Hamlet

Quotes of 2007

It’s that time again. I’m clearing out my quotes section on Facebook to make way for the new ones I’m sure to amass in 2008.

“Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!” – William Shakespeare; Hamlet Act V, scene ii

“The greatest risk in life is life – it has 100% chance of causing death.” – Unknown

“My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things, that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Saviour.” – John Newton

“There is nothing left to do but get drunk.” – Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States

“I have guidelines for my personal cell phone use while operating a vehicle. The guidelines say I can call back an awesome girl while monitoring the horizon for things that do not fit under the car.” – Matt Matteson, http://dlzip.com/wordpress/2007/11/06/come-play/

“If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.” – James Madison

“Oh, then it inverts! Isn’t that cute!” – Ryan
“Look, Ryan’s making cute circuits!” – Amanda

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.” – Douglas Adams

“In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.” – Douglas Adams, Restaurant at the End of the Universe

“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” – Mother Theresa

“The biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has occurred.” – Alan Mulally

“Progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things.” – Robert A. Heinlein

“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn’t exist.” – Verbal, “The Usual Suspects”

“It’s Not A Decision. It’s an IQ Test”. – VC Josh Kopelman on MySpace v. Facebook

“Mysteries require judgments and the assessment of uncertainty.” – Malcom Gladwell

“It should be noted that no ethically-trained software engineer would ever consent to write a DestroyBaghdad procedure. Basic professional ethics would instead require him to write a DestroyCity procedure, to which Baghdad could be given as a parameter.” – Nathaniel Borenstein

“Dear God,”
“Yes, my child?”
“I would like to file a bug report”
-XKCD (http://xkcd.com/c258.html)

“No matter where you go, there you are.” – Buckaroo Banzai

“…brick by brick like a Lego shit-house…” – Michael Hood, blatherWatch

“Ah, the things we could do if we didn’t have to waste time sleeping and eating… What an annoyance!” – Brian Layman, TheCodeCave.com

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Sad Times

I’ve been pretty busy this past week, mentally, physically, and emotionally. When I get this busy, my regular habits (for better or for worse) start to drop off. I hold off on checking/responding to email, I let me feeds go unread for days at a time and I pretty much just generally unplug from the world while I deal with what’s at hand (in this case: finals). To give you an idea of how far behind I am, I have 250 emails in my inbox and 828 unread feeds I currently have.

Unfortunately, life goes on; and with life’s continuance, death also continues.

That’s what this post is about. Two great people passed away this week: Marc Orchant and Anita Rowland.

While I had never met Marc in person, I have read his posts online and I know people who have meet him. All indications I have say that he was a kind and caring gentleman who really knew what was going on. Marc suffered massive heart attack about a week and a half ago. While he never regained consciousness, he was reportedly getting better. Around 3pm on Sunday, Marc suddenly passed away.

In contrast, Anita had been battling cancer since 2003. However, her death was also as unexpected as Marc’s. I’m glad I am able to say that I did have the pleasure of meeting Anita several times over the years at the few Blogger Meetups I was able to attend. I remember that Anita was always very kind to me and created a very welcoming environment.

While I will miss them both, I think I find it hardest to watch the people still alive who had a greater connection to Marc and Anita then I did. To see the depth of their sorrow and know that there is nothing I can do to ease it.

TDavid has a nice recounting of his interaction with Marc and Anita.

Chris Pirillo also has a very touching video on YouTube.

However, I think Warner Crocker summed it up best:

From wickedstageact2.typepad.com:

“Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!” (Hamlet Act V, scene ii)

Death is a bitch.

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