Duncan

I've been trying to figure out what to say. Composing things in my head as I go about my day. But Sudiptya beat me too it, and as usual, did better than I ever could have. And anyway, I just keep crying all over the keyboard.

Duncan was a great guy. He's going to be missed, as much by me as anyone, and I can understand why people are upset and saddened by his passing. As much as I wish he were still around, though, I can't feel any sorrow about the way he used the time he had. I mean, c'mon, this guy LIVED life. Look at what he did in the same amount of time as the rest of us?

The boy was a skateboarding fiend. He turned on, tuned in, and drop out (sorta) on so many drugs that he'd make Tim Leary sober up. He owned a music label, beat the CWRU system and got a CS degree, was an underground DJ of some repute, knew when he found a wonderful woman and MARRIED her when most of us were still scared shitless of that sort of responsibility (their five year anniversary was last Friday!).

He was a capoeira maniac, his dragon-style kung-fu* was a fine match for my shudo-khan karate when we were both drunk, he taught english in Japan, damn near learned a language for each time I masturbate in a day, enjoyed a fine drink, traveled the world, worked in medical devices like a real engineer, was an incredible musician, and even managed to go to fuckin' OXFORD.

Normally, I feel a certain regret when someone young dies; I feel like there's a missed opportunity there that someone who's older, and has lived a full life, doesn't suffer from. In Duncan's case, how can anyone feel that? That incredible bastard had an amazing life, and did so much that he makes my pathetic existence seem bland by comparison. I'd go so far as to say I envy him, and would be tempted to trade lives even knowing how his ends.

Duncan's flame might have burned short, but it burned fucking bright... and I'll be drinking to him tonight, laughing as I do. Somehow I don't think I'll be drinking alone.