Matthew Joseph Amante

7lbs, 11oz - 20.5"

Welcome Matthew!

good news of a long-awaited event will arrive soon

My sister received this fortune, and shared it with me--

Which could mean one of two things, 1) My wife of 8+ months pregnancy could soon be going into labor and we would welcome our new son into the world.  2)  My Pebble watch would soon arrive, I had received notification that it would be shipped within a few weeks.

When I got home, guess what was in my mailbox...

Which meant that the watch has arrived, but could it also mean its time to go to the hospital?

That night, my wife woke me up...  after the initial charge, it was go time.  3:03 am, March 29th. 
We headed to the hospital.

 

the Melrose chapter

We moved out of our Gloucester place and a bit closer to the city.  We found a nice old Victorian home in the Wyoming Hill area of Melrose, and are starting to get settled.   We'll surely miss Gloucester and all of its natural beauty, but then again we'll probably still go up to the beach about as often as we want to.   Melrose will be closer to Boston for our daily grind, and in the end it should mean more time at home and less time commuting.

The Challenge of the Sea

We can't control the winds or weather ahead- we can learn about the forecast, currents and tides, but the variables are too many to understand them completely-- you need to be ready to change the plan.

I was not born at sea, and spending many years of my life on land and on calmer rivers and ponds, a degree of intimidation exists whenever I cast off from shore. Your preparation and initial judgement only take you up to the decision point, and once you set off -- there are only two options: turning around and giving up, or pushing forward and succeeding.

The sea has challenged me, and built my strength in a way which no course or classroom could. While some focus on their strengths and continue on with their weaknesses, I prefer to squash my fears, using all my strengths to do so. The fundamental driver of success is determination and knowing you can do it. You won't do it right the first time, but you did it. Next time you'll do it better, building upon each experience-- adjusting your course.

So what are you afraid of? Yourself.

do something great today

Today, not anytime this week, but today -- do something awesome.

I don't care what it is, I don't care if its for work, or for play, but just get out there and do it. Do something great!

After you do, find the biggest piece of paper you can find. Write it down. Celebrate, because today, was, a good day.

Jobs

Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that's never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

We make tools for these kinds of people.

While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Thanks Steve

09-17-2011

and every day after :)



quonniewedding.com

Inland - by Edna St. Vincent Millay

Inland

People that build their houses inland,
People that buy a plot of ground
Shaped like a house, and build a house there,
Far from the sea-board, far from the sound

Of water sucking the hollow ledges,
Tons of water striking the shore,—
What do they long for, as I long for
One salt smell of the sea once more?

People the waves have not awakened,
Spanking the boats at the harbour's head,
What do they long for, as I long for,—
Starting up in my inland bed,

Beating the narrow walls, and finding
Neither a window nor a door,
Screaming to God for death by drowning,—
One salt taste of the sea once more?

By Edna St. Vincent Millay

top of the world, with her

Mountains and oceans, a theme of my life and this blog -- At a very young age, my parents took me to Camden Hills State park and we hiked to the top and looked out over Camden Harbor and the ocean. It was probably one of my most memorable childhood moments outdoors. For many years, I had the memory, but didn't even realize where it was. A few summers ago, Avery and I hiked Mt Megunticook and the memory was renewed atop its rocky overlook. Being born in Maine, loving the mountains, and the rocky coast -- I knew this was a special place.

Today, Avery and I did an early morning winter hike to the top of sister peak Mt Battie and we got engaged!

Quincy to Gloucester, by sea

Sailed Seamunkey from Quincy to Gloucester today! I had my GPS data logger on, but the settings were not correct for capturing data along the way, so I only had 4 actual reference points recorded and the line drawn is my extrapolated rough estimation of the trip-- We left early around 7am and arrived in Gloucester harbor close to 3:00pm..

The weather forecast looked great, with light winds getting stronger as the day moved on from the SouthWest. Seamunkey is now on her mooring in Gloucester Harbor --



Bram joined me for the voyage, and my neighbor Howie picked us up in southeast harbor, thanks guys!

exploration

and looking at my posts, thoughts, experiences and projects
I wonder
why do I enjoy the mountains? what is it that brings me back to the sea? what am I doing?

I like to explore, but my travels have not been to far exotic places.
Sometimes they are only within the bytes of the computer
sometimes they are only within the woods of a mountain
within the streets of my town
and water which surrounds me

who's coming with me?

Summer 09

I had a fantastic New England summer -- From spending time on Quonochontaug pond on the Patti Ann, to the beaches of RI and Gloucester, exploring the coast of Acadia, or just tending to my vegatable and flower garden.



The pond was a peaceful sheltered salt pond, connected to the ocean by a breachway, which provided many days of kayaking, sailing and fishing. A breathtaking place to catch a sunset --

I enjoyed body surfing and snorkeling around the tidal rivers of Good Harbor beach and many weekends looking across to block island from the rhode island coast.

We camped and hiked in Acadia Maine, after a long hike swimming in Echo Lake was very refreshing. Enjoyed kicking back on the camp hammock, starting up a roaring campfire, and walking down to Bass Harbor Lighthouse during a misty sunset.

The vegatable garden turned out well this year, it was my first year using heirloom seeds from tomatoes which I ate the year before. I once again tried to optimize my space, and this year had much more room for flowers since the shrubs had been removed.

2009 - my 30th year here

2008 is history, and the sands of time continue to fall --
The new year brings with it the question, should I do things the way I have been doing them? or try a new approach, changing the things in my life that I want to make better? As each day continues to get shorter, while still being exactly 1440 minutes -- what is going to have to give in order to do something else additionally or differently?

Turning 30 this year, and still finding myself a big kid with adult responsibilities, I don't really see any reason to stop enjoying life to the fullest. I'm still thinking about my resolutions, I have truly enjoyed my life up to this point and hope the next 30 are just as great if not better --

Happy New Year!! Look forward to hearing from you or seeing you soon --

using my MBTI(INTJ) to lead and manage successful teams

Just getting back from a few day course, leading and managing successful teams. The basic ideas of the course was to use Myers Briggs Type Indicators to assess your own type and style, and understand how to adapt your own leadership style to others within your team. A foundation for team synergy was built, where depending on the nature of the project-- different types within a group may be best suited to handle certain aspects of the project and can complement each others natural working styles.

Some points of interest when trying to understand INTJ's (Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging) that really struck a chord with me.

-Strong vision for the organization, and loyal to the organization
-Thinking about issues of the future, understanding trends
-Hungry for problems to solve, sometimes will take on others problems, it is painful for us to see a problem and not be able to do anything about it.
-Open to any and all ideas that can be put to use
-Change and improve upon anything
-Like small teams, with significant contributions from each member
-Hate redundancy, seek efficiency
-Procedures tend to be followed if they are efficient or their value is explained
-Prefer precise communication
-Like to bring theories into actualities

If you know me through work, I think this aligns very well with what I tend to do for the companies which I have worked for. If you know me personally, some of these traits also come through. Some of my prior blog posts also tend to highlight some of these characteristics. It is good to be able to understand your own type well first, and that gives perspective as to others which may have different types/styles and how you may need to adjust to meet their needs.

Poem for Grandpa

Grandpa

My Grandpa was a gentle soul
With eyes, the clearest blue
A Father, Brother, Friend and Mate
His devotion, ever true

He had a happy disposition
And kindness in his voice
A real New England sports fan
The Red-Sox were his choice

His strength and fearless courage
Held steady through the war
Little did he know back then
What life would have in store

Memories of the ocean
Three daughters by his side
Swimming in the sunshine
And dancing with the bride

He loved to be a “Grandpa”
He was proud of all he had
A crowded room of family
Would always make him glad

Seasons come and seasons go
The winter’s sometimes long
The “Red Sox” kept their promise
And Grandpa still was strong

For years, he was a fighter
He wanted much to stay
He held the hands of those he loved
With pride, he paved the way

His spirit stays within us
Though his time on earth is done
It’s opening day in Heaven
The season’s just begun



We love you Grandpa. We miss you.

Amy Kelly 3/5/08

Memorial Slideshow by Tim Dowd

Happy Mothers Day

Well, mom, as the first person to usually read my blog you probably have some time to have me remove anything you don't want posted forever...

This year we had a nice sunny May day, nothing like the flood-waters and downpours of last years weather... Unfortunately with my final presentation/project for my ASP.NET 2.0 class due tomorrow, I wasn't able to spend a whole lot of the day with the fam, but we still got in a brief trip to the beach and had dinner together...

My mom absolutely loves it when all her kids are in the same room, car, house or really anywhere.. I think if she had a big enough nest she would sit on top of us all and keep us warm. She's done a pretty fine job raising us, along with dad's help of course.. They both played very good role models for me growing up, and I think we all turned out thoughtful, caring, honest and with good heads on our shoulders...

Thanks mom for all your time and work, I owe a lot to you.
Love you!!

-Michael

GIS - a hobby or career?

GIS - Geographic Information Systems is an emerging field which I have taken interest to, spawned by great applications such as Google Earth and Google Maps, there have also been sites of value such as HousingMaps.com, CheapGas.com, Zillow.com all which present valuable data to you based upon what you are looking for overlayed onto a geographic map. Flickr now also allows you to tag where a picture was shot --

I've been thinking about taking a few courses in GIS to become more familiar with the field and concepts used in developing GIS solutions.

what do you want to be when you grow up?

I remember the first time I was asked this question in school, in first grade --
What do you want to be when you grow up? with the following trailing statement... YOU can be ANYTHING.

I'm not sure how the rest of the class answered, but I remember my own answer... I want to be an astronaut and go to space! As a kid, I often dreamed of flying.. of being able to walk on ceilings, of being on top of the world higher than the highest mountaintop--

Anousheh Ansari took it to the next level. She is the first non-astronaut to say, "I'm going to space". Opening the doors for future people to say, my dream is to one day go to space, and it is possible, and has been done.

I recommend reading her blog, hear some of her stories and insights -- She's inspiring us, our youth to dream bigger -- our leaders to think globally, to understand that borders although real in our world, from space do not exist.

We are one earth, one people, under a sun. Enjoy life, and be who you want to be.

You are, what you Search?

As a knowledge hungry human, you are what you eat...

Think about the last 10 things you looked up on Google, can't remember that far back? Perhaps your browsers auto-complete feature has remembered for you... (double-click the white text search area) It's pretty interesting to see what you have been looking up, and it probably says a lot about you, your work, your hobbies, and what is going on in your life... This data, although we hope is kept private-- is data that may or may not be collected, and profiled, and matched to even your IP address (think phone number). Read about AOLS big-mistake of releasing private search data, if you haven't already...

It's not a question of to search or not to search, at this point the internet has become our most knowledgable friend... The first one we ask questions, before we bother someone or revert to 'old fashioned' book ways, or look for an expert in the field... Is it necessarily who you know? or is it how well you search? Do you care if this data could be used? does it alter your search behavior?

You start to wonder, who knows you and whats going on in your life best? What do you do daily? what have you learned?

What are you?

A collection of results, opinions, feelings, interactions, activites, thoughts ???
Maybe.

thinking about the choice.

Almost any seasoned tech guy has probably faced the same question at one point in his/her career...

Do I stay technical, working towards a senior tech position within a company? Or do I try my hand at management, and work towards a higher degree of technical management within a company?

I'm gearing up to go to grad school at some point in the near future, and this unanswered question is part of the reason why I have not already gone back for more education, chosen a degree of study, or fully explored the various schools that offer these degrees.

I don't think RIGHT now is the time to answer this question, but if you have insight that would possibly influence my decision in one way or the other, I welcome you to contact me --