Thought For The Day

Great spirits have always encountered violent oppostition from mediocre minds.
- Albert Einstein -

Three Days With Steve Jobs

This is the last of three days spent getting some background on Steve Jobs, and some great quotes. I'm sure you get the message; follow your heart, don't let negative people get in your way, and above all, persistence is the key.

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other people's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."
- Steve Jobs -

"Almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."
- Steve Jobs -

Thought For The Day

A man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?
-Robert Browning -

More Steve Jobs

In 1985, Steve jobs had a disagreement with others at Apple Computer, the business he co-founded, and actually left the company. Before long he founded another business, NeXT Computer, Inc., and purchased a second company, The Graphics Group. He changed the name of The Graphics Group to Pixar Animation, partnered with Walt Disney Studios, and produced "Toy Story", "Finding Nemo", "The Incredibles", "A Bugs' Life", and other animated films. He then sold Pixar to Disney and he's now the largest Disney stockholder and sits on the Board of Directors. In the meantime, his new business, NeXT, was actually purchased by his old business, Apple, Inc. He returned to Apple, and was appointed CEO, a position he still holds today.

"Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes....... the ones who see things differently; they're not fond of rules....... you can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things....... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."
- Steve Jobs -

Thought For The Day

Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.
- Robert Collier -

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs is one of the co-founders of Apple Computer, and arguably, along with Bill Gates, one of the most influential Amercians of the past 50 years. He and some friends built their first computer in a garage in California when they were teenagers. Nobody was interested in their invention, so they started their own company and made millions. His friends lost interest and took the money and ran, but Steve Jobs has never lost the fire. The "i phone" is his latest invention. He's such an interesting person, I'll be using his quotes about business and life for the next few days.

"So we went to Atari and said, 'Hey, we've got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we'll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we'll come work for you.' And they said no. So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, 'Hey, we don't need you, you haven't got through college yet."

Thought For The Day

Young people are in a condition like permanent intoxication, because youth is sweet and they are growing.
- Aristotle -

Growing Up In Simpler Times

While I was out Christmas shopping yesterday, I thought about what my father must have gone through when I was young. He died before I was married and had children and realized what an unbelievable job he did buying a house and raising four boys. Neglecting to thank him remains the biggest regret of my life. I was the oldest of the four boys growing up in Natick. My mother was sick most of the time, and my father had a very interesting but demanding job at the Navy Yard in Charlestown. He was a boilermaker in the days when most U.S. Navy ships were powered by steam. He and some other guys who lived nearby car pooled into Boston every day. It was a tough commute even back then and it made for some long days.

However, at Christmas we always had enough gifts under the tree. Of course things were much different then, no computers, no video games, no electronic gadgets, no cell phones, very little TV, etc. All we really needed was sporting goods because we played outside all year. Yes, kids actually played outside even in the winter. If it snowed we just shoveled off Billy Deans' driveway and played basketball from morning 'till night. His mom didn't even complain when we broke a window occasionally. When the pond froze over we skated and played hockey until one of the parents came to get us. Our equipment was usually held together with tape but we didn't care.

This is a great, exciting time to live, but things can get a little crazy at times so I enjoy thinking back to the simpler times. I'll be writing a lot more about growing up in Natick, joining the Navy, Vietnam, etc.

Thought For The Day

If the point is sharp, and the arrow is swift,
it can pierce through the dust no matter how thick.
- Bob Dylan -

Shawshank Deja Vu

At the Union County Jail in New Jersey, two inmates, Jose Espinosa and Otis Blunt, escaped by chipping away at the wall in their cell and covering up their work with pictures of Playboy centerfolds. When the hole was large enough, they crawled out, jumped over the wall, and they were gone. They also made dummies out of pillows to put in their beds so the guards would think they were still sleeping. Just to taunt the guards, they left notes wishing them a Merry Christmas.

I wonder if they saw the movie, "The Shawshank Redemption", while they were in jail.

Thought For The Day

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled,
and that has made all the difference.
- Robert Frost -

The Leader Of The Band

One of my favorite singers, Dan Fogelberg, passed away Sunday at his home in Maine. This is a tribute to him:


I thank you for the music and your stories of the road.
I thank you for the freedom when it came my time to go.
I thank you for the kindness and the times when you got tough,
And, papa, I don't think I said 'I love you' near enough.

The leader of the band is tired and his eyes are growing old,
but his blood runs through my instrument and his song is in my soul.
My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man.
I'm just a living legacy to the leader of the band.

- "Leader Of The Band" by Dan Fogelberg -

Thought For The Day

It's what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts.
- John Wooden -

Schaefer Stadium

Watching the crews clean off the seats in the nice, modern, Gillette Stadium in preparation for today's game against the Jets, reminds me of the first game I ever went to in Foxboro.

After many years of watching the Patriots play at BC, BU, Harvard Stadium, and even Fenway Park, they opened Schaefer Stadium, named after a beer company. Finally, on August 15, 1971, the Patriots played the hated New York Giants before over 60,000 fans. Nobody knew what to expect, and the traffic was a nightmare. We barely made it to the stadium in time for the kickoff but we had good seats. We had purchased season tickets the year before when they were still playing at Harvard Stadium. Our seats were on the 10 yard line at Harvard, but at the much larger Schaefer Stadium we were on the 40 yard line, Section 321, right in front of Reggie Smith, the right fielder for the Red Sox. Three of us had purchased two season tickets each, so we had a crew of six.

By halftime things began to go downhill. The concessions stands were beginning to run out of food, and even worse, running out of beer. Fans were buying as many beers as they could carry, and before long things were out of control. Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse, the rest rooms malfunctioned and backed up. It was total chaos, but the fun had just begun. The State Police were completely unprepared for the traffic on Route 1 near the stadium, so it was gridlock. We got home at 2 AM from an 8 PM game. Oh yeah, the Patriots won 20-14.