A fond memory from me too, much the same as yours. Same vest, although by this point in the Mac and Jack's, the hat was off.
Showing posts with label Mark. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mark. Show all posts
Monday, August 10, 2009
A Picture For You, Mark
A fond memory from me too, much the same as yours. Same vest, although by this point in the Mac and Jack's, the hat was off.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
So i'm watching "High Fidelity" tonight and i've never noticed it before, but Josh could have played John Cusack's part quite well. I know it isn't quite the part that Josh was usually cast for, but there are quite a few moments where i see these little mannerisms that i remember seeing Josh do.
I dunno...
Maybe i'm just imprinting.
I dunno...
Maybe i'm just imprinting.
Two Friends Gone in less than 2 Years...
These are pictures of Josh and my dog Bear rough-housing. They were good friends. Bear died of cancer back in May of '07 if i remember correctly.
Josh really loved my dog(s). He would always stop to greet them as soon as he came into our home. There would always be some pets and kisses, and then the playing would commence.
One of the sweetest most devoted things Josh ever did for me and my family was to come to my home the day we had to put Bear to sleep. We were lucky enough to have a vet who had told us when the time came, they would come to us. (The folks at the vet loved Bear and were in tears when they found out that he had cancer.) That time came i believe on Mother's Day. I tried calling a couple of my friends that were closer first to see if they could come and help me. We were going to have to get Bear into the back of the vets truck afterward. Bear weighed over a 100 pounds. In life i could lift him by myself, but i wasn't sure what i would be able to do after he was dead. I managed to get a hold of Josh and told him what the situation was. He dropped everything and came over right before or after Mother's Day dinner with his family.
Josh supported us that day and helped me get Bear out to the vet's truck so he could be cremated. That's the kind of person Josh was and i loved him for it.
I never thought that less than two years later i would be mourning them both. I see them a lot in my dreams now. And they still play.
My dogs were some of Josh's favorite subjects to shoot with his camera. I include a couple of those shots below.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
How Josh and I Met and Became Friends - or - "Poker Face, Josh"
I started working at Hollywood Lights around March or April of '98. I was brought on to help get ready for their 50th anniversary. I wouldn't actually meet or get to know Josh for another 2 or 3 months after starting there. It seems odd that it took that long given what i know of Josh from the past 10 1/2 years. I'm guessing it's just because there was the 50th stuff happening, and I'm guessing around that time there was probably also inventory going on.
When we did finally meet i think it was sometime around the end of May or beginning of June that year. My cousin Ryan and I were into playing Magic: The Gathering and he was working at Hollywood then too. During lunches we started playing games in the break room. One of our coworkers took note of this. I don't remember who exactly. At any rate they introduced me to Josh and told him i played Magic. Josh also played Magic and suggested we get together sometime and play.
Sometime shortly there after we did. I don't really remember much about those first games. But I do remember that he had been out of the game for a while, that i had been playing a lot, and that i trounced him a bit in the beginning. I also remember that when he happened to draw a card he needed his face would light up. Since we shared our decks with one another i usually knew what he had drawn when i saw his face light up and would say something like, "Pulled that Serra Angel you needed, huh?" He would smile and then feign ignorance and say something like, "Whatever do you mean?" This evolved to "Nice poker face, Josh." And eventually, "Poker face, Josh." His response then being to laugh or smile.
This went on all summer. This was because I kind of took advantage of Josh and because he was a sweet heart of a man. You see, my crappy little truck had only one working door and only one of the windows rolled down about an inch or two. So driving home at rush hour in summer heat was brutal. Most every work day that summer i went to Josh's after work and we played Magic or hung out until sundown, and then i would drive home.
I think this one of the main reasons that Josh became so important to me. We both knew i was taking advantage of the situation, but Josh knew that i needed a refuge until the sun went down, and most of that summer was willing to let his home be that place.
When we did finally meet i think it was sometime around the end of May or beginning of June that year. My cousin Ryan and I were into playing Magic: The Gathering and he was working at Hollywood then too. During lunches we started playing games in the break room. One of our coworkers took note of this. I don't remember who exactly. At any rate they introduced me to Josh and told him i played Magic. Josh also played Magic and suggested we get together sometime and play.
Sometime shortly there after we did. I don't really remember much about those first games. But I do remember that he had been out of the game for a while, that i had been playing a lot, and that i trounced him a bit in the beginning. I also remember that when he happened to draw a card he needed his face would light up. Since we shared our decks with one another i usually knew what he had drawn when i saw his face light up and would say something like, "Pulled that Serra Angel you needed, huh?" He would smile and then feign ignorance and say something like, "Whatever do you mean?" This evolved to "Nice poker face, Josh." And eventually, "Poker face, Josh." His response then being to laugh or smile.
This went on all summer. This was because I kind of took advantage of Josh and because he was a sweet heart of a man. You see, my crappy little truck had only one working door and only one of the windows rolled down about an inch or two. So driving home at rush hour in summer heat was brutal. Most every work day that summer i went to Josh's after work and we played Magic or hung out until sundown, and then i would drive home.
I think this one of the main reasons that Josh became so important to me. We both knew i was taking advantage of the situation, but Josh knew that i needed a refuge until the sun went down, and most of that summer was willing to let his home be that place.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Time Well Spent
I’ve been trying to write something eloquent about Josh and the New Year for a couple days but it just hasn’t been in me. All I know is that I miss him terribly and I’m not really sure I can express it in a written organized fashion. I’m much better with the image, both still and moving, rather than prose. That’s why I updated the header with pictures of Josh instead.
I don’t have a lot of memories of Josh around the Holidays because, I assume, that he was spending his time with his family, as it should be. I do recall one occasion though on December 31st 1999. My whole family had gone out of town for the New Year’s holiday but I chose to stay behind. Josh rang me up and invited me to hang out with him. He was heading out to McMinnville to lend moral support to the Hollywood Lights folks that had to work New Year’s at Spirit Mountain Casino.
We didn’t really do much of anything but watch Mark play video games, make fun of the lame news broadcasts from around the world, and walk around the nearly abandoned streets at midnight. It’s funny because there was no big party and yet… I have so very clear memories of that night and morning… because I was with Josh.
I was somewhat overwhelmed by the coming of the year 2000 because I hadn’t really thought about my life beyond the 20th Century. The time period beyond the year 2000 was the future and that was it. Now I find that I’m having that same feelings again but with extreme sadness and loss rather than wonderment. I’m approaching middle age and I realize that if I’m blessed with any sort of longish life I’ll have decades without Josh. I try not to dwell on things like this too much but on New Year’s Day it’s hard not to.
I was honored to call Josh my friend for nineteen years and I started this blog so that I could still make wonderful discoveries about him despite the fact that he's gone for all the New Year's to come.
I don’t have a lot of memories of Josh around the Holidays because, I assume, that he was spending his time with his family, as it should be. I do recall one occasion though on December 31st 1999. My whole family had gone out of town for the New Year’s holiday but I chose to stay behind. Josh rang me up and invited me to hang out with him. He was heading out to McMinnville to lend moral support to the Hollywood Lights folks that had to work New Year’s at Spirit Mountain Casino.
We didn’t really do much of anything but watch Mark play video games, make fun of the lame news broadcasts from around the world, and walk around the nearly abandoned streets at midnight. It’s funny because there was no big party and yet… I have so very clear memories of that night and morning… because I was with Josh.
I was somewhat overwhelmed by the coming of the year 2000 because I hadn’t really thought about my life beyond the 20th Century. The time period beyond the year 2000 was the future and that was it. Now I find that I’m having that same feelings again but with extreme sadness and loss rather than wonderment. I’m approaching middle age and I realize that if I’m blessed with any sort of longish life I’ll have decades without Josh. I try not to dwell on things like this too much but on New Year’s Day it’s hard not to.
I was honored to call Josh my friend for nineteen years and I started this blog so that I could still make wonderful discoveries about him despite the fact that he's gone for all the New Year's to come.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
The New Year
In just a few hours we will be starting our first year without Josh. I'm not looking forward to it. Josh brought a lot of joy and good to the world just by his being in it. Josh was truly one of the very good people in this world. I know we all miss him terribly.
I suggest that we, Josh's friends and family, have a responsibility to the world now. We have to try and take Josh's place in being agents for good. It will be tough. It's the very rare person who could be like Josh. But there are a lot of Josh's friends and family out there. And if each of us just does a little more to be kind, help people, and take responsibility for our surroundings, perhaps we can make a little dent in this messed up world.
Just like Josh did.
I hope that the coming year is a better one, and that the pain of losing Josh wanes a bit for all of us.
And if you find yourself unsure of what to do at any point during the coming year, just ask yourself, "What would Josh do?"
Love and best wishes to you all.
I suggest that we, Josh's friends and family, have a responsibility to the world now. We have to try and take Josh's place in being agents for good. It will be tough. It's the very rare person who could be like Josh. But there are a lot of Josh's friends and family out there. And if each of us just does a little more to be kind, help people, and take responsibility for our surroundings, perhaps we can make a little dent in this messed up world.
Just like Josh did.
I hope that the coming year is a better one, and that the pain of losing Josh wanes a bit for all of us.
And if you find yourself unsure of what to do at any point during the coming year, just ask yourself, "What would Josh do?"
Love and best wishes to you all.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
A little more about Josh's painting...
I was there on and off while Josh was painting the minis in Swine's post below. I wish i could remember more about when Josh painted them. Every time Josh and I - and sometimes our friends Ed and Trevor - got together to paint it was a really good time.
Myself and Ed at first were the ones who taught Josh how to paint. I remember it started when Swine and Josh came over with a handful of minis as props for a game we were playing that day. They had painted a few, and a few were in various states of being painted, but most weren't painted yet. (At least that's how i remember it. Swine may have to chime in and correct me.) Even then i noticed Josh - and Swine - had a good eye for picking interesting sculpts. I mentioned that i painted minis as well, and Josh being the caring and interested person he was, asked to see some of mine. They were impressed with with what i had done and asked me how i did what i did. I explained to them my technique and how easy it was to do, and said i'd be willing to show them some time.
Sometime after that Josh and i started to paint together. Josh learned my technique and saw that it was indeed relatively easy to learn and a good way to make minis look good. And Josh, being the avid hobbyist he was, in just a couple of years became a much better painter than i. I loved that about Josh. That when he became interested in something, he put his heart and soul into it. Whether, it was acting, stage craft, photography, painting, or games, he gave it everything he had. And as far as i can tell, never failed.
I remember one time Josh, Ed, and i had an emergency painting session. Ed works at a local hobby store in PDX and had promised to paint an army of miniatures for one of the games the store sold. They had to be done by a certain day though, and Ed had been busy with his other job as well. He asked Josh and i to help him paint this army in one night before it had to be back at the hobby store. We all met at Josh's around 8 pm that night and painted until 5 am the next morning. Each of us worked on almost every mini together. Me dry brushing the base coat. Josh cleaning up my mistakes and adding some detail. And Ed finishing the detail and working on the trophy pieces. That army is still down at that hobby shop. It's an undead army of skeletons on the bottom shelf of a display counter by one of the cash registers. I won't give anymore detail because Ed was supposed to have painted it all. ;)
As good a painter as Josh was, he had one issue that was really hard for him. He had a hard time understanding when to stop. Knowing when a mini was finished. Ed and i tried to explain to him that there would always be something that needed to be fixed or a detail missed, but at a certain point you had to let go or face ruining all the other things you had done right on the mini. Josh had a hard time accepting this though. And because of this, he did not finish nearly as many miniatures as most people would in the amount of time he painted.
And so i come to a point.
If you are somebody who is lucky enough to have a finished miniature that Josh painted, hang on to it/them. It is a rarity. And it was painted by someone who was truly good at it.
Love you Josh...
Myself and Ed at first were the ones who taught Josh how to paint. I remember it started when Swine and Josh came over with a handful of minis as props for a game we were playing that day. They had painted a few, and a few were in various states of being painted, but most weren't painted yet. (At least that's how i remember it. Swine may have to chime in and correct me.) Even then i noticed Josh - and Swine - had a good eye for picking interesting sculpts. I mentioned that i painted minis as well, and Josh being the caring and interested person he was, asked to see some of mine. They were impressed with with what i had done and asked me how i did what i did. I explained to them my technique and how easy it was to do, and said i'd be willing to show them some time.
Sometime after that Josh and i started to paint together. Josh learned my technique and saw that it was indeed relatively easy to learn and a good way to make minis look good. And Josh, being the avid hobbyist he was, in just a couple of years became a much better painter than i. I loved that about Josh. That when he became interested in something, he put his heart and soul into it. Whether, it was acting, stage craft, photography, painting, or games, he gave it everything he had. And as far as i can tell, never failed.
I remember one time Josh, Ed, and i had an emergency painting session. Ed works at a local hobby store in PDX and had promised to paint an army of miniatures for one of the games the store sold. They had to be done by a certain day though, and Ed had been busy with his other job as well. He asked Josh and i to help him paint this army in one night before it had to be back at the hobby store. We all met at Josh's around 8 pm that night and painted until 5 am the next morning. Each of us worked on almost every mini together. Me dry brushing the base coat. Josh cleaning up my mistakes and adding some detail. And Ed finishing the detail and working on the trophy pieces. That army is still down at that hobby shop. It's an undead army of skeletons on the bottom shelf of a display counter by one of the cash registers. I won't give anymore detail because Ed was supposed to have painted it all. ;)
As good a painter as Josh was, he had one issue that was really hard for him. He had a hard time understanding when to stop. Knowing when a mini was finished. Ed and i tried to explain to him that there would always be something that needed to be fixed or a detail missed, but at a certain point you had to let go or face ruining all the other things you had done right on the mini. Josh had a hard time accepting this though. And because of this, he did not finish nearly as many miniatures as most people would in the amount of time he painted.
And so i come to a point.
If you are somebody who is lucky enough to have a finished miniature that Josh painted, hang on to it/them. It is a rarity. And it was painted by someone who was truly good at it.
Love you Josh...
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
With the weather in PDX so crumby, I've been wondering what Josh would be up to...
I picture him holed at home with his folks. Watching TV with his dad. Having meals with his folks around the table. And in the evenings staying up way too late. Either organizing his room or painting miniatures. And all the while giving the kitties occasional pets.
I could be wrong. This is just some of the things Josh told me he did when he was at home.
I still like to think of him doing those things though.
I hope we all can have at least a little bit of a Merry Christmas. Josh would want us to...
I picture him holed at home with his folks. Watching TV with his dad. Having meals with his folks around the table. And in the evenings staying up way too late. Either organizing his room or painting miniatures. And all the while giving the kitties occasional pets.
I could be wrong. This is just some of the things Josh told me he did when he was at home.
I still like to think of him doing those things though.
I hope we all can have at least a little bit of a Merry Christmas. Josh would want us to...
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Thanks
I also wanted to thank everyone who made last night possible. (Thanks for beating me to it Swine...)
But i really wanted to thank everyone who was willing to get up and speak about Josh last night. It really helped to see Josh through the words of so many people who really loved him. It also was good to see how we all knew the same man and how he was the same person with each and every one of us. I felt a lot better than i have after listening to all those wonderful memories.
And to those who were unable to speak about Josh, thank you for being there. I know it's hard to speak in any situation. Infinitely so in a situation like that.
Thank you to everyone who participated last night.
But i really wanted to thank everyone who was willing to get up and speak about Josh last night. It really helped to see Josh through the words of so many people who really loved him. It also was good to see how we all knew the same man and how he was the same person with each and every one of us. I felt a lot better than i have after listening to all those wonderful memories.
And to those who were unable to speak about Josh, thank you for being there. I know it's hard to speak in any situation. Infinitely so in a situation like that.
Thank you to everyone who participated last night.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
My friend Josh who was a part of my family
This is a picture of Josh with me, friends, and family at my cousin Ryan's wedding. When I say friends and family the words are interchangeable really. My friends are my family. And Josh was family.
Josh had a way of touching everyone. People he had only met a few times - or even once in some cases - have been devastated by the loss of this wonderful man. Jennifer (the little brunette third from left in the front) met Josh only on this day. And, like all of us, fell in love with who he was. My mother only spent time with Josh on 3 or 4 occasions in the 10 short years that he was my friend and thought he was a quirky, beautiful person. Both of these people were grief stricken and cried when they found out that Josh had passed away.
That was the kind of person that Josh was. A person that you loved from the first time you met him. I think that speaks volumes about what a genuinely good man he was. His immediate family - and us, his extended family - have a lot to be proud of when it comes to Josh.
I know that what I've written above only covers the tiniest fraction of what Josh meant to us all. And in the coming days I intend to write more about my brief time with Josh. But, for now, this is all I can manage.
I love you, Josh. And I really don't like the world much now that you're not in it.
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