About... stuff
What is Baba?
Baba is the titular character in the hit indie game Baba Is You. I did not create Baba. Baba is not a bunny rabbit. Baba is neither male nor female. Don't you understand? Baba is you.
Why did you make a blog about Baba?
Baba solves puzzles, and at the same time, Baba is puzzles. I find that relatable.
And, I mean, this blog is not really about Baba....
What is this blog about, then?
Places I have gone? Things I have done? Thoughts I have had?
Whatever I want it to be about, GOSH.

Who are you?
I am Emily. Unlike Baba, I am not you.
You can learn about the broad strokes of my career on LinkedIn.
For everything else... well, there's this blog, I guess?
You're not even gonna try to write a bio, huh?
What is this, a dating profile? Oh, brother!
I was born into an upper-middle-class white family in Michigan. We moved around frequently enough that I have no strong regional identity. I liked moving because it meant I had a new chance to try to make friends, but I didn't really start to make friends until I started chatting with people on the world wide web. We wrote terrible fanfiction about Final Fantasy 10.
The fanfiction is still out there. I have looked.
Through some logical contortions, I convinced myself that if I was good enough at school, boys would like me. I kept being good at school until I got a Ph.D. in Psychology at Harvard. (There is an awful lot to unpack there.)
My post-academia career has gone through an unusual (yet also sensible?) progression of job titles:
- User Researcher (MyFitnessPal)
- Product Analyst (MyFitnessPal/Under Armour)
- Business Insights Analyst (Vrbo/Expedia)
- Data Engineer (Biden for President)
- Data Engineer (MyFitnessPal, again)
- Software Engineer (Community Tech Alliance)
- Engineering Manager (Community Tech Alliance)
As I write this, I live in Boulder, Colorado, with two cats. I moved here in 2024. Prior to that, we lived, uh, lots of places.
Why do I live in Boulder? It is cute! There are mountains, and there is a guy on Pearl Street who knows every zip code. I take pottery classes, I sing in a local choir, and I do stereotypical Colorado things like running (on purpose), hiking, cycling, and skiing.
Who 👏 knows 👏 what 👏 I'll 👏 do 👏 next?