I took this picture in 1997, when stopping off to visit Brian and Kara on my way to California. Brian and I and a handful of others -- Josh Scott (who called this morning with the news) and Josh Thomson, later Eric Trager, a bunch of others -- we were a very close-knit group all through junior high and high school and for many years after. We played D&D, drove around (Brian was the first of us to have a car, a 1970 Dodge Charger), ate junk food, watched trains, got into trouble and kept each other out of worse trouble. In high school our teachers cheated so that Brian, Josh and I wouldn't have all our classes together. Brian, the other Josh and I wrote a game that's now (somewhat to my surprise) for sale on Amazon. We've been friends for nearly twenty years.

Brian died in a car crash last night, near his home in West Virginia.

It's going to take a while to put more coherent words together.

today's pictures

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second day of the return trip starts early but comfortably...I woke up naturaly around 7:30, got some unfortunate coffee and a bagel-shaped roll from the buffet, and proceeded to catch up on e-Mail and plan the day's drive.

turns out I can easily spend a few hours in Boulder on the way...I've never been there, but I've always wanted to visit.

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as I stepped out into the cloudy Nebraska morning I saw a wonderful sight: a little drive-through espresso shack. they serve seattle's best, which (while not the best I've had in seattle) is more than acceptable.

today is starting off very nicely.

I guess I didn't write anything, but here are some pictures: September 29 & 30, and the wedding itself on October 1.