Dynamic Subspace

Tag: friends

  • Memorial Day

    The flag of the United States of America is the enduring emblem of our country and what our women and men in the armed forces protect through their service. Memorial Day is set aside to remember and honor those who died in service to our country. It’s origin is in honoring Union soldiers who gave their lives to preserve our country and uphold our constitutional foundation. For those like myself who have not served in the armed forces, we reflect on those who have fallen while in service and honor them through our own humble efforts to protect, preserve, and contribute to our country’s well-being.

    The photo above is the Brunswick, Georgia Risley Middle School flag squad (1990-1991). The administration asked me to organize a group of students to raise and lower the US and Georgia flag each school day. On this day, Shannon, Robert, and Darrell joined me to lower and fold the flags. As a Boy Scout, I had participated on Color Guard and flag ceremonies many times. I was glad to support the school with this service and pass on what I had learned about flag protocols and folding to my school friends who were not in Scouts.

  • Thinking About My Friend Chris Lee: Macintosh Aficionado, Music Guru, and Eidetic Memory Man for Movie Dialog

    Chris hanging out in Brunswick. This was my second photo with my Sony Cybershot 2MP camera.

    Recently, I was telling my City Tech colleague Kate Falvey about a habit of thought that I have when I encounter things that I would ordinarily want to share with a specific person who I think would be interested in that thing even though that person might have passed away. That kind of thought happens more often with my friend Chris Lee, who passed away in 2016. Our mutual interest in computers, pop culture, and video games was the currency of our friendship over many years that began when he saw me pull out my Apple Powerbook 145B in Mr. Norris’ Graphic Design class at Brunswick High School. Later, after we had a falling out around 2000, he mended the bridge and we became good friends again.

    Me in a green hoodie and Chris in a blue jacket outdoors at night.

    When we were younger, our great ambition was to open a computer repair shop and publicize it with a video of us marching through flames as Rammstein’s “Du Hast” blasts in the background. He pushed the limits of good sense by loading what I believe to be a record number of Control Panels and Extensions that would dance along the bottom of his Mac’s boot screen–at least three full lines of icons at 1024 x 768. He created archives of sound that surpassed mortal lifespans capable of listening to it all. He mastered anything released for the Nintendo GameCube. He had a phenomenal memory for movie dialog–a specialized eidetic memory that would have been a superpower at trivia night.

    Chris Lee dancing in his parents' living room.

    The last thing that we talked about was how much had gone on in our lives so far. I texted him, “Too bad we don’t have a time traveling DeLorean. We could stop by and blow our younger selves’ minds 😎.” His reply and last text to me was, “I wish I had a DeLorean.”

    LEGO time travel DeLorean with the driver side door open and Doc Brown hanging out.

    Not long after that, I got a call from our friend Kenny. Chris had died. He was back in Brunswick where our friendship had started. I couldn’t really write about it then, and even now, it’s difficult. I’m not able to say all that I feel and how I wish that I could share just a few things with Chris again.

    Chris Lee's grave stone embossed with UGA's G logo and the Apple Computer apple with a bite taken out logo.

    When I visit my parents, I try to visit Chris’s grave in Smyrna Cemetery, which is between Nahunta and Hortense. His grave marker highlights some of his life’s loves, including Apple Computer. Of course, I wish that Chris could hear when I talk, but I know that what I say is only heard by regret.

  • Godspeed, Gary Stephen Thompson (1945-2012)

    Scanning from left to right in the adjacent picture from Christmastime 2008, you will see Bob Rainey, Mark Warbington, Paul Talamas, Gary Thompson, and me. This was the last time that I saw my friend Gary jovial and excited with life.

    On my way home to visit my family that year, I stopped through Atlanta to see the good friends that I made during my Mindspring and Georgia Tech undergraduate days. The five of us in the picture often met up at Mark’s house to tinker with computers (and technology in general), watch Red Green episodes (among many other things), and play Battlefield 1942 (with the Desert Combat patch).

    Since I had left Atlanta for graduate school at the University of Liverpool and Kent State University, I had not stayed in touch as much as I would have liked to. However, news has a strange way of finding its way to you through unexpected paths or random encounters. In Gary’s case, I knew that he continued with his annual participation in the Stone Mountain Highland Games, worked with another group of friends building an experimental kit airplane, and recently retired from General Electric where he was an highly experienced machinist.

    When I received a postdoc offer from Georgia Tech, I was excited about the prospect of catching up with my friends and hanging out again like we used to do at Mark’s. I realized that time and life had continued during the six years I was absent from Atlanta, but I did not expect the terrible event that coincided with my moving back to the area.

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