I fell into this world in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in November of 1983, twenty-six days after Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was declared a national holiday. My full name at birth was Baby Boy Doyle, which was changed in time for me to have a useful Birth Certificate. Some time shortly thereafter, I was dropped on my head -- my parents claim that it was an accident, but I am suspicious that it was done intentionally to fulfill the cliche. This single act is probably the most responsible for the person I am now, although there are a few other contenders, such as the time I got bingo marker ink into my eyes, or the other time I got bingo marker ink into my eyes.

Spending my formative years in the South Hills of Pittsburgh, I attended St. Anne's School and Keystone Oaks HS, where the foolhardiness and brashness of youth was slowly educated out of me. After high school I headed east to New Jersey, which is a far nicer place than it is given credit for. I spent four years there, going to Princeton and spending most of my time wandering around the woods or pulling practical jokes. Having somehow received from Princeton a quite big sheet of paper with Latin words on it that convinced people that I was some sort of adult, and I went West, young man!, to Seattle. There I split my time between wandering around the woods and tutoring high schoolers in math, English as a Second Language, and U.S. History. Eventually I tired of carrying an umbrella and moved down to San Diego, where I remain to this day, wandering through woods and dreaming of autumn and snow.

My interests include light mischief, stock photography, typography, cartography, reading old books on football or etiquette, web page design (including our lab webpage and the remarkably similar WECOL2007 site), tennis, and board games. I am also interested in model railroads, parkour, playing the bass, history, lacrosse, steampunk, and old styles of dress, but I don't really do anything about these. I spend a lot of time reading and listening to music, and can make a series of questionably enlightening suggestions on each if you are interested. Also, I used to write a lot, and I wish I still did.

If you should chance to meet me, you may be well-served to know that I am a hopeless idealist, quite capable of overeating, disproportionately proud of my accomplishments, and vehement in my love of Pittsburgh and the people there. I do not care much for having my name pronounced as Gabrielle, as this is a girl's name. Also, my hair is usually a mess.

Lastly, if you are thinking of coming to UCSD to study linguistics, do. If you have any questions that you think I may be able to help answer, drop me a line.