Boothbay Harbor, ME

This past weekend was a blast - and now that it is Tuesday evening I'm finally winding down. On Saturday I headed up to Boothbay, ME.  It was basically a mini reunion of a ton of guys I hadn't seen in ages.  It was insanely fun.  There was a keg, a fire and gasoline....need I say more?!

Sunday morning was a slow one but we ended up spending the day boating.  When I sat down to write this post the first thing I thought of was a favorite quote of mine from the Wind in the Willows:

'There is nothing- absolutely nothing- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.'

It was very cold but, we were zipping past colorful lobster pots, fall foliage and oyster farms - and I wouldn't have wanted to spend my Sunday doing anything else!

Monday was spent learning new things about blogging.  It was very educational!  I've posted a gallery here.  If you click on a thumbnail the photo should get larger and you can click through the rest of the gallery.  You can also view it as a slideshow and simply watch.  I feel like I have a new trick - look what I can do!

All in all it was 4 days well spent!

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You're simply the best - better than all the rest!

Nautie Friends, wanna know something crazy?

October 19th was Nautiemermate's one year birthday!!!!

I told you....CRAZY!

Nautiemermate has been a very good thing for me - it's put my camera back in my hands, gotten me in touch with long lost relatives and friends, and has provided me with a creative outlet.  Most importantly it's given me incentive to find the positive in my days - especially when I'm at sea.  Who wants to hear me whine non-stop...I certianly don't and besides, I don't have time to whine because I have to keep my eyes open for dolphins....or other blog fodder!

I really hope that Nautiemermate has been good for you too!  I love knowing that you're out there reading away.  On cranky sea days finding some comments never fails to give me warm and fuzzies.

I have big plans for this little slice of the internet pie.   I also have big plans for myself - I have thoughts and ideas that I never would have had before wading through the nautie waters.

Soooo, thanks for reading the blog and sticking with me.....(imagine me channeling my inner Tina Turner).....You're Simply The Best!  Better Than All The Rest!

Annnddd....

HAU'OLI LA HANAU NAUTIEMERMATE!!!!!!!

(translation - although I'm sure you figured it out:  happy birthday nautiemermate!!!!!!!!)

My housemates (being the awesome Nautie Friends that they are), helped me throw a little birthday bash.  Complete with whoopie pies, gluten free lemon bars, a red velvet cupcake - and duh, a cornucopia!

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Occupy Maine

I woke up yesterday feeling perky.  Yes, perky.  The sun was shining through my skylight and I could see colorful leaves blowing by.  I brewed some delicious organic, fair trade breakfast blend and spiced it up with some french vanilla creamer - and then I sipped away while blogging.  Blogging felt great!  I haven't been spending too much time on posts lately and it felt wonderful to finish my draft box lurker. I decided that it would be a great day to head downtown and snap some pictures.  I didn't take quite as many photos as I hoped - but I did manage my trademark shot - looking up at buildings with the sun behind them :)

The Occupy Maine-r's were out.  Let me be clear, I'm not a supporter of the movement however; the sun was shining and it was just too nice of a day to be angry.  So I played paparazzi and took some photos of their base camp.

I had a delicious falafel on a park bench and I walked around with a warm cup of chai in my hands.

Now if tooling around Portland taking pictures, snacking and drinking cozy drinks isn't occuyping Maine then what is it?

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#iSad

I've been working on this post for days now.  I actually began writing it when the announcement was made heralding the arrival of the iPhone 4Gs.  Sadly, that news was quickly shadowed with the passing of Steve Jobs.  Steve Jobs: talk about an amazing man.  Suddenly my post seemed trite and completely inappropriate however; I am completely inappropriate so - I'm running with it. I am an incredibly loyal apple customer.  As I type on my MacBook Pro my iPhone 4Gs sits on the pillow next to me - my iPod classic is playing in my Bose dock (my iPod nano is in my purse - along with my old iPhone 3G).  While the previous sentence may have very clearly illustrated the fact that I'm a consumer whore it is none the less a testament to the fact that apple makes a quality product that people enjoy using.

I grew up in the Mac generation.  My elementary school had a computer lab filled with the Macintosh Classic.  I played on them for hours after school - claris works, Where in the World Is Carmen San Diego?, Oregon Trail, Kid Pix (that one was my fav).  When I was in 6th grade my Mom bought a computer for the house - a big bulky desktop - I think it was the Macintosh II.  I remember my Mom getting issued an ibook at work - it was a gorgeous clamshell design - that was colorful - blueberry!

What's my point?  I literally grew up with Apple.  As Apple was getting an education in the needs of their consumers - I was getting an education in the way of the world.  We learned what works and what doesn't, we learned what people like and what they don't, we learned that change is constant, and we learned that we're far more successful when we trust.  Trust in anything - whether it be an idea, a person or ourselves.

I have been looking forward to the release of the iPhone 4Gs for quite some time - I've been trusting that Apple would work out the kinks they experienced with the 4G.  The 4Gs is amazing.  The newest bit of coolness?  Siri!  It is a voice recognizing talking assistant.  I can pick up my phone and say 'Do I need my umbrella today?' - Siri will provide me a weather forecast for my location.  You can actually train Siri - you can teach it when you leave work and schedule reminders around such times.  My favorite part is that you can dictate text for emails or texting.  Lovely.

I find the 4Gs to be incredibly impressive - which is why I was dismayed that it didn't get rave reviews.  People wanted more.  They thought it was too similar to the the 4G.  A voice recognizing talking assistant that you can train isn't good enough for you?!  What more do you want?!  This is your phone - not your super computer!

I'll tell you what, Steve Jobs (like myself) knew that the iPhone 4Gs is badass.  He didn't wonder if he could have done more - he didn't wonder if they should have changed the design - he knew that he took a quality product (the iPhone 4G) and made it better.  For the record, adding Siri is waaay more than making it better....it's going to change everything.

I stumbled across the commencement speech given by Steve Jobs at Stanford in 2005.   During the speech he said:

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

I don't think more valuable advice could be given to recent graduates.  Listening to my inner voice and trusting my intuition has been the greatest contributor to my successes in life - when I crash and burn I almost always wish that I had done what I knew I should have done.  I truly believe that Steve Jobs success is directly related to the faith he had in his intuition.  He knew what he knew - and he trusted it.

I recently read a short piece by John Gruber.  Gruber was wondering why Jobs would deliver an address with grass stained shoes in hindsight he realized that Jobs was using his time and that the grass stains equalled time well spent.  I hope that in my own life I can cut through the bull shit with the same dexterity that Jobs was able to.  Grass stains - they just don't matter.  People not being impressed by Siri - who cares - they'll still buy the freakin' phone!

There is a quote from Jobs 2005 commencement speech floating around quite a bit where he speaks of death being Life's change agent.  Jobs' brush with death allowed him a daily change agent.  Allowing him to wake up and assess on a daily basis if change was needed.

So today, I'm going to follow Steve Jobs advice.  I'm going to live life to the fullest.  I'm going to enjoy my coffee - I'm going to enjoy my iPhone 4Gs and text with Siri - I'm going to take some photos of fall foliage and I'm going to read a good book.

What are you going to do today?

*Stay Hungry.  Stay Foolish*

Dad and Russ - Earmuffs!

Nautie Ladies! I had a life altering experience.

It seems like the washing machines at work destroy my bras - and this time out I wasn't as careful about having work bras and fun bras.  I've been wearing my three favorite bras over and over again - the lacey bits literally had holes in them!

I went to Victoria Secrets to buy some new bras.  The girl in the changing room area asked me if I wanted to get measured and I said, 'nah - I'm all set'.  I put on the first one and it was okay - then I put on the second one and it was okay too....then I notice that I grabbed the wrong size for the second one.  I thought it was kinda weird that they both seemed to fit since they were different sizes.  I poked my head out the door and said, 'excuse me - can I take you up on that sizing offer?'.

I've been wearing the wrong bra size for my entire adult life!  She kept handing me bra after bra in this new magical size and every single one of them made my boobies look fabulous!

I used to have trouble with the top of the cup gaping if the bra had padding...not anymo-0re!  Now I just have perkier boobs!

So ladies, the next time the lady asks you to get measured say, 'yes please!'.  Also, a public service announcement:  you should be remeasured every 6 months.

Yay for boobies!

Where were you?

This seems to be the question of the day. It amazes me how fresh a memory can be ten years later.  So many people have come and gone in my life.  I've sailed to exotic foreign ports and participated in debauchery.  I purchased my first home.  I traveled solo through New Zealand.  Where was I on March 3, 2003?  No clue.

Where was I on September 11, 2001?

I was a freshman at Maine Maritime Academy.  I had been at school for less than a month - I was still wearing my MUG blues - and had to run everywhere if I was by myself...if I was with a fellow Midshipmen we could walk together in step.  I was feeling shell shocked and very, very far away from home -Maine Maritime was not what I had expected.

I was at the waterfront in Castine, ME.  I had just completed a 4 hour nautical science lab - we were rowing monomoy's - approaching and breaking away from the dock.  I got a little wet so I changed into some dry clothes - I didn't feel like walking all the way to the changing room so I ducked into the sail loft (years of beaching it has allowed me to be able to change my clothes anywhere).

As I was coming down the sail loft stairs one of my MUG Mates (those are the MUGs who are in your company) said, 'Have you heard that the World Trade Center was bombed?!'.

Sadly, do you know what my first thought was....where the hell is the World Trade Center?!  I had honestly never heard of it.  All I really got was bombed.

The lab instructor just happened to be driving past at that moment and I hailed his car down.  He rolled his window down and I screeched, 'Capt. Weeks, Capt. Weeks!  You have to turn on your radio!  We're being ATTACKED!!!!'.

More of my MUG Mates showed up and we all huddled around the window of Captain Weeks car listening to his radio while he sat in the driver seat.

As the situation started developing I realized that my family had no idea what was going on because it was still the middle of the night in Hawaii (by this point I also figured out where the Twin Towers were - and what a big deal this was).

I sprinted up the hill to the dorms as fast as I could and called my Mom and then I called my Dad.  I made them turn on their televisions.  I was convinced that Pearl Harbor would be next and that I wouldn't be able to get home if more bad things started happening.

Classes were cancelled, phone lines were tied up as Midshipmen tried to get in touch with family, and common spaces were packed with students just needing to not be alone.

I finally hung up and went to The Waypoint (this was the little cafe on campus) to watch TV.  Virtually the entire freshman class was there - because none of us were allowed to have TVs in our dorm rooms.

I remember sitting in a large group of people staring dumbfounded as the video clips rolled thinking, 'I'm really, really not supposed to be here.  I'm just absolutely too far away from home.  This just isn't right.'

Where were you?