Far East

Carpe Diem

Weird. The great blogger Blogenlust is making a move, and asked me to guest post at his site. I suddenly became all psyched and posted a couple of things straight away. Then I realized that I was up about posting to his site, but not my own. WTF? And it hit me: the color. that old, drab grey had to go. A color I associated in my mind with the reason I set up this (paid) site in the first place, the passing of my grandfather a year ago. A place to write down some thoughts and work out what that meant to me, and what he meant to me. And while the darker hue was conducive to my mindset at the time, it's not healthy to dwell there for too long. Mourning time is over. Time to get on with my life. Best to re-arrange the furniture, in a manner of speaking. White is ever so much more pleasant, methinks.

Farewell

Light posting of late. The first anniversary of the passing of the most significant person in my life, my grandfather. He taught me so much about life and the world that I wouldn't be the man I am today but for him. He was always upbeat; the only time in my entire life I can remember him being anything other than jovial and joking was right after my grandmother passed away. He was an amazing engineer, designing the first automatic washing machine. He was a killer checkers player; I think I beat him only once in more than a thousand games. He had a rich sense of humor, and was always in touch with everyone around him. He never forget a birthday. He never raised his voice in anger. He always accepted me 100% for who I was, and never tried to mold me into some kind of clone of himself. His love was completely unconditional and freely given. He was never less than completely honest and open about his views and his thinking about the world, and while I certainly didn't agree with him on everything, I appreciated the fact that he would lay it all out so openly. He never had any hidden agendas. If I could be half the man he was, I would be truly satisfied. Rest in peace, GrandDad.

Thanks, Coach

Just got finished watching Antwone Fisher, and was blown away when I saw in the second credit (after director Denzel Washington's) that the screenplay was written by the title character. It's hard to imagine the courage necessary to not only write your life story (and this one ain't pretty), but to market it to a major studio and eventually write the script for it. I have trouble talking about some of the hinky s**t that went down in my own childhood, let alone publishing it to the web, and it pales in comparison to what he went through. Very powerful and disturbing, though a bit too much on the ending, being so happy and all. Anyone who went what he went through is going to have some permanent scars and serious issues for the rest of their lives.

Crumbling Pillars

Now is when nostalgia begins. All the familiar signposts of previous generations have gone, or are on the way out. In the future, when people talk about the 'good old days', they'll be referring to a time just before now. Of course if you haven't been particularly enamoured of the past 15-20 years, then you'll say (a la Carly Simon) that these are the good old days.

People sense it, though they can't quite put their finger on why recent developments bother them so; another reason the retros/fundies/radicals are banging so hard on their drums of late. Too bad for them that they're going out with the proverbial bath water.

A few years on, we'll reminisce what the world was like with the UN (after Bolton gets in), Social Security, and a non-nuked (as in the Nuclear Option, aka the end of the filibuster)Senate; we'll wonder at how folks lived in those times. So many changes are scary, especially when they happen all at once (or virtually so), but when we get to the other side things won't be so bad after all.

In Memoriam

Of a great man of peace and love, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

Link.

Phew!

Catching my breath here. It's coming up on the one-year anniversary of the passing of the most important person in my life, my grandfather. To honor his memory, I put together some recently discovered video footage of him and bundled it into a DVD, plus I took a whole bunch of photos and put those to a soundtrack (of legally purchased) music and made another DVD. I did this for my entire extended family, and I have a big extended family. Just putting the two projects together was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, but to have to watch each and every DVD (to check for QC), and the number in the high 30s, was a bit of a strain. If you've lost someone important to you, then you know how tough it can be to get things together in the wake of losing them. It's taken me most of a year to come to terms with the fact that I'll never see him again, that he won't be there for me, except in spirit. A lot of personal re-adjustments happened as a result of his passing. And he lived a very long life (over 90 years), and we all had very clear clues that he was going downhill near the end. I can't begin to guess what it's like if someone is taken from you when they're in the prime of their life, by shooting, bombing, or whatever other sudden form death can take.