Michael Thomas聽Smith is a reader, writer, playwright, novelist, musician, researcher, teacher, pinball player, and impromptu traveler who drinks both coffee and tea every morning and has a fondness for petrichor.

Petrichor?

鈥淚鈥檓 not a princess! I鈥檓 an engineer,鈥� said Abrar Hammoud鈥檚 10-year-old daughter to her brother, protesting about being mischaracterized. Abrar, sensing a transcendent moment, recognized that her daughter had broken free from societal typecasting.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how to use this thing. Go figure it out, come back, and teach me.鈥� Those were the instructions given to Rich Dionne by one of his mentors as an undergraduate.