da haze meister
07-24-2006, 04:47 AM
I just found this when i searched my dads name in google...
my cousin posted it... i think
It's good to be back
So I haven't posted in like eleventy years. You may ask, "What's been going on, Mike?" Or, you may not. But anyway, here are some answers:
Last Thursday, my Uncle Michael died. He was 60- his 61st birthday would have been the day after tomorrow. This, my friends, is incredibly sad for a schmorgasboard of reasons. Death is never fun, and it's the fourth major dead I've witnessed in the past two years, the third in the past year, and the second in two months. Uncle Mike was an amazing person, as were my Uncle John and my grandmothers, but Mike's death was even sadder than those. One, Mike died from a major heart attack, which was his second in the span of a week. His family (he was my dad's sister's husband) has a history of heart disease, but nobody saw this coming. All of the other deaths I've experienced were expected, and this one was not. But two, and much more importantly, everyone else who died was elderly or already had adult kids. My cousins Matt and Jon are 15 and 14, and that's just a godawful age to lose one's father. They're terrible little bastard children, and always have been, but I can't imagine what they'll be like without Uncle Mike. He was so incredibly caring and intelligent and loving, and I can't even begin to fathom how it feels to be a young teen and have your father pass away.
Mike was a Colonel in the Air Force who retired only two years ago. He was a Vietnam vet who was one of the heads of an AF base whose men were sent into the current Iraq war. But unlike most military men, Uncle Mike was absolutely one of the kindest people ever. He was universally described by everyone who ever worked with/above/for him as the most caring person they knew in the military, and people literally came from across the country (from Maryland to Louisiana to Missouri to California) for his funeral- soldiers he hadn't worked with in a decade came to pay their respects. Overall, there were over 200 people at the funeral, which proceeded in proper military fashion, including a 21-gun salute and a bugler playing Taps. For a funeral, it was quite beautiful, and everyone who eulogized Mike did wonderfully. But damnit, it's not fair that such a great person was taken so early when he clearly had more to do on Earth. It's just not fair.
My upcoming schedule, starting next week (after I work for the next four days):
Tuesday-Wednesday: Jury duty. Uuuuuuuuuuuuuugh.
Thursday-Friday: Chill out. Now the fun starts.
Friday night: Seeing World/Inferno Friendship Society at Bowery Ballroom with Elisa, who's coming down from Massachusetts.
Saturday: Chilling with Elisa. Perhaps I'll show her the zoo, perhaps will take in one of the tons of movies coming out this week and next, perhaps who knows.
Sunday: Going to Pennsylvania to hang with Sayrah (assuming I get confirmation from Sayrah). We will talk and swim and laugh and enjoy life.
Monday-Thursday: Down to Maryland to be with my Chelsea. Need I say that this is the most exciting aspect of the next couple of weeks?
I really, really, really, really miss the World Cup. I've seriously been eating up sports- basketball, soccer, and whatever else I could find- like a ravenous dog for the past few months. But the World Cup, in particular, is just stunning to watch. Even though the refs were terrible and scoring was way down, I felt like I was watching history every minute. And do I really have to get into Zidane's headbutt? It was undoubtedly a once-in-a-lifetime moment, and that's all that needs to be said.
Per Chel's suggestion, I'm currently reading the seminal book on ADD, Driven to Distraction. It's quite dated, but also quite good.
I've gone back to playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which is just as amazingly wonderful the second time as the first time. I'm generally sticking just to the story and not doing the side missions (a.k.a. ambulance, taxi driver, looking for hidden packages, etc.), but goddamn, do I enjoy the story.
I just heard Panic! At The Disco's second single, and it sounds exactly like their first single. Rest assured, I wasn't a fan of this one, either.
my cousin posted it... i think
It's good to be back
So I haven't posted in like eleventy years. You may ask, "What's been going on, Mike?" Or, you may not. But anyway, here are some answers:
Last Thursday, my Uncle Michael died. He was 60- his 61st birthday would have been the day after tomorrow. This, my friends, is incredibly sad for a schmorgasboard of reasons. Death is never fun, and it's the fourth major dead I've witnessed in the past two years, the third in the past year, and the second in two months. Uncle Mike was an amazing person, as were my Uncle John and my grandmothers, but Mike's death was even sadder than those. One, Mike died from a major heart attack, which was his second in the span of a week. His family (he was my dad's sister's husband) has a history of heart disease, but nobody saw this coming. All of the other deaths I've experienced were expected, and this one was not. But two, and much more importantly, everyone else who died was elderly or already had adult kids. My cousins Matt and Jon are 15 and 14, and that's just a godawful age to lose one's father. They're terrible little bastard children, and always have been, but I can't imagine what they'll be like without Uncle Mike. He was so incredibly caring and intelligent and loving, and I can't even begin to fathom how it feels to be a young teen and have your father pass away.
Mike was a Colonel in the Air Force who retired only two years ago. He was a Vietnam vet who was one of the heads of an AF base whose men were sent into the current Iraq war. But unlike most military men, Uncle Mike was absolutely one of the kindest people ever. He was universally described by everyone who ever worked with/above/for him as the most caring person they knew in the military, and people literally came from across the country (from Maryland to Louisiana to Missouri to California) for his funeral- soldiers he hadn't worked with in a decade came to pay their respects. Overall, there were over 200 people at the funeral, which proceeded in proper military fashion, including a 21-gun salute and a bugler playing Taps. For a funeral, it was quite beautiful, and everyone who eulogized Mike did wonderfully. But damnit, it's not fair that such a great person was taken so early when he clearly had more to do on Earth. It's just not fair.
My upcoming schedule, starting next week (after I work for the next four days):
Tuesday-Wednesday: Jury duty. Uuuuuuuuuuuuuugh.
Thursday-Friday: Chill out. Now the fun starts.
Friday night: Seeing World/Inferno Friendship Society at Bowery Ballroom with Elisa, who's coming down from Massachusetts.
Saturday: Chilling with Elisa. Perhaps I'll show her the zoo, perhaps will take in one of the tons of movies coming out this week and next, perhaps who knows.
Sunday: Going to Pennsylvania to hang with Sayrah (assuming I get confirmation from Sayrah). We will talk and swim and laugh and enjoy life.
Monday-Thursday: Down to Maryland to be with my Chelsea. Need I say that this is the most exciting aspect of the next couple of weeks?
I really, really, really, really miss the World Cup. I've seriously been eating up sports- basketball, soccer, and whatever else I could find- like a ravenous dog for the past few months. But the World Cup, in particular, is just stunning to watch. Even though the refs were terrible and scoring was way down, I felt like I was watching history every minute. And do I really have to get into Zidane's headbutt? It was undoubtedly a once-in-a-lifetime moment, and that's all that needs to be said.
Per Chel's suggestion, I'm currently reading the seminal book on ADD, Driven to Distraction. It's quite dated, but also quite good.
I've gone back to playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which is just as amazingly wonderful the second time as the first time. I'm generally sticking just to the story and not doing the side missions (a.k.a. ambulance, taxi driver, looking for hidden packages, etc.), but goddamn, do I enjoy the story.
I just heard Panic! At The Disco's second single, and it sounds exactly like their first single. Rest assured, I wasn't a fan of this one, either.