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To Whom Are You Drinking Right Now?


starfish

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I bow down to people who fix things at my house- it's an idiosyncratic pit. & a nod to my usual posting habit (I chime in on the top 5 topics), maybe this should go in home brewing, my DH is off to fill growlers at Forge Brew Works (hope they still have radler). I hope everyone is enjoying a lovely summer.

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To Tommy Ramone and to the Ramones and the whole idea of the Ramones

As a classical pianist, I'm not going to sit here and say The Ramones were great musicians, but I'd rather hear them than dumbed-down pop any day (and that includes dumbed-down pop from their era).

To put it in terms Andy Myers can relate to (not that he needs me to explain it to him), they had "terroir."

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To Tommy Ramone and to the Ramones and the whole idea of the Ramones

Some time in 1976, I believe, I was at a party in Boston with an old friend who was a club dj and sort of a pop-music-world hanger-on, or perhaps camp-follower. A bunch of self-possessed and rather grungy-looking guys came in, and my friend whispered to me "It's the Ramones!" I had never heard of them, and now they're all dead. I'm not sure how to feel about this.

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May his spirit find the peace and freedom he couldn't find here on this earth.

This one is really bad. I was surprised to discover that he was the same age as me. Can't imagine doing that to Dame Edna--but then, I've never suffered from depression, which leaves me in ignorance coupled with great sadness. Sucks the big one.

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To our nation's police officers.

I thank you every bit as much as I thank our military, and anyone who uses generalizations to judge you is both wrong and hypocritical.

Except when you give me a ticket. :angry:  :)

And to Officer Ryan Christopher Johnson, Sr., who I saw dying after he was shot during an attempted robbery.

And to Officer Evan Michael Rogers, my best friend, who I was with that evening when the Signal 13 came across the radio, and who committed suicide the following year. I was a Best Man in his wedding; I was a Pallbearer in his funeral.

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To my friend Joe Dougherty, almost surely the nation's greatest expert of Huí«t's wines. This world is a lesser place in your absence, Joe - you were one of the nicest people I've ever known.

Many people don't know that my best friend took his life in 1993. That day was the loss of my innocence in this world, and the first time I have felt life-changing amounts of grief - when his father called me, I threw the phone down and began screaming as loudly as I could. For weeks, months, maybe even years, I questioned whether there was something I should have seen, noticed, or done to prevent it from happening, before slowly realizing there was nothing - he gave no clues, and I don't blame myself for what happened, but that doesn't mean I miss him any less, or that his loss was any less tragic. Maybe if he knew how much people loved him and would miss him, he wouldn't have made the choice, or maybe he would have anyway - people get into a mindset, and are unable to see things normally.

Having been through the hellish torture of losing my best friend, I beg anyone here who ever experiences such a level of bleakness that they've lost sight of the preciousness of life, has lost the ability to think clearly, and can no longer envision any type of happiness in their future - I beg you to drop everything you're doing, and to call me. I promise you that I will drop everything I'm doing and come to your aid without delay. Please do not abuse this in any way because I mean it.

Being a scientist, Joe knew very well the First Law of Thermodynamics which basically states that energy can neither be gained nor lost, neither created nor destroyed; only redistributed in other forms. Let us hope that Joe's immutable energy, now that he has gone, has dispersed among us all - even if we each only get a tiny sliver of his massive knowledge, spirit, and generosity, we'll all be better for it. Here's to you, Joe.

I miss you already,

Don

Tribute on mouthfulsfood.com

Tribute on chambersstwines.com

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With all due respect to Don's best intentions and kindness of spirit, if you are thinking about suicide or are in extreme mental distress, please make your first call to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 1.800.273.TALK. It is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors. Memorize this number and be prepared to provide it to anyone you run across who you fear may be having suicidal thoughts. Preventing suicide is the business of ALL OF US!

For those grieving due to another's suicide, I would suggest starting with the American Association of Suicidology's Suicide Loss Survivors page.

Then call Don.

Like Don, I have been close to others' suicide in my personal life (and suicide has been a big piece of my professional life for the past 5 years). More of us know someone close who has completed suicide than you think. It's just that, like many things, it's not something that gets talked about a lot.

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With all due respect to Don's best intentions and kindness of spirit, if you are thinking about suicide or are in extreme mental distress, please make your first call to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 1.800.273.TALK. It is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors. Memorize this number and be prepared to provide it to anyone you run across who you fear may be having suicidal thoughts. Preventing suicide is the business of ALL OF US!

For those grieving due to another's suicide, I would suggest starting with the American Association of Suicidology's Suicide Loss Survivors page.

Then call Don.

Like Don, I have been close to others' suicide in my personal life (and suicide has been a big piece of my professional life for the past 5 years). More of us know someone close who has completed suicide than you think. It's just that, like many things, it's not something that gets talked about a lot.

I agree wholeheartedly with Joe's entire post. Memorizing the "273" is the difficult part - you can take the letters on the keypad and make "ARE" if that helps you (hell, even "APE," but "1-800-APE-TALK" is wildly inappropriate even though (subject matter aside), it's funny enough where it may well be the easiest and best way for you to remember the number) - perhaps more appropriate, but not as effective, would be to use the letters as an abbreviation for: "Caring, Supportive Friends."

So: 1-800- Caring, Supportive Friends TALK. Take some time now to memorize that number because when you're in a bad state, you need to resort to your basic training, and won't be thinking about Googling numbers for hotlines.

Whichever of these little tricks works best for you is what you should remember - just make sure that you *do* remember. I actually prefer 1-800-APE-TALK because an ape would revert to its primal instincts, and that's just what you should do, plus it's so simple that an ape could remember it. Just please do not take the abbreviation as anything derogatory on my end because it is anything but.

AFTER you call them, or 911 (or both), you can call me at 202-630-DINE.

202 = DC area code

630 = The time which rush hour is over for parking meters

DINE = Well, you know

You'll need to leave a message, but if you leave an actual message for something like *this*, then I will call back within minutes assuming my phone is with me and turned on; otherwise, at the first possible opportunity. Even if I'm sitting in an opera in a tuxedo, I will step outside to call you. Please leave your full, real name and a callback number, and I give you my assurance that our conversation will remain in strict confidence. However, if I believe you're in imminent danger, I will do whatever I must to help you, even if that means violating my promise of confidentiality.

If you're wondering why I'm making this offer ... if you've ever lost someone close to you to suicide, you'd understand. I'm also in the process of helping someone with ovarian cancer who recently entered Hospice care, and if it comes down to it (and we all know the odds), I may well be there at the end, taking shifts to push the bolus dose button of the fentanyl IV-drip while the other caretakers get some sleep, should the person become unable to push the button herself. Again, if you're wondering why I'm doing this ... if you've ever lost someone close to you to ovarian cancer, you'd understand. I haven't seen this person since high school, but I don't care - she's a human being.

As long as we're on the topic, look at this post.

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Pertinent to previous discussions, I'm hoisting a long delayed drink to Mr. Robin Williams. I haven't been able to write for a while, but hopefully this breaks that trend.

https://unfoundedbabbling.wordpress.com/2014/09/03/robin-williams-depression/

(That's my personal blog, and I'm hoping to update it more. If you want to remember the URL, you can also get to it via bigblackdildoesinc.com. No, I am not kidding.)

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To Joan Rivers. Even if you didn't like her comedy you can appreciate the trail she blazed for women in her field.

I never liked her comedy that much, thought I had a friend in high school who adored her.  I've been feeling old a lot lately, but talking to a couple of 30-somethings and a 20-something today who had no idea why she was famous made me feel really old.  After I said, "She was the female Don Rickles," I realized they had no idea who that was either.

She was a major trailblazer, and she should have gotten The Tonight Show (IMHO).  Having to go through the suicide of her husband had to be awful and she kept plowing on. Condolences to her daughter. RIP Joan.

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I never liked her comedy that much, thought I had a friend in high school who adored her.  I've been feeling old a lot lately, but talking to a couple of 30-somethings and a 20-something today who had no idea why she was famous made me feel really old.  After I said, "She was the female Don Rickles," I realized they had no idea who that was either.

She was a major trailblazer, and she should have gotten The Tonight Show (IMHO).  Having to go through the suicide of her husband had to be awful and she kept plowing on. Condolences to her daughter. RIP Joan.

You're not old; you're wise, and getting older sure beats the alternative.

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To the McDonnells:

Guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty.

Guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty.

Bless their hearts.

You never want to convict people by how they look, or even act.

But there's something delicious about this conviction.

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To Malala Yousafzai, for winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

. . . and to her co-recipient, Kailash Satyarthi. We may be missing the bigger story here: the selection of an Indian Hindu man and a Pakistani Muslim woman together--a profoundly subversive act given how any one of those differences--nationality, religion, gender--is a source of conflict in this world. So, yes, celebrate Malala, but look deeper--this is more than just an inspirational story about a tough-minded girl--it's about the larger issues that press on all of us.

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. . . and to her co-recipient, Kailash Satyarthi. We may be missing the bigger story here: the selection of an Indian Hindu man and a Pakistani Muslim woman together--a profoundly subversive act given how any one of those differences--nationality, religion, gender--is a source of conflict in this world. So, yes, celebrate Malala, but look deeper--this is more than just an inspirational story about a tough-minded girl--it's about the larger issues that press on all of us.

Yes, I agree with you. Both should be celebrated, and it is significant that they were honored together.

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Boy, these last few have really gotten globally concerned - keep them coming. I'm proud of everyone!

To Nina Pham, and all the other underappreciated, underpaid nurses in this world. But today, for Nina Pham in particular for courageously treating an Ebola patient and then contracting the virus herself. Let us keep her in our thoughts.

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And yes, to Tujaque's friend, Shannon Craigo-Snell for exercising her right to protest, in this case peacefully and thoughtfully.

And also to Malala Yousafzai (who had the nerve to go to school in Pakistan) and her co-Nobel-recipient Kailash Salyarthi (who has the nerve to fight for children's rights in India). Go to that link, and look at all the awards Salyarthi has won over the years.

These four+ people have all put their lives on the line in some cases to make our world a better, fairer, more humane place for us all.

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As long as I'm preaching, may I recommend getting your daily news from various sources such as bbc.com, wsj.net, and al-jazeera.com? (Yes, lefties and righties cruising on auto-pilot, I said both Wall Street Journal and Al-Jazeera in the same sentence because they're both *excellent* publications, and because I am an independent thinker).

I would love to learn of other peoples' sources for news and events (historical and current) on the internet, and will start a separate thread once we get a few answers.

This is an apolitical website because I am an apolitical person; or, maybe I should say "I decide every problem before me based entirely on its own individual merits," and therefore would never wedge myself into a political party where I don't belong, and where no one should belong. And therefore also, I never take an individual problem, and attach it to a personal agenda for my own special interest's advancement.

Few people impress me more than independent thinkers with the ability not to affix everything to their own selfish causes, invariably trapped inside their feeble, scared little minds, guarded by mouths disproportionately larger than eyes or ears, hidden from scrutiny and examination by padlocks and picket signs, grated windows and grated nerves, and stunted by the devastating apathy of ignorance.

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