Maya

In 1988, I had just started at Microsoft. Shortly thereafter, my officemate started planning a vacation to spend a few weeks lying on beaches in Australia. While Australia might be interesting, my idea of a fun time doesn't include just lying around on beaches. So I started thinking about what I was going to do with my vacation time. Shortly thereafter, I was reading a Time-Life book, and there was a full-page picture of the plaza at Tikal. Looking at Temples I and II, I thought, that's where I want to go on my vacation. And in the spring of 1990, I did.

I was hooked. I began an extensive reading campaign. While reading, I frequently came upon Maya dates that had no western equivalent, or vice versa. So I wrote a program to do conversion. Then I added some features. Then more. Eventually, I published it and even more features were requested. This is currently the best program for doing Maya Calendar conversion available.

In January of 1994, Linda Schele visited Seattle on a lecture circuit. She gave a short presentation at Seattle University, followed by a much longer and more formal one at the Paramount Theater. When I asked her where I could get in learn more, she said, come to the Maya Meetings in Austin. So I did about six weeks later. I got hooked again, and have been back every year since then.