James
I'd be remiss if I didn't say something about the passing of James (jamesbeary). Hearing about it surprised me so much. It was so unexpected.
James was one of my first LJ friends. I met him at my first TBRU and watched as people around him used various means, ASL, writing on slips of paper, lip reading, etc. to communicate with him. The electronic world of journals, emails and IM's were a boon to him. He was one of the first people I ever saw using the text messaging feature on a cell phone.
It could be a bit intimidating to try to talk to him one on one. It took effort, but if you made the effort you were rewarded. James was a warm fellow with a smile and hug for everyone. He also had a wealth of stories from moving about the country and working in some interesting jobs. Heck, he worked at the publisher of Bear magazine, and I have the issue where he appears as one of the phone operators!
There's a lot of coulda, woulda, shoulda right now, knowing that he was so close here in Dallas, but I've hardly seen him this year. I guess I'll have to make one more visit this weekend for the service. It doesn't make up for anything, but it's the right thing to do now.
Goodbye, James
James was one of my first LJ friends. I met him at my first TBRU and watched as people around him used various means, ASL, writing on slips of paper, lip reading, etc. to communicate with him. The electronic world of journals, emails and IM's were a boon to him. He was one of the first people I ever saw using the text messaging feature on a cell phone.
It could be a bit intimidating to try to talk to him one on one. It took effort, but if you made the effort you were rewarded. James was a warm fellow with a smile and hug for everyone. He also had a wealth of stories from moving about the country and working in some interesting jobs. Heck, he worked at the publisher of Bear magazine, and I have the issue where he appears as one of the phone operators!
There's a lot of coulda, woulda, shoulda right now, knowing that he was so close here in Dallas, but I've hardly seen him this year. I guess I'll have to make one more visit this weekend for the service. It doesn't make up for anything, but it's the right thing to do now.
Goodbye, James