My name is Lori Hylan-Cho. I also answer to Lori Hylan, but any mail (paper or electronic) addressed to Lori H. Cho, Lori H. H. Cho, Lori Hylam Cho, or Laurie Highland goes directly into the trash. I currently live in Philadelphia, PA, but I've lived in 8 different states in my lifetime, so where I'm "from" is up for debate. If you've ever lived in Rochester, NY; Needham, MA; Raleigh, NC; Marietta or Athens, GA; Arlington, VA; Norwalk, CT; San Francisco, Truckee, or Mountain View, CA; or of course Philadelphia, PA, we have something in common.

I am once again a full-time software engineer, after spending my first year in Philadelphia as a happy housewife and the second as a stay-at-home mom. After completely losing it during the 12th month of my son's life and deciding that I HAD TO GO BACK TO WORK, I basically got the job that I left in 2003 back, to my delight. It's quite possibly the best job I've ever had—I only left it because we moved, and the higher-ups at the time did not look with a friendly eye on telecommuting. In any case, the break worked out well, and the company is more receptive to telecommuting now than it was in 2003, so I now work exclusively from home. (Yes, we have a full-time nanny; if you're thinking of "working from home" so you don't have to pay a sitter, I have one thing to say to you: bwahahahahaha.)

Before I became a software engineer and mother, I was a developer support engineer, a web developer, a writer, an editor, a web producer, a webmaster, a communications specialist, and a research assistant at various points in my career. (I was an English major, in case you're curious.) I used to speak at conferences and teach classes on JavaScript, the DOM, and Dreamweaver Extensibility, but I found that I preferred coding to talking about it.

I've also found that I'm a better parent than I thought I'd be, even though I'm obviously totally winging it. I actually never thought I'd be a parent in the first place, but then, I never expected to get married, either. I probably wouldn't have done either if I hadn't met a wonderful guy named Al Cho at an ice rink when we were both in our 30s... and if Al hadn't agreed to a 70/30 (him/me) split when it came to childcare.

I've been keeping journals, both written and photographic, since I was little, but my weblogging habit started in 2000 when I decided to learn how to play ice hockey and write about the experience. The avocado8 blog was born a few months later when I wanted a place to write about topics other than ice hockey. avocado8 existed as a website as far back as 1995, and it became a domain in 1996; avocado8 has always been more than the blog of the same name, which is why the great rm -r debacle was so devastating. I'm still picking up the pieces, but I'm becoming more hopeful every day.

In addition to avocado8, I'm responsible for all the content on lori-and-al.

Some facts and frequently-asked questions about me:

Did you actually use the tool you worked on to design your site?
Yes. I also use it to maintain the site. The blogs are all in Movable Type, of course, but I use Dreamweaver to edit the templates and style sheets, as well as all the non-blog parts of the site.

Will you design/redesign my/my company's site?
No. There are plenty of people who design sites for a living. I'm not one of them.

Can you tell me why this JavaScript doesn't work?
I can, but I won't.

Are you interested in writing or tech reviewing a book on DHTML?
Good god, no.

Why do girls play ice hockey?
Same reason boys do: because it's FUN and exciting.

Did you know how to skate before you started?
Yes, but not well. I could get on the ice and not immediately fall down, but I couldn't cross over or go backwards. I practiced at open skates three or four times a week for a couple weeks before I bought any gear.

Did you play other sports before hockey?
I played recreational softball from fourth through ninth grades but failed miserably at the only other sport I tried (soccer). I was the kid who couldn't run the 440 without getting an asthma attack, and I hated gym with a passion. I'm more athletic as an adult than I ever was as a kid (thanks to inhalers and no one telling me I have to), but until hockey, my activities of choice were individual events: walking, hiking, and biking.

Do you drink coffee or tea?
Hot chocolate used to be my #1 choice, but I gave up sugar in the spring of 2006, so the only chocolate I get now is a little of the unsweetened kind stirred into my coffee. I go through stretches where I only drink tea (decaf mango ceylon, decaf earl grey, or Typhoo decaffeinated), and stretches where I only drink coffee (usually decaf short lattes from Starbucks). I love homemade iced coffee and will drink 2 or 3 glasses a day in the summer, but I'm not particularly fond of iced tea. You'll notice that I only ever drink decaf (unless I have a migraine); caffeine gives me headaches.

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