Goodbye Seattle, Hello San Francisco…

Friends. Home. My life has had a high amount of variance in the years since leaving Microsoft. I’ve traveled, worked for myself, done contracts, traveled some more and overall, had a fabulous time. The one consistency has been Seattle, which I’ve now called home for six years. At times it’s been more like a home base, but my friends there have always welcomed me home and now that I’m on the verge of leaving I’m really starting to realize how much I’m going to miss it. At the end of the month, I’m moving to San Francisco, to join a startup in the social gaming industry called . I’ve been messing around with the iPhone platform since February, and now I’ll be starting the mobile division, bringing Playdom games onto the iPhone, and hopefully other platforms soon. It’s a fantastic opportunity, and I’m really excited about the company and team I’ll be working with. I’ve barely experienced San Francisco, but I’ve always thought I’d spend some time there eventually and everyone tells me I’m going to love it. This excitement is only countered by my sadness in leaving my friends and home in Seattle. I’ve lived in six places in the US in my lifetime, (Cleveland, Madison, West Lafayette, Louisville, Houston, Seattle) and that doesn’t count the time spent abroad in India, Australia and Brazil, which totals about two and a half years. What does this mean? Well as Niels puts it, I’m nearly a professional in terms of moving. So I’m not scared at all about moving to San Francisco. New place, new things to discover, new friends to meet… I’ve done that before and I actually enjoy it. But no matter how many times I’ve moved, or had to move, I have never gotten used to saying goodbye. I’ll miss Seattle and the friends that have made it home. I hope to visit often, and hope they visit me too. -->