skippy the bush kangaroo: for some reason...

Thursday, March 04, 2010

for some reason...

it takes me longer to process sad news than it does for most people. yesterday, lots of bloggers were writing their own tributes to al weisel; the best i could do for him was queue up a jethro tull song.

but this afternoon, while sitting alone at a bus stop, it hit me. and i started crying, just like skippy did. i'm one of the dimmer bulbs in the chandelier, i know it, and i'm not proud of it, but i know good satire when i see it, and al was a brilliant satirist. on one hand, i think of how i would sit there in disbelief while reading the comments to his posts of those who just didn't get the joke, and i can't help but smile. on the other hand, i think of how i totally, and intentionally, blew off the last two blog amnesty days, and now i feel like shit.

sometimes, you just don't know what you have until it's gone for good. and losing al weisel is a major loss for bloggers everywhere.

and it hurts.

Labels: jon swift

posted by Jim Yeager at 4:56 PM |

3 Comments:

It isn't just you, Jim, I've been weepy all day. Some of it is seasonal affective disorder, but some of it is that what do you do with grief for someone you didn't even know? I think we feel this terrible loss that would seem silly to non-bloggers: "You didn't even KNOW this person?" No, but I knew what kind of person he was and how generous he was to us C- and D-listers. And the whole thing seems just so SAD.

So here we are, sitting with this big lump of completely irrational, unfathomable, seemingly inappropriate grief and we don't know what the hell to do with it.

commented by

Jill, 6:58 PM PST

Well Jim, I'm smart enough and I got the news early on so I got something up pretty quickly. It isn't good enough - but that, my friend, is the crux of the deal, the words aren't good enough. Not ever. But we do with them what we can and that has to do. And it does do, because the recipients of those words already know their limits and what it takes to try anyhow. I have reason to know this.

commented by

Chuck Butcher, 11:20 PM PST

By temperament or personal circumstances (and perhaps egotism), I think I know about grief. And, I have a consistent and hectoring plea regarding the way we mourn: this one time, during the immediate tragedy of death: suspend judgment; forget etiquette. When someone dies, do not judge yourself or anyone else!
If you cry, cry. If you can't or don't cry, go with that. If the reality hasn't hit you and you go out and have the time of your life, that's okay. Even if your reaction is dishonest, because for now honesty is too damn hard go ahead--but try not to hurt or belittle other mourners.
And even then!, say you're furious or can't take it without getting disgracefully drunk, or for whatever other reason, you behave abominably, wouldn't it make sense if everyone agreed, (imagine if we agreed on this one cultural thing) that bad behavior in the face of death is equally understandable?
And skippy, I doubt I've commented here before. I wouldn't have a clue about you, except I read Jon Swift whenever possible because he made me laugh and one of the many impressions I got was that Jon Swift enjoyed you especially.

commented by

kathleenmaher, 9:10 AM PST

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