Sunday night – happy fathers day, really !

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today is on of those days that I’m supposed to dread.. and I have for sevral of the last few years.. but today.. I just didn’t seem to mind as much.  had the same mix of happy and sad memories .. plus general spacing out that I have on most days since Sam’s passing..

 

I did  get to talk to my dad today and wish him a happy birthday (love you pa).. I also want to send my love and fathers day greetings ot my father in law gabe. brother Billy and brother in law John.. and all you other dad’s out there.. LOVE YOU ALL ! Dad-power !

 

The big outing today was with Jim, Sue, Dustin and Dannie peters. This is their first Fathers day since Dylan died.. and it’s was a tough one for them. those first weeks, months and years are so very tough. It was good hanging out with them. Our two families went for a bike ride on the stowe rec path..except for me, actually,  My knees don’t take to bike riding.. so I just ran.. They went 9 miles and I went 6.. a beautiful day .the path was crowded which made for good people watching. We all met back up at the Mat shop for lunch and ice cream..


Here’s Gabe through my iced tea glass..

Gabe gave Jim a really nice homemade fathers day preasant.. he made Dylan’s initials ‘DP’ in a sandwich of copper and brass.. he’d worked hard on it.. and I could tell jim was touched..

 

We said goodbye to the peters.. it was very good to be with them.. even though we’re sharing such sadness…

 

On the way home we took a nostalgic stop at the waterbury flea market.. it was closing up.. just a few stands were still open.. but it brought back warm memories of taking the three kids there nearly every weekend in the summer.

I remember Sam always wanting to buy athe biggest baddest knife he could find… (no sam.. not today 🙂

 

We got home around 4.. Given that I could do anything I wanted on fathers day.. I wanted to build/fix something with my family. Diane and I got out early and I got parts to repair a fountain the kids had once given Diane for mothers day.. Diane and Gabe helped me rebuild it. It was a funny build.. metal, wood, plastic.. but one part  involved cutting some steel braces..

 

I marked the hol positions with pen.. then I noticed the progression of expressions they seemed to carry…

ending on kindof a cute and hopeful halfsmile

Later tonight, Gabe gave me a present. too it was  .. a necklace he’d made witht he letters ‘MSG’ (max, sam gabe) which he’d hand cut out in sliver.. I’m wearing it now.. it’s really beautiful. it means so much to me !

ok.. time to sleep.. more tomorow..

 

nite all, nite sam

-me

 

Saturday night – graduated

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Today was peaceful and quiet.. started out hot and humid.. then rain.. then beautiful. A good day for graduations.. We had lots of friends walk the stage today.. from MMU. L too many to name.. but folks like sumner, paulo, jacki, casey. ..graduated.. . from essex our buddy Nick..

We were invited to a couple of parties.. First we went to sumner’s .. i am so proud of him. It’s so good to see him graduate. He’s been part of our lives since he was tiny.. .. hard to believe he was ever tiny !.   When Sumner’s dad died in 2000 I remember promising his mom that we’d look out for him.. then when sam died, sumner promised to look out for us.. .. and we’ve both kept our words..   he’ll always be part of our lives..

After hanging out at sumners we headed to Nick’s .. Nick went to Essex.. he’s an awesome kid.. a great guitar player too. He played Phish’s “if I would, I could” at Sam’s memorial.. I’ll never forget that.. He’s going to do premed now..    I managed to forget to take his picture.. but I managed to get a snap of his cake complete with picture..

 

and that was our day…   counting milestones with others.. each a new start.. each a gentle tug on my heartstrings.. good luck all you grads… go out there and do cool stuff.. eat weird food, go uncommon places, build new things, try new thoughts.. take some risks,  make mistakes, find new loves, and don’t take life too seriously (do as I say.. not as I do 🙂 …

 

nite all, nite sam..

-me

 

Friday night – Max’s brithday

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Happy Birthday Maxwell Mariano Cohn.. 23 years !

Diane and I just got back from a very quick down and back to see Max for his birthday.. we had cake at about 1 AM.

here we are at 5:30 this morning on our way out… tired but happy !


I’m so proud of that boy.. He’s at a really good place in is life.. He’s just graduated from pratt where he did very well doing something he really loves. I love seeing how he’s setting in to grownup-hood. He’s such a funny wise and thoughtful guy.. He has managed to absorb an amazing and varied amount of information and interests in his 23 years.. I love talking to him about anything and everything: math, cooking. cosmology, comics, philosophy, music, life, electronics, books… he thinks and feels deeply.. and has a different view of the world than anyone I’ve ever met..

I am enjoying watching him figure out what to do next… I remember how fun and scary that moment in life was.. and I’m secretly glad that it’s him doing it now.. not me 🙂

Happy birthday my son.. we’re so proud of you.. and so glad you’re our kid !

here are a few school projects I found on max’s vimeo..

here’s an early trailer for one of his thesis projects.. its actually a tribute to Sam.. the final product is so amazing.. i’ll post it when it gets to vimeo.. This is in 16mm

 

Finestra – Trailer from Maxwell Cohn on Vimeo.

Here’s a school project done in 8mm black and white..
he describes it on the site as:

1. make jello mold of head
2. fill with jello
3. blow up jello head

Constructed, Filmed,
Exploded and Edited by Maxwell Cohn

 

Jello Gunpowder from Maxwell Cohn on Vimeo.

and here’s another .. him just messing around with fire on the boat..

 

Sparx from Maxwell Cohn on Vimeo.

-nite all, nite sam..
-me

Thursday night – Bloomsday / IBMday / Maxday

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Today marks three very important milestones.. First.. it’s the 103rd observation of Bloomsday.. the celebration of the 24 hour day immortalized in James Joyce’s Ulysses .. one of my most favorite books of all times..Second, it’s the official 100th birthday of my company, IBM.. last and most importantly.. it’s the night before Max’s 23rd birthday.

Every Bloomsdays, Joyce geeks all over the world take turns drinking Guinness reading from the dense and tortuous stream of consciousness stories about Leopold Blooms somewhat unremarkable day..

somewhat similarly..

every one hundred years, IBMers across the world take turns reading from our equally twisted and wonderfully rich history in order to better understand our future.. .. ..

I had the very good fortune of attending a birthday bash for IBM in NY today.. all of IBM’s . execs were there as well as a really wonderful collection of folks from IBM past.. it was a great gathering.. On display there were all the things that make our company powerful, confusing, revolutionary , confusing and special are all on display… it was great… i had a funny mix of feelings… , wonder, frustration., melancholy .. but overall a sense of pride.

Now Diane and I are on the boat with Max celebrating his 23rd birthday. .. he’s just graduated.. now in the job market and enjoying being where he is in his life. it’s his first birthday away from home.. and we couldn’t resist a quick drive down to see him. We just went out for Pizza at 11:30 PM .. and grabbed a Guiness to round out our Bloomsday.. nice

Speaking of Bloomesday.. why would anyone ever write down every detail of their life in a stream of consciousness.. with poor or missing punctuation….

except.. here of course…

nite all. nite sam
-me