The full gallery of photos from the Woodstock School 150th celebration held in October, 2004. (Probably too full and in need of cleanup, in fact…)
Words about Al
Ruth at Al’s Farewell
31 August, 2011
Thank you all for coming today to be with Al …..
When I was trying to plan this Farewell to Al, my brain went into overwhelm several times with the most spectacular episode occurring on Friday night – I wanted to make sure everything was perfect for his send-off to his next big adventure, that we could together somehow today sum up the essence of who he was and what was important to him in life – I wanted to do things in the right order, make it all flow perfectly, tell the right stories, have the perfect music, the perfect readings, make sure family and friends didn’t repeat stories, etc, etc, After my meltdown on Friday, I realised that this was impossible and that if Al had been in the room with me, he’d have been saying, “Come under my arm and have a cuddle for a few minutes and don’t worry – trust yourself, you’ll know what to do.’
So I woke up Saturday morning and I DID know what to do ….. we were going to get together in one place around Al, we were going to play some of the music he loved, hear from some of the people he loved, listen to Rabbi Shulamit grant his last request ….. and then, we were going to go back to our house, sit out in the sun if it’s a nice day, eat and drink, talk about him some more and probably cry – at least I know I will – and after today we’ll go on carrying him in our hearts and keep on remembering things he said and did – funny things, touching things, irritating things.
So, that’s what we’re going to do!
We all know that – in no particular order – he came from New Orleans and loved the place and was devastated after Katrina, that he went to Vietnam as a civilian, that he lived and worked all over the world with impoverished people to help make their lives a little better, that he loved his American and English family and friends, had a very strong set of values about right and wrong, was passionate about books, theatre, musicals, that he taught himself guitar, loved history and politics, was a true socialist, loved Asia, always had 5 books on the go, was a walking encyclopaedia – although strangely enough was not always right!, loved shaggy dog stories, hated exercise apart from high adrenalin activities like parachuting, scuba diving, and trekking in the Himalayas, that he loved to tell stories – usually more than once! –
That he overwhelmingly curious and was a seeker all his life……..
We all know that Al always introduced me as his “third and last wife’, that the night I met him in Jakarta at a theatre group, he came up to me and said “You’ve got to come out and have dinner with me “, to which I replied “Why’ to which he replied “Because I’ve always wanted to go out with a woman I could look in the eye!†So I did. We danced all night – as usual I lost my shoes in the crowd which he eventually found, we ended up in a sweaty heap in the middle of a huge traffic roundabout under a statue of Rama and talked all night.
We were together for 24 years and as you all know we had a good many ups and downs about numerous things. This last 4 years when I looked after Al was a hard time for him and me, but it was also a very special time. We often said that even though a lot of things had seemed to fall apart we felt blessed in that we could be together right then. I remember one particular afternoon shortly before he passed away when we were having a cuddle and just being quiet. We started talking about what true intimacy and connection with another person was and we decided that that was what we had at that moment …… and it felt like the best thing in the world …..so peaceful.
Al was a fighter always looking for the next way to fix his body ….. one of the last doctors he talked to in Oxford was refreshingly blunt – he said – go out there and live your life! Al asked if it was ok to go sailing now and the doc said “do it’. The next Monday we went up to the Northampton Sailability club – a place with specially adapted boats for disabled people and we went out in a 2 person sail boat. It was a calm day and he loved it. The following Monday we went again – this time the sky was almost black and the water dark grey and the wind was gusting. We sailed away from the pontoon hanging on for dear life. We never did quite understand the ins and outs of the sails and the wind (but Al would tell you he did!) but Al was in his element – I was more than a little terrified. We decided to try and go in after an hour. He turned to me and said, ‘doesn’t it say a lot about our relationship that we can now do this together as a team’. I agreed and told him I loved him. I’m so glad he had that day – he was walking on air, excited and connected to life again. That is how I will remember him, doing a goofy grin and being my lovely Bear.
Rossella, Al’s granddaughter
I find myself once again on an airplane to London, coming to the end of a great journey. Except this time, it isn’t my own.
Al was never the granddad that could teach me to ride a bicycle or swim; and due to the distance between England and all the places I’ve lived in so far, our visits weren’t as frequent as either of us would have liked.
I do however have terrific childhood memories of a lovely cottage in the countryside with a big garden to explore, cats to chase, cakes to eat and best of all: a squeaky staircase leading to the cosiest bear cave I’ve ever set foot in.
My grandfather was always a rebel, something I learned at a very early age when he let me sit in the front seat of a tiny, yellow convertible. “But my mommy says I’m too small to sit in the front!” I guiltily admitted. “Well, we just won’t tell her then, will we?” he readily replied, teaching me a most valuable lesson: mothers’ concerns become quite irrelevant when it comes to riding in a convertible with a wonderful man.
There was also a certain play-doh bucket behind his favorite chair in the living room.
Those were the days when he and Ruth were smokers and rolled their own cigarettes. It took me years to finally realize why rolling a cigarette out of what was in the play-doh bucket had to be our little secret, and to this day it tickles me to realize how hopelessly hippy he was.
A true child of the sixties, he spent his lifetime seeking knowledge and thrill across the world; appreciating life in its every crazy aspect.
In the past years granddad and Ruth’s has been the home base for all of my life changing journeys. I would visit them on my way TO somewhere and then again on my way back.
Unfortunately I’d be so overwhelmed with emotion (stress from the impending departure or recovery from culture shock) that I’m afraid I wasn’t very present and willing to sit down, listen and empathize with the phase of life they were going through. My grandfather on the other hand would seem to know exactly where I was coming from. Whether I was wrapped in Indian fabric or heading to the outskirts of Sydney to ride horses, he would have an appropriate speech prepared on life and how glorious it is. Nothing would phase him, in fact it all seemed rather normal to him at time when maybe other people didn’t quite understand the logic behind my decisions.
Most importantly, granddad thrived on knowing all about my life. I’ve never met anyone else who would call me to his room, slap the empty side of the bed and exclaim “come here! sit down! tell me about your life”. I took it for granted, and I now realize: as simple of a request as it may seem, how often does it actually happen?
There wasn’t one judgmental bone in his body. Every sentiment or concern I expressed was completely valid and precious to him.
It’s hard in times like these to gather one’s thoughts about life, death, how we feel about losing someone and what they meant to us.
I am a confident person, however my biggest fan and confidence booster is now gone for good and I know I’ll miss the little things. I’ll miss the bed where I would sit and talk if I wanted to, or observe his latest grand project in the making while he sketched away on a pad, groaning from time to time and asking Ruth to bring him something to eat – preferably something sweet.
I’ll miss the simple pleasure of sitting in a living room together watching television, sharing a meal
It may not have been a conscious effort, but his sense of adventure and, really, lack of fear led up to what became a novel worthy life story. This obviously rubbed off on my mother, and eventually and unsurprisingly, me.
I am twenty-two years old and I have lived in four continents, worked a variety of jobs and had my heart broken one too many times. I know this is a lifestyle I probably wouldn’t have adopted had it not been for my grandfather, and although it has its downsides, I’m quite convinced the best is yet to come.
Ian, Al’s son
Eulogy for a Character:
I’d like to start with a definition.
Char.ac.ter
1- the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person
2- an outstanding person: one of the great characters of the century
3- an odd, eccentric, or unusual person: he’s quite a character
Yes these are all things that could define my dad. Actually I’m pretty sure they had to make up those definitions to define him! He was indeed a character who had character. I’d almost be willing to bet money that the character of “Most Interesting Man in The World†was modeled on my dad.
They also say a man can be defined by the friends he has made and the family who loves him; having met many of his friends and being part of his family I can easily see what made my dad such a character.
I have not had the good fortune to know my father as well as many of his friends and other family members and much to my regret I did not get to spend nearly as much time with him as I could have wished for, but that made me value the time I did have with that him much more:
Sometime during my junior high or early high school years I got to spend one summer with my Dad back when he was living in Reston Virginia and it was one of the best times of my life. I don’t remember all of the details, my memory of days gone past is fuzzy at the best of times, but I do remember going white-water canoeing on the Upper Potomac at one point. However, my clearest memory was the day he took me to an Airshow and I got to go up for a ride in a rebuilt Stearman Biplane, an Aerobatics Biplane and me with a horrific fear of heights. It was an experience that was both terrifying and exhilarating and a memory I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. Looking back through the years I can say with honesty that that was one of the few points in life where I ever felt truly alive and I love my dad even more for giving me that experience.
It’s been a very long time since that fond memory and though I only got to see him one other time after that I know that he spent every day doing his best to live, right up to the very end. And that I think was his greatest quality; showing others how to live.
Forgive me a bit for descending a bit into geekery here, but I am what I am and I think dad would be tickled by the analogy; In a recent episode of Doctor Who, “Vincent and the Doctor” in which the Doctor and his companion Amy Pond shared an adventure with the tormented Vincent Van Gogh. At the very end of the episode the Doctor is comforting Amy when she thinks that nothing they did for Vincent made any difference in the end and the Doctor says; “Life is a series of good things and bad things, I believe we added quite a bit to his pile of Good Things.”
And that is what dad did for me and for all of us, he added a lot to all of our piles of good things.
Nancy, one of Ruth’s oldest friends and, for the last 17 years, Al’s friend, too
Ruthie has asked me to say a few words about Al, to remember him by – as if we could ever forget.
Ruth, of course, has known Al for ever and a day, they’ve been adventuring together for 24 years, overseas, in America and in England. I got to know him when he came to live and work here, as the husband of my very dear friend.
And when I sat down to think about him, I always saw him with Ruth. Al and Ruth, Ruth and Al. So this is a tribute to Al – and to Al and Ruth.
What was Al like? He was big, he was untidy, he lived with Ruth – and he loved her.
He loved to talk and to eat and to play – with his family and his friends – and especially with Ruth.
He loved politics, he read history and he devoured the news – and he and Ruth would spend hours talking about the world and everything within it.
He loved religion and philosophy and big ideas, and he wrote and he googled and emailed and he talked – and he saved his most insightful and most intimate thoughts for Ruth.
He sailed and he played guitar and he read book after book – and he did everything with enthusiasm and he liked doing everything best – with Ruth.
Ruthie was his greatest fan, his strongest supporter, his beloved wife. He simply adored her. They drove each other mad, they made each other laugh, they loved each other through and through. We all know that about them, that is Al – and Ruth.
Al was a socialist and an admirer of the NHS. In recent years he spent a lot of time admiring it up close and personal as he suffered from increasing ill health. But I think it’s fair to say that many of the nurses and doctors who looked after Al admired him too – for his determination, his will and his fight to keep going.
He loved life and he loved Ruth and he didn’t want to leave her – but in the end, despite Ruth’s wonderful care, the hospital’s ceaseless cure and his own strength of will, he died, in peace – with Ruth – as always – by his side.
It is my privilege to speak today, in memory of a fine man, who had a wicked sense of humour and a big heart.
As family and friends you’ll have your memories of Al, too. If you’d like to share your memories back at the house, that would be wonderful. But if, like Al, you like to save all the best things for Ruth, please talk quietly to her, or write to her afterwards – these memories of Al are precious to her.
Thank you.
Rabbi Shulamit Ambalu
Hesped for Al Straughan
I first met Al when he came to our local synagogue one Saturday morning with his friend Davida. It’s a very funny thing, because we had a special kind of service on that day, one we had just started doing, and which we only do two or three times a year. If it had been the usual kind of morning event, I think Al might have listened with polite attention and we would never have seen him again. But I clearly remember this. There was no sermon on that morning. There was hardly any of the usual ritual. But there was this. A short piece of text and a long and wholehearted discussion. No one told anybody what to think, much less what to believe. This was our Jewish experience at its realest, lots of people in the room and lots of different opinions. And at the heart is this, the notion that it is in the struggle, in the argument, in the spaces between our different positions that we might find the truth. Al was taken aback. He was, in our English way of saying it, gobsmacked. He loved that it was real, and also, with his passion and background in the theatre, he loved the sense of drama and story. With his instinctive pull toward metaphorical truth, and a respect for the mystical, Al came back. And he kept on coming back.
As his health declined he managed somehow, to keep on going. He talked about his spiritual life. He conjured up the emotional high of the Baptist revivals, the dogmatic certainty of the Catholic Church, the tensions of the faith inside his childhood home. He had an instinctive distrust of religious conviction. His many years of living in the Far East were not only vital outlets for his passionate drive to mend the world, what we call, in Hebrew, tikkun olam. They also brought him into contact with a gentle and open spirituality wrapped up in a way of life.
But this was somehow not quite enough. When his health declined in the last twelve years of his life, one of his many pursuits was a wide ranging novel, Shadowmirror. This winding mystery novel, set in his childhood New Orleans, explored parallel planes of existence, the relationship of men and women; voodoo and even had a Jewish thread. It was this Jewish thread that led him to the synagogue, ostensibly for further research.
But Al quickly found what he did not know his heart was looking for. Here, no one would tell him what he had to believe.
He was only asked to learn, to practice and to think. These three were not without their challenges. Always a willing student, he read voraciously, and kept a list of questions to ask me. Yet it was difficult to marshal his thoughts. His wide raging intellect would nimbly leap from topic to topic, and it wasn’t always easy to see where next his thoughts would jump. His most common question was “why’. His declining health made Jewish practice enormously difficult. Yet he came to synagogue whenever he could, and he made an impression on everyone who knew him. I think the last time he came; he told the leader of the choir that when she sang he felt the heavens open. He was well loved. He was a loveable, honest man of strong convictions and character, and he gave his spiritual struggle everything he could. I am only sorry I never knew him at his physical best. But I knew him at the time when he was perhaps, at his spiritual best. He struggled, till the end, for coherence and meaning, a struggle, we learn, that is never complete. Al told me that he thought a lot about the book of Job as many people do when they are sick. Job is a book that refuses the quest for an easy set of answers. Job must hold fast to his own hard earned truth.
Al was looking for this underlying truth, the unity, or one-ness, behind our different languages, our different cultures, different ritual expressions. He wanted to get to this ultimate truth, this essential indivisible One. This was the drive between every one of his free ranging questions, his voracious reading, and his practise of meditation. And though it sounds so simple, finding this truth, and holding on to it, is a complex, challenging struggle. He gave it his best. And the struggle, too, for the essential, undivided One, in turn sustained him.
Zichrono nl’veracha, may his memory be for a blessing.
Zvi Friedman – a member of the synagogue
31 August, 2011
Al was a big man with a passion for the big questions in life, questions of science and religion.
Sadly, because he’d been so unwell during the last year or so of his life, we didn’t have many opportunities to sit and talk about these things.
Here is a book belonging to Al, which he insisted that I read. It’s a book about astro-physics, by a Japanese American academic Michio Kaku and it’s called “Parallel Worlds, the Science of Alternative Universes and our Future in the Cosmos’.
This was clearly a book that Al treasured. Page after page are marked with coloured stickers, indicating passages, some heavily underlined, that were for Al of great importance. Some are labelled, such as this one; it says. “Survival of intelligence.”
I have to say that I didn’t get too far into this. It’s complex stuff, demanding a commitment to the philosophy of astro-physics strong for Al, but less so for me.
Yet it would have been good to have had the opportunity to talk more about these great ideas.
But Al’s spirit is now free of our trivial earth-bound concerns.
Somewhere in my mind is the hope that his intelligence will survive, and perhaps he will now know more about his future in the cosmos.
But for we who remain, well, I feel I’ve lost a friend.
Mandie and Paige
We’ve known Ruth and Al for 8 years, and was very sad to hear of Al’s passing. Al and Ruth touched our life’s in a big way more than what I think Ruth realises, I’ve never met such warm hearted, wonderful people who I didn’t realise existed in this world. We feel so privileged to have known them both. They have been there for my daughter and myself more than my own family and friends. One thing I’ll remember Al for was the day he called me in the lounge and gave me an envelope which had a card and money inside it, he said “Ruth and I don’t have much but we know what its like to have hard times and we would like to give you this to help go towards helping you out, as I believe if you do a good thing for someone it will be returned back and you and Paige mean a lot to us†. Well Ditto Al you meant a lot to us and we will never forget you and what you believed in.
Mandie and Paige xx
Addis
I’ve known Alton for over 60 years. So many memories!
As boys we often built houses out of cardboard naming them VAN THUTCHER MANSIONS,
why, I don’t know. We then joyfully would burn them with great pleasure adding sound
effects of screams. Perhaps this was early creativity?
We suffered through the years in a school we hated. Then with freedom, I fled to NY.
Alton to college. He was frequently here. Lord, we were so young!
I remember drinking cheap wine and passing out behind the carousel in Central Park.
. . all night. Alton insisted we spent a lot of time talking with Alan Ginsburg one
night. I don’t remember. . . .Wonder if Mr. Ginsburg did?
As the years passed, we stayed in touch. I remember when Deidra was born, I saw her
grow up.Then her little one. Alton was all over the world, and I was also.
These last years were hard, I know. He always stayed close via email and the
telephone. When I didn’t hear, I knew things were bad. Ruth, you were his anchor.
Bless you. . .
Thorton Wilder said the best tribute to the dead is not grief, but gratitude.
I will close with these words.
Thank you Alton-
Charlie Blank
August 19, 2011
Kathy & I send our sympathies to you and Ruth. Alton was a month younger than I and we went through school together and then off to LSU. We roomed together just before I married. Celeste was a frequent visitor. I remember Addis, who lived across the street from Alton while we were growing up.
The last time we corresponded, we differed about the afterlife. He could not believe that there was not something after death; I called it the Great Void. We would enjoy arguing passionately about such things.
Leslie Posner (and Nathan Cohen)
30 August, 2011
The sad news came on Tuesday, the earthquake on Wednesday , the hurricane warnings and landfall on Thursday to Sunday. This week’s mid Atlantic blockbuster meteorological drama, with its previews, performances, curtain calls and reviews felt like a cosmic salute to a mega force husband, father, and dear friend.
After all of these years of roller health and optimistic endurance, helped greatly by Ruthie, he went out with a shake, rattle, and strong whoosh–leaving debris in his wake.
All of us who love him, and those he loved–Ruth, Deidre, Rosella, and Ian–are trying to find our balance again. Here in Baltimore, we walk carefully through fallen branches and downed wires, and wait for the electricity to come back on.
He kept the lines buzzing between us for over 35 years, wherever we were, and was recently pushing me toward Skype, yet another new level of communication, along with Indonesian, which he encouraged me to pursue.
I am in no hurry to sign on now, as I know that the connection can never reach far enough, that the messages will no longer be returned.
But I have many memories to rewind, including those of our late June visit, and promise to help all of you keep sharing them as best we can.
Donna (Davida) Huchel
28 August, 2011
(Met Al in 1983; collaborated on numerous theatre projects in Indonesia and Herndon/Reston, Virginia.)
Al Through My Eyes
Al forged many enduring friendships as he navigated a world which never seemed quite big enough to contain him—or his enthusiasm. Mine was one.
If I had to use a single word to describe Al, it would have to be “capital C†Creative. The creativity that allowed him to restructure government ministries, found businesses, return to school for a Master’s in set design, write two novels and change bare stages magically into other worlds— a pre WWII Cabaret, a Transylvania mansion, the second smallest town in Texas, a pajama factory, an IRA hideout. This creativity gave Al the ability to imagine, during his long years of illness, a miracle cure, followed by a pain free existence which would allow new travels, new businesses, new adventures.
Along with the optimism wrought of his fertile imagination came an appreciation of what he had in the real world—and at the top of that list was his Ruthie: his lifeline, rudder, sounding board, and incredible “first mateâ€! While he “sailed†through many cultures and cultivated many lasting friendships along the way, Al never lost the love of his Louisiana roots (evidenced in his 2nd manuscript and 30,000 conversations with me), nor the mighty appreciation of his adopted English homeland, and all it did for him.
Al , as everyone who knew him appreciates, lived BIG in this world. No reason to think he’ll do otherwise in the next!
Curtis and Dee Wood
Austin, Texas, USA
28 August, 2011
Been there, done that.
That’s what comes to mind when I think of Al. He lived a full life- fuller than most- and enjoyed a wealth of experiences. And yes, it was hard to find somewhere Al hadn’t been, or something he hadn’t done.
While he was here in the states exploring yet another religious belief system, I heard him referred to as having “an old soul”. If, indeed, souls come and go through various bodies and times here on earth, I do believe Al had been here and back more than once.
I’ll remember his Indian cooking–always a delight to the tastebuds, and his passion for the theater. And his passion for Ruth. He knew what a treasure he had found when he met Ruth and didn’t hesitate to snatch her up as his mate for the rest of his life. I never did get to thank him for coming back to Texas for awhile, where I had the good fortune to meet both of them.
Thank you, Al, for doing another gig in Texas and for including Curtis and me on your list of lifelong friends.
Niamh and Graham
August 29, 2011
Thank you so much for all the love expressed through your post. Graham and I were privileged to know Ruth and Al in the Maldives where we shared many a fun evening and became really good friends. There was a infamous Murder Mystery Dinner party that will forever stick in my memory!! Probably helped that I am a great musical theatre addict as well.
Our return to the UK was pretty much at the same time as Ruth and Al and I have been aware of Als’ health probs over the recent years. We were just speaking on the phone a few weeks ago about him feeling well enough to come up and visit us in Norfolk in September. I love the photos of Al in good heart.
We shall miss him greatly.
Simon Barnes
26 August, 2011
A lot of people thought Al was an unlucky guy. I am in a unique position to know that he was not. He was one of the luckiest guys on earth, because he loved and was loved by [Ruth] for 24 years.
Introducing Your SmartOS Community Manager
About Me
I’m Deirdré Straughan. A great deal about my personal and professional life is available on my site, Countries Beginning with I.
I have been a community manager since long before the title existed, first for the Italian startup I worked for in Milan, then for Adaptec (when it bought us), then for Adaptec’s software spinoff, Roxio. The website I designed for Roxio was probably one of the first (in 2001) to explicitly describe its customers as members of an online community.
Before I ever heard of The Cluetrain Manifesto, I was acting upon my belief that companies and customers have shared interests in the success and usefulness of products/services. I found that customers had better ideas than I did about how to help them use our stuff; my role was less about leadership than about enabling and facilitating them to work with us and each other.
The open source movement takes this attitude a logical step further: though some open source projects originate largely with a company, they need a real community (comprised of both insiders and outsiders) to thrive and grow. And I enjoy nurturing such communities.
As for this specific community: I have been working closely with Solaris and many of its creators since I joined Sun Microsystems in 2007. Though my title changed a few times, my work at Sun (and then Oracle) was always fundamentally about helping engineers communicate, both internally and externally. Part of my job was to help the OpenSolaris community, including a stint as the secretary to the OGB shortly before the end.
Specific tasks included filming hundreds of hours of experts talking about technology, and teaching others how to use video. I also did social media production for technical conferences worldwide. I also do text: among other things (blog writing and editing,articles), last year I edited (the non-code parts of) the DTrace book.
Putting it all together, I have had the privilege and pleasure of working with hundreds of smart, interesting people in tech, and that’s something I very much enjoy doing.
About the Job
Last December I began working for Joyent – once again, helping engineers and other technical types communicate what they know, including using video. Then, about a month ago, I had the chance to change roles and managers while still at Joyent. Here’s the job description as Bryan Cantrill gave it to me:
Especially as we integrate native KVM into SmartOS, we have a great opportunity to build a community around the operating system: we are the first OS to unify DTrace, ZFS, Zones and KVM under one OS kernel, and we believe that that makes us the preeminent OS for cloud computing. But to make that happen, we need to build and manage community around it. This means a bunch of things, and I’m flexible on the definition €” that’s part of why I want you heading this up.
It means making available resources to the community that explain these technologies and why they are a giant win for cloud computing; making sure that we have an awesome experience for the developer and community member to download the system, learn more about it, and start building with it (which in turn means a web presence, documentation, the right downloads, etc.); that we are engaging with the illumos community to both strengthen that community and to leverage it to strengthen SmartOS, etc. This role is reporting to me because I expect it to have quite a bit of interface with the engineers.
I was happy to accept the job, and that’s what I’m doing now.
A few words about what I am not:
- I am in no sense a computer scientist / software engineer. I’ve attempted only one programming course in my life to date (Pascal, my freshman year at UC Santa Cruz €“ so long ago that I narrowly escaped having to use punch cards!). I had no particular talent for it. I see software, like music, as an art which I can admire and enjoy, while being damned near incapable of producing it myself.
- I’m not a sysadmin. I can just about find my way around a command line, given a cheat sheet. (I took a Solaris Sysadmin course 18 months ago, but never had the opportunity to practice any of what I €œlearned€ €“ and I’m more a hands-on learner.)
So you may have to be patient with me sometimes – I don’t know a lot of what you know. But I am not afraid to admit when I don’t understand things, or to ask questions until I do understand. If you’re willing to teach, I’m happy to learn.
Right now I’m just starting to learn who you are, what you want from SmartOS, and how we can help you. You can reach me at smartos [at] joyent [dot] com, and I often hang out in #joyent, #illumos, #openindiana, and related chats on irc.freenode.net. I’m a prolific Tweeter at@deirdres, and can be found on Google+ as well.
I look forward to working with you to help make SmartOS great!
Note: I should have had this post ready on August 15th, when we began telling the world about SmartOS and KVM. Unfortunately, I was then distracted by personal circumstances.
Originally published on smartos.org
Note: Around December of that year, I also took on the community for illumos, the open source operating system kernel which is SmartOS’ parent.
Dad’s Funeral
I didn’t take many photos – too much else to deal with.
Ruth asked if I wanted to speak and I supposed I did, but wasn’t sure what I was going to say. I work best to deadlines, so I pulled a few notes together in the car on the way to the crematorium. What’s below is more or less what I remember of what I said, but I’d welcome corrections from anyone who was there and remembers more than I do.
My Eulogy for My Dad
Every life has a million stories, and we all see those stories from different angles.
Dad was a great storyteller, and not one to let too much truth get in the way of a good story.
We’ll surely be sharing lots of those today.
I was born in 1962, when my dad was only 23 years old – barely an adult himself. In some ways he never grew up.
But today I want to concentrate on the good things I learned or inherited from him. A lot could be said about nature vs nurture, but I had plenty of both from Dad. He was the one fixed point in nearly 49 years of my turbulent life.
My dad had a strong sense of justice. Both of my parents were active in America’s Civil Rights movement – crosses burned on our lawn – which, in a way, culminated in the election of President Obama. I worked a little on Obama’s campaign for that reason.
This sense of justice came from his love of people, and his belief that everyone in this world should have equal rights. We’ve already heard that Dad loved musicals, and this brings to mind a line from the great American musical Oklahoma!, expressing a very American attitude: “I don’t say I’m no better than anybody else, but I’ll be damned if I ain’t just as good.”
He believed that everyone had a right to equal treatment, health, wealth, and the pursuit of happiness, and he worked towards that in many parts of the world. Although I’ve spent most of my career in the corporate world, some of that has rubbed off on me in the way I approach my job and the people I work with.
Another trait of Dad’s was that he knew Storytelling, and the uses of it. This has definitely carried over to me, including, as those closest to me know, the idea that any story worth telling once is worth telling again. 😉
Dad had great courage, including the courage to live an unconventional life, which he did so thoroughly that he left me as a teenager with nothing to rebel against. I had to retreat into bourgeois respectability for 20 years. But I’m recovering.
Perhaps he paid for it all, he certainly put us through it. But I think he would have said, with the great songwriter Kris Kristofferson: “The going up was worth the coming down.”
Other Speakers
…then we all went home and drank a lot.
“He’s a walking contradiction, partly truth, and mostly fiction…”
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The Twitter Diaries: June 5-August 22, 2011
8 years ago: Buffy the Vampire Slayer – My Favorite Obsession @amber_benson#
4 years ago: Growing Up in Boarding School#
2 years ago: Producing Social Media#
hmm, seeing spam links on bit.ly again. Does anyone actually see spam when they click on a link of mine?#
Dice are rolling, the knives are out…#
Spending the afternoon with a bunch of hunky cowboys. (@ SFGMC Hootenanny!) #
…and I’ve got a ringside seat for my beloved Ethan Pope! (photo, top) #sfgmc#
Just posted a photo # (see top)
Never thought I’d hear deep in the heart of Texas in San Francisco#
She sounds like a girl. She IS a girl!#
Just posted a photo http://instagr.am/p/F9P0U/#
There won’t be bad hair days in heaven http://instagr.am/p/F9QGp/#
@SniperWulfzen it’s the #sfgmc – always a great show!#
I can never hear the song San Francisco without thinking Fuck Anita Bryant#
Spent the morning talking node.js, now at the #sfgmc concert, tomorrow off to Milan. Yes, this is my life.#
An appropriate sleeve for my #Kindle #
SFGMC Hootenanny! #sfgmc#
I’ll Be on My Way #sfgmc#
I’m at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) (275 S Airport Blvd, San Francisco) w/ 113 others http://4sq.com/mdteCD#
Sonuvabitch is BIG#
Just posted a photo http://instagr.am/p/GBtY9/#
.@jamescmcpherson Video can’t/shouldn’t totally replace the written word, each has its uses.#
Slept some on the plane, but it’s going to take a lot of coffee to convince my body it wants to be awake right now.#
@trochej Glad to do it. #illumos#
Long ago, I’d be disappointed if I arrived at an airport and there was no one to meet me. Then that became routine. But it’s still kinda sad#
Someone dear to me (and to many others) has died: Robert Alter-Alumni-Woodstock School, India #
so my site is definitely victim to a weird hack which sometimes shows spam pages. Any ideas?#
Back in Milan for the first time in > 2 years. Feels strange.#
@lucaconti Wow. You are very brave. Please come back alive! #Afghanistan#
Why, yes, I am going to torment you with food Sometimes it’s the little stuff that matters, like good bread #
Marinated raw seafood aka Italian ceviche
Pasta wih broccoli and clams. Never had this combo before, very good! #
besides eating lots of good food, spent the evening in conversation, in Italian, wih a former colleague. Warning up those language muscles#
Brendan’s blog mpstat videos http://bit.ly/k0zlrL#
#sfgmc YouTube – I’ll Be on My Way http://bit.ly/iKzCrF#
In case you were wondering: yes, it is very, very hard translating technical training on the fly.#
staying awake in hard to o…#
So thanks to a wise friend found out my blog has suffered the pharma hack. Removing it may be beyond my abilities alone, but I’ll have help.#
@billblum Thanks. I think I’d better wait til I’m not collapsing with jetlag to tackle that.#
@rbanffy the downside is you won’t be there to drink with them#
Massive jetlag plus air conditioning outage = about to go to sleep on the table#
Milan doorway #
I hadn’t intended this to be a food tour of Milan, but when knife-cut prosciutto and burrata appear, what ca (cont) http://deck.ly/~HHkVB#
I take my job as hostess very seriously, even when it’s no longer my country (if it ever was, even after 17 years).#
@LusciousPear Well, dammit, now I’m far away!#
@sogrady @vambenepe Absolutely. It’s the teaser to get people to click.#
@Pinboard This might help: http://bit.ly/igqeY8#
Just generated a #TweetCloud, my top words are: people, joyent, time – http://w33.us/9q1g (http://twitpic.com/5f7dna)#
@ryancnelson good for you!#
RT @rosannecash: Happy Birthday, Kris Kristofferson, 75 today. As dear to me as a brother. http://lockerz.com/s/113102378#
This one’s for @jeffreytaylor #
A hard day’s work deserves… a giant mozzarella, flown in fresh from Naples. #
Two branzini and an orata. We ate the orata, or one of its kin. #
Crochette (potatoes n stuff, breaded and fried and YUMMY) #
@jeffreytaylor honestly, BlueBottle is as good – except for the ridiculous lines. and the price.#
@NomdeB it was an outdoor table, otherwise wouldn’t have been a smoking area. But no one was smoking.#
Absolutely miserable with allergies. Probably just as well I’m spending the weekend it Milton Keynes instead of on Lake Como.#
Wedding Vows in days both wretched and joyous, from this day forward, as long as you wish this from me http://bit.ly/jrYR98#
@craigmorgan Oh, I know – have spent a LOT of time there. But it’s where my dad lives (after a lifetime in many more interesting places).#
Allergies so bad I want to claw my eyes out. Now I remember one of the things I hate about Milan.#
Sorry, Netflix is not available in this country yet. At least let me queue up a movie I’d like to watch when I’m back in the US! Sheesh.#
@RaggedPoint Lived in Italy 17 years, it’s all sadly familiar. I know the workarounds, but want it fixed at the source. #netflix#
YouTube – Bryan Cantrill interviewed at Velocity 2011 http://bit.ly/mUdUVO#
Tried to get better allergy drugs, pharmacy closes for 3 HOURS at lunchtime. And you ask if I’m nostalgic for my former life in Italy…?#
.@pfuetz Yes, but as a US-based customer, why not give me access to my movie database from elsewhere, even if I can’t watch til I’m in US?#
.@pfuetz I understand the (stupid) restrictions on viewing the films. All I want to do is queue up something to watch when I’m back in SF.#
in Italy, order a cappuccino with your meal. It alerts the waiter that you know what you’re doing http://econ.st/lE1gJk#
Fantastic Art Deco gate in Milan. #
YouTube – Oh, What a Beautiful Morning #sfgmc http://bit.ly/iH5VHS#
#SFGMC with very beautiful music inspired by Brokeback Mountain – Meet Me on the Mountain http://bit.ly/kpWRCB#
Up early, but got ~6 hours of sleep, 3x the night before. Busy day ahead, starting to pack up my stuff at the former family home in Lecco…#
…then ~3 hr schlep to Malpensa to get a 2-hr flight to Luton to visit my dad. Yeah, this is my glamorous biz trip to Italy.#
@NomdeB Don’t know how much I’ll be able to bring, just doing excess baggage. Shipping from Italy ridiculously expensive.#
Milan getting ready for Pride. Sorry I’ll miss it both there and in SF. http://t.co/hwUY7wc#
Milan Central station has had an upgrade, but the trains… http://t.co/FqoMXKh#
Had time to kill at Stazione Centrale in Milan today. Can’t believe I got this photo. #
Very cool purse: upcycled soda can tabs, crocheted together. #
Lecco to Milton Keynes: car + train + train + bus + plane + taxi = 8 HOURS. Europe makes itself feel large by making travel inconvenient.#
@wayfaringrob My dad was a hippie, doen that count?#
Pizzocheri! http://bit.ly/3eI9Pd (and the lady at Taverna ai Poggi remembered me,). #
Gallery: Milan Central Station http://bit.ly/mPobUk#
Damn. Gonna have to struggle to clean out this pharma hack – affecting my traffic badly. Fuckers.#
This day in 1981 I graduated from Woodstock School http://bit.ly/izmKcO – Yes, we’re having a big party, later in the year.#
6 years ago: Transport Surprises on Lake Como http://bit.ly/iRAXu8#
Since I can’t be there this year: last year’s video of SFGMC in SF Pride http://bit.ly/9qd5RM#
@bubbva Haven’t got that far yet, trying to follow these instructions: http://bit.ly/dfxwa0#
one of the tersest and more remarkable rejections of conservative economics ever penned by a conservative http://bit.ly/mwPBxf#
the UK isn’t any better for my allergies right now, may even be worse. Vacation in the Sahara is beginning to sound very good!#
The Twitter Diaries: June 5-18, 2011 http://bit.ly/iV1uwO#
@willbldrco Right now deep Sahara is sounding pretty good.#
@CommunispaceCEO Maybe because of people who use Google’s search box as their URL bar?#
Yes, I’ve been awake since 3 am. At least in this timezone. No matter, must get up about this time for the next 2 days, + travel, packing.#
@trine Yes, very Norwegian! 😉#
added the full photo gallery to: Villa Monastero: Varenna, Lake Como http://bit.ly/bkNp4s#
Trip home already looking like a hassle. 1st leg is on Alitalia, so KLM directs me to their site to check in. And they won’t let me.#
@riccardo_iommi I wish I could say I have missed Italy, but the frustrations still outweigh the joys for me.#
Closing my Italian bank account. They need 3 days to figure out how much money is left and give it back to me. Isn’t this a BANK?…#
…but, in true Italian style, they were accommodating and got it done anyhow.#
my daughter is earning more in her starter job at Apple in Austin than I did in my last job in Milan. Hell YES I wanted her out of Italy!#
Need expert mode for customer service hold lines, to NOT tell me things I already know but cannot do. If I coulda done it myslf, I woulda.#
And to think I used to love traveling.#
4 hrs sleep + 7 hrs travel + 4 hrs packing = desperate need for a nap. Sadly, I am vey bad at napping.#
deeply tired, but will I be able to sleep for the 3.5 hours available to me tonight?#
No athlete, I excel at the travel triathlon: baggage pack and lift, airport dash, seat collapse.#
The Dutch have a charming habit of assuming that I am Dutch. But then, so do the Germans, English, Scots… Everyone except Americans!#
This is more like it. Thanks @KLM – trip not a hassle after all. That upgrade was very well timed. http://t.co/uZqJtO4#
Trip far better than feared, on most fronts. But glad and relieved to be home.#
@ditucci @nonstick O gonna pay you the same regardless, if you’re already an employee anyway#
I feel a bit out of focus. Too much to process from this trip. Thankful for jetlag – takes the edge off.#
Summary of my visit to Italy: good friends, great food, but I don’t miss living there. In so many ways, I need more than la dolce vita…#
…I couldn’t afford la dolce vita anyway. What I had was hardly dolce – and this is true for most ordinary Italians http://bit.ly/ifORts#
.@NomdeB Very true. It’s never been US vs Italy (or anywhere else) but where can I have the most of what makes me happy in one place?#
Of course we all know that in the Real Italy, everyone sings opera all the time http://bit.ly/cxCt6t#
.@NomdeB Wait til you see my apartment in SF. 😉 I like living small – less to clean, less unnecessary crap because there’s just no room.#
Fuck. Site still hacked.#
Trying to fix horrible eye irritation from seasonal allergies. (@ Dr. Bert M.D. Office) http://4sq.com/iKBsxd#
@izs I’ll take real geekspeak over marketing babble any day.#
@deeharvey Talk about taking candy from strangers. 😉#
I’m awake! I’m awake! No, I’m not…#
.@NathanFillion Well, then, let me introduce you to my Italian daughter and long-time fan @RossellaLaeng#
Jetlag does weird things to me. Was’nt hungry most of the day, then bolted down Chipotle tacos, chips, guac, & an entire Lindt pistachio bar#
If I can’t clear my site of the pharma hack, I’ll be faced with the interesting challenge of getting traffic without search engines.#
…and/or the search engines will need to get smart enough to realize that I don’t write about (ahem) male enhancement drugs.#
RT @benr: Best. Video. Ever. http://youtu.be/KCSA7kKNu2Y – I only have a few friends left like this, thank Zod…#
Ok, the chocolate bar is explained. Hormones. Gah!#
It Just Doesn’t Matter http://bit.ly/jUXHRP#
@ianhf That’s certainly more pithy than what I had in mind.#
The Org Charts Of All The Major Tech Companies (Humor) http://read.bi/iSJcRh#
Huh. I have just been asked permission to include this artcle in a college textbook: http://bit.ly/mEtJxu#
why does Google+ think I know Michael Arrington?#
Finding room for the 3 suitcases of random stuff I brought from my old home in Italy. Gave bales of clothing to charity – little fit anymore#
4 years ago: Italys Amazing Summer Fruits http://bit.ly/jPEBIB#
@ryah You dared to use your phone in a foriegn country, right?#
Here and now, worlds collide. http://t.co/wvmoZHq#
I’m at Joyent (345 California St, #2000, San Francisco) http://4sq.com/j2xRYx#
My one meeting of this pre-holiday Friday is over. Time for beer yet?#
@vdotw AP English, actually… now trying to figure out what that’s worth.#
We are firing the women so they can stay at home and look after the children…what they bring in is a second income. http://bit.ly/isN9rD#
.@italylogue @michellefabio Excuse me while I go and vomit… http://bit.ly/luOWr1#
This is seriously cool. – MySQL Query Latency with DTrace 2 http://bit.ly/kv3IwM – Thanks, we think so, too. 😉#
@saraford That’s why I wanted my daughter OUT of there. Now she works for Apple in Austin. Mamma knows best. 😉#
xkcd: Hofstadter http://bit.ly/kBxH95#
@denizrende Put. Down. The. Keyboard. Go have some fun!#
Feeling emotionally dizzy. Had a lot to process in the last 12 days.#
New/recovered wall decorations… http://t.co/A2pXy8k#
I just love Ravana’s shit-eatin’ grin. http://t.co/SNrxzm6#
@Myrna_SF we can certainly arrange to meet – I don’t have particular plans thru the week. Looking forward to it!#
@pelegri I recall ~4000 blogs listed, but not all were active at the same time.#
Flowers in the Windows http://bit.ly/lEa22r#
.@pelegri Sun’s attitude towards employee blogging was even more significant. Don’t be stupid – and they trusted us for the rest.#
Jetlag and/or allergies… I feel as if a truck has parked on top of me.#
Id like to think that the most prosperous nation in human history can have both freedom and security. http://wapo.st/jR0KNQ#
Treating monogamy as the main indicator of a successful marriage gives us unrealistic expectations http://nyti.ms/mOuTOV#
Forget something, Larry? http://t.co/txGXGfj#
2 years ago: President Lula of Brazil Meets OpenSolaris http://bit.ly/j7uehw#
5 years ago: Watching Football http://bit.ly/lteIue#
6 years ago: International Marching Show Bands in Lecco http://bit.ly/jVXBMo#
4 years ago: Biopsy: Digging to China Through My Breast http://bit.ly/k07qhb#
1 year ago: A Dinner Party in Wonderland http://bit.ly/bfqT8R#
Fine with That http://bit.ly/kMNXDT#
I’m at Joyent w/ @davidpaulyoung http://4sq.com/ripNiM#
oh my. I’m going to Austin Friday. It’s 50 degrees hotter there than here.#
I am very happy to announce my new position as SmartOS Community Manager at Joyent. Watch this space for news!#
@chrisridd We couldn’t live without each other. 😉#
…and it’s kinda cool to be able to say My new boss is on Wikipedia.#
@bubbva What goes around comes around or Everything old is new again – take your pick. 😉#
@italylogue ouch, I still owe you that…#
@sogrady @bcantrill does? I’ll see what I can do#
@UnLogikal That there will be a community. 😉#
@sogrady well, I do have a little something already stashed away…#
@sh1mmer You suffer so for your art.#
@sh1mmer Ok then, you’re forgiven. 😉 I’ll tell @brendangregg he needs a firepit next time he’s writing a book.#
I don’t actually need Skype, FB, etc to remind me that my daughter was born 22 years ago today!#
.@Sarahcarr Relevant becuz, the world over, women are told they invite rape by dressing provocatively. With this woman, there’s no excuse.#
@CetasAnalytics @LusciousPear Reminds me of a scene from Bring It On.#
@rosannecash We have similar taste in men, I see… #BridgesKristoffersonByrne#
maximizers are less happy than satisficers. http://t.co/2gnasE3 http://t.co/oDU41Tx#
@UnLogikal it may, can you give me more details? firstname@joyent dot com#
If I’m still in bed with a cup of coffee but answering email etc., does that count as work?#
@fitzage my fingers are doing stuff, not sure the brain is connected yet#
Don’t know if I’m this is a summer cold, or allergies. Either way, should be better is Austin (currently enjoying low pollen counts and HOT)#
To see the new node meetup videos in fullscreen, go here: joyent’s Channel – YouTube http://t.co/bGpvqs2#
Just got yelled at by a taxi driver for not tipping him enough. Apprently driving me to the airport is doing me a favor.#
Opted out of the scanner, but didn’t get the promised pat-down. Should I feel cheated?#
I guess SFO wifi has a time limit bug doesn’t tell you that up front. Graceful.#
I’m at Cathedral of Junk (4422 Lareina Dr., Austin) [pic]: http://t.co/NieRQmW#
http://t.co/zJvr4p2#
WS India – Hostel Parkour – YouTube http://t.co/UxzglMz#
@elijahwright They gave you the good drugs, huh?#
Austins Cathedral of Junk http://t.co/dY7NWE5#
A pattern in my life: if I hang on long enough, stuff I want to do anyway becomes part of my job.#
Part of my problem with shopping is the obnoxious music they play in stores.#
Iced coffee at this Starbucks in Texas is nasty.#
Daughters neighbors have peacocks. Live ones. Only in Austin…#
At way too much at Fogo de Chao in Austin, and wish I hadn’t. But at least I didn’t have to look out for soy or peanuts there.#
Had occasion today to reflect upon how happy it makes me to work closely with frighteningly smart people, and to learn from them.#
http://t.co/wDtjCb4#
Barbacoa tacos: Sunday brunch, Tejas style!#
digesting good food and mimosas, listening to fun music, doing work. Sorta.#
Top 10 Things Texas Gov. Rick Perry Doesnt Want You To Know About Him | ThinkProgress http://t.co/wRTKxf1#
@deirdresm Oh, crap, are scarves hip? I’ll have to stop wearing them.#
http://t.co/rF8gvF4#
http://t.co/hL1gUoL#
To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness. #
It would be really, really nice if I could sleep.#
my new home: SmartOS.org http://t.co/LPktWhC#
Come on down to http://t.co/j2s0kvf – we’re giving it all away!#
@billblum Yes, we like to know exactly how much ass we tick, and how hard. 😉#
this by special request of @sogrady: Computing History with Bryan Cantrill SmartOS.org http://t.co/paXzYW0#
@urbanturbanguy http://t.co/F2rpaCA #Joynet#
Screenshots SmartOS.org http://t.co/5MQJAGa#
@bcantrill waitaminute… you have slides done HOURS before your talk? Did the world end? #illumos #kvmforum#
Sitting here in limbo (@ Magnolia Cafe South w/ 3 others) [pic]: http://t.co/vXRp605#
@mfernest root/root I believe#
@joerussbowman oops#
SmartOS Downloads, Day 1 SmartOS.org http://t.co/xDZw0Z6#
I feel as if we should be singing We will, we will ROCK YOU!#
@3rdEden They wake up earlier, and Asia hasn’t hit yet.#
@talios http://t.co/eNjVl9f username: rootpassword: root#
Just ordered a pink purse. That’s got to help something, right?#
Dinner http://t.co/zzSWTMR#
The view from the pool on a hot Texas evening http://t.co/lnTqK4V#
Cupcake run successfully completed! http://t.co/abqantd#
I’m about to run out of parents.#
Over the last five years, he says, I’ve had the pleasure of gutting the Sun kernel team. http://t.co/sjUGw0B#
@shawnferry Me, neither.#
@trochej ? #SmartOS #OpenIndiana#
@trochej Jason? I’m not gonna tell him how to behave. And, at this time in my life, this month especially, I have no use for subtlety.#
I’m at Austin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) (3600 Presidential Blvd., Texas Hwy. 71, Austin) w/ 20 others http://t.co/ljGWK85#
@trochej for a small company with little marketing budget, it’s a very good strategy. We can’t plaster the world’s airports with billboards.#
Waiting for a final phone call. The glamorous international life really sucks when you are far away from your loved ones at the wrong time#
@fabiokung Nah, we don’t bite. 😉 #smartos #kvm #illumos#
My father has died.#
at least I have him, too, on video: What am I Doing Here? An American Civilian in Vietnam http://t.co/Oy4ejzb#
@saraford We’ll be taking his ashes to New Orleans at some point and hopefully having a proper jazz funeral. It’s what he wanted.#
@jimpick Thanks, I wish he’d gotten more recorded or written down. But he was convinced he was immortal.#
From the rockin’ of the cradle to the rollin’ of the hearse, the goin’ up was worth the comin’ down http://t.co/vlswrAp#
Al Straughan, 1939-2011 http://t.co/yZimaj3#
Ryans Rough Guide to the SmartOS ISO SmartOS.org http://t.co/KasWO3R#
@jeffreytaylor So can I get some chorines to come to NOLA and sing I’ll be on my way ? I think that would be appropriate.#
@jimpick Yes, in many ways I’m definitely my father’s daughter, and will probably become more so.#
@lkateley thanks. But we’re still on for tomorrow – distraction is good.#
It appears that mourning does absolutely nothing to cure the common cold. You’d think I could be excused from physical annoyances right now.#
Spinning up SmartMachines to house SmartOS community communications vehicles. Yes, we drink our own champagne.#
Heartfelt thanks to everyone for the thoughts and hugs. I’m at work, which for me is good therapy and distraction.#
work in progress: SmartOS Technical FAQs SmartOS.org http://t.co/XkRBwLE#
@openindiana Hey, whoever is in charge of community for you guys, we should talk.#
Slipping back into my community manager role (something I’ve been doing off and on for >15 years). Tools change, techniques not much.#
…and this community appears to be moving at lightspeed!#
@mikemaccana sorry, we’re a bit behind schedule on that, but working on it. Please see http://t.co/Vo13EzS#
@jeffreytaylor Or you can just not watch broadcast TV. 😉#
A man walks down the streetIt’s a street in a strange worldMaybe it’s the Third World…http://t.co/02so6jD#
@rbanffy I can’t take credit for that, but I like it better than dogfood!#
Ain’t it funny how we all turned out – I guess we are the people our parents warned us about http://t.co/FVCdUdW#
Father forgive us for what we must doYou forgive us we’ll forgive youWe’ll forgive each other till we both turn blue http://t.co/XzrdY3P#
the banks are made of marble,With a guard at every door,the vaults are stuffed with silver,That we all sweated for. http://t.co/ZnP9VEC#
SmartOS USB Key Image Now Available SmartOS.org http://t.co/nIpOCSj#
community contribution: Serving SmartOS from your PXE server http://t.co/GIzcr6B#
Are Michele Bachmann’s Views About ‘Christian Submission’ Even More Extreme Than She’s Letting On? | | AlterNet http://t.co/iJxR6fc#
@Graftolistic do you have screenshots of the OSs you’ve booted under SmartOS KVM? Would love to show those on the smartor.org blog #joyent#
Apparently grief is like jetlag: the first day I feel fine, then everything goes to pieces.#
@italylogue Thanks – it’s good to get advice from one who knows. Unfortunately, this is something most of us go through sooner or later…#
@openindiana yes, wd love to, and I’d like to know how to explain to people that they can get the new OI release with KVM. Follow me here!#
could I just sleep for a week?#
@billblum Fortunately, discussing is easier than porting! Talk is cheap, after all. 😉#
@jeffreytaylor Indeed. Dose that get a golf clap? 😉 #shameless#
How Rich is Too Rich? : Sam Harris http://t.co/FDBjzu3#
@storagebod please tell us more! How do you like it? There’s a feature you may be esp interested in: http://t.co/EKsh2Rs#
My Dads Death http://t.co/crioblK#
@hridaybala Thanks. Yes, he was rather amazing. I’ll have more to say about that in future…#
The Tea Partys generals rank and file are more concerned about putting God in government. http://t.co/rJ3sdtO#
@brendangregg OMFG#
Suddenly, in a moment of blurry eyed recognition, DTrace, ZFS, and SMF become very sexy… you become a devotee. http://t.co/YQ6UeNF#
According to Twitter: Similar to you @bcantrill Bryan Cantrill#
@gsyoungblood No worries – we’re all working very closely together and plan to continue to do so. We want the whole ecosystem to thrive!#
@jeffreytaylor the patent wars employ lawyers#
More OSes Booted Under SmartOS KVM SmartOS.org http://t.co/vIJE3q6#
RT @wattersjames: The tweet is mightier than the press release. – amen!#
I’m not depressed, I’m just sad.#
International travel for a funeral between UK and US holiday weekends, covering expenses for 3, with a weak . This just may not happen.#
@lderezinski Exactly, and for international travel bereavement fares often just don’t exist.#
For family tensions, undercurrents, and drama, funerals outdo even weddings.#
@jeffreytaylor If it was up to me… We need to catch up this week. Over many stiff drinks. As you say: it’s all going in the script!#
.@arne_d Have you met our team? @bcantrill @brendangregg @dapsays @pijewski @rmustacc + Jelinek, Bruning, others non-Sun but eq brilliant#
.@arne_d …and it’s not just us. There’s also a nascent SmartOS community, and the Illumos and OpenIndiana communtites. So… yes!#
RT @adambusch: Funerals are not for the dead.#
@SethGreen Hmm, I thought you were an alphabet letter-of-the-month club delivery man.#
I didn’t know grief would be so damned exhausting.#
Oh, with everything else going on, I forgot to mention: I started my personal newsletter and website about 10 years ago, in July, 2001#
10 years ago: How to Eat Like an Italian: Fundamentals of the Mediterranean Diet http://t.co/qZc5uva#
4 years ago, video and photos: Roasted Green Chiles at the Las Vegas (NM) Flea Market http://t.co/rErgU6v#
2 years ago at OSCON, Jack Adams and Sriram Natarajan on Using DTrace to Analyze Your Webstack http://t.co/C52rdg0#
a year ago I translated: Learn Italian in Song: Tu Vuo Fa o Talebano http://t.co/cCAVcPe#
PBS was showing folk music. Made me weep for singing with my dad, and for a time when people believed music could make a difference.#
New SmartOS Wiki SmartOS.org http://t.co/A8T3iaj#
seems somehow appropriate at the moment: Deep Purple – Smoke On The Water – Montreux 2006 – YouTube http://t.co/97HlPYm#
post by Max Bruning: Its here! KVM on Illumos SmartOS.org http://t.co/RBJXhct#
Explaining cocks http://t.co/XS2ScsJ#
.@bobthomson70 Don’t tell me we’re going to need a heatmap for this, to add the linguinstic/regional 4th dimension…#
You’ll see it’s all a show, keep ’em laughing as you go…http://t.co/yUZJN7W#
Learned from my dad’s untimely demise: I should start writing my autobiography NOW. Problem is, much of it strains credibility.#
@urbanturbanguy Baingan bharta would get me to show up, but chocolate is also good (not at the same time).#
@mfernest You’re welcome. Good contributions should always be recognized. #InternetPresenceOhYeah#