Monthly Archives: October 2011

Friday night – erev yom kippur

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Tonight is Erev Yom Kippur.. the night before the holiest day of the jewish calendar.. most years in the past I would have spent it in temple chanting  in a language I barly know.. considering my own shortcomings for the year past.. That doesn’t make as much sense to me these days as it used to.. Oh.. I still have the shortcomings.. but I think I prefer to think of them myself.. in a language I clearly understand..

Instead of  chanting in shul .. we served dinner to 21 folks  most of whom are staying in our house tonight. Max brought 11 of his friends in from NY (they rented a van).. and the Townsends are back from Canada..

My mom brought her dad’s military band uniform for Max.. here are Max and Gabe trying on their great grandfathers uniform.. so cool.. though I never met him (his name was Max, too) .. I now Iknow how big he was (not very)

even grand  doggie Reptar coem up from NY

It’s such a blessing having my family here and friends  in the house.. it’s a religious experience in its own right.

TOmorrow I’ll fast as will everyone in my culture.. then another feat tomorrow.. I’ll try to make some time to consider those sins.. I’m sure I have some worth considering..  It’s the day when you ask forgivenss  for those sins.. you ask forgiveness of your self .. and of those you may have wronged..

If I’ve done anything to offend any of you this past year.. I apologize..

next week starts the new year.. time for a new and better start..

nite all, nite sam

-me

 

 

Thursday night – giglamesh

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GILGAMESH KING IN URUK
I WILL proclaim to the world the deeds of Gilgamesh. This was the man to whom all things were known; this
was the king who knew the countries of the world. He was wise, he saw mysteries and knew secret things, he
brought us a tale of the days before the flood. He went on a long journey, was weary, worn-out with labour,
returning he rested, he engraved on a stone the whole story.
When the gods created Gilgamesh they gave him a perfect body. Shamash the glorious sun endowed him with
beauty, Adad the god of the storm endowed him with courage, the great gods made his beauty perfect, surpassing all
others, terrifying like a great wild bull. Two thirds they made him god and one third man.
In Uruk he built walls, a great rampart, and the temple of blessed Eanna for the god of the firmament Anu, and
for Ishtar the goddess of love. Look at it still today: the outer wall where the cornice runs, it shines with the
brilliance of copper; and the inner wall, it has no equal. Touch the threshold, it is ancient. Approach Eanna the
dwelling of Ishtar, our lady of love and war, the like of which no latter-day king, no man alive can equal. Climb
upon the wall of Uruk; walk along it, I say; regard the foundation terrace and examine the. masonry: is it not burnt
brick and good? The seven sages laid the foundations

 


At dinner tonight, Gabe was reading the Epic of Giglamesh.. a 4700 year old story of a King who was 2/3 G-d.. A smart guy with a perfect bod,, well traveld lost a good freind and spent time mopng around worrying about his own mortality.. A rreal regular guy.. except perhaps the 2/3 G-d part .. Reading the stilted  verse over my diner  i wondered if the author of this epic ever intended his words carved in a stone in a dessert nearly 5 millinea ago to be read with a slightly burnt grilled cheese, a glass of sweet white wine .. and soem 5 day old soup that tasted like the sea…

I’m addressing this to you .. O future historian.. pouring over the the digital remnants of my own musing some thousand year hence.. that you treat me better than I did poor Giglamesh.. and do not drip soup on me.. as I did on him…

nite all, nite sam

-me

 

 

Wednesday night – Steve Jobs

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3 minutes ago I was about to start writing my blog for the night when Gabe said “Steve Jobs died”.. I couldn’t believe what I’d heard. I asked him to repeat.. then I checked cnn and twitter..   This is one of those ‘where were you when you heard ‘ moments. I cant think of an other contemporary person who had as much impact on how we lived and enjoyed our lives. His genius shaped many of the things we do for fun these days.. computers, phones, music , movies. .. he even changed that way we think of companies His company was an extension of himself.. stylish , iconoclastic, quirky and cool.. always cool. you felt like you were cool just owning the stuff that Apple designed.  Under his leadership, Apple demonstrated that the ‘innovators dilemma’.. the myth that big companies can’t innovate was just that.. just a myth.. In doing that he made many other companies rethink what they were doing.. it’s certainly done that for us in Big Blue. He recognized the power of Design .. with a capital ‘D’ .  as the major difference between making somethign that’s good and soemthing that’s great. Think about it,  there’s nothing really special about the components that go into an iphone or ipad.. .. it’s the design of the experience.. that makes them special..

What I honor Steve Jobs most for though was that he put a human face on invention and inventors.. though he never claimed to be an engineer.. he was one.. one of the finest.  in fact he is/was probably the most recognizable face of engineering in the industry.  Think about hw many kids.. .. and adults he inspired through that..

 

he certainly inspired me.

nite all, note sam

-me

Tuesday night – stones

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trying to untangle a bit.. had a very productive day working at home so not much to report today..  One noteworthy thing is that even on a day that nothing happens.. somehtign happens. Like most days.. I got a few Samstone placement and finds..  For example, one of the guys workign on the Bridge Street Bridge in richmond found a SamStoen at the very top (thanks to whomever climbed up there tfor that). That bridge is very special to us.. e’ve all jumped off of it many times. I suspec Sam even jumped from the top of it.. but I’m glad I didn’t see it.. I’ve just jumped from the road.. plenty high for me..

 

Ohte rsamstoen placements today incliude this one from Davd.half way up a cliff . while rock climbing in NY

Or these from Cheryl in Nevada and Arizona.. That’s the real London Bridge (As Jerry Jeff Walker sings in London Homesick Blues,, even London Bridge is falling down.. and moved to Arizona.. “)

 

Cheryl placed ths one in a casino in Nevada

 

My freind Laurie placed this one in an Ironwood tree on Tunnel beach in Kauaii Hawaii..

 

 

It amazes me that folks are still placing these stones for Sam.. It makes me happy and sad every time one goes out and every time one is found.. here’s where they all are.. You can see the interactive map here.  You can click on the locations and read the story and see pictures o each one.

 

 

OK.. gotta sleep now.. More tomorrow

nite all, nite sam

-me