San Leandro Memorial Park LBTQ picnic with Chewie, Cujo, Montague, Capulet, Timber, Tucker and Bella… and parents.
Category Archives: Photos
NYC Trip
The main impetus for traveling to NYC (which I was due for a trip to see my friends and daughter anyway) was the loss of my sweet friend Michael Demarsico as I mentioned in this blog earlier in the year. His husband had this celebration of life, so I don’t want to say that it was sad to go to his memorial, but it certainly was exactly as he would have wanted, down the last song that played and the snacks and venue that he chose. What a guy!
My daughter’s birthday happened to be around the same time, so of course I extended my trip and got to see many of the people I love and miss, as well as show Shando my old stomping grounds. I have a number of postings, but here are some of the random shots from the visit, including the trip to the High Line Park with my friend Carol.
March Selfie
We Lost One of the Good Ones
I found out one of my good friends (and fellow Yorkie owner) from NYC Michael DeMarsico died a few days ago at the age of 44. I know everyone says only good things about those who have died, but he was truly pure to the core and must have had perfect karma, despite the tragic nature of the disease that took him at such a young age. He was a prolific writer and loyal friend and was survived by his husband and his dog Chloe. I cherish the long emails we had together over the past two decades and the countless coffees and social events I shared with him. I’m so glad I saw him on my last trip to NYC in 2014 (one of the pictures with Chloe is below) when he was already struggling with some of the symptoms of MSA, but he was STILL making jokes about it as he lost motor function. Every time I started to feel the tiniest bit sorry for myself when I had limited mobility this past four months I thought of people like him and so many others suffering, like the children of Syria and the refugees all over the world whose problems dwarfed my inability to walk without crutches. Now that I’m healing and I know I’ll make a full recovery, I hope to return to NYC for the celebration of his life in a month or so. I could only hope to be as genteel and brave as Mike was facing a painful and slow death head on. I’m sure he will be immortalized by his writing. It was at his behest that he not have a funeral but rather a party for his friends, which only demonstrates that he was a total class act. Rest in Peace sweet man.
October Assorted Pictures
Rear impact video and pictures
Dashcam proves that i was NOT stopped on the freeway (not that that matters) as other driver originally claimed. Indeed, the driver of the grey 2011 Hyundai sedan that folded up when it rear-ended me told the police officer that he was distracted by “spitting” out the window, while he was was changing lanes between the car behind me and my car and probably going at an excessive speed. I ended up several HUNDRED feet in front of his car as I was pushed forward and my car came to an automatic stop. Below is a picture of the car that hit me. The police officers assured me I was completely faultless. Below are pictures of my car which hopefully will not be totaled. I feel like having my seatbelt on and being in a big safe car definitely helped me to be no worse for wear after being rammed at high velocity. I do recall seeing the Hyundai almost vertical in my rear view mirror as it slammed into the back of my car. Supposedly the other driver had bought his car a week ago.
The crash happens at about 4:30 into the clip.
As per the video the crash happened in lane 2 (one over from the speed lane). My car becoming immediately inoperable (as I’m sure theirs was) had to be pushed while in park (I could not start it or change gears) by the police vehicle once the entire freeway in my direction was forced to come to a complete stop. The officer had me steer the car, which was a weird sensation.
I was alone in my vehicle when I was smashed into, but as you can see in one of these pictures below, both the front head rests were forced out from the impact. I’m very lucky that there were no cars immediately in front of me and somehow the car behind the jerk who struck my car was able to make a complete stop before impacting his car — probably because he wasn’t distracted by a mobile phone or spitting out the window or showing off for his friend or what have you.
Assorted September Pictures
One of our favorite dog parks is Oyster Bay in San Leandro, where these pussy willows got our attention, especially the ones with the purple hue. Tucker has become inseparable from me and pretty much has claimed his place flanking me, particularly in our couch spot. Some great pictures of handsome Shando and one of Monte finding it cooler (September is our warmest month) on the ground under the other dogs is also included.