You probably don’t remember my old roommate Tim from from the “This Week in Corona Heights” era. I don’t think many people currently checking out my blog also read it back then. He had a chronic battle with Tina (August 2004, July – August 2005) that ultimately resulted in Sam and my asking him to [...]
I recently finished reading a book by Augusten Burroughs called Possible Side Effects. It’s a collection of essays mined from his bizarre life, which is described in his previous books, Running with Scissors and Dry. In one of the essays, he comments that the smell of jet fuel is his favorite.
I wouldn’t say that jet [...]
This weekend last year, Chuck called me at home to tell me the latest – he had caught a blood infection from his PICC line and was close to giving up. I was at the height of denial and insisted nothing else would go wrong.
He had one more weekend to live.
I haven’t been able to [...]
Chuck and I had a commitment ceremony up at the log house ten years ago today. I reminded him of this date every year, even after we were no longer together. Last year at this time, while he was in the hospital and as I was on my way to see him, I planned [...]
I had a dream last night that I was standing in front of the garage up at Chuck and Larry’s log house. It was nighttime and the driveway, which was covered with a few feet of snow, stretched away ahead of me until it disappeared into the dark ravine where a creek cut across the [...]
I just watched the trailer for United 93 – while eating the rest of our fattoush, the Arab salad Fuad chose for our party – a little irony there. My heart was pounding. I flashed back to that day that I remember so clearly. We all remember that day clearly.
My alarm went off at 6am [...]
Seven months ago today was the last time I saw Chuck alive. He died early the next morning. It is amazing that it has been so long. The months whiz by.
Since getting back from my trip to his past I have felt more at peace about his death. Maybe a little more accepting. A little [...]
This morning I unpacked the last box. It had old video tapes in it, many of which were unlabeled. I spent a few hours playing them to see what they were.
Most had episodes from various Star Trek series on them: the Next Generation, DS9, Voyager, and even the first season of Enterprise. At least two [...]
I dusted off Chuck’s old stereo components and found his turntable. Yes, turntable as in record player. It was sold by J.C.Penney but it is direct drive and has pitch control. It’s very nice.
I hooked everything up and for the first time in 20 years played a record. Not one of my records. My records [...]
Chuck and Larry’s log house was on five acres in the Tahoe National Forest. Each year they – and then Chuck and I – would go out into the yard and cut down the Christmas tree. We usually picked a Douglas fir, but sometimes we used an incense cedar just to be unusual. This picture [...]