You can check out Jesse's page for one story involving Gene... Or at least something that belonged to him! Rather than tell a story here, though, I have decided to just relate how Gene has effected my life.

It is easy to see that Gene is someone that I have always respected and admired. I followed him into percussion. The coolest thing about drums for me was always the fact that Gene liked them. Gene was good at math. I remember in particular that he had trouble passing a high school calculus course but turned around and did so well on his AP test that the teacher no longer knew what to think! Thus, I automatically associated math as being something that was cool. Then Gene started to get into cooking, and I was right behind him. While it might have been short lived, the fact that Gene liked cooking was really the only reason I even gave it a second thought.

Gene excells me in many ways, though. He is definitely more creative than I am, which is part of why he makes a better chef than I would. I was impressed early on with that creativity. Grammy and Poppy to this day have one of Gene's early expressions of creativity posted on their refrigerator. It is a sketch that Gene drew. The only description I ever heard for it is "the never-ending hallway." It is something of a case study on perspective, and he has four planes, all with different geometrical designs on them, that meet at a vanishing point(it's difficult to try and describe a picture, hence that old adage "a picture is worth a thousand words..." But, you would understand what I am describing if you saw the picture!). I was always impressed with that picture, not only for the geometry involved(I still like math!) but also because it is something that I am completely incapable of recreating... Believe me, I have attempted it numerous times!

I guess that this kind of turned into a story, but the point is I still look up to you immensely, Gene. I think that it is wonderful that you guys have stepped out onto a limb and started your own business. I know that it is scary, but I also know what you are capable of. You are creative, hard working, and dedicated, and I am sure that you are already 10 steps ahead of your competition. I just wish that we lived closer to you to help out more.

You will have to let me know if you have a flickr, picassa, etc. because I do not have that information. Knowing you, though, you have already moved on past those things and are experimenting with Internet technologies I have not even heard of yet.