Gratitude

Godspeed, Neil Roiter

May 7, 2013 Gratitude

Yesterday I learned that a former colleague, Neil Roiter, passed away on Sunday from an inoperable brain tumor. We worked together at TechTarget for several years, and I’m a richer man for it. Mood music:  Man Of The HourPearl Jamrearviewmirror (greatest hits 1991-2003) Neil was a journalist’s journalist, a stickler for details and truth. As [...]

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Hearts Bigger Than Boston or Any Bomb

April 16, 2013 Gratitude

Whenever we experience the kind of evil we saw in Boston yesterday, pictures emerge to restore some hope in the human race: EMTs, police, firefighters and many bystanders leaping to action, giving victims medical care and getting survivors to safety. Mood music: As a lifelong Bay Stater who tends to be prideful of my Boston [...]

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Human Tourniquets And Freaks Who Love Them

March 29, 2013 Communication skills for the crazy

I originally wrote this three years ago. Looking at it again, it’s an important post describing a time when not even best friends were safe from my insanity. I’ve updated it for the present.  Mood music:  TourniquetMarilyn MansonAntichrist Superstar You know the type. They hang  out with people who act more like abusive spouses than [...]

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Don’t Go Away Mad

March 28, 2013 Gratitude

A funny thing happens when people share stories of the not-so-happy moments of their lives: You walk away thinking they’ve experienced nothing but tragedy. In reality, there are plenty of uneventful pages in between the drama. Mood music:  Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)Mötley CrüeDr. Feelgood 20th Anniversary [Expanded Version] One time I led [...]

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Live Like Renee

March 24, 2013 Gratitude

Erin and I attended yesterday’s memorial service for our friend Renee Pelletier Costa, who died a couple weeks ago after a 9-year battle against cancer. The last page of the service program was a copy of a letter she wrote about a year and a half ago. It’s a great testimony about staring down death [...]

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The Friends Joe “Zippo” Kelley Left Behind

January 2, 2013 Gratitude

The third annual Joe “Zippo” Kelley Memorial show is Saturday. Erin and I will be there, as we were for the first two, to pay homage to a golden soul.  Mood music: Joe died in August 2010. At the time, it had been years since I had last seen him, and I didn’t know people [...]

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Dimming The Lights

November 29, 2012 Gratitude

I’m taking a break from blogging here until Monday so I can focus on family business — specifically tonight’s wake and tomorrow’s funeral for Nana Ruth. If you knew Ruth Robinson and haven’t yet seen the Facebook page we created for her, please head over and “like” it. Thanks.

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A Tribute to Nana Ruth

November 26, 2012 Gratitude

I’ve been thinking a lot about Erin’s grandmother, Ruth Robinson, since she passed away Friday morning. I have lots of memories, all cherished. Mood music:  Damn GoodDavid Lee RothSkyscraper Whenever I think of family, there’s always a lot of dysfunction to go with the joy. It’s like that in every family, and the dysfunction can [...]

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Thank You, All

November 21, 2012 Gratitude

Things I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving and every day: Jesus, of course. Music, including today’s selection:  Paul Newman Vs. The DemonsThe Avett BrothersThe Carpenter My wife, who seems to grow more beautiful by the day, and our children, who keep us young. My work, because cybersecurity never gets boring, the people in the industry are [...]

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Life in a Place of Death

November 5, 2012 Gratitude

As regular readers know by now, I’ve been taking a class on how to keep my attention on the present. Saturday was an all-morning session that included a silent, hour-long walk through Oak Hill Cemetery in Newburyport, Mass. A lot of us tend to see cemeteries as a place of death. But I found a [...]

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