Brandon Smith's

I am leaving IBM and joining Bandwidth.com.

When Joe Gregorio exited my team at IBM during the summer of 2007, he opaquely announced that he was joining Google by outlining that his job moves coincided with road construction providing faster routes to his previous employer.

I recently got a new pair of glasses. Here I am with my daughter just two weeks ago:

And then I began to talk with my wife about when I got new glasses throughout my life. I could not help notice the irony that within weeks of a major life event, I got a new pair of glasses. I am reminded of Christopher Guest teasing Eugene Levy on the commentary track of “A Mighty Wind” of Levy’s peculiarity of selecting glasses before filming.

Junior High.

Upon graduating from elementary school, it was soon discovered that I needed glasses. I was quite young, and the late 80′s was not exactly kind to the optically challenged community:

Today’s youth have a much better selection of stylish frames.

I should note that I went through about a dozen of these frames. It was not long before my mother realized the economics of purchasing the warranty that covered broken frames. Replacing fractured frames became so commonplace during this stage of my life that I would go to the store to get them refitted on my bike. I do not recall whether I thought it was a good idea to ride my bike with impaired vision.

High School.

Awkwardness is one of several words I would describe myself during high school. I think I may have predated Harry Potter with the frames I had during this period of my life.

Nevertheless, I did play football. Between my freshman and sophomore year, I bulked up with my weight lifting. Further, glasses do not exactly go well with the football field. Thus, I would often wear contacts. Except I am petrified of touching my eye. Even to this day. My mother would pin me down on the ground, pry open an eye and jab in the contact until it stuck. I did not make it easy.

Abroad.

Between high school and college I went abroad to South Africa for two years like many do from my church. During this time I got my first “modern” pair of glasses (and stopped parting my hair).

Undergraduate degree. And the band.

Throughout my undergraduate degree at Arizona State University I played the bass guitar for the band Before Braille. (We just released an album of unreleased tracks, it is pretty good.) I definitely took on an “indy” look at this time of my life.

Married. Masters degree.

I got married and got serious about school and finished at Arizona State. Which led me to pursuing my masters degree at Carnegie Mellon. Just before starting graduate school I wanted a more academic look.

IBM.

I had just completed graduate school before joining IBM and had gotten new glasses. I remember feeling compelled to get glasses with a more “professional” look. In retrospect, they were boring. The glasses were the memory kind that bend back into shape. Here I am with my girls. They are quite active which proved useful for the flexible frames.

Bandwidth.com

Which leads me back to my transition to Bandwidth.com next week.