
Daring Fireball: Universe Dented, Grass Underfoot - ditados
http://daringfireball.net/2011/10/universe_dented_grass_underfoot
======
jgrahamc
Many years ago a colleague, Steve Holtzman, suddenly discovered he had colon
cancer. Within a year he had faded away (it seemed almost literally) and was
gone. He had money and access to the best doctors, but he wasn't vigilant (he
had ignored odd weight loss and bowel trouble) and so it was too late.

Although Jobs didn't die of a "man's disease" there are lots of men killers
out there that can be stopped if you look for the signs. But talking to men
around me we are often reluctant to go and see a doctor for regular health
checks.

If you have a smoke alarm in your home, it's not because you expect a fire,
but because you want to be warned if there is one. Think the same way about
your own health: a visit to the doctor for an annual medical is a smoke alarm
for your body.

PS In the UK if you are over 40 then the NHS offers a free "Health Check"
([http://www.nhs.uk/Planners/NHSHealthCheck/Pages/NHSHealthChe...](http://www.nhs.uk/Planners/NHSHealthCheck/Pages/NHSHealthCheck.aspx))
that screens for common adult diseases. It's free. Go do it.

~~~
shabda
In January 2009 I was Stage 5 chronic kidney disease, in July 2009 I had a
kidney transplant.

Looking back there were so many telltale signs that I had over the last six
months, which I was ignoring as I was busy building my startup. A regular
health check has the potential to catch a problem like this. I now nag each of
my friends and family in having an annual health check.

Its the best time you can spend.

This was not the first time I made a mistake like this. When I was a kid, I
had trouble seeing my teacher's blackboard. I just kept moving closer to the
blackboard. I saw a doctor when I had trouble understanding what the teacher
was writing from the first row.

Problems like this creep up on you over years, and they are so gradual you
don't realize them.

You wont run your site without a Google Analytics/Pingdom. Dont do it with
your life. If you haven't had a health check, get it done today.

~~~
meric
> I now nag each of my friends and family in having an annual health check.

I had an aunt and an uncle (from different sides and don't know each other)
fight off cancer 5 years ago. After they were deemed "cured", they still
didn't learn the lesson of an annual health check. Around 1 year ago they both
started to feel strange symptoms and went to checkup again. They found out not
only had the cancer recurred but that it had spread to many parts of their
bodies. The doctors recommended a couple of treatments but weeks later they
said there was nothing more they could do.

In July and August they both passed away, within 3 weeks of each other. (Right
after my grandmother too, and of course it's been emotional for me.)

It appears this applied to S.J too. (If he died of recurring cancer.)

But, convincing _anyone_ (including me, a 21 year old) of annual checkup is
hard. The thinking goes: we've been fine for all our lives/ is too young to
get sick, why worry?

~~~
mahyarm
When your trying to loose weight, finding if there is anything else that might
be making it hard can be helpful. Taking a blood test and finding out you have
iron problems could literally save your life. 4 Hour Body kind of drills
regular testing to see how your body is doing, and those accurate tests can be
a wake up call. Seeing 30% body fat from a DXA scan surprised me a bit, since
I estimated I was around 25% At the very least do it once or twice if you've
never had a comprehensive blood test and a DXA scan to see where you are now
and possibly catch things you've never tested for even once.

If your the typical fat american too, pre-diabetes and heart attacks happen to
20-somethings too. It's estimated in about a decade from now, %50 of the US
population will be diabetic/pre-diabetic. Cancer can occur also, I know people
who've died of cancer in their 30s, and pretty much the only way to somewhat
avoid/'cure' cancer is the earliest possible detection, and that's no where
near foolproof even then.

Weight gain can sneak up on you too even if your not doing too much that's
different in your diet and exercise. I'm 25 and I'm starting to thin out in my
hair region. Aging can catch up to you quicker than you think and if you have
health insurance and an income, taking your health seriously and spending
money on things like these can really reap benefits in the future.

~~~
podperson
Look into spelling and punctuation while you're at it. You may lose your hair,
but you can keep your ability to write grammatical sentences well into old
age.

~~~
mahyarm
Berating someone on spelling and grammar on an fleeting internet forum that no
one will read in a few days is reflection on your social skills too. For
shame.

~~~
podperson
My berating is as fleeting as that which I berate. If I do have poor social
skills, should I feel "shame"?

------
timr
_"There is no grass in Moscone West."_

There's a gigantic grass lawn right next door, in Moscone Center.

Steve Jobs was a great man, but this remembrance hit a sour note for me. It's
not about Steve Jobs, so much as it's about an outsider's fantasy of what
Jobs' (very private) inner life was like. And if this bears no resemblance to
reality, it's not a remembrance at all. It could even be offensive to the
people who knew him best.

Remember the man for the person that he was, not for the person that you
imagined him to be.

~~~
jodrellblank
_Jobs' (very private) inner life. [..] Remember the man for the person that he
was, not for the person that you imagined him to be._

Do you not see a problem in pointing out his very private nature, then
scorning people for imagining that instead of knowing it?

 _It could even be offensive to the people who knew him best._

And now you're chastising people for fantasizing about SJ because of how you
fantasize his friends reacting? Come on.

~~~
timr
_"Do you not see a problem in pointing out his very private nature, then
scorning people for imagining that instead of knowing it?"_

No. Maintaining a private life does not give anyone _carte blanche_ to fill in
the details with fiction. People may do it, but that doesn't make it right.

~~~
jamesrom
The idea that he went for a walk in the grass. That's the idea you have a
problem with. What the fuck dude.

------
robterrell
You know what? This code can wait. I'm going to take my son for a walk.

~~~
doktrin
This 1 line had a greater emotional impact on me than anything I've read or
heard since Steve's passing. Thanks.

------
technoslut
Gruber's talent for writing never ceases to amaze me. It's always incredible
that a tech blogger can write so well and, in this case, poetically.

Five minutes ago I had just watched Jobs' commencement speech on CNN for the
at least the 50th time. I put work on hold just to hear it again. Every time I
hear it I gain strength. I've never had a dad but I did have heroes. Steve
Jobs is one of them.

~~~
mapleoin
Funnily I got the exact opposite impression. I thought it was cheesy and
kitsch.

~~~
achompas
Very surprising to read this. Was there anything in particular that bugged you
about it?

To me, Gruber captures Jobs as both a loving family man and a visionary who is
selective with his attention to detail. This is a nice lesson, as I often
spend time focusing on the wrong details.

Even the structure of the article -- a vignette with a narrative device built
from a small detail -- is a tribute to Jobs's legendary focus on details.

Beautiful on multiple levels.

~~~
dmm
> a loving family man

He denied paternity of his daughter Lisa, even testifying in court that he was
infertile. Lisa's mother was on welfare for a time because of this. So if you
are going to say he was a loving father, you should also mention that he was a
neglectful one.

Hero worship is empty. If you want to admire something, admire the man, not
some two dimensional pr bullshit.

~~~
achompas
_He denied paternity of his daughter Lisa, even testifying in court that he
was infertile. Lisa's mother was on welfare for a time because of this. So if
you are going to say he was a loving father, you should also mention that he
was a neglectful one._

You left out the part where he accepted paternity, supported his daughter
financially, and had a very strong relationship with her until his death.

No one is perfect, but how can you hold mistakes he made decades ago (this
happened in the 1980s) and subsequently rectified against him?

------
jmagar
Of all the tributes, this is the one that brought a tear to my eye.

I worry that the long hours and extraordinary commitment to our craft may not
be worth the sacrifices we make. The time is now for me, and I'm driving hard
to a personal goal. Late nights and early mornings, essentially every waking
hour is spent preoccupied by building a great product. And I see it in my
son's eyes that he's missing me.

Reading Gruber's final paragraph reminds me that I'm going to regret this lost
moment in time with my family, and that any success achieved will be paid for
by their commitment to stand by me along the way.

Tonight, I'm going to kick off early and go watch his Hockey practice. And
then enjoy a few periods of the Leaf opener tonight with the kid. He deserves
it.

------
juliano_q
I am not a big Gruber fan. Actually, I disagree with most of his opinions. But
this text is just beautiful.

~~~
PhrosTT
Came here to make the same point. I kinda hate his fanboyism, but damn if he
can't find the angle nobody else sees.

~~~
ethank
I hate this admonishment of fanboy-ism that permeates the discussion anytime
MG or Gruber are mentioned.

We need fanaticism to counter balance apathy.

There is nothing more empowering than a belief in what you do, why you do it,
or who you do it for.

*said as someone who ran a fan site for 16 years

~~~
jmathai
I wish more people could be closer to the middle.

~~~
SoftwareMaven
Most people _are_ closer to the middle. The middle isn't what we need.
Compassion, caring, and humility in our passions are.

~~~
jmathai
I guess I considering myself in the middle. I'm extremely passionate about a
handful of topics. But at the same time I've learned to not allow it to
alienate myself from the majority. The alienation is where I consider the edge
to start. It's counter productive because you're just viewed as a crazy.

I think we agree but our scales of the edges and the middle might be
different.

~~~
dragonsky
Without the edges, you don't have a middle.

Now I think of it though, I remember when the most fun you could have was
standing in the middle of a see-saw whilst your friends sat on the ends.... I
don't think it would have been anywhere as much fun if everybody was standing
in the middle and there was nobody on the ends to upset the balance.

------
flamingbuffalo
"I like to think that in the run-up to his final keynote, Steve made time for
a long, peaceful walk. Somewhere beautiful, where there are no footpaths and
the grass grows thick. Hand-in-hand with his wife and family, the sun warm on
their backs, smiles on their faces, love in their hearts, at peace with their
fate."

Beautifully written.

And I'm glad it took Gruber some time to post this after the news broke
yesterday, it would make me glad to know that he didn't have it ready and
waiting to be published.

~~~
swombat
Don't discount something just because it's quickly written. Strong emotions
are a powerful source of artistic inspiration. Sometimes, you can create in 5
minutes something which hours or months or even years of labour could not
equal.

~~~
flamingbuffalo
very good point - and probably even more true when it's something emotional
like this.

------
elmofromok
It makes me think of this photo of Steve in a garden a few years ago.
[http://www.flickr.com/photos/katsanes/1636555794/in/photostr...](http://www.flickr.com/photos/katsanes/1636555794/in/photostream/)

------
solutionyogi
Gruber uses the word 'Raconteur' in his Twitter Bio. I didn't know what the
word meant, I looked it up. Well, for me, he is truly a raconteur (along with
Joel).

RIP, Steve.

~~~
rkalla
For those (like me):

rac-on-teur: A person who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way.

Also, found this interesting site in the process of defining that word:
<http://www.theraconteurs.com/>

~~~
juliano_q
Or, if you are a _A Song of Ice and Fire_ fan, Tyrion Lannister. Sorry for the
off-topic.

------
Sindisil
I'm not what you would call a Gruber fan, but this is a beautiful and
inspiring piece of writing.

Apple, and thus Jobs, has always been "them" to me. With the exception of the
CoCo _way_ back in the day, I've never been much of a fanboy, but my computer
affiliations have always been with something other than Apple: CBM PET, COSMAC
Elf, CoCo I/II/III, Amiga, Dos, Windows, Linux - always something else.

But in all that time, I always felt that, over rated and over hyped as they
might be, Apple and Jobs we worth of respect and admiration, most especially
for their inspiration.

Inspiration inward, in the sense of invention, discovery, and art.

Inspiration outward, in the sense of leadership, drive, and motivation.

Somehow, a kernel of that inspiration is expressed by this vignette.

------
skeltoac
Freshly cut grass has the greatest staining ability. My sneakers turn green
only when I mow a green lawn on foot. Had Steve been walking behind a
lawnmower? I know I enjoy cathartic effects from clipping grass. Having
billions of dollars and fans shouldn't change that.

------
lwhi
Good writing is set apart through an honest expression of emotion and
experience. As much as I usually despise Gruber's particularly disingenous
brand of tech writing .. this is nicely put. We can all take something from
his example.

------
demoo
Very nice post. Reading through the comments brought this back to me:

 _You could do Richard Branson's job. Most of the time anyway.

Except for what he does for about five minutes a day. In those five minutes,
he creates billions of dollars' worth of value every few years, and neither
you nor I would have a prayer of doing what he does. Branson's real job is
seeing new opportunities, making decisions that work, and understanding the
connection between his audience, his brand, and his ventures._

------
Steko
This remembrance squares nicely with Walt's about how Steve set a goal of
walking a bit further every day. I guess at the time of WWDC he was still
making it to the park regularly.

------
tonetheman
I am not a huge fan of daring fireball either but it was a good post. It is
strange how we notice things about people and then remember them like that.

------
kennethologist
I've never read so many inspiring and life changing stories about anyone.
Steve Jobs was one of the greatest men to have ever lived.

~~~
ShirtlessRod
> Steve Jobs was one of the greatest men to have ever lived.

Don't you think that's a little over the top?

~~~
high5ths
Depends how many people you include in that list. 5? 100? 10,000?

------
oh_ryan
Gruber changed the background of his site to a darker shade of grey in
mourning.

Update: Used to be #4A525A and now is #222222

~~~
antidaily
Also switched back from the Yankees DF logo. Which, fuck that shit. Go Tigers!

------
bgarbiak
In my mind Jobs was the kind of guy that soils his sneakers while running, not
while peacefully walking. The image painted by Gruber here is a kitschy one -
and kitschy is probably the adjective least fitting to Jobs and his creations.

~~~
glhaynes
Jobs famously would take people on walks and talk with them.

~~~
bgarbiak
I didn't mean that _literally_. All I'm saying is that a hypothetical portrait
of Jobs I would made would be closer the today's apple.com welcome page:
simple, elegant, almost raw and in some magical way both sterile and emotive -
like most of the Apple's products. 'A melancholic, warm family photo took in a
sunny day' seems like a thing from a different culture - but maybe Jobs
privately was closer to that picture. Certainly Gruber knows better than me.

------
pknerd
I can say that I touched Jobs by using his beautiful products.

~~~
pknerd
What wrong did I say here? Can't we techies be poetic and emotional?

------
happypeter
Turn sorrow into poetry. I love this.

------
FredBrach
"Those grass stained sneakers were the product of limited time, well spent."

------
tonio09
-1 Seriously, a fantasy story about a man taking a walk in a park? is that it? 732 upvotes. sigh...

------
hugacow
He was a great man. But, he wasn't perfect. He basically took credit for Woz's
creation, backed the losing Lisa (and prior to that the Apple III) rather than
the Mac and jumped ship to the Mac when the Lisa tanked. The OS X technology
was written by NeXT before Apple bought them. iPod (etc.) was a design win and
a business win, but Jobs just helped hire good people. He makes a great front-
person, was a stellar businessman, and helped make Silicon(e) Valley what it
is today. He seems to have been a great father and husband also. My heart goes
out to his family and friends for their loss. But seriously- the man was a
front man for great technology that people use.

I feel like I'm living in a real-life Simpsons episode:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZGIn9bpALo>

~~~
masklinn
There's a lot of nonsense in your comment

> jumped ship to the Mac when the Lisa tanked.

Jobs was taken off the Lisa team before it even shipped (he joined the Mac in
1982, the Lisa did not ship before '83)

> The OS X technology was written by NeXT before Apple bought them.

Of course, what would have been the point of buying NeXT otherwise? NeXT was
founded by Jobs.

> iPod (etc.) was a design win and a business win, but Jobs just helped hire
> good people.

Most of them he actually brought with him from NeXT (the NeXT acquisition has
often been referred to as a takeover). Or he found rotting inside Apple itself
(Ive had been working for Apple for 5 years before Jobs came back and put him
in charge of Industrial Design). And Jobs's main role has never been to be in
the production trenches (it's easy to see that from Folklore.org), I don't
understand what you're trying to achieve taking down irrelevant strawmen.

> But seriously- the man was a front man for great technology that people use.

What you're trying to achieve is apparently being high as a kite.

------
pseuds_corner
A walk outside in nature: something I can heartily recommend all the folk
stoking up their teenage emotion tsunami while swamping HN with endless Steve
tributes.

~~~
pseuds_corner
Seriously. Princess Diana level craziness.

~~~
spxdcz
The difference is that Princess Diana made very little difference to most of
our lives. Steve Jobs made such a huge impact in all of our (technologists,
programmers, consumers) lives. Do you remember what mobile phones used to be
like before the iPhone? How OSX kick-started the style of graphic design that
is still in-trend, with aqua? How ugly consumer devices generally were? How he
made design matter again? How darn productive he made many of us, thanks to
amazing tools.

We're sad because today the world of technology seems a little less exciting
than it did yesterday. We owe that man a debt. If you don't like reading this
stuff, come back in a couple of days.

~~~
onenine
Rich people can buy apple products, lots of poor people have been killed and
maimed by landmines. It's best not to be so glib about how important a god to
consumers was when some people did important charitable things despite being a
figure in the tabloids.

~~~
spxdcz
I apologise if this came off as glib, it certainly wasn't meant to be. I spent
four weeks in Laos last December and visited the COPE center in Vientiane; the
landmine issue is a horrible, real thing that people have to cope with (and
get killed by) every day, and I didn't mean to imply that what Diana did
wasn't amazing.

BUT, to most (lucky) people reading Hacker News, Steve Jobs has had more of an
impact on our day-to-day lives. He was a hero to many of us, and I don't think
it's correct for some people to decide who is and isn't a valid hero. It's all
about context.

