Donating my 40th Birthday to Charity #40thpledge (Video)

I’ve thought of a lot of things to do for my upcoming 40^th Birthday this Saturday, here are a few of the ideas I had:

Each idea had its perks and this is a pretty major birthday for me, but today I had an idea while driving on highway 24 west bound towards downtown Oakland. I was thinking about the Vegas trip idea and listening to Counting Crows “Carriage” cranked up and I caught a view of the bay bridge, San Francisco and fog seemingly stalled at the edge of the SF skyline. I was feeling exceptionally grateful and fortunate for my life, family and “where I am at” and thought a trip to Vegas while fun lacked the kind of meaning that I want my this coming chapter of my life to have. The idea that popped into my head was donating my birthday to charity.

How do you donate your birthday?

I know it sounds like a strange idea, but the next step for me was thinking about all the projects my Rotary Club, District and PR group have that I could work on. I also thought about the blogs, websites and Facebook pages that all sorts of local non-profits that I’ve supported, helped or been exposed to over the past couple of years. More importantly I thought about the volunteer opportunities that might exist to donate some time to help others.

Action Plan

The plan involves 4 steps:

Steps 1 to 3 being done offline or already complete, that left me with a list of things to do if no-one has hands on opportunities or requests.

Default Go-to Activity List

Kind of a short list, but it’s also an ambitious list by itself. If you’re interested in following the effort I will tag everything I do with #40thpledge so you can search via Twitter, Google or even as a Tag on this blog.

Update 8/29/2010 – One of my friends over at Amplify.com was asking me about updates on this effort. Here is how my day went (quick summary I want to record a video later)

1. Many of the 11 non profits responded, 2 of them had tasks for me for Saturday.
2. One task was to talk to husband of the founder of the Booker T. Washington Empowerment Network about using Social Media (Youtube and Facebook mostly).
3. Another task was to help Sonrise Equestrian Foundation with Ranch Cleanup.
4. Since this was only part of the day I planned to work on a website for Rotary in the Valley, a group of 6 Rotary clubs regional effort.

Booker T. Washington Empowerment Network

I spoke with Anthony on my drive to Sonrise Equestrian. We discussed how to use the Facebook pages, Causes and some best practices for Facebook and Youtube. Anthony is pretty sharp he knew the right questions to ask and I am confident that he will be able to effectively execute. If not I’m prepared to advise them on an ongoing basis.

Sonrise Equestrian Foundation

The founder of this wonderful organization is Melanie Burke, after she spoke at my Rotary Club earlier this year I invited her to be on my Podcast. You can listen to that interview here. I spent 4 hours at the Charles Wilhelm Training Center – the ranch that hosts Sonrise. I was teamed up with a few other volunteeers carting in broken down asphalt into the back yards of the horse stables. The challenge with this job involved clearing the thresholds and the stuff is heavy and difficult to spread. I learned it helps with drainage in the rainy months. We also repaired one of the stables with some plywood sheets. Evidently sometimes horses lay down too close to one side of the stall and don’t realize they can just roll over so they panic and kick the heck out of the wall. Wow I would not want to be anywhere near that when it was occurring. My time working with the Sonrise volunteers was the highlight of my day. She has a very supportive group of people that help her, and when you meet Melanie or hear her story you will probably understand why.

Rotary in the Valley

Since I was out of requested tasks to do I looked at where I could have the most impact using my skills. I can navigate my way around WordPress fairly well and there was a site that needed to be built for Rotary in the Valley. It is still a work in progress but you can check it out here. This site is a team effort of the 6 San Ramon Valley Rotary club’s PR chairs. I happen to the PR chair for the Danville/Sycamore Valley Rotary for the 2010-2011 year. Our fearless leader is none other than THE Bill Randall, our District 5160 PR Chair and Alamo Rotary past president. Bill drives the bus and we all do our best to support his efforts. Rotary is very important to me and the benefactor of the majority of my community service outreach time.

Summary

Ultimately I do what I do for my benefit, but I am always thinking about my son and the importance of setting an example for him. I learned about the importance of serving others through my mother. She used to bring me and my other siblings to visit elderly people in the local convalescent hospital. I know she also volunteered throughout her life and the things I do know about probably only scratch the surface. My mom passed away 10 years ago and I suppose for me being able to give back and follow in her footsteps to some degree is really a celebration of her good example. I hope as a result that this has somehow inspired you.

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. ~William James

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Tags: #40thpledge, Joe Hackman, Video, Youtube
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Interview Sean Kennedy Good News in Oakland (Podcast)

Tonight I interviewed Sean Kennedy and Stephanie Geter on Blogtalkradio. It was inspiring to hear about all the positive things that are going on every day in Oakland, CA. Sean is the Executive Producer for Good News in Oakland. He is also highly recognized in the community in his role as Co-Chair of the City of Oakland Cultural Affairs Commission and for his innovative internet based TV network, “Good News In Oakland.”

You can check out Good News on Youtube or visit their Facebook page.

“The chips can be stacked against you but that doesn’t mean you can’t make it.” – Sean Kennedy

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Tags: allhiphop.com, EOYDC, Facebook, Good News in Oakland, Joe Hackman, Joesgonesocial, Pandora, Sean Kennedy
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The Beginnings of Changing a Paradoxical Conundrum

Guest Blogger Profile – Cristine Jeda D. Orillosa-Thurber

Cristine Jeda D. Orillosa-Thurber is a 2008 graduate of Loma Linda University, earning her Masters degree in Social Work.  Passionate about culture, diversity, and cultural awareness, she plans to further her education in International Development.  An avid traveler, and married to a wonderful classical guitarist, she works as a child abuse investigator and continues, through her challenges and successes, to seek her own identity.

The Beginnings of Changing a Paradoxical Conundrum:  My Search for Identity

In a culture where the journey of finding “your own identity” is encouraged, isn’t it ironic that we quickly trade this in for a quick fix of labels already present?  I am Filipina.  I am female.  Which then leads to the assumptions:  I am the minority.  I am oppressed.

Growing up, I had a hard time with the question, “Where are you from?”  This question, which I was led to believe was pertinent to my own identity, was a source of frustration for my young mind.  I was born in the Philippine islands, which would then, obviously, make me a Filipina.  Most of my childhood, however, was spent on the continent of Africa.  Would that then make me a South African, Kenyan, and Zimbabwean as well?  And of course, now that I have pledged allegiance to the United States of America, shouldn’t I now be prone to say, “I am American?”

Thinking back, I realize that the source of this frustration did not stem from the fact that I was privileged enough to live in all these places, but rather, that I felt that I could only choose one as my identity.  To appease my conflicted young mind, I decided to identify the country I was presently residing in as the answer to that wearisome question.  With that decision came confused looks and awkward silences, as I did not “look” Zimbabwean or Kenyan or South African (another assumption?).

The older I got, the more unsatisfied I became with my answers.  And as I thought more about where I was from, who I was, and what I claimed as my identity, I started to ask myself, “Why can’t I construct my own concept of who I am and where I come from?  What would be the cost of not buying into the labels already present?”

The answer?  Look at the lives of Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi.  Remember Rosa Parks sitting on the bus and picture Nelson Mandela cooped up in his cell.  They all paid a hefty price for not conforming to the labels of their day.  But don’t we also hold them up as heroes, as the definition of people who were true to their own identity?

I know I may never be pivotal to a movement that will change the course of history and my name may never be in history books.  But I can start changing my answers and molding my own identity.

You ask where I am from?  My answer is that it is not necessary to know, not in the way you think it is.  What is necessary is that you know that I am human to the core, molded and shaped by my own personal experiences, and trying my best to not fit in with the labels of today.  I am Cristine Jeda Dollosa Orillosa-Thurber.  I refuse to apathetically choose a label that I can comfortably fit in.  I am still on a life-long journey of finding my own identity.

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Tags: Cristine Orillosa-Thurber, identity, labels, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks
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Lessons in Leadership George Washington 1776

There was a point in the American bid for Independence where it appeared that the effort had failed. Washington’s army was stalled across the Delaware from Trenton, New Jersey. As soldiers commissions were running out they were not re-enlisting in the war effort. Washington was losing confidence of politician, citizen and soldier alike. Something had to change, that was certain. On Christmas day George Washington announced to his remaining troops that they would need to prepare. It was bitterly cold and uncertainty swirled about in the minds of the under-supplied, tired and cold soldiers. Washington asked that Thomas Paine’s “American Crisis” be read to the troops, the opening lines are likely to be familiar to many reading this:

“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”

The next day Washington would lead part of the continental army into battle himself for the first time in the revolutionary war. He would also impliment a new bolder tactic, his army would move swiftly and decisively. The objective of the new approach was catching the Hessian garrison off guard across the Delaware River in the battle for Trenton. The plan paid off and the battle resulted in about 1,000 of the 1,500 Hessian garrison being killed, wounded or captured. Most importantly this moment is recognized as an important turning point in the war. Washington restored confidence in his leadership and the effort overall. In fact a few days later a huge portion of his continental army was coming to the end of their commission and Washington would manage to convince half of them to stay the course and re-enlist. News of the Battle of Trenton would travel fast and many more citizens would enlist as a result. Here are Washington’s words he used to inspire the troops to re-enlist:

“My brave fellows, you have done all I asked you to do, and more than can be reasonably expected; but your country is at stake, your wives, your houses and all that you hold dear. You have worn yourselves out with fatigues and hardships, but we know not how to spare you. If you will consent to stay one month longer, you will render that service to the cause of liberty, and to your country, which you probably can never do under any other circumstances.”

Applying the lessons of this epic innovation and leadership example we can transform our own personal and professional lives. When we face  challenges we can choose to give up and walk away like some of the soldiers of the continental army did. Or we can choose to demonstrate leadership,  innovation and act quickly to overcome the challenge. I understand and recognize this as I have felt this very inspirational human experience on a number of occasions. While no-one wishes for this kind of adversity, there is a confidence in yourself that could not exist without successfully navigating them. Perhaps that is why the difficult lessons we learn from tend to have the greatest impact on our lives.

I hope you have enjoyed this Independence Day tribute on this 234th Birthday of the United States of America.

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Tags: George Washington, Independence Day, Inspiration, Joe Hackman, Joesgonesocial, Thomas Paine
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Ridiculously great Wisdom by a ridiculously wise and driven man

I was a big fan of Will Smith before I watched this. It’s been a while since I watched it and it always reminds me of the important things in life. I love his use of ridiculous, it is one of his favorite words, hence the title of this post. Here is a few gems:

“Your life will become better by making other peoples lives better.”

“Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity.”

“Ridiculous sickening work ethic.”

“Be willing to die for the truth.”

Looking for a bump? Watch this, it will be a great way to spend 10 minutes of your life:

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Tags: Happiness, Joe Hackman, Joesgonesocial, Will Smith
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Do Golden Apples fuel your business relationships?

Today I had scheduled to do some follow-up calls with a few of my long time IT clients. After a few 20-30 minute chats I felt like blogging about it. When I started my IT business back in 1997 I was very interested in making every customer a “customer for life”. It was a simple goal and while it has not been 100% successful I am extremely fortunate that the majority of my current clients have been clients for many years. As a result they really know me and I really know them. I know about the personal and professional challenges they face, the highs and the lows. Really we’ve been through a lot together, we are like a family. I know about their families and they know about mine. When we talk we catch up on personal business, share ideas and support each other. I was also reminded that business is always personal for me.  My clients are friends and I enjoy their friendship. In business it is always a delicate balance. Luckily, as my own boss, potential clients and I can choose to work together. In my prior career I did not have the luxury of this. I can tell you among many of the perks of being your own boss, for me the ability to choose who I work with is a huge perk.

Freia, from Das Rheingold, with the tree of golden apples

Some people may read this and think that I am naive, but there is more to this. I had one client years ago that made me miserable. One of my close friends told me a story that someone had told him some years prior by the founder of a large warehouse store. It was the tale of the golden apples. Basically the saying was as long as the golden apples (money) were falling off the tree not to worry about difficult clients. I’ve used this to console myself over the years and I have to say I am at a point where I no longer agree with this. If your customers values are not in line with yours and it is causing you stress, you will be better off firing them and finding new customers. When I take stock of my customers today, they are all in line with my values. I do not feel that this is an accident. I think that ultimately when your values are out of whack, relationships will be dysfunctional. I think part of my position here has come with age, I am very comfortable today with who I am and I am not afraid to tell someone if they are asking me to do something that I do not feel I can ethically, successfully or efficiently execute. When I was younger I was much less self assured, I was driven and competitive, I guess I was what I needed to be at the time. Today I am glad that my values drive my business and personal relationships. I am open about who I am, what I stand for and genuinely enjoy establishing relationships with people who share my values.

I would love to hear your opinions about this post and your own personal experiences or philosophy on this. I will feature a couple of the best examples that come up in the post.

Featured Comments:

Occasionally I receive comments on my blog that really impress me and I want to showcase them (and the commenter!) in the post:

“Great post, Joe! This reminds us that usually when people grumble about their jobs and out of their unhappiness, make the transition to become an entrepreneur, one of the reasons they usually cite for their discontent in being an employee is they have issues with the people in their environment, and with the people with whom they have to interact. Unfortunately, once the new business-owner has survived the inevitable period of financial insecurity, they become determined to never experience that again, and this is usually when they make the subconscious pact with themselves to accept all money, no matter from whence it comes. The effect of this ill-advised decision is to create for themselves, all over again, the same kind of environment that they had once dreamed of escaping — a work environment in which they are exposed to troublesome individuals.

This post is a great reminder to business-owners about one of the elements that factored into why they decided to become a business-owner in the first place. Control over their work environment. Thanks for this!” – Kathrina Rashid

Kathrina was a recent guest blogger on my blog, you check out her post entitled “Sexual Assault Awareness by Kathrina Rashid PHD“

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Tags: Entrepreneurs, Happiness, Joe Hackman, Joesgonesocial, Motivation
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The 4 benefits of being attacked by bees

Joes view at the ER

One week ago tonight, right about now I was walking down a trail behind my house. I heard the buzz of some very angry bees, a sound I had heard before and learned not to stick around to find out why they are angry. I started to sprint towards home and realize “oh no, you’re running down hill and won’t be able to stop”. Before I could slow myself down my right ankle folded and I hit the ground and slid and rolled on the trail a bit before coming to a stop. I could feel something was seriously wrong with my ankle but between the bees and the fact that I knew the pain in my ankle was sure to get worse, I limped home like a wounded animal. I was in a lot of pain when I got home, I took a quick bath while icing my ankle and popped 800mg of Ibuprofen while my wife and 4 year old son prepped for our trip to either urgent care or the ER. I admit I was not very rational while under great amounts of pain, but there was a decision to be made. Urgent care is in Walnut Creek about 25 minutes away and the ER at San Ramon Regional Hospital is 10 minutes from my house. Then I remembered my healthy community day at Leadership San Ramon Valley. The President of the Hospital Gary Sloan and one of his top ER doctors had been a part of that program. I remember a hospital is a business and I felt like I should support the local hospital and deal with people that I can trust.

So off to the ER we go, I won’t get too much into the details because really there are a few important facts about my visit and those are enough:

1. My ankle was only sprained and they ruled out breaks, etc.
2. The advice the doc gave was really useful.
3. My doctor was the guy I met at Leadership, small world.
4. I was glad I went to the ER at San Ramon Regional.

How can there possibly be benefits to this?

After I hurt my ankle I was really stressed about how this was going to affect my work. I have so much going on every day, for starters I wasn’t going anywhere for ~3-4 days while I kept my leg elevated and my ankle iced. It was hard for me to imagine what the benefits of being laid up for a while would be. My work was going to suffer, house projects, social life, bah humbug I was  in bad attitude city.

Saturday I was on the couch ALL DAY. I watched World Cup Soccer, slept, read, slept some more, wow I sure slept a lot. I had no idea I was so tired. There was benefit #1 – I really needed some rest. I slept in Sunday and repeated my FIFA, Sleep, Read, FIFA, Sleep process. Did I mention even though I read I didn’t read much because I would get tired and fall asleep.

“There was benefit #1 – I really needed some rest.”

Sunday I also did some planning for the week ahead of me. I realized that I still needed to set my goals for the week even though I was obviously going to have a temporary handicap. Sunday night with a lot of help from my wonderful wife I setup a laptop and second screen that I felt  I could use while I kept my leg up on the couch, or at the very least that I could periodically lay back and put up my leg. This was going to be a handicap big time for me, I am used to a 30” Samsung LCD flanked by 2 21” Samsung LCD’s (and not the wide screen ones, old school 1600×1200!).

Monday rolled around and I slept in a little bit, close to 7:30AM. Really late, I know, but with a 4 year old at home parents reading this will understand what this is like. Getting around was a pain, trying to work was a pain, I tried to keep my best face on. This wouldn’t last forever. One of the things I did Monday was work on long term goals. I wrote down very practically what I wanted to accomplish in my professional life. This was benefit #2 – setting long term goals is really important. One of the things I realized while doing this was I needed to set daily and weekly objectives for myself. I took out a notebook (I can write faster than type when I am lying on my back with my foot up) and started writing dates. Each work day was ½ a page. I wrote down the things that absolutely had to get done those days. I had to be selective, as I was not going to be spending 10 hours at my desk typing away with my sprained ankle. I noticed something very interesting, the things I wrote were contributing directly to my long term goals. Duh in hindsight it seems so simple.

“This was benefit #2 – setting long term goals is really important.”

Tuesday I kept resting up but I also used the time when I was resting my foot to take in some world cup soccer. My eyes and brain started getting used to the game, it was a rush watching a well-executed goal especially if it was undertaken by the team I had adopted to root for during the match. Being a tourist of Football is really fun, not much invested, a lot of what I was seeing was new and if the team I was rooting for lost it was no big deal. This was benefit #3 – I learned to love watching World Cup soccer.

“This was benefit #3 – I learned to love watching World Cup soccer.”

USA! USA! USA!

Wednesday I kept up my new passion watching World Cup Soccer. It was exciting as heck to watch Donovan score the game winning goal in stoppage time in the US best showing since 1930. I would have missed this piece of history had it not been for my injury. There is just no way I would have been able to justify the time to watch. In addition to watching history in the making, I was getting a little better at working on my laptop and my attitude had improved a lot by the end of the day. I even got bold and drove around the neighborhood, did I mention I sprained my right ankle?

Thursday was fairly ambitious I had scheduled work at a client site and added a lot more to my “must get done list”. I really felt solid by the end of the day. I started to see the benefits of the injury to my ankle taking shape and the eternal optimist inside me knew I’d see it eventually. This was benefit #4 – there is opportunity in any situation.

“This was benefit #4 – there is opportunity in any situation.”

By today I was absolutely sailing, I got more work done in less time than I have on many days where I don’t have anything to blame for slowing me down. I feel much more prepared for the weeks ahead and 1 of 4 of the weeks (by most estimates) that I will spend using crutches is done and I am roaring and ready for the next 3.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this personal story, I’d like to leave you with a quote about life by the late Joseph Campbell:

“We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.”

Featured Comments:

Occasionally I receive comments on my blog that really impress me and I want to showcase them (and the commenter!) in the post:

“You know Joe this is one of those posts that is so genuine that I have to read it over and over just to prove to myself that you wrote it. In the normal every day life there can be indeed moments of triumph, self discovery and even finding a greater deeper appreciation for what you have, where you have come and understanding things won’t stay the same. They won’t stay where they are now and with positive thinking, a bit of focus and keeping yourself well stocked with resources like energy you can tackle about anything. Thanks for sharing.” – Lyndi Thompson

Lyndi is a Social Media and Online Marketing Specialist, you check out her blog at http://lyndit.com

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Tags: FIFA World Cup, Happiness, Inspiration, Joe Hackman, Joesgonesocial
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Danville Welcomes Home Corpsman Kevin Patrick Bradley

Tonight I was fortunate to have taken a small part in a welcome home ceremony for Kevin Patrick Bradley. Kevin is a Corpsman who just returned home from deployment over seas in Iraq and Afghanistan. It made me extremely proud of the effort that the local community makes to support our troops. The San Ramon Valley is a very special place and a number of my neighbors, friends, local officials and veteran’s turned out to give Kevin a warm welcome home. Kevin was very appreciative, humble and professional in his response to the ceremony.

I streamed the event live on uStream, something I am planning to do more of. It creates a fairly low quality (at least from my Droid phone in 3G coverage) live video and audio feed from just about anywhere. I can’t help but think that there is room for a team-mate on these adventures. It would be much more effective to have one person recording and the other interviewing and socializing at an event like this. For now I will persist with my current testing, keep an eye out for the Facebook and Twitter updates from my uStream account. Here is the embed of the majority of the event on uStream:

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Tags: Bluestar Moms, Danville, Joe Hackman, Kevin Patrick Bradley, Lafayette Flag Brigade, Sentinels of Freedom, uStream, VFW, Welcome Home
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Houseboating on Lake McClure

Capicornus beached on Mack Island

A short while ago I noticed a new job title on a friends LinkedIn account. My friend Ben Jackson had become VP of Sales at Houseboats.com. I knew right away that I would be calling him eventually because the idea of renting a houseboat to share an experience on the water with friends and family was very appealing to me. Two weeks ago I finally made that call, and I am glad that I did. Houseboats.com has rentals at Lake McClure and New Melones Lake, they also have impressive rental inventory at Jones Valley resort at Lake Shasta including a massive 65’ Houseboat “Titan” that sleeps 22 passengers.

The unit that we rented was the Eclipse model “Capicornus” a boat with many great amenities including a roof top hot-tub, full kitchen, 1.5 bathrooms, 2 state rooms and lots of other great goodies. The highlight feature for my family and our friends was the roof top hot-tub. We arrived Thursday morning and departed on Sunday. It ended up being a very relaxing and enjoyable trip with some surprises along the way.

When we arrived at Lake McClure we checked in at the store. The store manager I believe his name was Jim greeted us. The staff was friendly and helpful from the time we arrived until our departure, it left a very good impression with our family and guests. Jim pointed us in the right direction and told us where to unload our luggage and supplies. Once we had loaded the boat and parked our car we were ready for our orientation process. The detail that was covered was impressive but operating a houseboat and all the related systems is not difficult but it is extensive. After orientation the staff offered to bring us to a good spot for the first day/night that was relatively close to the marina. It was really helpful to see how to properly beach and tie off the boat before attempting it ourselves.

Contrasts of Red, Blue and Green - Lake View

On Friday my wife Laura and I were both ready to operate the boat ourselves so we followed the procedures that we’d been given and cast off. Our first destination was just outside the marina to have the sun shade installed. We hailed the marina “Capicornus to Barret 1, Over” feeling a bit like a pilot calling the tower. The day before they had suggested we wait to have the sun shade installed due to the winds on the lake, so we drove close to the marina and two guys came out to install the shade, we were officially moving now.

The resort manager Jim had suggested drifting in the channel and occasionally powering the motor on to avoid the banks as needed. This was actually a great tip and we had a very peaceful day largely drifting to the Southern portion of the lake, close to the dam. Under power we scouted around for a good place to land. While searching we spotted some wild Donkey’s, a waterfall (albeit a small one!) and noted at least one very nice cabin on the East side of the lake. Eventually we found a great sheltered cove on Mack Island. We were able to land successfully and tie the boat down for the remainder of the day and night. While tied off to Mack Island our family had a lot of fun. The area is probably a geologists dream with some very interesting rock structures and rocks strewn throughout including quartz. There is also a lot of interesting driftwood, more stuff for our 4 year old to enjoy.

Inside View - Capicornus

Saturday our friends were coming, so after a leisurely morning we went back to the marina. They drove our houseboat in, probably a good thing. We’d gotten pretty good at piloting the boat, in fact my Laura did most of the driving Saturday. She is a natural. Before long our friends and their 2 kids arrived. We had a lot of fun tooling around the lake Saturday and eventually we found a extremely sheltered location on the West Side of the lake, it was like threading a needle. After Laura brought the boat into that spot, I figure she could probably drive it anywhere. Saturday night through Sunday morning were really extremely fun. We fired up the BBQ and enjoyed some cold beverages. The kids really had a blast in the hot tub especially and Sunday morning the oldest boy did some fishing. He didn’t catch anything but I think it was more about the experience to him anyway.

Departure time Sunday came too soon. We all could have spent a week out on that Lake. What a blast! Definitely have some ideas for future trips:

1. Birthday trip in August aboard the “Titan” at Shasta with some friends and family.
2. “Annual” trip with the friends that came with us this time to McClure.

If you get a chance to rent a houseboat in Northern California I recommend my buddy Ben Jackson’s company Houseboats.com. You can check them out on Facebook, On the web or at “Captain Jackson’s” blog.

Here are a few more of my favorite photos from the trip:

Abundant Healthy Oaks

Exploring the Island

Nice Lake View

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Tags: Ben Jackson, Boating, Houseboat, Joe Hackman, Lake McClure, Lake Shasta, New Melones Lake, Northern California
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Remembering the fallen heroes

I have always had a lot of respect and admiration to anyone who puts themselves in harms way for the benefit of others. I have a favorite quote and poem to share with you on this Memorial Day. First a quote from the late Joseph Campbell:

“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.”

I also came across this poem while considering a Memorial Day tribute to the fallen, it captured many of my feelings.

Freedom Is Not Free

By Kelly Strong

I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it,
and then he stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
He’d stand out in any crowd.
I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers’ tears?
How many pilots’ planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many foxholes were soldiers’ graves?
No, freedom isn’t free.

I heard the sound of TAPS one night,
When everything was still
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That TAPS had meant “Amen,”
When a flag had draped a coffin
Of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn’t free.

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Tags: Arlington, In Memoriam, Joseph Campbell, Memorial Day
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