I had to write this for a Mentorship program that I am in. The idea is that you imagine your perfect day 5 yrs or so in the future....
"Soft warmth, an almost womb like envelopment, was the first thing I noticed. Soft dancing light filtering through my eyelids pulled me towards consciousness, and I began to become aware. The sound of the ocean caressing the shore just outside my bedroom window, the occasional shriek of a gulls and the creaking and clanking of the docks mixing to form a kind of music, like a movie soundtrack, setting the tone for the moment. I slowly fluttered my eyes open and looked up at the ceiling, admiring the dancing sunlight reflecting off of the ocean below. Next to me the bed shifted slightly as my wife began to stir. I looked over at her, tracing the lines of her neck and shoulders with my eyes, her hair splayed across the pillow like a fan. Rolling over I kissed her gently on the neck whispered “Morning love,” then rolled back the other way to get out of bed. I sat on the edge of the bed for a moment and looked out onto the balcony and the ocean beyond.
The sun was well above the horizon now and shone brightly down on the light blue gray of the windswept sea. I stood and walked across the hardwood floor and opened the balcony door, stepping out into the warm August morning air. I leaned against the railing and took a deep breath, smelling the air. The smell of the ocean is hard to describe to anyone who is not familiar with it: salty, musky, soft and sharp at the same time. Suffice to say it is one of the best smells in the world. I stood for a while just soaking up the sun, and smell, appreciating the moment. I walked down the deck and entered through the kitchen door.
My wife was busy preparing a bowel of cereal for our daughter Anna who sat at the kitchen table looking on. Anna turned her golden eyes to me and grinned her 2 yr old grin. At 2 years old Anna was just starting to come into her words, with basic sentences, not always all that grammatically correct, but understandable none the less. “Breakfast daddy!” she exclaimed. Like many children she is a morning person, awake early, chipper, bright and excited for the day ahead. I know she didn’t get that from me, but I have found it to be somewhat contagious, helping me have more enthusiasm in the morning as well. “What are you having for breakfast this morning?” I asked her. “Eerios,” she exclaimed. She has trouble with the “ch” sounds. My wife and I joined her for breakfast, chatting amiably, asking Anna questions, trying to develop her conversational skills. Being Saturday I had the day off from work to spend with my family. The plan was to spend the morning playing with Anna and the afternoon lazing around the house while Anna took a nap and in the evening she would go to her Grandparents for the night while my wife and I went for dinner and took in the opera.
After breakfast I went and took a shower and got ready for the day. Looking in the mirror I reflected on how all the small and seemingly subtle changes in my body over the last 5 yrs had accumulated into something pretty significant. Gone were the slight love handles and gentle roundness to my stomach and in their place was a leanness and definition that I hadn’t seen since I was 20 years old. Regular running and exercise, and perhaps more importantly eating healthier and more proportionally had slowly but surely recreated my body.
The rest of the morning was spent down on the rocky beach with my wife and Anna, discovering crabs, throwing rocks and playing in the water. There is little in my life that I find more rewarding than playing with my daughter, seeing her discover new things, the excitement and wonder with which she perceives the world never ceases to inspire me. Working as an Executive for an advertising agency means that I work quite a bit, sometimes bringing my job home with me as well. The $250,000/yr salary, however, means that my wife is able to work only a couple of shifts a week, and spend most of her time with Anna and I try very hard to maintain a good balance between work an my relationships, especially those with my wife and daughter.
After Lunch Anna took a nap while my wife and I took some time to relax down on the dock in the sun, just reading and chatting while the gentle swell lulled our senses. After three years of marriage we had settled into a good level of routine and understanding in our relationship. Not that being married and parents is easy, but we had managed to reach a point in our relationship where we had learned how to make it work well. We talked for a while about our travel plans for when Anna was a little older. The plan was to take between 6 months and a year to travel around Africa, Asia and Europe once Anna was about 5, and we had already begun saving and planning details.
When Anna got up from her nap we took her sailing on our Laser before getting cleaned up so we could head out for the evening. My wife was wearing her black dress, the one I got her for Christmas the year previous. After we dropped Anna off for the night we headed downtown for dinner. It was an exquisite affair, rich food, and fine wine in a lovely quiet little bistro. Pan seared duck breast in a red wine reduction over orzo with seasonal vegetables, followed with crème brule and Icewine. After dinner we walked through the last rays of evening light to the theatre for the opera. I am not sure why I love the opera so much, I was never exposed to it growing up, but opera and ballet have been longtime loves and my wife and I try to attend often. The opera was excellent, everything that could be expected, from love, to despair, a grand sweeping epic full of robust performances from robust performers. After the show we headed home, the day ending, back in bed, where it had begun."
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Where's My Hovercar?
My first computer was an Apple IIe. Amber screen, two 5 1/4 floppy drives, which sounded like a mac truck with a loose clutch during a downshift, and a monstrous keyboard that made a very satisfying clack and clunk upon depression, those were the days. I remember countless hours spent playing pirated copies of 2D games like Lode Runner, Prince of Persia, and The Goonies. The audio made the later midi of Nintendo sound orchestral by comparison, and the pixels were so large there was probably only room for 100 or so on the screen. I think I was the only kid in grade 4 who turned in reports on printed paper.
I fell in love in those early years with technology, and could imagine a world of flying cars, virtual reality, robot servants and cybernetic implants. While my car does not fly, and forays into VR seem to keep failing to be marketable (Nintendo in the 90's), and I still don't have a chip in my head that lets me control the tv or make phone calls, my love is largely undiminished. From the IIe to the NES, the 386, the N64, onwards to the birth of the Pentium and beyond, I was there being weaned on electricity following it's proscribed pathways through the silicone landscape.
These days the intensity of my love has been tempered by the songs of competing harpies and a general lack of financial ability to keep up. There have also been betrayals and unfulfilled expectations which have shaped my relationship with technology. Gone are the days when I would be excited to hear about Microsoft's latest achievements, my faith in that empire has fallen, replaced by the gospel according the St. Jobs. With my Macbook, my Ipod, Iphone and firm faith in Apple's ability to produce, I am a full convert.
My techno upbringing has given me a keen understanding, sometimes bordering on instinctual, for learning and being able to navigate programs and systems. There are a variety of similarities in most every piece of software and system, and if you know where and how to look they will give up their secrets in the form of keyboard shortcuts and autofill fields.
While I continue to be excited and hopeful for my cybernetic cell phone I do sometimes wonder when we will (if we haven't already) go to far in our focus on tech, to the detriment of the human "touch." The virtual world with MMORPG's, Facebook, Twitter, Second Life, Zwinkies, etc, may improve connectivity and networking but sometimes leaves me longing for the days when people actually had to put on pants and leave the house to be social.
I fell in love in those early years with technology, and could imagine a world of flying cars, virtual reality, robot servants and cybernetic implants. While my car does not fly, and forays into VR seem to keep failing to be marketable (Nintendo in the 90's), and I still don't have a chip in my head that lets me control the tv or make phone calls, my love is largely undiminished. From the IIe to the NES, the 386, the N64, onwards to the birth of the Pentium and beyond, I was there being weaned on electricity following it's proscribed pathways through the silicone landscape.
These days the intensity of my love has been tempered by the songs of competing harpies and a general lack of financial ability to keep up. There have also been betrayals and unfulfilled expectations which have shaped my relationship with technology. Gone are the days when I would be excited to hear about Microsoft's latest achievements, my faith in that empire has fallen, replaced by the gospel according the St. Jobs. With my Macbook, my Ipod, Iphone and firm faith in Apple's ability to produce, I am a full convert.
My techno upbringing has given me a keen understanding, sometimes bordering on instinctual, for learning and being able to navigate programs and systems. There are a variety of similarities in most every piece of software and system, and if you know where and how to look they will give up their secrets in the form of keyboard shortcuts and autofill fields.
While I continue to be excited and hopeful for my cybernetic cell phone I do sometimes wonder when we will (if we haven't already) go to far in our focus on tech, to the detriment of the human "touch." The virtual world with MMORPG's, Facebook, Twitter, Second Life, Zwinkies, etc, may improve connectivity and networking but sometimes leaves me longing for the days when people actually had to put on pants and leave the house to be social.
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