These are my friends...

Where would I be without my friends? Everyone listed here has affected me in some way, shape, or form. You can thank (or blame) them for making me the person I am today!

Note to my friends: I tried my best to include everyone, but may have (inadvertently) left you out. (There are way too many of you to keep track!) My apologies if this is the case. If you consider yourself my friend and want to be included here, or if you don't like the description I wrote for you, or even if you want me to take you off this list (don't worry, I'll still consider you a friend), E-mail me and let me know!

Before I list my friends, there's one I need to single out...

• Lianne Webster-Kim: I figure that it's only fitting that I start with my wife! I met Lianne when I was a grad student at RPI (she was an undergraduate at the time). We were friends throughout our time at RPI, but didn't start dating until she had started working on her Master's degree.

  I finally popped the question on Christmas Eve, 2001, and we were married in the Fall of 2002.

  Lianne doesn't currently maintain a web site, but you can check out her blog . . .

• Eunice Kim: Okay little sister, I included you. You happy now? Eunice is, of course, my kid sister. (She always will be, no matter how old she is!) She was one of Lianne's bridesmaids, has her own office furnishing business, and lives down in Brooklyn.

• Ed Kim: Ed is my younger brother and was one of the groomsmen for my wedding. He works independently as an illustrator and lives in Queens.

• Terry (Lee) & Rick Edwards: Terry is my cousin – a genuine West Coast girl – who grew up in California and currently lives in Seattle with her husband, Rick.

• Don Lee: Don is my other cousin and an author. He is the author of Yellow, a collection of short stories, and just published his first novel, Country of Origin.

• Arline Webster: Arline is my sister-in-law, and tends to bounce around between cities a lot. Right now, she's in Denver.

The rest of this list, in case you couldn't figure it out, is in order by last name...

[ A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z ]

• Marc Ackerley: Marc's one of my Server Team colleagues over at Empire Blue Cross.

• Jim, Paula, Jay, & Christian Baines: (a.k.a. HankScoop and Sportcaster) The MAINE man, Jim and I met online via the BITNET (waaay before the Internet became popular). We're capable of talking each other's ears off (especially about sports) and regularly run up each other's phone bills.

  Paula is Jim's wife, and Jay and Christian are their kids. (Two future UMaine hockey players are born!)

• Walt & Santa Bates: Walt and Santa used to live couple of doors down from me. RPI season ticket holders. They made up my fan club back when I conducted the Pep Band!

• Fred Beckford: (a.k.a. "Freddie Fred ol' Velcro Head") My Kappa Kappa Psi big brother from the Bronx.

• Mike Brown: Mike is an RPI Chem-E Ph.D student, a fellow musician, my regular golf partner, and one of the groomsmen for my wedding. He's also the guy who preceded me as conductor of the RPI Pep Band. A great guy who can't seem to keep any secrets (like BIRTHDAYS!!!)

• Joanne (Goldstein) & Mike Brazinski: I used to sit next to Joanne during band practice in high school. She and her husband, Mike, live in Maryland and have two daughters.

• Kathy (Libertucci) Bursese: Kathy and I worked together in my first job out of college.

• The Chandler family (Bailey, Patrick, Madeline, Colin, Donna, and Tom): Bailey, Patrick, Madeline, and Colin are kids who used to live down the street from me. Every now and then, I'd go over and play with them (for which their mother, Donna, was quite grateful!) They moved out of the area some time ago. How I miss those kids!

• Robin Thomas & Jim Cronen: Robin and Jim, who are married to each other, are friends from RPI. Jim followed me as RPI Pep Band conductor.

• Joanne Daniels: I met Joanne when we both worked for KeyCorp. A great friend who's there when I need to vent. She's the big sister I never had, so I affectionately refer to her as "big sis."

• Chris and Terry (Kaseta) Farrar: I met Chris and Terry when I was a grad student at RPI. Chris is a fantastic musician (percussionist) whom I met in Pep Band, and I met Terry through mutual friends. The two of them married in September, 2004.

• Karen Feldman: Karen is a girl from San Diego that I met online (and in person while on a trip out West). She has turned out to be a great listener and a great friend. These days, she keeps busy teaching math and bringing up young Jason.

• Deanne (Matthews) & Greg Hernandez: Deanne and Greg are both friends from SU. Greg was also one of my housemates my senior year.

• Terri Hogan: In addition to being in pep band together, Terri and I took a a few grad classes together.

• Forrest (a.k.a. Fhumer) , Cheryl, Megan, and Jack Hume: I met Forrest in my first job out of college. At the time, he was the only Seattle Mariner fan east of the Mississippi I'd ever met. He and his wife Cheryl, along with their kids Megan and Jack, now live and work in Fhumer's hometown of Tacoma, WA.

• Eric Johnson: Eric was Mike Brown's roommate at RPI. He currently teaches at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut.

• Mary Krembs: Mary, a.k.a. the "guesser," is a high school friend whom I got reacquainted with while we were both in grad school at RPI.

• Bob Lamm: Bob, an ex-Air Force brat, was my best friend growing up. We used to hang out together all the time, something we can't really do anymore now that we each have our own lives and live a few hours apart. He, along with his wife Karen and their kids Lauren and Steven, live in Massachusetts.

• Sheldon Luberoff: (a.k.a. "Peabody" and "Bananaman") Like Jim Baines, I also met Shell online via the BITNET when he was a student at Cornell. He now lives and works down in NYC.

• Malinda Matney: Malinda is the NCD Governor of Kappa Kappa Psi. She works at the University of Michigan, where she earned her Ph.D.

• Jim O'Brien: Jim is a guitar player and vocalist who helped me out with many of my demos. (Jim, if you're reading this, E-mail me!)

• Joe Padua: I met Joe, RPI hockey fan extrordinare, in RPI Pep Band. We get our RPI hockey season tickets together.

• The Paluch family (Jay, Sharon, Sydney, Spencer, Emmy, and Kendall): Well, Jay was one of my first bosses at Blue Cross, and, along with Sharon, currently heads up the contemporary choir I play for.

• Chris and Sarah (Martin) Pike: One of my best friends from high school, and one of my wedding groomsmen. A great guy, although we have our differences: (Him: trumpet, me: clarinet; him: Red Sox, me: Yankees; him: Union, me: RPI). He and Sarah, whom he met playing Ultimate Frisbee, were married in September, 2005!

• Tammy (O'Toole) & John Rand: Tammy used to live a few houses down from me. She, her husband John, and her son Nathan now live and work in New Hampshire.

• Jerry & Debbie Rawson: Jerry is a fellow Kappa brother (a pledge brother, in fact!) who lives and works down in the Philadelphia area.

• Deirdre (Farrell) Romanski: I first met Deirdre in my first job out of college, after I worked up the balls to ask her out! Now, she's happily married with two kids, but continues to be one of my good friends.

• Becky Rosen: One of my best friends from high school who's there whenever I need an ear to bend or a shoulder to cry on.

• Jerry Russell: Jerry is a singer who helps me out with my demos. He has an awesome voice and can really belt 'em out!

• Ed Schlenoff: Ed is my Kappa Kappa Psi little brother (and the best man at my wedding) who currently lives (and parties!) down in Long Island.

• Thorsten Schmöger: Thorsten was my host when I was an exchange student to Bayreuth, Germany in high school. He's currently a dentist in Munich.

• Nate & Christy Shive: I met Nate through a mutual friend, Jim Baines.

• George Spencer: He's one of my neighbors (who lives right around the corner from me), and a Kappa Kappa Psi brother from Epsilon Rho (Grambling) chapter.

• Mike Steele & Belinda Barnett: I met Mike at RPI. He currently lives down in Pittsburgh, and is the former "Lord God of Music at Rensselaer." He and Belinda were married in January, 2003.

• Erika (Oberle) & Paul Stoving: I met Erika and Paul through mutual friends and through the RPI Pep Band.

• Lee, Margaret, and Alyssa Stowe: Lee and I go as far back as nursery school. Another one of my groomsmen for my wedding, he's a phenomenal pianist, teacher, and musician (having graduated music ed from Ithaca College) and has his own band in the Kingston, NY area called No Limit. He and Margaret, who's also a teacher, were married in November, 2003.

• Jennifer Tenney: A wonderful young lady who likes Beanie Babies and sappy love songs. She continues to be a close friend whom I don't talk to enough...

• Ralph Vacchiano: Ralph is a Kappa Kappa Psi brother who is currently a sportswriter for the New York Daily News. He comes up to Albany each summer to cover NY Giants training camp.

• Amy Van Epps: I met Amy when she was an engineering librarian at RPI. She is now an engineering librarian at Purdue University.

• Ginger (Brewer) & Eric Wagner: Ginger, a Tau Beta Sigma sister, is my Kappa little sister. She, her husband, Eric, and little A.J. live in the Syracuse area.

• Robin (Gelinson) Zalben: Robin was a friend I met through Joanne (Brazinski). She and her husband currently live in Israel.

• Erika Zamek: Another friend that I met through Pep Band. She lives and works down in Westchester County, just north of NYC.