A Happy Birthday

The Darwin group gave me a nice cake for my birthday. A thoughtful gesture. Joanne made me prime rib and lobster for dinner and gave me a paper shredder from Staples. Not sure what she had in mind on the shredder gift. My in-laws gave me a nice Home Depot gift card. All three kids called me as well as my mother, brother and niece. It was the nicest birthday ever.
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I'm 54 today. I used to think that the fifties were old. Not now.
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If I died tomorrow, there would be no regrets. I never feel that there were things that I didn't try. I was not afraid to try stuff, not afraid of failure or mistakes. Making decisions was never a problem for me. This morning on TV, Maria Shriver, a Kennedy and wife of Arnold Schwartzernegger, said that all successful people have been told no, and have had failures in their life.
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The weird thing is that you can fail over and over, but you are ultimately judged by your success. Babe Ruth led the major leagues in strikeouts as well as home runs. Nobody calls him the Strikeout King.
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My family and friends constitute my definition of success. Money and possessions are hollow in comparison to the quality of your family and friends.
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As I look back, there are things that I could have done differently. And my actions by no means produced the intended results in a number of key incidents. There were advances as well as fallout, for me, and other people. But I can sincerely say that anything I did, I did in good faith, with no ill will or underhanded intent. Thus, no regrets, and a thankfulness for the insight that each action taught me.
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But I think that I have a lot more things to do. Telecom and Darwin, Sundance, the Tender and Boats, the Blog, my kids and future grandkids, Joanne, fishing, real estate deals - there are a ton of things left to do - things to experience - things to prove - things to enjoy.
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Trying stuff in good faith is the key. Success or failure just makes it interesting.
I'm not done trying yet.

Indians

American Indians hold a special fascination for me. Hence, the name of this blog, "Nanepashemet", the Sachem of the Naumkeag who was killed by Tarratines in 1619. Once again, like boatbuilding, I have no explanation as to why I would be interested in this.
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What causes people to be interested in particular subjects? Could it be karmic experiences from past reincarnations? Why should I be interested in Indians and boats rather than airplanes and mountain climbing? Why does this type of question even intrigue me? Why do I Blog? Why is my head starting to explode?
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Time to call it a day.

Skipped SF

Back from Jacksonville, Florida. The Hampton Inn seemed eerily like the one in Nashville, TN.
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In all seriousness, the homogenieity of this country, caused by corporate development of the outlying surburban landscape has produced a devastating, monotonous sameness. For all the travel I do, I rarely feel like I see anything new and unique.
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OK, so I just got in and am grumpy and tired. But I have a reason to be.
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Five hours of Dave and Busters in a sterile surburban location. We paid for the customer get together and hung out with them playing arcade games. As you can see, I'll go to any depths to get this Darwin juggernaut in a stable orbit.
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I skipped the LA trip in favor of Kerry and Emily, but still will go with Dave to Chicago by the end of the week. All of which means that the peeps will not be neglected as much as I had originally feared.

Stops this Week

Jacksonville, Florida
San Francisco
Chicago
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Then back to the best place on Earth by next Friday- my couch in Marblehead.
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I will probably neglect the blog until then. If you need a fix, you may have to check back in the Archives. Pretend it is mid-Sept.

Seating Decisions

For the Tender Seats, I'm thinking of fitting the cedar planking as a monolithic piece like these examples, rather that the original floorboard like Olkume plywood slats.

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Nothing to it but to do it.

Christmas Tree

Quite an odd tradition. Putting a pine tree in your living room for a month or so every winter.
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Pats are having a game of it with the lowly Lions. They always seem to play down to the level of the competition. It's the middle of the third qtr. ,13-13, and Brady just tossed a pick. I could be watching the squirrel at my birdfeeder soon if this keeps up.
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Now its 21-21 with 7:50 left.
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Cory Dillon just scored his third rushing touchdown with 2:30 left , 28-21.
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Vrabel intercepted with less than 2 minutes, Patriots take a knee and survive with the win.

Squirrel Documentary

This is a film that I will be submitting to the Discovery Channel. It is a fascinating look at the feeding habits of a squirrel who eats the sunflower seeds at my birdfeeder, originally intended for Cardinals, Bluejays and Chickadees.
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As far as I know, this is the only documentation ever of a squirrel actually feeding from a birdfeeder.
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Enjoy the wonders of nature.

A ShootOut Victory

As you can see, I clearly kicked Kim Reny's ass in the Thanksgiving Eve Digital Shootout.

Nice try Kim.

Tools

I don't want you to think that I am weird or kinky or anything, but I like to look at my tools.
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There is a feeling of potential kinetic energy in the sight of them.
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So, Bring it ON! I know that I have just lobbed you a high, soft one.

Surprise Brian Butler

Happy Birthday Brian.
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Katelyn and Jay got you a copy of Brokeback Mountain and other stuff wrapped in pink. WHAT UP WITH THAT????
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Not that there is anything wrong with it, despite the obvious and unfeeling reaction from Lauren and Jill.
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The Lucky Bastard

Jason Shauer is the lucky bastard that I told you about earlier. This is a better picture of Bridgit.

Lucky Bastard!

Jill and Kate are Coming Over

Maybe I'll take their picture. They seem to like that.