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