I assure you people, I'm quite a levelheaded, easygoing, mentally healthy and happy dude, but I'll be damned if I don't seem to be reporting way too many deaths these days. It's sucking.
There's a cafe not far from home that I frequent, well, frequently. It's a small little hole-in-the-wall with lots of charm and an electic cast of ragtag orphaned characters. One of these guys is named Dallas. Ironically enough, his folks live in Houston. (Hope you smiled at that one, bro.)
It was confirmed for us today that Dallas passed away a few weeks back. And from what of it I've been told about it, it was a sad, lonely, and very untimely death. The details don't need to be known here, but what I'm keeping of him with me is.
The truth is that I've known the guy only in a roundabout way, and had to ask today what his last name was. I still don't remember it, but in the face of all that, I'd still call him someone with whom I had a one-on-one connection. A friend, as much as one whom you see occasionally but know well enough to root for is. I'd be lying if I said that I'm probably embracing our friendship now more than if he was still around. Perhaps a little arrogant on my part, but I would truly like to keep his memory alive. I like to think I've done a good job of that with Kristen, Pat, and Eugene, and now Dallas joins that roster.
Dude had some problems, and I always thought he was a bit weird, but many are fast to point out, and they're not wrong, that he was a friendly, warm, easygoing dude with a heart of gold. He seemed like he was searching for the right tools to make his aspirations come alive, but he was very vocal and hopeful about doing non-profit and charity work for those really hard up, like kids with mental illness, the homeless, and alcohol & drug addicts. He himself was a recovering alcoholic, and he did a valiant, brave job changing his life to minimize the demons. If anything, I'm gonna remember that he put his best foot forward, even if that first step didn't go very far.
Unfortunately, one of my first memories with him was tragic as well. Late one night, after the cafe closed and a bunch of us were leaving, Dallas got jumped by a couple of punk bitches around the corner. They hit him in the head with a brick, grabbed his bag and took off by the time we saw him in trouble. As I was frantically calling 911, he had already bolted past me, back to the cafe. I didn't even recognize him until I asked his name. About an hour or so later, we were at the hospital, waiting for him to get checked out, stitched up, and released.
They eventually found those puto fucks, got all his stuff back (dude never had much money with him to begin with), and released homeboy to us. He got off lucky, with a broken finger, a few stitches in the head, and a hellified story to tell the girls.
And don't you know that he juiced that sympathy card for all it was worth. I suppose now in retrospect I see it as a sign of his typical optimism and resiliancy that he was back in the cafe the next morning, about 6 hours later, hanging out, shooting the shit, and holding court with all the women who came by and saw his head wrap and finger splint. Yeeeaaahhhh, you go boy!
I've been focused so much on building a career since I came to LA. I don't regret the energy that I've put in, and I don't think that I've lost focus on What's Really Important In Life, but I do regret that maybe I wasn't chill enough with you. I really did try to be cool with you as much as anybody else, and all the clowing was in good fun. I hope I laughed at your punchlines as loud as you did mine. I'm gonna value that deck of cards even more now that you're gone. Yo, you were a big gambling dude, weren't you? Maybe its good impetus for me to learn now. Heh, great influence on me you'd prove to be there!
I'm sorry for anything said or unsaid, and / or if I missed the signs. I promise dude, your good will be my examples. Consider my imitation the sincerest form of your flattery.
SG Ladies, give it up for my man Dallas.
There's a cafe not far from home that I frequent, well, frequently. It's a small little hole-in-the-wall with lots of charm and an electic cast of ragtag orphaned characters. One of these guys is named Dallas. Ironically enough, his folks live in Houston. (Hope you smiled at that one, bro.)
It was confirmed for us today that Dallas passed away a few weeks back. And from what of it I've been told about it, it was a sad, lonely, and very untimely death. The details don't need to be known here, but what I'm keeping of him with me is.
The truth is that I've known the guy only in a roundabout way, and had to ask today what his last name was. I still don't remember it, but in the face of all that, I'd still call him someone with whom I had a one-on-one connection. A friend, as much as one whom you see occasionally but know well enough to root for is. I'd be lying if I said that I'm probably embracing our friendship now more than if he was still around. Perhaps a little arrogant on my part, but I would truly like to keep his memory alive. I like to think I've done a good job of that with Kristen, Pat, and Eugene, and now Dallas joins that roster.
Dude had some problems, and I always thought he was a bit weird, but many are fast to point out, and they're not wrong, that he was a friendly, warm, easygoing dude with a heart of gold. He seemed like he was searching for the right tools to make his aspirations come alive, but he was very vocal and hopeful about doing non-profit and charity work for those really hard up, like kids with mental illness, the homeless, and alcohol & drug addicts. He himself was a recovering alcoholic, and he did a valiant, brave job changing his life to minimize the demons. If anything, I'm gonna remember that he put his best foot forward, even if that first step didn't go very far.
Unfortunately, one of my first memories with him was tragic as well. Late one night, after the cafe closed and a bunch of us were leaving, Dallas got jumped by a couple of punk bitches around the corner. They hit him in the head with a brick, grabbed his bag and took off by the time we saw him in trouble. As I was frantically calling 911, he had already bolted past me, back to the cafe. I didn't even recognize him until I asked his name. About an hour or so later, we were at the hospital, waiting for him to get checked out, stitched up, and released.
They eventually found those puto fucks, got all his stuff back (dude never had much money with him to begin with), and released homeboy to us. He got off lucky, with a broken finger, a few stitches in the head, and a hellified story to tell the girls.
And don't you know that he juiced that sympathy card for all it was worth. I suppose now in retrospect I see it as a sign of his typical optimism and resiliancy that he was back in the cafe the next morning, about 6 hours later, hanging out, shooting the shit, and holding court with all the women who came by and saw his head wrap and finger splint. Yeeeaaahhhh, you go boy!
I've been focused so much on building a career since I came to LA. I don't regret the energy that I've put in, and I don't think that I've lost focus on What's Really Important In Life, but I do regret that maybe I wasn't chill enough with you. I really did try to be cool with you as much as anybody else, and all the clowing was in good fun. I hope I laughed at your punchlines as loud as you did mine. I'm gonna value that deck of cards even more now that you're gone. Yo, you were a big gambling dude, weren't you? Maybe its good impetus for me to learn now. Heh, great influence on me you'd prove to be there!
I'm sorry for anything said or unsaid, and / or if I missed the signs. I promise dude, your good will be my examples. Consider my imitation the sincerest form of your flattery.
SG Ladies, give it up for my man Dallas.
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