Friendships,patience, and thanks.

Macbaby #8
Tales from the Den
1-14-07

It’s a big football day here in Tennessee. Last night I watched Steve McNair totally implode as the Peytonites (Indianapolis Colts) had their way with the Baltimore Ravens.

I guess some of these guys are pretty good friends off the field when they’re not trying to grind each other into the turf. In the off season some of them are fishing buddies, business partners, and family friends. If the friendships stand the test of time that’s when they become more than just friends. I’m not talking about lovers, so cool your jets. I’m talking about people who are so much a part of each other that one totally without the other would be at least partially unfulfilled.

Friendships like that don’t come around every day. It takes years of knowing someone, going through some history, highs and lows, and patience. Lots of patience.

I’ve lived all over this country, including Hawaii, in my lifetime. I’ve had many friends but for one reason or another, for most of them, I’ve lost contact completely or we tapered off on the communication to the point of Christmas cards and/or the perfunctory annual phone call to catch up. I don’t feel any guilt about these things. It’s part of life. Roll with it.

In my short tenure as a writer for MyMac I’ve tried my best to write something of interest to somebody. Anybody. This is not an exercise in ego-mania. It’s an exercise in search for meaning in life of the things I care about…hoping someone else cares about these things too.

I never would have been allowed to embark on this endeavor if it had not been for my friend John Nemo.

Back in the 60’s we played in The Floating Opera together. It was band out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Their drummer made mommy & daddy mad because his grades weren’t up to snuff so they imported me from Cincinnati, the big time hippy drummer/singer who was just what their band needed.

John, along with Steve Welkom, was a consummate songwriter. The tunes were eclectic, to say the least. For two and a half years we had a family of five of us who played these songs, ate together, smoked together, and wound up in the studio with Herbie Mann producing a record for Embryo, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records. We were all going through growing pains, both personal and professional.

Throughout the years there were marriages, children, divorces, and the usual artifacts of human flotsam. We stayed in touch through it all.

Several years ago John started telling me about Apple computers. I didn’t even have a computer at the time, but the seeds he planted in my head grew when I finally put two and two together. My love of photography and having had a darkroom in the past came together when I realized I could have a “digital darkroom.” For reason still unknown, probably cost, I bought a PC and my digital life was begun. Throughout my long learning curve John never lost patience helping me with whatever questions I had with my PC, in spite of the fact that I resisted his gently goading me towards Macs.

I’ve gone through two other PCs since that first one but John never gave up. He just wanted to be available to help a friend. Patience. But the time was drawing near and he finally convinced me to come to San Francisco to the Mac convention. Hell, I just wanted to spend some time with my buddy so I went. That was MCE 2006. That’s when he invited me to write, as guest writer, my take on the convention and some of the products offered. It was strictly a one shot deal, just for fun. I’m grateful to our publisher, Tim Robertson, that he allowed me the space.

A few months later while I was visiting John and wife Barbie in San Francisco they took me to Stonestown Shopping Center to the Apple store to look at the new Macbooks. By that time I was ready for a laptop but wasn’t sure I wanted to spend all that money for a Mac. I wrote an article about that experience so I won’t bore you again with all that, but again, through patience, I wound up exactly where he had been leading me for some four years. The man NEVER gave up.

And that’s the kind of friend he is. If you read his recent writing, “Yurie and the Grove”, about meeting the young Japanese girl on the plane and their conversation about Macs you would be eavesdropping on one of our early conversations. The man is shameless but never pushy. And his intentions are pure. There’s no guile about him. What you see is what you get with John. He’s always a class act.

He and I teamed up at the convention this year. As we went to each of his appointments that he meticulously set up during the months before the show and as I watched him speak so knowledgeably to each and every vender, big or small, I thought, “this guy is the most professional and honest person I think I’ve ever met.” He has respect for everyone no matter what product they represent. In other words he is the consummate representative for himself and MyMac.

John, from the bottom of my heart, thanks for all you do. Thanks for making me part of your family. Thanks for convincing Uncle Howard and Aunt Jackie that I was worthy of staying with you all at their house. And thank you Howard and Jackie for accepting me as part of this family. I know people have said we look like brothers. The guy that thought we were twins will never know how close he was to hitting the nail on the head. You may be the brother I never had. And the teacher I needed to get me to open up a little…just enough to tell our readers how sometimes, if we’re patient, we come to realize we have more than we know we deserve.