Summer of Dan

The unity of us all

If you watch this once a day, take it to heart, and strive to do better, the world will be a better place. If everyone did it, I can't imagine what kind of a world we could live in.

This could be the most moving speech I have ever heard in my entire life.

 

I watch it at least 3 times a day. The words just resonate deep inside me. Maybe it's because people don't talk this way anymore. They don't speak with this kind of passion and fervor. The message is awe inspiring.  Take it to heart. What bad could come of it?

The Great Escape

As many of you know, I don't have many rules on my blog. It's my personal space. I cuss. A lot. No topic is off limits. I speak my mind. It's my place to unload what is on my mind and just be myself.

But one topic I almost always stay away from is work. To me it's as off limits as I can get. I rarely talk about it because my coworkers are my second family, and yet they are far enough removed from me in my real life that I don't want to drag them into this small little space I have. It's mostly for them, not for me. We all have work stories, I just don't choose to share mine.

Most of the time.

Tuesday we had our Annual Conference at the Mountain View Grand Resort and Spa and as usual it was fantastic. It's a lot of work, but fun at the same time. Great people made it what it is as always. Paradise up in the mountains. So quiet. Serene. Beautiful. Just awe inspiring.

A lot is packed into the 3 days we were up there, from setting up to breaking down to general and concurrent sessions on various interesting topics and cool demos to amazingly awesome food and entertainment. The rewards for the work put in is well worth it.

I had some time to soak it all in and take some pictures along the way.

Two of the coolest mini-donkeys you will ever meet!!!

This guy was the man. Look at him - hopped up (pun intended...) on top of the Angora Rabbit cages to look inside the barn. Pretty athletic little goat.

This was taken about 1 second before his ears went back and stared at me intently. He was about to fuck me up. For real.

One of the highlights for me was seeing Randy Pierce and his dog Quinn. Randy went blind at the age of 22 and has not let that slow him down one bit. He is more than an avid hiker - he is quite amazing. He created 2020 VisionQuest - a charity that helps the New Hampshire Associated for the Blind and Guiding Eyes for the Blind. Randy's goal is to hike all forty-eight 4000 footers with Quinn within the next 4 years. There is no doubt in my mind that they will accomplish it. 

Do yourself a great service and check out Randy's website, his story, his videos:

http://www.2020visionquest.org/index.html

Two of my favorite quotes from his talk with us were, "Create positive adversity" and "Sight let's you see where you are, vision let's you see where you are going".

If he isn't inspirational to you then you don't have a pulse. 

I mean, Tedy Bruschi knows he is.

August Family

A few months ago, I was asked to help out on a charity bike ride. They needed crew and as tempting as that sounded I said no.

Many times.

The Niff asked me again and again. She would be riding, as would Kathy and they were really short on crew and needed help badly.

Although I had no idea what I would be doing, I said yes. The alternative would be sitting at home on my vacation doing absolutely nothing, and even though I had no idea what I would be doing or with who, I figured I would be doing it for two of my peeps and why not, right?

Best decision I've ever made. Ever. Aside from asking the Niff to marry me 11 years ago.

We got to Burlington Vermont after an eventful evening. Let me rewind 24 hours:

The night before we left for Burlington, I was coming back from our 47-3 win in Vermont against the Rampage. I took the bus and on the way home we got McD's. Being the fatty I am I decided to get a massive feedbag for the over 2 hour ride home. I mean, fatties can't go hungry, even for 5 minutes. There were 20 of us getting food, and being first in line, I tossed my wallet in the bag with my food and hopped on the bus. I attached the feedbag to my head and mowed down. About an hour later we hit a reststop and we all tossed our trash in the garbage.

Yes, I tossed my feedbag with my wallet into the trash. Only to realize it when I got home.

I got home at 10pm and still had a ton to do before the morning. But I had no wallet. The day before vacation. BAD NEWS.

I woke the Niff up, and we ventured out to see if we could find it. She navigated a state map, found that the reststop was about 75 minutes from home. I drove like Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black when they were chasing aliens. We finally found the reststop, I found the garbage cans...

Empty. ALL OF THEM.

As I looked to the sky to scream at the man upstairs, a lightbulb went off - go around back, maybe there is a dumpster.

BINGO. It was unlocked, and I spotted the bag with all the McD's bags in it along with a pizza box I recognized. I just couldn't get inside. It was a weird dumpster but this is yet another case where the Niff came in superhandy - she held my legs as I went diving. I snagged the bag and dove and dove and dove.

And I found it.

A little smellier, but a hell of a lot happier and relieved.

So we get to Burlington to the registration and are pulled aside to tell us about the ride, ask us some questions and give us a chance to ask questions. The first thing that we are told is that we are being welcomed into a big family. We didn't really know what that meant but we would find out.

I could write all about what happened on what day and what the Niff did here and what I did there, but it really was about the journey and not the destination. The Niff rode every single mile and that's all she had to worry about (aside from getting some sleep despite my snoring...cut me some slack, you try sleeping on the hard ground without an air mattress and not sound like a shipyard). Crewing was an awesome experience - packing up the gear truck every day, unpacking it, setting up tents, moving things, working pit stops and doing everything you can so the riders are comfortable and have all their needs met. Long days but to me, it pales in comparison to riding. The Niff rode 3 centuries in 5 days, and two days were double my max mileage on a bike.

But again, it wasn't really about the crewing or the riding. It was about the cause - doing what we could to raise money and awareness for the AIDS Vaccine. It was about meeting new people and getting outside our comfort zone. It was about pushing yourself. It was about needing the ride as much as it needed us.

I learned so much about myself, about the human spirit, about perspective, about love, about life, about being in the moment, about amazing people. At the end of the ride, I didn't just know what the term August Family meant, I felt it.

I can't even do justice in my words about what this ride did for me as a person and my soul. About what it did for me as a human being and how I cannot even wait for the next 50 weeks to fly by so I can see all of them again.

Daily Tails of Chase...

I was in an accident when I was 4 wks (2005), I became disfigured. I have a Furry Will to survive & I am completely healed. I require medication during the day to keep my eyes moist. I will always look different but I am in NO PAIN! I have seen 10 vets and they can attest to that! Im a happy kitty and hope to help other humans feel just as great about themselves and realize that not everyone looks perfect and that is OK. =^..^=

via chasenoface.blogspot.com

via chasenoface.blogspot.com

I've been keeping up with this little cat for about a year now. Some people recoil in horror when they see her, but like her website says she is in no pain and hopes people feel great about themselves even though we aren't perfect. The amount of heart this little creature has gives me hope for mankind.

Do.Want.Please.

I've always been interested in design concepts and things that aren't ordinary. I've said before that as I get older I seem to be a bit more interested in art and things of that nature and these are just two examples of things I want.

Below is a pen/pencil/tracing paper (or roll of paper) holder called the Place for Trace. You just pull out what you need as you need it. It can also apparently be a key and coin holder. Maybe even hold a few cans of soda on their side too. Or a footlong sub from Subway. Or 1000 other things. 

The other thing I love is this sink. Maybe someday when I own a house but I like functional useful things like this plus it looks badass.

Awesomeness Level of 1000 has been achieved.

Live life abundantly

Have you ever heard someone say "I have a book in me..."? I've heard it quite a bit. I've always felt like I've had at least one in my. Growing up I used to take one of my 2 "portable" typewriters and write stories. Pointless stories. 

But the seed was there. I always have too many ideas, just don't put them on paper like I used to. I am thinking of buying a typewriter like I used to have. Maybe my dad still has one of my old ones. It's much different than writing on a computer where you can easily be distracted by an instant message, get off track and check the weather for the weekend or even just go back and self edit whatever you are writing. You can't do that with a typewriter.

I'm thinking whatever it is, it will likely be a collection of short stories, maybe a combination of fiction and non-fiction. November is National Writing Month, but I really want to start this process before that.

I think going through Mantown and finally getting it as close to it as being settled as it ever has (ie: purging all old shit I no longer use/look at/need) is stirring this up again. I've held onto a lot of shit in my life and it's time to let it go and move forward. In the infamous words of Walt Disney that is exactly what I will do - Keep Moving Forward.

What Michael Jackson did for me

I grew up in the 80s and when I think about my first musical memory the first thing that comes to mind is Michael Jackson. I had all his cassettes and knew even then that his music was different.

Quite simply, Michael Jackson opened my mind to new kinds of music. He was amazing because of his musical range - his songs still invade my head and once they are there they hang for some time. It's far from a bad thing.

The thing that saddens me most about his death is he didn't get one more go around. Weeks away from his comeback tour, there was one more chance for him to see what kind of an impact he's made on people. It's sad because all Michael wanted was to love and feel loved. And I think this comeback tour would have helped him make peace with some of his demons.

It disgusts me when people talk about him as if he was a piece of shit pedophile and that they are glad he is dead. Whether he did or didn't do any of that we'll never know, but I do know that no one should be ridiculed in their death, no one should be torn down like that.

For me, Michael will always be about expressing yourself shamelessy in all facets of your life. 

I'm not the type of guy that can dance, but listening to his music, from the time I was a kid dancing in the kitchen to one Flack's wedding a couple years ago, made me feel like I could, or at the very least didn't have to be ashamed with my extreme lack of rhythm. 

He'll always be the King. Always.

Your best crazy face

I feel like I've accomplished quite a bit lately and that's always a good thing.

• It's always good to get fresh perspective. Starting a garden does that for people that have never done any of that horticultural stuff before. I'm looking to grow the biggest pumpkin ever. I have 3 shots. We'll see how this turns out.
  
  
• In order to keep a true perspective of one's importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him. ~Dereke Bruce
  
  
• It's been five years since I got my last license and I decided to shake it up a bit. A lot has changed in the last 5 years: the Sox won the World Series not once but twice, we elected the 1st African-American President, gay marriage was just signed into law here in New Hampshire and I got a new license.
  
  Before:
  
  
  
  Note the hair, the half smirk, the general look of content written on my face.
  
  After:
  
  
  
  This is my temporary license, I assure you the color version will be much better. Note the hair is gone, I have that wide eyed look and am grinning like a serial killer that was trying to get caught.
  
  Like I said, a lot changes in five years.
  
  
• I realized the other day that, perhaps because of a pack rat mentality, I have a lot of items that I've had for over ten years: my first pair of basketball sneakers (Garnett's  actually, almost mint condition which I've worn no more than a dozen times), my Nike Triax watch I bought in high school over 12 years ago (still wear it), my first stuffed animal I was given when I was a baby (Beary, he is the shit), 2 pairs of Oakley sunglasses, one is almost 13 years old, the other is almost 9 - these are my only sunglasses and I wear them all the time), a letter from sophomore year given to me from my girlfriend when she broke up with me (yes she handed me the letter and watched me read it rather than tell me out loud). These are just a few things. When I think about purging stuff and being free from all the excess crap I have I am inspired by this site: http://www.goodbyewafflemaker.com/ which was featured in a tech blog about someone using the web ala Craigslist style to get rid of everything she owns. I love the idea.
  
  But I'm not getting rid of everything.
  
  
• When you are depressed, check out this site. http://theanimalblog.tumblr.com/ If that can't make you happy then you have serious problems and I am guessing you are already in therapy.
  
  
• I came across this site that is an advertising campaign albeit an old one where Adidas puts up trashcans 10 feet in the air to advertise for their shoes.
  
  
  
  The only person that I know could put my trash away for me would be Flack. And I would like to see that. Live in person. And I would make him do that for me.
  
  
• Another site that I love - Terrible Yellow Eyes. It's a site dedicated to art that is inspired by Where the Wild Things Are. AWESOME.
  
  
  
• I really need a new camera. The one we have is over 4 years old and does the job for your normal snapshots but nothing spectactular. We can't add lenses, it can be super slow sometimes, and although it's a good camera we both feel weighed down by the lack of features. I want to be able to take pictures like these:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Sometimes the Niff hits the nail on the head
  
  
  
  
• OK...what?!??!?
  
   
  
• Techie Toy not yet invented that would own all music players - the P3 or the Portable Pandora Player. Not an MP3 player, but a music player that streams wirelessly using free cellphone technlogy (think Kindle's Whispernet) that connects to your Pandora account so you can always have random music. If I could invent anything I'd shut the hell up about it but I can't so the idea is out there for someone to make millions off.
  Enjoy, think of me when you are swimming in it, and just give me a free one, that's all I ask.

Dick and Rick Hoyt: Inspiration and Awe

There aren't many people in this world I would like to meet. I'm not really taken by celebrities and I have a tough time filling out a table if you ask me "If you could have dinner with any 3 famous people who would you pick?"

But Dick and Rick Hoyt would be there.

For those people that don't know who they are they are the most amazing story I've ever come across. Ever.

Taking from a wonderfully written article by David Tereshchuk that is on their website:

 "Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father-and-son team from Massachusetts who together compete just about continuously in marathon races. And if they’re not in a marathon they are in a triathlon — that daunting, almost superhuman, combination of 26.2 miles of running, 112 miles of bicycling, and 2.4 miles of swimming. Together they have climbed mountains, and once trekked 3,735 miles across America.

It’s a remarkable record of exertion — all the more so when you consider that Rick can't walk or talk.

For the past twenty five years or more Dick, who is 65, has pushed and pulled his son across the country and over hundreds of finish lines. When Dick runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that Dick is pushing. When Dick cycles, Rick is in the seat-pod from his wheelchair, attached to the front of the bike. When Dick swims, Rick is in a small but heavy, firmly stabilized boat being pulled by Dick.

At Rick’s birth in 1962 the umbilical cord coiled around his neck and cut off oxygen to his brain. Dick and his wife, Judy, were told that there would be no hope for their child’s development.

"It’s been a story of exclusion ever since he was born," Dick told me. "When he was eight months old the doctors told us we should just put him away — he’d be a vegetable all his life, that sort of thing. Well those doctors are not alive any more, but I would like them to be able to see Rick now."

I write this because many people don't know what love is. They think they do, but they really don't. Because this is love. I hope I grow to become half the man that Dick Hoyt is. He's an inspiration to not only parents with disabled children, but to anyone out there. People can complain about how they can't lose weight. Or they can't run a mile. Or they can't go to the gym because it's too hard. Or they can't make it through school. Or anything. But the next time you think about what you can't do, look at this 69 year old man doing Iron Mans with his son behind him as he tows him in a raft. And then ask yourself if you can do it.

I'm looking forward to seeing them run the Boston Marathon this year and the tribute that will be put on for them. Truly amazing.