my name is taken

To My Daughter: My Hero, Steve Jobs

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 10:34:06 -0700

Every morning and evening, I trade emails with my children. We take a photo and send it to each other to let the other person know what we’re up to. We call it “8:22, Where are you?” (“7:02, Where are you?” for my son) and since starting my commute to California during the week, it’s become the thing I look most forward to each day.

This morning, I wrote the following email to my 9-year-old daughter:

I’m feeling sad this morning, Gillian. Yesterday, someone very important to me died, and it leaves a hole in your heart when something like that happens.

Steve Jobs passed away last night. You probably know him as the guy who invented the iPod that you’re reading this email on.

I know him as the person who started Apple and created amazing things. He’s the reason I got excited about computers a long time ago, something that shaped my life more than I ever expected. I was just about your age when that happened. And he’s been a hero of mine ever since.

“Hero” is an interesting word. Kids usually hear it with the word “super” in front of it and imagine someone with incredible powers, a cape and a secret identify. But not all heroes are like that. Some are regular people. Steve Jobs never wore a cape. But he did have some pretty incredible powers.

He created beautiful things, and that made him a hero to me. There isn’t enough beauty in the world, and we can use all we can get.

He demanded that everything he did be excellent, the best it could possibly be, and that made him a hero to me. Too often, we settle for doing things that are just “good enough,” when we can do so much more. Steve made me want to do my best.

He had an enormous imagination and dreamt up some of the most amazing things. But he also knew how to take something that was just a thought in his head and make it real, and that made him a hero to me, too. It’s easy to have ideas, but most people don’t do anything about them, usually because they’re scared that they won’t succeed. Steve Jobs gave me courage to try new things. He made me want to not only be creative, but to create, too. He helped me to see that what you make and who you are are one and the same.

And he understood better than anyone else what it means to be a human being, and that made him a very special hero to me, too. He taught me that we are all here to make a difference in the lives of others, and I try to ask myself every day if I’m doing that. He taught me that the people you surround yourself with in life — your family, your friends, the people you choose to do things with — will shape the person you become and what you accomplish. Every day, I think about the people in my life and whether they are helping me be the best person I can be. And I also ask if I’m helping them to be amazing, too, because it works both ways.

I never met him, and now I never will. That makes me sad, because it was one of the things I wanted more than anything else. When I started my job at Apple a few months ago, I’d hoped I’d get a chance to work with him one day. And even though that never happened, it’s been an honor to be able to work at a company that my hero created. And that makes me happy.

Steve Jobs once said that he wanted to “put a ding in the universe.” It’s a funny expression, one that means that he wanted to make a difference in the world. He did that for me, no question. Only Grandma, Grandpa and your mother have had a bigger influence on the person I’ve become.

So yes, Daddy is sad. It’s always sad when someone special to you dies. But it’s also a time to celebrate that person’s life, and thinking about how Steve Jobs changed my own life makes me happy. I’m a better person because of my hero, and that’s a pretty wonderful feeling.

I want you to “put a ding in the universe,” too, Gillian, and I know that you will. It’s what I wish for you more than anything. I don’t know how it will happen yet. Maybe it will be through your writing or your dancing or your funny stories and games. Or maybe it will be through something that you haven’t even done yet, something that is still left for you to discover. But I know you will find it, and I know that you won’t give up until you do.

And you will do amazing things, Gillian, I have no no doubt about that at all.

Love and tickles, Daddy xxxooo

Arriving in Seattle aboard the Bainbridge Island Ferry.

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 17:21:33 -0700

Arriving in Seattle aboard the Bainbridge Island Ferry.

“Tyrannosaurus Vice Grips” (Taken with Instagram at Treehouse...

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 11:52:45 -0700

“Tyrannosaurus Vice Grips” (Taken with Instagram at Treehouse Cafe)

OH from David Gooding, CEO of auction company, “It’s a strong...

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:46:12 -0700

OH from David Gooding, CEO of auction company, “It’s a strong market.” (Taken with Instagram at Gooding & Company Auction)

Buddy, can you spare $18 Million? (Taken with Instagram at...

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:04:16 -0700

Buddy, can you spare $18 Million? (Taken with Instagram at Gooding & Company Auction)

1928 Amilcar C6 (Taken with Instagram at Gooding & Company...

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 11:15:00 -0700

1928 Amilcar C6 (Taken with Instagram at Gooding & Company Auction)

Every August, a group of car collectors makes the journey from...

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 17:09:11 -0700

Every August, a group of car collectors makes the journey from Seattle to Carmel, CA for the Pebble Beach Concours. A road trip is rarely newsworthy, except when it is made in cars that are rarely seen out of their climate-controlled garages, much less on the coastal roads of Washington, Oregon and California.

The trip starts Tuesday, and already about 10 classics are parked in the garage beneath the Woodmark Hotel in Kirkland. In addition to the rare and gigantic Duesenberg seen here, there was a Pierce Arrow, a bright green Packard Twelve, a 1920s Rolls, a Lagonda Drophead Coupe, a gorgeous right-hand drive Delahaye and a 1930s Lincoln sedan in three different shades of purple. Beside these behemoths was nestled a diminutive 1964(?) Porsche 356 SC coupe and, my favorite Ferrari of all time, the achingly beautiful 250 GT Lusso. Unfortunately, the Lusso was under a car cover, but there was no mistaking it characteristic lines. In all, well over $2 million in vehicles just sitting there for the perusing.

The boy was giddy with it all, dashing from car to car to check out the anachronisms that give these cars their charm: the enormous headlights, grilles as tall as him and the swooping fenders he flew his hands inches above in reluctant deference to my request to “not touch the cars that cost more than our house.”

It was a quick stop on the way to the airport, one we snuck into the schedule when my friend, Pete, reminded me this morning that the annual pilgrimage to the Monterey Peninsula leaves this week.

I’ll be in Monterey again on the 19th for the craziness, and will definitely be keeping my eyes out for the incredible cars we saw today.

Enjoying one of my favorite Seattle espressos. We need a...

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 13:38:44 -0700

Enjoying one of my favorite Seattle espressos. We need a @zokacoffee in San Jose. (Taken with Instagram at Zoka Coffee)

Today’s “Stupid Design Moment”: if you are...

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 20:58:45 -0700

Today’s “Stupid Design Moment”: if you are reading this sign, mission already accomplished.

Not exactly conveying the flavor goodness that I think was...

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 23:09:41 -0700

Not exactly conveying the flavor goodness that I think was intended. (Taken with instagram)

Up and out (Taken with instagram)

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 23:40:18 -0700

Up and out (Taken with instagram)

It’s a good day when the first moving box you open...

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 11:49:39 -0700

It’s a good day when the first moving box you open contains your espresso machine. (Taken with Instagram at Radiator Springs)

How can I tell I’m not in WA anymore? This display at...

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 09:22:15 -0700

How can I tell I’m not in WA anymore? This display at Whole Foods? Only two drinks with coffee in them.

It all fits! Needed to upgrade to an SUV which costs, like,...

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 22:48:04 -0700

It all fits!

Needed to upgrade to an SUV which costs, like, $3723.96 per day, but at least I’m not sitting with a piece of luggage pressed up against my head.

Safety first, and all that.

A spectacular flight down to California this evening....

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 20:42:01 -0700

A spectacular flight down to California this evening.

That’s Mount Rainier on the left, Mount St. Helens in the foreground and Mount Adams behind it. I can even see Mount Hood and further south to “Three Sisters” if I mash my face against the window.

Green and cream (Taken with Instagram at CB2)

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 11:37:27 -0700

Green and cream (Taken with Instagram at CB2)

"It’s my own space, my own time, when I’m just out there letting my thoughts go. It’s a part of my..."

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 00:02:36 -0700

“It’s my own space, my own time, when I’m just out there letting my thoughts go. It’s a part of my day like eating, and it’s one of my favorite parts.”

- Louise Kent, runner

The driver was pretty pissed that he’d high-sided his...

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 12:52:26 -0700

The driver was pretty pissed that he’d high-sided his trailer trying to back down our street. I guess it was the red mist of anger that led him to decide to park right in the middle of a major road to load up my car. Freaked out a few inattentive drivers, but I watched the MINI get loaded up without incident, thank goodness. I’ll see it again in about 3 weeks.

The glory of a pizza from Serious Pie (Taken with Instagram at...

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 13:59:51 -0700

The glory of a pizza from Serious Pie (Taken with Instagram at Serious Pie)

Last baseball game of the season. In the pouring...

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 09:08:03 -0700

Last baseball game of the season. In the pouring rain.

Sometimes, you make it hard to like you, Seattle.