My Love Lee

One of my favourite sounds in the world is to hear Lee laugh. It cheers me through. Whether he's breaking out the Goofy "Hyuk"s, or he's pounding out some loud "Ha Ha"s, or he's projecting staccato "Heh heh heh", or when he's overcome with mirth to the point of high-pitched giggling. It warms my heart. (I have been hearing plenty of it since Aussies Daz and Allira came to visit.)

It is easy to forget and take things for granted about your partner. Recently, I have been reminded that my husband is incredibly intelligent. You may be excused for believing I am a slow learner.
- When I first arrived in London, Lee demonstrated his comprehension, summing up all the raised points from a 30min meeting with no notes. This I admire.
- While I was in Boston, Lee attended a Microsoft coding workshop. The Friday was to learn the technique, and Saturday to implement it in teams with ideas pitched on the day. Lee and his team created the winning site. I am very proud of him.
- Lee has been passionately promoting opposition for the Rudd government's proposed web filtering, and now on-line tracking. After reading Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (download here free), I'm on that passionate train too, as well as becoming a Cory Doctorow fan (someone Lee has been recommending for a while).
- Lee believes in efficiency. Daz and Lee rediscovered a shared motto Thursday night, "Code re-use and optimal lane choice". For those confused: why recreate the wheel (code) when someone else has already done it and when driving, use all your faculties to choose
the best lane to get there first. Lee is very passionate about developing automated cars, so that the optimum number of cars can get through lights without being limited by human reaction times.
- Lee reads constantly. My inbox is filled with a steady stream of interesting and thought-provoking articles that have passed the Lee Filter. I struggle to keep up with him, but am taking up the challenge to read, digest, think, argue and think some more. To really engage
with the world around me. Growing up, Dad used to start stories with, "I heard an interesting thing on the radio the other day..". I may have married a version of my father as Lee's stories start with "I read an interesting thing on the Internet..".

Research suggests (as pointed out in an article forwarded by Lee) that people are often happiest and stay in long term relationships with people that are similar to themselves, have the same core values, extroversion and sense of humour. People in long term relationships start to resmble one another, after years of mimicking facial expressions. I hope that Lee doesn't pick up my confused/concentrating frown, but I'll be happy to pick up his laugh.