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I
hope all of our friends in the U.S.
will
enjoy the long Memorial
Day weekend that is now underway, and
will pause to remember what the holiday is
really about on Monday - the day set
aside to honor the men and women who gave their
lives in military service for the United
States. My best childhood friend, Ron
Poole, was killed in the Viet Nam War
and on Monday I will be thinking of him and the
promising life he lost while serving as a U.S.
Marine.
Memorial
Day started in 1866, the year after the
conclusion of the Civil War (it was
originally known as Decoration Day but
after World War II Memorial Day became
the preferred term). For most Americans, the
Memorial Day weekend signals the start
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summer
and many will be on the road this weekend headed
for beaches and other vacation destinations.
Among
those traveling is leading geodomainer Michael
Castello (Castello
Cities Internet Network) and his
family. Diana and I were pleased to have them
stop by our house just north of Tampa for
lunch this afternoon while they were en route
across Florida to see relatives in the Panama
City area. |
Special
guests at the Jackson household this afternoon (left to
right): Jessica Castello
(who made fast friends with our dog Savannah), Michael
Castello, Sheri Castello and
son Jonathan Castello (a budding author who is
currently writing his first book!) Michael
and his brother David became instant friends when
Diana and I first met them at the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. East
conference in Hollywood, Florida in October
2006. Hearing their remarkable life story
while chatting with them at that event led me to write
what became one of our most popular Cover Stories ever, Band
of Brothers: How Michael and David Castello Morphed from
Struggling Musicians to Domain Millionaires in
December 2006. The
Castellos (who own PalmSprings.com, Nashville.com,
Acapulco.com, Daycare.com and Whisky.com,
to name just a few) now frequently speak at domain
conferences and one thing that has always impressed me
about them is their willingness to help industry
newcomers get ahead. As I noted in this column yesterday,
they will be speaking at the Domain
Roundtable conference in Washington D.C.
on June 15.
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While
the Castello family continued their journey to
the Florida Panhandle after lunch, our family is
preparing to head in the same direction Sunday.
Diana and I will be taking our daughter Brittany
(who graduated from the University of
Pennsylvania on Monday)
to Tallahassee to find an apartment. She
begins Medical School at Florida State
University with a three-day orientation that
starts Tuesday, so we won't have much time to
help her get settled in. Most
first year med school students don't have to
start until late August, but FSU requires all
first year students to take anatomy over the
summer, immediately after getting their
undergraduate degree. That will cut Brittany's
"summer vacation" from three months
down to less than 24 hours. She gets back
from Philadelphia Saturday, gets to sleep at
home just one night, then has to repack her bags
and head to Tallahassee with us |
Brittany
Jackson (left) & her friend Lakshmi
Sivarajan
on
the cover of Penn's 2008 Homecoming
program.
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Sunday.
She is excited though, having been a Florida
State fan ever since her older brother (a
chemical engineering graduate from FSU)
"indoctrinated" her in Seminole
culture when she was still in elementary
school. |
So while you are enjoying
your holiday break Sunday and Monday, think of your old
pal Ron who will be schlepping around moving boxes and
furniture when he could have been sitting on the beach
sipping a pina colada. I'll be back here with the next
Lowdown post Tuesday (assuming I am not too sore
to get out of bed that day!). |
