Follow Lombardi

About change

Sat, 22 Jan 2011 18:47:16 -0800

Change is difficult, and when it’s coupled with fear it renders one inert.

I resolve to never stay too long in fear without remembering a moment later, that I am an infinite being, that there is good wherever I look if I’m willing to just look beyond. Beyond the rat race, beyond the consistent effort to be less than our potential by the masses. To be in servitude to anyone but your own source is to discount how beautiful you are. To feel that you must be in service to an “out there” is to discount your divinity. You may believe that God is outside of you, or that you are just a microcosm of the infinity that is God. Both are correct. To take a concept and it’s opposite and keep them equally as valid in the mind is the dichotomy of our planet. To know light, there must be it’s opposite. As humans we understand concepts by comparing and contrasting them with others, until we arrive at a stable enough thought to be considered a “thing”.

But that isn’t reality. You think that’s air you’re breathing?

Be not afraid of who you really are. Share your gift with the world no matter how scary. Be presence.

What I didn't say

Sun, 16 Jan 2011 18:43:00 -0800

The memory of holding you has never faded. Singing to you in a dimly lit room, unaware of our surroundings, just us two. It lasted only brief moments but it was a lifetime that we shared. Though short, it has broken open everything in my life. When I first heard of your arrival, my soul was overjoyed, the happiness I felt inside was boundless. Your first kicks of life brought about the wonder once reserved for only childhood, back into my view. And with an instant that I will always remember vividly, all was seemingly lost.

Since our time together was short, I’d like to go over some things I didn’t get to say, but I know our eyes did:

Told you how beautiful you looked,
Said ‘peek-a-boo’ to get you to smile,
Told you how strong you were crawling and then walking
Said how stunning you looked before your prom
Told you to smile while I took a million pictures
Said how beautiful you were on your wedding day
Told you that he has your nose, and your lungs
Said goodbye as I drifted off for a long sleep

All was not lost on that day. I’ve been broken open many times after that moment, but it has always been a furthering of what you and I started together. And within a few short years your brother arrived and several times over your gift has taught me to say what resides in my heart.

I love you baby.

In memorium Phi, 08/24/2004

Social Attention Disorder

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 20:13:17 -0800

It’s all around us. The internet has brought the promise of connectedness to our planet on a scale never before dreamed. But, when was the last time you walked out into nature and smelled a flower? Took your shoes off and walked in a meadow? Marveled at the ocean? Lay with someone special next to a brook and fell asleep?

The more social connection we have attached to a device, needs an equal balance with the earth below our feet. Our activity during a social connection via computer is one of mind, and thought, which is incredibly fulfilling. To stay forever in our minds throughout the day, creates imbalance over time, and the cure is grounding with the earth. Each of the things I mentioned above are things to connect with. Earth connection is just as important as the social one with our human pack.

If you tweet, status update facebook, check in to the retail locations you’re at so you can become mayor? Ask yourself for each one, what benefit am I deriving from this in the short term? in the long term? Would it be too difficult to rise up from your mobile device and reach across the empty space between you and another human and say “Hello.”

Digital social connection can never replace a physical one. Live in the world, put the mobile device away for a while. It will still be there where you left it, to be a information tool, not an extension of the television.

I carry your heart with me

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 20:16:12 -0800

I carry your heart with me (I carry it in
My heart) I am never without it (anywhere
I go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
By only me is your doing, my darling)

I fear
No fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) I want
No world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
And it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
And whatever a sun will always sing is you

Here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(Here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
And the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
Higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
And this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart)

- e.e. cummings

My apple store visit because “someone” pint sized...

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 19:24:34 -0700

My apple store visit because “someone” pint sized perhaps- lost the one that came with the AppleTV ;)

Have been enjoying my newfound knowledge of the wonders of external flash on the camera for low...

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 18:40:50 -0700

Have been enjoying my newfound knowledge of the wonders of external flash on the camera for low light

All hail the Goddess Athena

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 11:00:00 -0700

The city dedicated to Athena is a city of striking opposites. Poverty, immigrants mostly selling 1€ useless garbage — music makers serenading the air, looking for a minimum of 0,20€ donation. What is striking is they blend directly into the fabric of the city, laughing with the locals, adding a different color to an already culturally explosive city.

Most cities in Europe I’ve been to, share in this, but it’s never more striking as taking pictures of an archway built over 2000 years ago while in the background a busy city street buzzes by. The city is lorded over by the Acropolis, and it’s relic known the world over -the Parthenon. Yesterday I took a few hundred pictures of her and the surrounding old structures, while today was filled with more food, more people, a few more 2,000+ year old structures, and learning a whole lot more about the Acropolis at the new museum. Oh on a side note, if you buy the 12€ pass for getting in to the ancient sites in Athens, 1. it doesn’t work in the new museum (that’s a 5€ entry fee but worth it), and 2. don’t let anyone take the square picture accompanying the little tickets with a 12 on them — it invalidates it. Learned that the hard way.

At the museum, I learned that the Parthenon for the most part was left relatively untouched until sometime around the 5th century AD the Christians converted it to a church, and removed the large statue of Athena and took it to Constantinople where it is believed to have been destroyed. After that, it survived relatively untouched for another 1,000 years when the Ottoman Turks took Athens, and converted the church to a Mosque. They were very respectful of the ancient temple, and did nothing to damage it, which many Europeans attested to after visiting. Unfortunately, in the 18th century when the Acropolis was being attacked by a Venetian and fired mortar rounds at the structure, which was being used by the Turks as an ammunition magazine. It largely destroyed the internal portions of the building and destroyed several pieces of the outside. Other portions of the structure were defaced or removed by looters, and one Earl of Elgin who took a good portion of the reliefs, and they are held in the British Museum, who ain’t given ‘em back.

For this trip, I’ve opted to ignore the islands surrounding Greece, as a day or two really feels like cheating on an experience to be savored at least a week. So Athens and I have become friends, and she’s shown me some great memories in the few days since my arrival. Tomorrow I shall pay a quick visit to Delphi, a quaint little village that should prove to be worth the 3 hour bus ride.

αντίο

And the email monster rose to prominence in the stack of unfinished items, claiming victory over...

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:53:44 -0700

And the email monster rose to prominence in the stack of unfinished items, claiming victory over this day, enveloping all that sought peace from it’s tyrannical rule.

Our hero crawls out of the rubble from this epic fought battle, beaten, but not broken … tomorrow shall see another fight … and we shall claim victory!

iPhone dev keeps email at bay

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:10:19 -0700

For most of the weekend, I’ve kept email checking to 3 times or less per day. It helps to have some involved projects to keep you busy.

Been hacking some iOS stuff lately, very very simple … but enough to keep me busy learning Objective-C.

Early morning fix

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 06:55:14 -0700

What’s the first thing you do in the morning when at your computer? Is it checking your email?

Ever think to ask yourself why?

If you’re looking to turn a day into a productive one, avoid your mail client until you have achieved something other than processing your inbox.

Completely by habit, and without any conscious thought…after my workout I immediately pulled...

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 11:50:08 -0700

Completely by habit, and without any conscious thought…after my workout I immediately pulled out the iPhone and checked email. One more time left for the day. D’oh

Limiting email checks to twice a day

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:11:08 -0700

It’s probably going to be painful.

They tell me it’s good for me.

I have my doubt.

For the next week I’m going to limit checking email to twice a day. Because really, in the end, is it really so important that you need to respond in 15 minutes. Really?

Wish me luck. Something tell’s me, I’ll need it.

Happy Fourth of July everyone!

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 10:57:40 -0700

Happy Fourth of July everyone!

The problem with grocery self checkout

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:47:07 -0800

It’s the same problem with concession lines in the mega movieplex. They obviously weren’t designed by any British people. There’s no clear delineation where the line is.

The setup at grocery stores is odd because of it’s speed, no line is necessarily any better, so sometimes you hug all of them at once for the first exiting grocer.

And then the snake comes in behind one of your “lines” and doesn’t respect your place in the queue.

Ugh.

The things toddlers say

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:07:00 -0800

This discussion just happened, too hilarious to pass up:

Me: Do you want to go to Ireland?
Son: Where’s Ireland?
Me: It’s in Europe.
Son: It’s in my up?
Me: LOL. Yeah.

The problem with being tech savvy

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 19:22:18 -0800

I often find myself on the answering end of questions, usually technology related, most often they’re from folks that are used to school, where cognitive thought is neglected in favor of rote memorization. We all struggle with this to some extent, and more and more my patience grows thin and weary at what seems to be pure laziness. It might not be their fault, rather a byproduct of the lousy institutionalized school system we have around the world.

When I have a problem, I throw all sorts of variables at it, I break it a whole lot and try to figure out the reasons where it is failing. When this doesn’t yield anything, I find myself living in Google until I’ve figured out that either:

There was a simple answer, and now that I had a lot of keywords to search on I found it easily
There isn’t an answer, it’s either too new of a problem, or I might be doing something nobody has tried yet

The trick is, throwing the variables at it, gives me a nice data set to understand the problem at hand. Nine times out of ten I’m able to find a solution within a few minutes to an hour after having it.

Give a noob an answer and he’ll bother you incessantly, teach a man to google, and experience bliss.

iPad - Hate the name, love the idea

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:58:12 -0800

So the tablet is out.

There seems to be three schools of thought:

You absolutely hate it, and wonder why it can’t be more like OS X, Grandma’s netbook, etc
You’re completely confused, but the RDF is strong with you
You get the potential

I’ve moved between #3 and #2 for the last day-and-a-half and have firmly planted myself in the #3 camp now.

Is it perfect? No. Is it just a giant iPod Touch? Sorta. And that’s sorta the point. Browsing on the iPhone-like devices works great, for quick information, on the go. But it’s not something I could use the entire day, and there’s no external keyboard. The iPad changes this. I can see taking this device to a conference and put my Keynote presentations on it, and not even bother with the laptop. Unless I needed to write some software.

Is it missing some stuff we’d love to see? Sure. No camera, no multitasking, no Flash. Camera I think will show up in a future release, we waited a long time for copy-and-paste and it ended up being the most well thought out implementation we could have hoped for on a tiny device. The only reason I’d like to see multitasking is for some non-Apple written music app while I’m writing something else, maybe there will be support for this in iPhone OS 4.0? And no Flash? Good riddance. The only thing Flash was decent for was watching videos without worrying about codecs, but one of the only things that kills the uptime dreams of my browser on OSX, is Flash.

Will it kill the Kindle’s future? No. If anything, the inclusion of iPhone apps in the compatibility means that Apple is welcoming Kindle owners with open arms. I have a Kindle, and I love it, but the Kindle won’t redefine the reading books medium. While I think the iPad (god I hate that name), just might.

The only bummer, is having to wait 90 days for the version I want. I’ve got another flight to Europe in March, and I’ll be stuck swapping out 2 or 3 batteries in order to stay partially sane for the 14+ hour excursion.

I dream of Apple's Tablet

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:09:50 -0800

Let’s forget for a moment that I have over 5 Apple devices in the house. And let’s also ignore the massive amount of hardware I’ve purchased from Apple in the last 8 years or so.

Last night I dreamed of the much anticipated but with no real verification from the source device, the Apple Tablet. I was apparently at the event, and watched with the others as our fearless leader announced “the most important thing he’s ever done”, and being wowed at the life changing possibilities in the device. Literally watching mine and others in the crowd credit cards being lifted out of our wallets.

I found myself in line for a chance to use the tablet before everyone else. And to top it all off, the demo and questions were being answered by steve jobs himself! Each demo was preceded by a tablet in the off position, and it folded to something very small when not in use. When open, the display gave no indication that it was the LED, but when turned on illuminated and was immediately amazing. Jobs even joked with me while it booted to see if the secondhand would even move on his watch before it finished loading. In my dream, all hardware loads in a split second.

So there you have it, the RDF has reached into my subconscious and implanted there for my dreamstates. See you Wednesday!

Puppy energy

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:48:12 -0700

Puppy energy disquiets a calm mind, they have boundless amounts of it, and they need an outlet. The most interesting thing about this though, is you can’t walk them too much when they’re young!

And they chew, and jump, and don’t understand English.

wth?

They’re cute when they sleep.

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:46:00 -0700

They’re cute when they sleep.