I am Pablo

I know, it took me over a week! But after having our 2nd canceled flight of the weekend we certainly needed time to recover. NY was an absolute blast! Congrats to you both TK and Jos!! Hope you are having a fantastic time in Greece!

I attended the wake of a friend today. The last time I had heard from him was just over a year ago - he had sent out an e-mail titled “Important - Tim Butler”. In it, he described his diagnosis and the beginning of his battle with lung cancer. I was so taken aback I had no idea how to respond, I starred the e-mail so that I would respond to it when the news had some time to settle. As time went by, the message made its way to the bottom of my in-box. The few times I would happen by it, I would ponder once again how to respond and save it for another time. As I knelt by his casket I thought I was too late. How could I have waited so long? After sharing my condolences, thoughts and love with his family and friends, I headed home. As evening fell and the events of the afternoon started to sink in, I decided to light a candle in his memory and re-read his message while listening to Adagio for Strings. While reading, a response finally took shape.

The last line he wrote was: “Thank you all and I look forward to laughing about this with you in the future.”

Tim,

I’ve had your e-mail starred in my inbox for the last year. I keep on beating myself up for not having responded to you sooner. I’m sure you understand that your e-mail totally took me off guard, and I had no idea at all how to react. Your candor, strength, and lightheartedness were at a stark contrast to what you shared with me, I think it goes to show how you will handle this into the future. I sincerely appreciate you including me on this message. Though I was never as close to you as some other mutual friends of ours, I always saw what a good person you are. Not only because of the ways in which our friends respect you, but also because of the way that Peggy adores you! You are very fortunate to have found each other and to have started a family together. She will be by your side through all of this and your relationship will be stronger for it. Your friends and family are here to support you as well - if there is anything I can do, all you need do is ask. I sincerely believe that everything happens for a reason, though it may not be clear now or even down the road, there is a greater plan for us all. It is obvious that you have touched the lives of many people and will continue to do so no matter what the future brings. That being said, I want you to know that I have been keeping you and your family in my prayers and I will continue to do so. I pray that you all have the clarity, strength and lightheartedness that you have already shown. I too look forward to talking to you and laughing about this with you in the future - but take all the time you need, we have all eternity.

Until next time,
-Pablo

I hit send, finishing what I should have long ago, knowing that somewhere in the ether my message will reach its intended destination.

His Obituary

I have just arrived home from the return trip to Minnesota. It has been a long weekend - but it was wonderful to be surrounded by family, and to be there for, and with, each other to celebrate Unky Steve’s life. (we have called my uncles “unky” all of our lives) The funeral service today was beautiful, I can’t imagine a better way to honor his life. Last night I decided to write something to read during his eulogy, as thoughts about his life, and his impact on mine had been swimming in my head for days…

One of my first memories of Unky Steve is at the pool when we lived in Dixon, IL. Unky Steve would demonstrate to us the arcane art of the Cannonball. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Canonball, let me take a moment to describe it. Unky Steve would begin by taking a swig of brewsky, he would then walk confidently onto the diving board, once he got to the edge he would pound on his chest with his hands, then jump as high as he could, grab his legs close to his chest, and attempt to displace as much water as humanly possible. For my brother Greg and I, this was the ultimate spectacle at the pool. We would watch in awe as the resulting splash would send water in all directions, creating waves so large that they would spill over the edge. He would always emerge, vigorously shaking the water off of his head, with a jovial laugh, awaiting the report from us on how high the water went. “It was higher than the fence!!” “It went up to that tree branch over there!!” We were amazed at this talent, and would try to duplicate it ourselves, as Unky Steve would laugh heartily at our attempts while taking another swig of brewsky. Nobody can do the Cannonball like Unky Steve!

Now I see that Unky Steve himself epitomized the Canonball. His voice and his laughter were both explosive and infectious. He made waves wherever he went, his joy of life spilling over and touching the lives of all of those who surrounded him. He would face each challenge by standing at the edge, pounding on his chest, jumping higher than the time before and creating an even larger splash! He was always drinking in life, enjoying every last drop. Those of us that had the fortune to witness it will always strive to duplicate his resolve and his passion for life.

For his last Cannonball, everybody watched. He fought like hell, approached the edge, pounded on his chest saying “come on Kimball”, and then finally jumped higher than he ever has before. When he came down into the water – his waves washed over us all, the resulting splash reached the heavens.

We’ll miss you Unky Steve.

Thank you all for your phone calls, messages, thoughts and prayers - your support has helped me grieve and helped me heal.

I was watching tonight’s episode of The Office and I could not stop laughing when I saw this:

I know that smile! Yes, that’s right, my old roommate Justin Spitzer!! I knew he had written for The Office last season (as well as Scrubs) but I was not expecting to see him on TV - and in High Def no less! Wow - I can’t get over it! I lived with Justin in Evanston my junior and senior year at Northwestern - we had a blast! I’m thrilled to know he is doing what he loves, and the humor in that role was totally his! After doing a quick Google search - I found out that he is actually the Execuive Story Editor on The Office! Fantastic!

I’m going to send him an e-mail to congratulate him - but I wanted to post this as well, see if internet paging works. Maybe he will swing by while egogoogling!

Your EXCLUSIVE look at the birth of their new baby!

Get ready for part 2 - when they produce a film like this for their actual baby!
On second thought - I don’t think any of us want to see that!

(Credit for the pic goes to Mr. Fitz himself!)

Una amiga me dijo que Gary Jules venía para un concierto en vivo aquí en Chicago. Tenía que ir. Y sabía, sin duda, si tocaba Mad World tendría que grabarlo para Miguel. Aquí lo tienes - me impresiono mucho.

March was quite a busy month! I know I wasn’t the best at keeping the blog up to date (Turkish hackers be damned!)… and there were a few things that I wanted to post about but never got to. Better late than never, right?

(click below to read on)
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Godspeed: a wish for a prosperous journey, success, and good fortune.

While paging through the usual drivel in the RedEye on my way to work this morning, I stumbled through an article about Bush and his plans for Iraq. Suddenly I saw something that made this war more real to me than ever before..

Under Bush’s plan, thousands of troops will be alerted that they may be needed in Iraq - including units already there whose service would be extended, or others that could be sent earlier than initially scheduled, said one official.

Moving first into Iraq would be the 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, which is now in Kuwait and poised to head quickly into the country, the defense official said. The Brigade, numbering about 3,500 troops, is based at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

One of those 3,500 troops is my friend, Liam. I had received word of his deployment late one night in December. I had returned late from a party and I immediately tried to call him, with no regard to what time it was or how drunk I sounded. I left him a voicemail and we had been playing phone tag ever since. I had no idea his deployment was coming up so quickly. On January 2nd I received a phone call from his wife Danielle who filled me in on his deployment and also told me that he wished he could have spoken to me before leaving. I too wish that could have happened. Instead I had a wonderful conversation with her, with his new baby boy cooing in the background - united their family is stronger, no matter the distance.

It has been far too easy for me to disassociate myself from what is going on in Iraq. Now that this has happened, I feel a new conviction to support those who have gone to fight for our country, regardless of how I feel about the choices that this administration has made. For every one of the 3,500 troops from the 82nd Airborne division, there is a family… there is a story… there is strength. The same can be said about the hundreds of thousands of troops already in Iraq.

Please join me in wishing Liam, as well as the rest of the troops Godspeed.
We are there with you in heart and spirit. When you return your family and friends will be waiting with open arms, and the bar will be waiting with two Gin and Tonics for us both.

It is a shame we didn’t get to speak before you left - but I am there with you now and will be here upon your return. Godspeed, my friend.

Technorati Tags: iraq, war, troops, deployment, godspeed

Fianlly getting to organizing a ton of CDs and DVDs in the office. I happened upon this gem and had to post it up for Mark! Your guesses as to the relevence of this classic should go in the comments - maybe Mark (or Dave, or TK, or Brian) will even explain! I seriously couldn’t stop laughing!

You need the evening action
A place to dine, a glass of wine
A little late romance

I decided to try and wrangle up the guys for a conference call to wish Fitz a happy birthday. As you can imagine, hilarity ensued! I decided to document the effort in the form of a report card. Each person was graded* on the following criteria:

Effort, Technical Knowledge, and “Other”

The highlights were: Steve’s phone greeting (sounded like a Vespa owner), Mikey pretending to be Mark and saying “Hello?” after every other ring, and Bally yelling in the background… hopefully Mark got a kick out of the messages we left!

Bally = B+

• B for Effort - hey, its tough pulling yourself away from the cabin to participate in such nonsense!
• A for Tech - he knows exactly how to “work” Fasana
• A for Other - he did a fantastic job of heckling the rest of us while on speakerphone (while sitting on the couch with a beer, I’m sure!)

Dave = C+

• F for Effort - this grade is for IBM making him work 3rd shift on Mark’s birthday - what were they thinking?!
• A for Tech - although this is unconfirmed, my guess is Dave has a better handle than the rest of these guys on how to make a conference call
• B for Other - for being there in spirit

Fasana = A-

• A for Effort - though he didn’t get my e-mail, he was at the right place at the right time and was always the first to call me back when everybody would inevitably get dropped
• B+ for Tech - though he didn’t know how to conference with his cell phone, the speakerphone more than made up for it!
• A for Other - considering that he rarely picks up when I call (ok, so its usually 12am when I call and not 12pm) he took the call while at the cabin!

Hutch = C+

• A for Effort - he responded to e-mails and made sure to let me know when he was going to be in the office
• F for Tech - he had no idea how to make a conference call, even with hours of time to prep for it!
• B for Other - for not going all BNT on us!

Mark = C+

• D for Effort - come on man, we called every single one of your phones!
• C+ for Tech - though he has all the tech he could possibly need to get a phone call, he somehow missed all 3 calls!
• A for Other - ok, so it was his birthday after all!

Mikey = A

• A for Effort = even though he never got any of the e-mails, he was still ready and willing!
• A for Tech = finally, somebody who knew how to make a friggin conference call!
• A for Other = for keeping us all amused - anything involving 6 guys at once, Mikey always comes out on top! errr..

Steve = C-

• C+ for Effort = he responded to the e-mails, picked up his phone but then suddenly disappeared
• C for Tech = he was able to conference Mikey in, though they work in the same building..
• D for Other = though his manner of answering the phone gave us all a good chuckle, when push came to shove, he bailed

T.K. = B-

• B+ for Effort = he was ready and waiting, and even though I’m sure it annoyed the hell out of him, he hung around during all 3 attempts
• D for Tech = he’s got a brand new cell phone with all the bells and whistles, and he can’t make a conference call?!
• A for Other = it just wouldn’t have been the same without TK telling everybody to be quiet and then promptly cracking up

Happy (now belated) Birthday Mark!

*grade calculator