I owe my exciting research opportunities to many people, not the least of whom is a librarian friend of mine who introduced me to the wonders of social bookmarking. I'd _seen_ del.icio.us and other services before, but Clair Ching was the one who really showed me their potential and use.

Ay, Clair. I'd seen her around our high school before, but I hadn't
really known her other than as a friend of a friend. Blogs brought us
together. Protesting the Digital Pinay IT role model search whose
application form included bust measurements, I found that I wasn't
alone. Clair not only coordinated with other outspoken Filipinas, but
also went to press conferences, gathered all the articles and blog
posts related to the controversy, and posted strong opinions on her
blog. The contest's sponsors backed out, and the contest was
cancelled. Hooray!

Since then, she's gone from Linux newbie to PLUG board member, from
shy librarian to happy problogger. Geek _and_ girl to the core (just
ask her about happy socks or dangling earrings!), Clair's just
_amazing._

And she's a fantastic, fantastic friend. She's seen me cry. She's seen
me laugh. She's seen me flail madly in the kitchen trying to figure
out what to do. And she ate the results anyway! Wow.

So here's to Clair:

(animate-string "Happy Birthday, Clair!" 1)