This week we lost one of the great hearts and minds of our generation. Steve Jobs.



Sometimes we connect with someone over little things that with others we wouldn’t find significant. Well, here are mine.


I went to his high school, and remember my math teacher telling us about the mischief the two Steves got up to.


Our family had an Apple when we were growing up…. which would not be significant today, but this was (ahem) a REALLY long time ago. We were pretty early adopters as Mac users…so we have fond memories of many, many versions of the Mac. I even got to play with an old NeXT computer at my office.

Mike gave me an engraved ipod as a wedding present. He went to MacWorld several times and saw Steve make some of his historic announcements.

I recall hearing his Stanford graduation speech when I was working graduation (though of course as staff prepping for a dept. graduation, you never get to see the stadium ceremony. Every year we would tune in to it via the radio broadcast while we set up our chairs and diplomas.)


When Steve got cancer, I connected with him on that level…as my mom got it around the same time as he did. I think part of my grief over him is related to my grief over her.

I know in someone else these things might not resonate…but in Steve, it made us feel like we knew him a little bit, like he was one of us and we were all in this together.


So today we went by his house and left a tribute. Thanks for all you gave us Steve, we will miss you.

“They are having catfood soup, carrotcakes, ice cream tea, and cheesy muffins. And they’re having vanilla cookies because a girl is coming over, and a girl can’t eat catfood!”

— Lucy explaining her dolls’ and stuffed animals’ lunch menu

Macbook Pro from Mike C on Vimeo.

When August began, we didn’t have any plans to upgrade our two main computers. However, as the month closes, that’s exactly what’s happened.

Earlier this month, we purchased a new iMac to replace one we’d sold to my sister. Well, recently we learned that a nephew about to start college was in the market for an inexpensive Macbook. So, to make a long story short, he now has Jill’s old laptop and Jill has a pretty nifty early Christmas present: a Macbook Pro.

So, here’s the second Mac unboxing video of the month. Since it’s Jill’s computer, she and the kid nudged out Wubie a bit this time (though he does make an appearance at the end.) We should now be set computer-wise for a while (I think!)

Music Used:

• Neonland from Wermland by Detektivbyrån

“I’m going to put stickers on it so they know that Bundle, the greatest helper in the world, likes to put stickers on things!”
— Lucy, explaining the thinking behind plastering something with kitty cat decals

I got my own cheap point and shoot camera off Woot so that I don’t have to pilfer Jill’s all the time. I thought I’d test it out by taking a few pics.

The guitar in these pics looks really cool but doesn’t play that well. It’s just a few years old, a cheapie Fender Telecaster, probably made in Malaysia or something.

It’s been relic’d to look like an old tele that’s been around the block a few times. When I was younger I thought telecasters were totally lame, thought they were ugly. Through the years they started growing on me. Today, I think they’re really quite the lookers. I love that stripped down, minimalist look. Like strats, the older and more beat up they get, the better they look.

These two pics are of the keyboard that came with our new computer. Computers are the total opposites of guitars. The worse they look, the worse they are. I usually try to get rid of my computers (especially desktops) after a set numbers of years.

Godzilla. ‘Nuff said.

“Welcome to bundle’s
The place to be
when the cats are barfing

Welcome to bundle’s
Washing away the barf
Cleaning up the barf

Welcome to bundle’s
Where mommy gets it on her hands!”
— Lucy improvising a song while her Mom cleans up after a sick Wubert

Kinda New Computer from Mike C on Vimeo.

We got a new (actually a refurb) computer last week, a 27″ i7 iMac, to replace the system I sold to my sister. I ordered it last Thursday afternoon and it actually arrived the very next day, so Wubie and I were psyched to bust it open and fire it up.

This was probably the 4th or 5th computer Wubie and I have opened together. We started with a G3 Blue and White back in 1999 when Wubie was a youngster. Wubie’s a teenager now, about 70 in human years, so he’s a little creakier now than he was back then (but then again, so am I.)

I’m hoping he’ll stick around for a few more system changes. It wouldn’t be the same (or nearly as fun) without him.

Here’s a photo collage of Wubie and some of the computers he’s “inspected” over the last 10+ years:

Jill and Lucy came back from a visit with Auntie Laura the other day raving about a radio show Auntie had playing, Little Steven’s Underground Garage. The music is really cool, much of it neat pop/rock stuff from the 60s. (I didn’t even know Soupy Sales had a catchy tune called Your Brains Will Fall Out.) Note: though the music is great, the web site is pretty terrible.

We usually listen to music while we play, so the kid is already developing her own taste about what she likes. (note: the kid just dropped by again. I’m running late!) She’s even got to the point where she’s curious about making music. Jill and I will do our best to encourage this curiosity. Who knows, maybe she’ll turn out to be another Soupy Sales! Probably not.

Other examples of Lucy and music:

• Dancing (and Falling Down) to Green Day
• Just Making Noise

Oh well, I’m off to play blocks. Bye.

Some pics of cats and computers (what else is there?)

In honor of the Apple Macintosh turning 25 today, I thought I’d scribble a paragraph or two about computers in general and the good ol’ Mac in particular.

I have a good friend, John, who was always into computers. His interest was so keen that one day back in the early 80′s, when he decided he needed a VIC 20, I decided I had to have one too. Yep, though I had no clue as to what I’d do w/ the thing, John’s interest and excitement was so infectious I thought,”yep, that plastic keyboard thingy is for me! Let’s go to Longs and buy it right now!” Needless to say, I never did a heck of a lot w/ that VIC20. I think I ended up giving it to John soon after.

Go forward about a decade. In the years since my ill-fated VIC 20 purchase, I’d given little thought to computers. However, at some point in the early 90′s, I started putting out a comic book newsletter (yep, very geeky) using a word-processing program (WordPerfect?) on one of John’s PC’s. It was during this time that I truly discovered the power and the majesty in never having to use Wite-Out—no matter how many times I messed up. IT WAS AWESOME!

Soon after my “no wite-out, EVER” discovery, I purchased my first “real” computer from John, a 386sx running MS-DOS w/ 4 MB of RAM and a 100 MB HD, for $100. Luckily, Jill had experience with computers, so she was my tech support during this time of transition. I later upgraded the 386sx to Windows 3.1 and a color monitor. Man, that was a pretty sweet set-up for a guy used to banging on typewriters.

Later, Jill’s stepdad Peter showed me his Macintosh IIci (thanks, Peter) and that was all she wrote. At that point my 386sx seemed slightly less AWESOME and I knew it was only a matter of time before I brave little toastered it to the curb and got a mac of my own.

Mike’s Past and Present Computers: Power Mac 7100/80, Power Mac 8600/200, Blue & White G3, Original Mac (found next to a dumpster), G4 Quicksilver, Power Book G4, G5 Dual 2.0, (and for PC’s: homebuilt tower, Sony Vaio Tower, Asus EEE 700 Series, T43 Thinkpad.)

For Jill: Power Mac 5400,  Aluminum iMac, and white Macbook.

And just for fun, here’s Steve Jobs introducing the Mac back in 1984…

Baby Wars from Mike C on Vimeo.

The kid can get pretty feisty at times. This video shows how possessive she can get when it comes to our old Apple G4 Powerbook.Yep, just like her mom, this kid will fight for her right to play Snood!

BTW, I know the scrolling text at the beginning may be a little hard to read. I’d fix it, but I’m too lazy to do a re-render. Anyway, here’s what it says:

Baby Wars

A few minutes ago, in a messy bedroom across the hall, young Lucy SemiWalker battled her sometimes nemesis, Darth Daddy for control of the old Powerbook. Wubert Fett was there as a witness.

• Music: "Star Wars Theme" by John Williams