ABSILVER's World

Here I sit on the verge of a career intersection. Working with IBM partners, and getting ready for an IBM event on Monday. But, I don't work for IBM any more. I represent myself and the company(s)I partner with. So, picture it, I am on a conference call to support this event. Where we have a virtual booth, at a virtual venue, and it is all a virtual event. It is like going to a family reunion, and since the last one you got married and adopted three hamsters. Those that loved you at the last one want to catch up, and those that didn't well... the same is true. But now you have a spouse who does not have your history with the family, and can judge your behavior and relationships objectively. So, you sit down to dinner and all the family dynamics and sibling rivalries show up but your spouse sees it more like a sitcom pilot that never made it to the air. What do you do? What do you when it is work related and you can feel through the keyboard what is wrong. It hasn't...

I am sure there are people wiser than me. I certainly understand that people have religious objections to gay marriage. I don't agree, but I understand. But, the general comment that there is something sacred or natural about heterosexuals getting married is frankly crap. What is sacred, is love. Love of friends, family, and when two people choose to live their lives together. That is sacred. The gender of those people is not. We don't have to look too far in the news to see multiple instances of hetero marriages going bad. We have Tiger Woods, who seemed to find sanctity of his marriage only in the public. We have Charlie Sheen who seems to have gone from a nice guy on TV (ha) to physically assaulting his wife. We have the Governor of South Carolina who was so concerned about his marriage he flew off to Brazil. Then we have a gay guy, McGreevey in New Jersey, who tried to follow the sanctity of marriage idea. Remember? had a child, married twice, and in the end came o...

I woke up this morning. Realizing, for walking down the street of Uganda I could be tortured, and killed for being how I was born. That loving another man could get me killed. Imagine, the child being born in Uganda today, gay and all of the laws and communications would be that he not only is he different, not only is how he was born wrong and a sin, but the state and people will have the right to take his life in the name of God. More.. surprisingly was that this started with ministers from the USA in Uganda to tell how they can be healed. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/04/world/africa/04uganda.html As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I am a lucky man. I live in what I believe to be a free country. I also happen to live in one state that trusts my choices of who to love all the way to being able to marry. Florida is not as progressive as Massachusetts but I don't fear for my life every day because of who I am. It keeps me afraid for the children. Those in these ministers ...

First of all... my last post had comments I think from people I may not know. Scary Ain't it! I keep wondering... as I start this new year of 2010... what I have to be happy about. Not that I am not generally a happy person, but 2009 has had many changes and frankly many challenges. I assume these changes and their accompanied challenges will carry into 2010, but I always try to take inventory of where and how my life is going. I was in a taxi yesterday afternoon, to go to a party at Kevin and Rich's for the new year. The driver asked what resolutions I had to make, and I said none. I promised not to make any last year and by gosh that seemed to work out quite well. That does not answer the question above, which is what do I have to be happy about as the new year starts. So as a compliment to the list of what I know and don't at the end of the year here we go. 1) I am happy that what I have in front of me are choices in life. At a time, as we come out of this recess...

Things I know for 2010 * Surprisingly after a year of great change, I am happier than I was a year ago. * I need change for work to be interesting, fun and not boring. * That with all the technology, Internet, and "social networking" nothing beats meeting someone or people in person. * You can't really know someone without meeting them. * I am not sure where I will be living in a year. * True friends know when to hold their cards, and when to play them. Cards range from criticism, compliments, jokes, and kindness. * Sorry, but I do like dogs better than cats and not just cause cats make me sneeze. * My hypothesis, is it is not cats but cat litter. Not that matters for the above comment. * That 1 degree of temperature means more in the cold north, than it does in south Florida. (1 vs. 0 is much more interesting than 77 to 76.) * That people need to admit to their own racism to conquer it. * Flying in this economy has gotten easier. And the newer planes are smoother than th...

What have I learned in a year. As of last Wednesday, I am now 45 and as I look to the 46th year of my life the question has to come up. What did I learn in the last 365 days and what do I expect for the following year. I learned in my 45th year that courage comes in all different shapes and sizes. That family is a gift, and my parents being alive, healthy, and happy is a great gift to me, my siblings, and their grandchildren. That dogs are wiser than we humans give them credit for. That with choices comes a challenge, confusion, and sometimes a desire to stand in one place. That many people go through the motions every day. I have created a life where I am full of choice. As I try to navigate these choices, happiness is a challenges. As my friend Rich said yesterday, it was easier going to work every day. You built a routine in your life and things just happen. But, when you have choices and part of that choice is time, and flexibility, that it is hard to maintain focus or happi...

I sit here in Provincetown watching it rain and after a very interesting week and weekend. As someone that has taken a leave from IBM, at least for now, I am being kept busy by the employer that I parted with. I am quite lucky, but that is not the reason I sat down to add to my blog. With various events in my life recently, and in the past it has struck me that there is an odd cost to being popular. I listened to Barbra Streisand's interview on the Sunday Morning news and she mentioned that she is a homebody and explained that for her to go to dinner is involved because of her popularity and is like acting. People will be taking her picture, and always publish the least flattering of them, and the news will be there and she is happy and content at home. The New York Times had an article today ( http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/streisand-upends-the-social-order-briefly/?hpw ) about her one night at a night club in New York and mentioned how in a small room of fans...