Thursday, July 12, 2012

Firsts


I learned something this morning.
A little bit of history...
and I was reminded of something that I love about my brother.

That's my brother, on the far right, in the jeans....with the guitar.
And, yes, the photo was taken almost 20 years ago.
At the time my brother worked for CERN
{an international organization who's purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory}
Some of his co-workers, spouses and friends had a band.
"Les Horribles Cernettes"
Turns out that the
VERY FIRST PHOTO TO BE PUT UP ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB
was of the band's female vocalists.
Here's a GREAT ARTICLE about that first photo.
Take a second to read it - it's worth it!

What I learned from this article
 is that next Wednesday (7/18) marks the 20th anniversary 
of the day the first photo was put up on the web.
And that my brother was there.
Actually there. And actually knew the people that were in the photo,
took the photo, edited it and sent it out. 
"as a test!"
He worked with the earliest versions of so much of this computer stuff that we use today
{and blog with!}
and take so much for granted.
I remember him talking about all of it, and telling us a bit about what it was going to be....
Truth be told, I rarely understood him!

So, all that is very interesting - for sure!
And one point that the article about the photo makes is that, often,
"firsts" are just accidents....or nothing too monumental.
And, it's only when put in historical context that they become so astounding.

For me, though, the bigger picture in all this has to do with my brother.
My brother is a very gentle, understated kind of guy.
Physicist, musician, athlete....philosopher!
He follows his heart through life - which we all say we'd like to do, but he really does.
And, without any fanfare, or need to show off his accomplishments,
he {quietly} sees and does many remarkable, cutting edge
and adventurous things.

It's refreshing - in a culture where "bigger is {often seen as} better" and 
money seems the goal for many and "firsts" are now tweeted, facebooked, blogged
and otherwise trumpeted world wide...
that there's a man who considers that the being there...
the living of the moment....
is really what counts every day.

And I'm really glad he's my brother.



14 comments:

  1. This was a fun read! Your brother must be a very interesting guy.

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  2. I just got caught up reading that article! How interesting. How amazing that your brother was a part of it all.

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  3. Adrienne, I love the bigger picture you gleaned from this! Such perspective and such a thought to feast on ... thanks, friend, for sharing!

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  4. A awesome tribute to your brother. I think he's lucky to have such a fine sister. :)

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  5. Great post. Most times the story behind the headlines is the story with the greatest appeal. Cheers to your brother for living each moment for the moment rather than for glory. Have a wonderful day.

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  6. I smiled when I read this... firstly WOW! your brother is so amazing... musician as well as all the rest... and the first picture... I remember back in 93 I used the internet for the first time to email a professor at UCLA from Australia about an assignment on technophobia... and I remember one of my lecturers being involved in a live chat with some people in the then Yugoslavia and their story of fear at being killed ... the line went dead and we never knew why... so the internet is an amazing tool for social change...

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  7. Very neat - and the truth you found in this is timeless. Something so easy to forget in this fast past, internet driven world.

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  8. I'll add my "wow" to the other comments. Your brother sounds like a remarkable person!

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  9. Very VERY cool. Loved the link, too.

    Alita

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  10. love the bigger picture - pretty awesome little factoid too!

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