Ernest Aguayo is one of my best friends. He's a sincere, funny, and got-a-clue- but-is-still-a-nice guy. He went to MIT, then went to Harvard (but don't hold that against him ), then went back to work at MIT, and is now working for a web company in San Francisco.

Erik DeBonte was a fellow fencer back in undergrad. Back then, he spent a lot of time tooling and fencing. Nowadays, though, he spends most of his time working, spending his time with his wife (Austina), and tending to his house (the last two activities just blow my mind! ) I think the married life suits him well .

Oscar George was a good friend of mine, and was my roommate. He was a lawyer for juvenile justice. I really admired him for working for such a good cause. I know Oscar because when I was in high school, I went to a public boarding school, and he was one of the Resident Advisors in the dorm ... kinda strange now that I think about it though ... our RA's were only a couple of years older than us. In any case, Oscar's a great friend, and has bailed me out of a couple of sticky situations (something I don't let many people do). However, Oscar's gone now.

Van Le is someone I've known since 1993, even though only really met her when she got to MIT in 1996. How, you may ax? I randomly met her family in the airport when I was a sophomore, heard them speaking Vietnamese, and spoke back in my semi-broken-but-passable-hey- he's-got-a-funny-accent speech. Then, years later, she came to MIT, and I met her for real .

Anne Lee is a cool cat too. She graduated from MIT in 1999, and is now a PhD at Harvard Med. She's a smart cookie . She's also pretty fun to hang out with. This summer, it sounds like she might be my concert buddy ... I just went to see Indigo Girls and she wants to see Duran Duran. (I wanted to see the B52's/GoGos/Pychedelic Furs, but I got shot down *shrug*).

Keith Lichten is the master epeeist (I bow down to him and pay homage). Back during his last year of fencing, he went to NCAA Nationals. He had an OK first day of fencing, but up and decided he'd go undefeated the second day, and ended up taking a silver medal! These days, he hangs out in San Francisco, kicking butt versus corporations violating environmental laws.

Claire Matese is someone that I've known since sixth grade. So strange ... it all started with me having a years-long crush on her. And one day, some time during high school, I realized that in the process of having a crush on her, she had also become one of my best friends. The transition had been quiet and sneaky, and by the time I realized it, it was already done. It's an enduring friendship that I expect to last until we're both elderly and have lost all of our teeth.

John Rodriguez is one of my good friends way back from fencing. I remember one of my first goals when I started was "to beat John Rodriguez ... maybe not all the time, but at least once in a while, consistently." Revenge is sweet . J/K, John ... Actually, John is now one of my favorite buds to do stuff with. I get him to fence, he gets me to run (and I hate running, but I started last summer when I realized I had gained 10 lbs! ... which I have since lost (Woohoo! ) He also will watch silly sci-fi movies with me, that I'd be ashamed to ask of other people. He's a good guy.

Dinh-Yen Tran is a friend I met here at MIT. He's a grad student, and has been ever since I've known him (which is like 29 years ... well, at least it seems like he's been here a pretty long time ). Actually, he's a real web-meister (at least compared to me)... you should really take a look at his web page(s). If you look hard enough, you'll even see some pictures of me there.

Rob Tsai is someone I've known for a long time (since seventh grade when he transferred over to my school). It's one of those subdued friendships that always exist, but aren't always active. We don't manage to talk, except for once in every long while. But then we manage to re-connect pretty quickly, and talk like we see each other every other day. Odd, but pretty cool.

Aimee Wiltz is also one of my best friends.  She's also used to be a member of the MIT Fencing Team. She's was actually the womens' captain, and a dang good one at that! She's pretty cool ... but there's really not enough space to say how cool she is.Right now Aimee's in the middle of med school (for years and years and years ... j/k).

This is Christina Zahara. She's great, and a Massachusetts woman . Even more, she is da man ... she's gotten a Fulbright Scholarship, and she's spent a year in Korea.