no body language, no visual cues, nothing - to know who's actually paying attention or involved in the meeting. As a result, conference calls tend to be herky-jerky conversations, punctuated by long, dead silences. They're not very helpful, but they're inexpensive relative to the cost of getting disparate groups of people in a room. So we use them. With multiparty videochat, the world changes. You CAN see if people are nodding/smiling, frowning/confused, or surfing for porn while the conversation progresses. Hand gestures are possible (including - yes, Marnie - "finger quotes"). The conversation crackles; you get more done. And even though our chat was kinda blurry (Tim, despite his burly G5, apparently has a cheap-ass Internet connection), it didn't matter. The necessary visual information came through just fine. (Oh, and the reason there's four of us in the photo above is that we brought Richard in midway for some technical advising.) I wish we'd had something like this back in the Media Access days, because it would have made our remote collaboration about 1,000% better. It's honestly that good. (It also makes me want to buy a G5, but that's a whole other story.) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 11, 2005 10:30 AM. August 10, 2005Storm 71, Comets 68Mary and I watched the Storm hand a narrow, 71-68 defeat to Houston in Key Arena last night. The victory means we are now second in the Western Conference - trailing the Monarchs - and have an outstanding shot at the playoffs. (At the moment, I'm feeling like the $50 was money well spent.) The game was touch-and-go the whole time - we got a bit out in front at the jump, but the Comets gave as good as they got. Basically, the Storm did great when they played strong defense and grabbed rebounds; otherwise, we got killed. Notable fun fact: Lauren threw the 200th 3-point shot of her career at the beginning of the second half. We've got just three home games left in the regular season; I've got tickets to two of 'em (the 25th and the 27th). Let's hope our luck holds out on the road - we're against Minnesota on Friday, and Houston (again) on Sunday. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 10, 2005 12:17 PM. August 9, 2005Crying While EatingToday's Moment of Zen comes from my friend Philip, who, after an appropriate number of Coronas, began strongly encouraging those of us at my party on Sunday to "check out the Crying While Eating Web site." So I did. Philip's a guy you listen to. And now I'm encouraging you. It's exactly what it sounds like. People are eating ... and crying. At the same time. It's as if they're crying ... while eating. You can't make this stuff up, people. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 9, 2005 3:29 PM. Cap And TradeI got caught up on my magazines and whatnot when I was in Idaho, and saw this article in Wired about the "SUV Redemption Sticker" - basically, a way of purchasing the right to pollute at a level equivalent to what your belching Escalade puts out in a given calendar year: TerraPass lets consumers participate in an emissions trading system the US established in 1990. (Give credit to economist Ronald Coase, who won a Nobel Prize for the idea in 1991.) Under the system, industrial operations that spew less than their share of emissions can sell a credit to companies that fail to keep gunk out of the air. In effect, the dirtier factories can pay greener operations to do the work of cutting emissions. One of the things that troubles me deeply about many economists is the blissful, breezy way that they talk about "negative externalities" - that is, events or consequences of a given action that don't show up in the economists' model, but nevertheless exist. Let's say a factory produces Widgets using Process X. As part of Process X, the factory also produces dirty air and water, which it happily dumps in the local lake for free. There is, however, another way to produce Widgets, and it's called Process Y. Process Y is cleaner than X - it produces just 10% of the same air/water pollution per Widget. But Process X is cheaper than Process Y, so the company sticks with X to keeps its prices low (or its profits high); the "cost" of the pollution is not seen by the firm, or on its balance sheet. The pollution, to an economist, is an externality. It falls out of the model, and is not important. (Interestingly enough, very few economists wish to live next door to externality-producing factories. I wonder why...) The cap-and-trade system is an interesting way of pricing pollution; effectively, it sets the total amount of allowable pollution at some level, and then allows firms to trade with one another such that high-polluting firms are able to buy the right to pollute from lower-polluting firms. This creates market incentives to move people from Process X to Process Y (there's money in the model to justify investing in Y), and also gives the regulation bodies the ability to lower the total amount of tradable pollution over time. In effect, cap-and-trade reduces the existence of externalities by giving us a mechanism to price "intangible" things like clean air, clean water, or the level of mercury in our fish. I find all of this stuff terribly, terribly interesting. I'm curious to see how well the TerraPass stuff does in the market. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 9, 2005 3:18 PM. MSN Messenger 5.0The hard-workin' folks over at the MacBU have released MSN Messenger 5.0 for the Macintosh this morning. Downloading now... UPDATE, May 13, 2006: One or more of the original hyperlinks on this page expired, and has been dereferenced. The hyperlinked text is now underlined. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 9, 2005 11:37 AM. "Heeeere I Come To Save The Daaaaaayyyy!"
(Oh, go ahead and say it ... "Big. Apple. Whore.") In all seriousness, I've been in the market for a new two-button mouse. I've got a great little Microsoft optical mouse that goes with my PowerBook, but I'm forever plugging, unplugging, wrapping, packing and unpacking the poor thing whenever I take the laptop someplace (which is, you know, often). So I thought it might be nice just to have a mouse that stays at my home office, and one for the laptop bag. And then, as if by magic, Apple announces this new two-button mouse... So the thing's really slick. I love how smoothly it glides across the desk, and the overall "feel" of the unit. I really like the innovative "scroll point" for scrolling up and down on the page; it's far easier (and more sensitive) than the traditional scroll wheel. Plus, the fact that it can act as a button (summoning Dashboard, in my case) is pretty slick. I also like the side-button system, but it's taking some getting used to. Basically, you "squeeze" the sides of the mouse together, and some user-defined action occurs. I've programmed my Mighty Mouse to summon the Application Switcher; this seems to save me a lot of time going down to the Dock. One bitch - and it's really minor - is that the driver software for the mouse required a restart. What's that? Uptime is precious, guys - let's develop some dynamically-loading libraries, huh? So yeah. It's "just a mouse", but I dig it. Thumbs-up. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 9, 2005 11:19 AM. August 8, 2005Google Maps Coolness #2,499So Allie posted an innocuous little link in the comments earlier today: Compliments of Metafilter - you are so going to love this: So I followed the link and checked it out ... and I have just two words to say: the first is "Holy"; the second is "Cow." The "pedometer" Web site uses Google Maps (like everything else, it seems) to let you measure off mileage for your walks or runs. You start anywhere you like; double-click on a point of origin, and then double-click again at your next turn or whatnot. Google maps the route as a line, measures the distance, and even - wait for it - computes your calories for you. This is so unbelievably cool, I can't even tell you. As my distances get longer and longer, finding appropriate runs gets tricky. One option is to find a course I know well (e.g., Greenlake) and then start banging out the multiples. Unsurprisingly, that gets pretty tedious pretty fast. Another option is to drive a hypothetical course in your car (or on your bike), measuring out distances. This is quite time-consuming, however, and tends to reduce one's willingness to explore new routes. So this pedometer site is a godsend. Seriously - if you're a runner or a walker (or just a curious urban dweller), check it out. One final cool thing - after you've built a route, the site lets you capture the thing as a URL, and even works with TinyURL to collapse it down into something manageable. So I have a 16-mile run coming up on the 20th, and I decided to map it out. Starting from my place, I'll run to Greenlake, run around the lake, then head south to the Burke-Gilman, and then finally East along the trail until I hit a good loopback point, finally ending right behind U Village. And, as a picture is worth a thousand words, you can check it out for yourself. Will the wonders of the Google Maps API ever cease? Seriously. This is blowing my mind. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 8, 2005 6:38 PM. McMenamins In Kenmore?The Seattle Times had a bit on Friday about Oregon-based restaurant chain McMenamins moving forward on the permitting process to take over the St. Edward State Park in Kenmore, with the intent to convert it into a hotel complex, much like their spectacular Edgefield resort outside Portland. This is fabulous news. Edgefield, if you've not been, is a European-style hotel (bathrooms at the end of the hall, no TV or phones in the rooms) with a winery, brewery, distillery, golf course, spa, restaurants, and movie theater all on the property. It's basically a killer two-day getaway with someone you like a whole lot - drink wine, get a massage, eat wonderful food, see a second-run movie. Having something like this that's closer to home (and no, the Centralia one doesn't count) would be awesome. If they open it, count on a group getaway. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 8, 2005 2:35 PM. Way To Go, Guy!
(Oh, and lately, he got a plane.) So Guy's been toiling away for this startup in Kirkland - Wildseed - for the last few years, and, in his usual modest way, would tell people that it was "a cell phone thing, pretty cool, but no big deal." ... but AOL bought 'em yesterday. NICE WORK, man! (Try not to spend it all in one place, OK?) UPDATE, May 13, 2006: One or more of the original hyperlinks on this page expired, and has been dereferenced. The hyperlinked text is now underlined. UPDATE, April 1, 2007: One or more of the original hyperlinks on this page expired, and has been dereferenced. The hyperlinked text is now underlined. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 8, 2005 12:03 PM. Two Weeks' NoticeTwo weeks from today, I'm back at Microsoft. (Whoo-hoo!) I'm really, really psyched to go back. Jeff and I tend to talk shop on our runs, and whenever we get rolling about the industry I a) get excited and b) quickly realize, "Oh, God, they're gonna actually pay me to start working on this kind of stuff." Parachuting into Planning makes me, among other things, a lucky, lucky, lucky bastard. But the flip side of my start-date enthusiasm is this weird, "Where the heck did my summer go?" kind of feeling. Thinking back over the last two months, I'm nodding and remembering that yeah, I did the bachelor party, caught some basketball games, ran the half marathon, did the Disney thing, and then had the wedding in Idaho, and, oh yeah, got that Web project out the door. And, of course, that's my frickin' answer - I spent my summer doing a little of this and that ... sampling from a buffet line of cool stuff, instead of doing a full-course sit-down meal. Clearly, being the Type-A, go-go-go sort of person that I am, there's a billion other things I would have liked to have done (the blog redesign, for instance, was supposed to be done two weeks ago. Sssh! Don't tell anybody...). But if I had to sum up the summer (say that ten times fast), I would say that the single best thing has been spending quality time with my friends, wherever they happen to be. Exhibit A: this photo from my housewarming party last night.  I have the coolest friends. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 8, 2005 9:23 AM. August 6, 2005Saturday Morning RunGiven that my running mileage is going up, Saturday morning has been officially designated as a Long Run Zone in my calendar. To me, it means that I need to prioritize the training - lace up my New Balance, get out the door, and put in the distance, before making plans to do anything else that day. So this morning, I did just that. I hit a 10-mile loop, stepping out my front door and heading down the hill, across the University Bridge, and on to the Burke-Gilman. I turned around near the Great Harvest Bread, and came back, detouring by the UW Medical Center and zipping across Montlake, and finally back up hill along 24th. It felt awesome, one of those runs where you'd swear you were running on air. The weather was perfect, - about 62 degrees, slight wind. And now, I've eroded my remaining mileage for August down to 103. There's still a part of me that can't believe I'm able to do this. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 6, 2005 12:02 PM. Stopping TrackBack SpamSpammers have discovered TrackBack. My TrackBack feature first got hit with spam a few weeks ago, and the trickle has turned in to a torrent - I awoke this morning to find eight (!) new junk entries, ranging from "online casino" to "phobia" to "tattoo flash". After doing some digging, I found, not surprisingly, that others are being plagued with the same problem. So I've started banning IP addresses from spammers, and will be looking to implement "Spam Lookup" on the site in an attempt to stop this garbage. Let me know if you run in to any problems. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 6, 2005 8:12 AM. August 5, 2005CinecastI am all in love with a podcast called "Cinecast" It's produced out of Chicago, and features two guys (Adam and Sam) talking about movies they've seen in the theater in the last week or so. They're smart, interesting, well-spoken and thoughtful. It's easily some of the best movie criticism available out there, especially when benchmarked against the dreck that passes for "reviews" in most papers. There are two things that I really dig about it. First, Adam and Sam's discussions remind me very, very much of the kinds of conversations I have with my friends Benny and Rich, each of whom is as in to movies as I am, and each of whom brings a certain kind of sensibility to the debate process. Adam and Sam, for example, are deeply split about "Sin City" - one loved it, the other thinks it's a misogynistic piece of crap - and the phrase, "look, I don't want to turn this debate into another 'Sin City' conversation" tends to make its ways into heated debates. This is so much like what it's like debating with Ben or Rich. Crazy. Second, the show is just well-done - good sound, clean and consistent structure, and so on. The guys take the show seriously, and come off as professionals. And in this crazy podcast world, where anyone and everyone can get the microphone, those "little" qualities really differentiate. If you're interested, Cinecast available through iTunes, as well. Enjoy! Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 5, 2005 2:05 PM. August 3, 2005Season TicketsWell, it's official - I'm going to be a season-ticket holder for the Storm in 2006. While it seems to shock my friends that I don't have season tickets yet, it's true - I've been buyin' my seats on a game-by-game basis (it's a great reason to walk to Seattle Center, you know?). Anyhow. The deal works like this - put $50 down for next year's season tickets, and get priority seating for any playoff tickets this year. And, since I'm convinced we're going to the playoffs (we are, we are, we are) that seemed like a no-brainer. Plus, you know, season tickets. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 3, 2005 7:38 PM. 117 Miles To GoPortland is now 66 days away. August is going to be a pivotal training month for me. I've talked before about how success in long-distance running is - for me, at least - all about "building the base" - namely, getting out on the damn road and beating feet from Point A to Point B, over and over again. It's not sexy, but it's essential. And by the time the event rolls around, your body is used to the effort. So I took a look at the Hal Higdon schedule, put the various runs in my calendar, and then (for fun) added up all the mileage I'll be putting in this month. The total? 117 miles. Which seems like a lot, really. It's kind of hard for me to take in. The good news is that it was 124 miles as of a few hours ago. I banged out a (nasty, brutish, but un-short) seven-miler around 4 PM. Nibble, nibble. One day at a time, right? Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 3, 2005 7:04 PM. August 2, 2005Hell Is Officially FrozenSo, earlier this year Apple announced their impending switch to Intel processors. Today, it rolled out a two-button mouse called "Mighty Mouse". It's like Steve is taking one sacred cow at a time, talking gently to it, patting it on the neck, and then leading it to the slaughterhouse out behind 1 Infinite Loop. At this rate, Slashdot will be a ghost town in 90 days or so ... they won't have anything left to complain about! Oh, wait. Maybe I spoke too soon... Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 2, 2005 1:42 PM. August 1, 2005Requiem For A BookmarkMy mostly-wonderful experience at the AmeriTel Inn in CDA has been mauled, beaten, and set on fire by the technical cluelessness of their IT staff. Upon returning to Casa Gavin last night, I plugged in the PowerBook and flopped down to see what was going on in the world vis-a-vis my RSS reader. NetNewsWire had been having a series of Bad Hair Days in CDA, which I attributed to the weirdness/flakiness of the AmeriTel Internet connection. Now home, I figured that the software would gulp down the pure, unfiltered oxygen of a Blue State Internet feed and give me hundreds - nay, thousands! - of new articles to feast on. Uh, yeah. Didn't happen. Like a lot of places offering free Internet access, AmeriTel uses an authenticated proxy server to allow guests to the Internet. In plain English, this means you can't just jack in to the wall socket and start surfing. Instead, you jack in and their system throws you an Internet address on their local network. You only get access to the public Internet after you visit a special Web page that they operate, where you (usually) click the "I Agree" box on on their Terms n' Conditions page. Attempts to visit the public Internet without going to the Terms n' Conditions page will result in your being taken to the Terms n' Conditions page, without exception. All your base are belong to us. OK, fine, all well and good - except that the bozos who have set up the AmeriTel network decided it would be ... what? funny? ... to use a frickin' 301 "Moved Permanently" redirect instead of a type 302 "Found". For all you non-geeks out there, that means that when the AmeriTel system redirects you to their little Terms n' Conditions page, they send a signal to your Web browser that says, "Oh, hey - that page you wanted? It's moved, forever and ever, to this new location. Which is our Terms n' Conditions page." And many, many browsers will see that 301 error and go, "Oh, gosh! That page moved? Let me update my bookmarks list. That way, the next time my user tries to go to the site, they're taken to the new, permanent location!" (Permanent. As in, not temporary. As in, totally inappropriate when people are just passin' through town and want to use your connectivity for a few days.) One such browser - a friendly, tries-to-do-the-right thing kinda piece of software - is NetNewsWire. And so there I sat, in Casa Gavin, staring, slack-jawed, at my now-lobotomized RSS reader, as it tried - vainly - to get the latest from Slog from the AmeriTel Terms n' Conditions page. And AppleInsider. And Steve Sinofsky. And Daring Fireball. And so on. It had wiped out all my previous URLs for those pages, and replaced them - each and every one - with the new, permanent location. Which, for some reason, was not giving back well-formed XML. (Duh!) So that was that. Makes for a fun evening, doesn't it? Trying to recreate your bookmarks from scratch? Hoo boy, it's a real blast. Whee. The moral of the story (aside from the obvious one, which is "don't hire asshats to design your LAN architecture") is that bookmarks are precious. They are, in a very real sense, the way we think about the Internet - the resources we prize, the places we go to extract meaning from the ether. Robbed of my bookmarks, I felt ... I dunno. Not naked, exactly, but very much like it. Back up children, early and often. It also goes to show how an innocuous (I assume it was innocuous) technical decision can have unintended personal consequences. (DAMN them!) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 1, 2005 10:34 PM. |
" in IMAX. Instead, I woke up on the 14th to find the following e-mail from him:
So one of the things I did this week was go for a run on Microsoft's campus.
The Storm trashed the Monarchs in the Key tonight, 
Dad and I took an awesome, five-plus-hour ride yesterday, heading back to Newport, on to 
Dad and I got out for a ride on his new BMW yesterday afternoon, heading East into Idaho along Blanchard Road, past 
My new 
I've known my friend Guy Shefner since Junior High (go, Leota!). Aside from being side-by-side in every annual since 7th grade (my last name starts S-H-E-A, and his is S-H-E-F, so you do the math), I've come to know him as a wicked-smart, wicked-nice dude who is forever working on cool projects.