I wasn't hatched a fully grown computer scientist. Below you can find a biography and some information on my interests outside of work.
I grew up in snowy Western Massachusetts, and loved it. I promptly left for Southern California for college. That was dumb. After four years in the concrete desert known as LA, I spent a summer in San Francisco working for Google, and then headed up here. Seattle isn't cold or snowy enough for me, but it's a lot better, and it's a lot more interesting than Northampton when you're 22. My parents are educators (English and film studies) and spent a lot of time teaching me. From them, I've inherited a love for literature, music, and cooking, which along with various sports, take up most of my free time. Much like I spurn their academic directions, though, I don't read, eat, or listen to anything they do. It's a perennial source of discord in the Hunter family.
I have learned a great number of things the hard way.
"It never gets any easier. You just go faster."
In high school, I was a very scrawny nerd. At this point, I'm a slightly more jacked nerd. I've picked up a rather serious exercise habit, which I, of course, conduct in the nerdiest way possible.I do a lot of Crossfit and general heavy powerlifting. I like many sports, but primarily ones that involves burst effort--jiujitsu, MMA, rock climbing, Ultimate Frisbee are among my favorites. I strongly dislike running and most other boring endurance work. I also watch sports, but pretty much just the UFC and the NFL.
80% of fitness is diet, however, and the advice the mainstream gives you is dead wrong. Anyone who tells you eat more whole grains is trying to kill you. You should read Good Calories, Bad Calories. I've gotten pretty into the paleo diet, which I occasionally blog about here. I highly recommend, if you're interested in eating right, looking at Mark's Daily Apple. Mark Sisson oversimplifies some things and is something of a Luddite, but is a great introduction for newcomers.
I've started road biking a decent amount, more for the rush of speeding down hills at breakneck pace than for the exercise, and not for more than a few hours a week. Let me know if you want to go riding.
"All science is either physics or stamp collecting."
If one or two things had gone another way in undergrad, I very well might have gone into physics. As it is, I maintain a strong amateur's interest (and the computational side is, of course, related to my research.) I'm currently working my way through a couple textbooks. If you're ever interested in discussing quantum mechanics, look me up. At some point I'll post my progress here.
Contact
- Email (best):
- a h h {at} cs.no.spam.washington.edu
- Cell (rarely on):
- 413.570.0499
- Office (irregular) :
- Paul G. Allen Center, Office 503
- Post (seriously?):
- UW CSE Box 352350, Seattle, WA 98195-2350
