Thanks Joe!

Way, way back in 1981, I traveled to Provincetown, Mass., to visit my brother, and then to New York to visit my friend Geoff, spending about a week in each place. While I was in New York, another friend of Geoff’s, Joe Streno, hung out with us for a couple of days. We all had a lot of common interests — mostly revolving around music — and we had a great time. We saw a concert, we took some pictures, we talked about dying my hair red. This was nearly three decades ago — the first year of the REAGAN administration, for Pete’s sake — and although Geoff and I have of course stayed in contact, for years since then I had no reason to think about Joe.

Enter Facebook. Geoff and I both got into it last year, and there was Joe, commenting on Geoff’s posts. Soon, Joe and I were Facebook friends, and before long we were exchanging the photos on Facebook that we originally shot on film back in 1981. This is one of the coolest things about Facebook — the ability to connect with someone who you haven’t seen in years and who lives thousands of miles away, and pick up old conversations or start new ones.

So anyway, Joe lives in Seattle now, apparently running a computer consulting business, and operating two blogs, one personal and one professional. So when I got the idea of starting a blog, I asked him for some pointers.

And man, did he come through. Not only did he steer me toward WordPress, but he gave me all kinds of ideas and encouragement to get started. I sent him the link to my first post, and within hours not only did he have some more cool suggestions, but he actually went to the trouble to design a new header for the blog! A big Springsteen fan (see  this post of his for some cool photos) he apparently liked the “middle aged in middle America” line from my “about me” page, and created the “Greetings from Asbury Park” postcard-type header you see above. Way above and beyond the call, I’d say. In one fell swoop, he gave this blog a new, more focused identity, and a much nicer graphical appearance. Obviously, I still have a lot to learn about blogging, but he has given me an immense headstart. All this from a guy I haven’t seen or talked to since Sandinista! was new.

So anyway, a big Thank You to Joe, and for anyone else in the Seattle area in need of Macintosh help, look him up!