User:Jsmathematics

<!--Jason Auguste Schwartz (born November 24, 1969), nicknamed "Heavy J" or just "Heavy", is a retired music mogul and recreational softball outfielder whose skilled defense and timely hitting led the University of California, Berkeley "Glory Seekers" to an intramural championship in 1992. After a hiatus to attend the University of Oregon as a mathematics graduate student, Jason returned to the diamond as an outfielder with multiple teams in Santa Cruz, California. Weight gain and deteriorating vision ultimately resulted in his retirement from the game, though he is occasionally spotted in the Chicago area pitching batting practice to kids.

Early life
Jason was born in Los Angeles, California, to Nelson and Marsha Schwartz. He has one sibling, Cindy Wheeler, who he sometimes calls by the nickname "Schweeler" as a nod to her birth name. Jason attended kindergarten and part of first grade at Charnock Road School before transferring to Brentwood Science Magnet Elementary School where he excelled in Mad (magazine) card game, handball, and trading baseball cards. After a lackluster three years at Paul Revere Charter Middle School, Jason attended Palisades Charter High School where he was generally recognized as a major nerd but did well in his academic subjects, made several lifelong friends, and continued his baseball card collecting.

College career
Following high school, Jason enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, where he majored in mathematics and joined his first recreational softball team, the Wombats, who would later add several new players and be renamed the Glory Seekers, the name coming from a $1.99 baseball-style hat sold at a Berkeley-area Safeway Inc. that featured a downhill skier and the phrase, "Seek Glory!" Apart from the softball diamond, highlights of Jason's time in college included meeting Nobel laureate Glenn T. Seaborg at a free lecture, taking a Mathematical economics course from Nobel laureate Gérard Debreu, and adding several key baseball cards to his collection, most notably a 1954 Topps Hank Aaron rookie card. Despite failing Quantum mechanics twice, Jason nonetheless was able to graduate with high honors and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.

Post-college career
At a lunch celebrating his college graduation with family, a relative asked Jason what he was going to do next. Oddly, that was the first time he had even considered the question. Upon learning that his mother would charge him rent if he moved back to Los Angeles, Jason opted to stay in the San Francisco Bay Area to continue his softball career with the Glory Seekers. During this period, which lasted two years, Jason was a case clerk and outfielder for a Walnut Creek, California, law firm and moonlighted with an additional softball team featuring Oakland-based employees of the United States Department of Energy.

Graduate school career
In the fall of 1993, Jason enrolled at the University of Oregon as a graduate student in mathematics. The rainy climate halted his recreational softball career, though he was able to take a softball class during one of his summers there. Jason recognized early on that he would not have the discipline or passion for his subject that he would need in order to complete a doctorate. As such, he spent most of his time helping undergraduates, playing basketball, and listening to music. He also began playing harmonica with two of his friends who played guitar. The three of them performed together twice in the Carson Gold Room and once at the Rainy Day Cafe. The former performance venue was the inspiration for the Gold Room Records label that Jason would launch several years later.

Jason left the University in June 1996 with a Master of Science degree in mathematics but remained in Eugene, Oregon, one more year to work at the University of Oregon chapter of Hillel International. Before returning to California, Jason attended the 1997 Horde Festival in Portland, Oregon, where he and his father Nelson were front row center for an unannounced Neil Young solo performance.

Return to California
Although Jason had lined up a job in Monterey, California, the company pushed back its start date at the last minute, which gave Jason the opportunity to sleep on his sister's couch and go bodysurfing 24 straight days at Seacliff State Beach in Aptos, California. Following that hiatus, Jason began work in the school testing division of McGraw-Hill Education. He was also able to rent a room in Watsonville, California.

Musical efforts
Back in California, Jason continued to play his harmonica, either while listening to Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen CDs, or accompanied by a good friend who lived in Danville, California. The two made a number of indie-style cassette tapes under a humorous NSFW band name, played house parties, and eventually became regular performers at a thrift store called Channel One in San Jose, California. Teaming up with a friend from the University of Oregon and another friend from the University of California, Berkeley, the pair released a CD under the Gold Room Records label. Jason also signed two other artists to the label, one a friend from the University of Oregon and the other a fellow performer from Channel One. Neither CD sold well, but this did not stop Jaden from planning a summer music festival called Goldstock to feature the three acts produced by the Gold Room label. An estimated 100+ people attended the concert, all of whom received free concert tee shirts. However, almost none purchased CDs. Still, the festival was not a total bust for Gold Room Records as the band Jason performed in was discovered by the manager of a Sunnyvale, California, coffee shop called "The Coffee Factory." Within weeks, the band performed a full set for approximately ten people, mainly friends and relatives. Additionally, Jason credits the Goldstock karaoke lounge with helping to launch the musical career of a McGraw-Hill Education friend who is now the lead singer for the Ragged Dragoons.

Rosa's Rosticeria
While living in Watsonville, Jason's landlady had introduced him to a fantastic Mexican food restaurant called Rosa's Rosticeria. Jason and a high school friend who had moved in with him frequented this establishment several nights a week for dinner. When the friend moved to Santa Cruz, California, both were surprised to find that there was a second location of Rosa's less than a block from the friend's new rental. As this "yacht harbor" location had an even larger menu featuring exotic Caribbean dishes, Jason and his friend ate there nearly every day, often 2-3 times in a single day. Multiple weekends consisted solely of playing softball, eating at Rosa's, and watching sports.

Job change
In September 2002, Jason left McGraw-Hill Education to join a small start-up venture called Pacific Metrics Corporation. During his 8 years working there, Jason also got married, purchased a house in Monterey, and had a son. For a brief period, his sister's family lived nearby as well. While at Pacific Metrics, Jason became known for composing funny tribute songs that he performed at company events such as going-away parties. Jason had purchased a guitar right around the time of the job change, though his repertoire of chords was extremely limited. As such, all of his tribute songs shared the same A-D-A-D chord progression. Jason also recorded his extremely rare "Schwartz Solo" cassette during this period, a collection of original songs and covers that featured background layers of plumbing sounds such as running showers and flushed toilets.

Move to Chicago
In late 2009 Jason accepted a Chicago-based position with a company specializing in computer-based certification and licensure testing. In January 2010, Jason moved to Chicago with his wife and young son. He remains at the same company at present, though he has since divorced and now resides in the Chicago suburb of Western Springs, Illinois with his son and their puppy, Snowflake. Jason also has a fantastic girlfriend who he has been with since 2014.

Return to collecting
Following his separation from his wife of 10 years, Jason rediscovered his love of baseball card collecting. Having amassed a sizeable bank account and having the ability to do whatever he wanted for a time, Jason quickly identified three collecting goals--


 * 1) Complete 1957 Topps Brooklyn Dodgers team set.
 * 2) Complete 1954-1976 Hank Aaron collection.
 * 3) Complete "Top Fifty" Wall of Fame

Jason quickly completed the first two goals. However, the third goal proved challenging due to its requirement of acquiring vintage trading cards of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. As Jason's legal fees from his divorce mounted, the purchase of those two cards seemed ill-advised. As a result, Jason expanded the "Top Fifty" project into a "Top 100" project, which opened the door for him to pursue several dozen more cards at significantly lower price points. At present, he has all 98 required cards other than the Ruth and Gehrig.

In addition, Jason expanded his Hank Aaron trading card collection to include bobbleheads, magazines, and other collectibles. He has produced a number of helpful resources for fellow Hank Aaron collectors such as comprehensive guides to Hank Aaron bobbleheads and magazines. Finally, to support his son's interests in astronomy and physics, Jason purchased several cards of Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei, and Albert Einstein for his son. At present, Jason believes his son's Newton collection has grown to become potentially the largest in the United States.

Renewed musical efforts
Jason's separation was also instrumental (no pun intended!) in his return to playing music. Between 2014 and 2017 Jason recorded more than two dozen YouTube music videos featuring his guitar, voice, and harmonica. Many of the performances are embarrassingly bad, though one prompted a fellow musician in Belgium to contact Jason about recording a song together. As was the case during his Pacific Metrics days, nearly all originals feature the A-D-A-D chord progression.

Wikipedia contributions
Jason's first updates to Wikipedia came just after the death of baseball legend Ernie Banks. He is also trying to fill in numerous gaps on the Legacy Awards (NLBM) page. Finally, he has offered suggestions on improving the accuracy of Thomas Jefferson's biography.-->