For Thanksgiving 2018 I wanted to recap how the events of the first Thanksgiving feast: here are excerpts from “Mourt’s Relation” and “Of Plymouth Plantation.”
Thanksgiving 2018: a Look Back at Founders Who Persevered Read More »
Some reflections on change, renewal, and transformation after watching a short video of the demolition of the house I grew up in. We think of our buildings as permanent, as much as we think of ourselves as permanent, but things change.
The House I Grew Up In Read More »
Thanksgiving 2017 is a chance to reflect on your blessings and give thanks to those who have helped you in the last year.
Thanksgiving 2017: Counting My Blessings, Bootstrapper Potluck, Finest Hour Read More »
Ogden Lilly passed away suddenly on Sun-May-14-2017. He worked as an accountant for 47 years at a firm that ultimately added his name to the masthead. I have relied on his advice and counsel for more than two decades and feel his loss keenly on a personal and a professional level.
Ogden Lilly 1948-2017 Read More »
For Thanksgiving 2016 we hosted the Bootstrapper Potluck for the third year in a row, it’s becoming a tradition we really enjoy.
Thanksgiving 2016: Bootstrappers Potluck and Reflections on Mayflower Compact Read More »
A thank you on Veterans Day 2016 to all of the men and women in our armed forces who made the United States possible, in particular this Silicon Valley oasis of invention and innovation I get to call home. Some quotes to meditate on follow.
I take a fair amount of inspiration from dreams, which I believe are a way for the mind to reprocess memories into new configurations, the same way that a mixmaster can beat eggs or potatoes into a smooth consistency. I think dreams are a way of reprocessing experiences and distilling additional insights and learning.
What a Mixmaster our dreams are for our memories Read More »
15 years after the 9-11-2001 attack on New York that left some 3,000 Americans dead and 4 years after the 9-11-2012 attack on a US diplomatic mission in Benghazi left four dead including a US ambassador it’s time for a look back. As to what difference this may make, George Santayana advises “those who cannot
15 Years After 9-11, Four After Benghazi Read More »
Kenopsia is a neologism coined by John Koenig for “the eerie, forlorn atmosphere of a place that’s usually bustling with people but is now abandoned and quiet” like the “bare ruined choirs” of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73. What follows is one of my “Spiritual Sundays” posts. It’s a meditation on loss and impermanence.
Kenopsia: Bare Ruined Choirs Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang Read More »
Christmas afternoon finds me reading “Courtesy.” It’s an essay by Ian MacLaren (pen name for Scottish author and theologian John Watson) that offers a recipe for keeping the spirit of Christmas alive in daily life. Here are some excerpts I found useful, the last finds me still clearly in the “before picture.”
Courtesy Keeps The Spirit Of Christmas Alive Read More »
No man is a failure who has friends. Clarence’s parting observation to George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life” is good advice for all of us on Christmas Eve. Watching “It’s A Wonderful Life” has become a Christmas tradition in our family in recent years: it’s one of the few black and white movies my boys will watch.
No Man is a Failure Who Has Friends Read More »
A recap of the Bootstrappers Potluck Thanksgiving 2015, and an essay by Rich Mullings that we appreciate Thanksgiving like a rainbow, knowing it won’t last
Thanksgiving 2015: Bootstrappers Potluck and Rainbow Shiny Read More »
In the last decade I have switched to drinking tea from coffee. I came across a neat process description for making tea by George Orwell in “A Nice Cup Of Tea” that mirrored what I do–except for adding milk or cream to my tea. I was struck by how often we think we have come
Mark Twain writes about a “dumb sense of vast loss” upon learning his daughter has died unexpectedly from meningitis in chapter 6 of his autobiography. He offers an analogy to a house burning down causing an overwhelming sense of loss that takes years to process.
Mark Twain on a Dumb Sense of Vast Loss Read More »
The process of maturing from boy to man, from a son to father to grandfather, moves forward imperceptibly on a day to day basis but inexorably year by year.
The following is excerpted from the December section of Abe Martin’s Almanack for 1908 by Kin Hubbard. Hubbard tells a story of a family reunion at Christmas–that must be at least partly autobiographical–from the point of view of a young man who has been estranged from his family returning home with his new wife. Like
Kin Hubbard on a Family Reunion at Christmas Read More »
We did something different for Thanksgiving 2014: we held a Bootstrapper’s Potluck and hosted a dinner for a dozen people or so with our family.
Some reflections on my relationship with my father seven years after his death. At least once a week I still get the urge to call him for advice or to update him on my children.
Joseph A Murphy 1925-2007, 7 Years On Read More »
I have started to reserve Sundays to write on spirituality, charity, and a higher moral purpose to our life as entrepreneurs. I was struck by the quote that Stephenson puts in Juanita’s mouth in Snow Crash and have concluded that he is performing a similar ministry in his science fiction writing. There is a sense
Neal Stephenson on Christianity, Grace, Sincerity, and Seeing Things as They Are Read More »
I didn’t know Leonard Smith but I was forwarded a link by John McKenna two days ago to his obituary (originally published in GreenwichTime on Jan. 26, 2014) and I thought it captured the essential personality of people who bring change to organizations in trouble and often start new ones.
Leonard Smith 1927-2014 Read More »
