Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Bark louder, little dog.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

You cannot shame the shameless.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

In my day, never was longer.

You are here: Home / Absent Friends / RIP / Awful News

Reader Interactions

209Comments

  4. 4.

    James Powell

    Thinking back to January 1. Did anyone of us ever think this year would be, could be this fucking bad?

  9. 9.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @kindness: Foster families were found for the Oldmen. Not sure what the permanent arrangements will be, but they haven’t been forgotten.

  16. 16.

    fuckwit

    I don’t know who this person is, but I feel sad.

    Bummer. Condolences to his family and friends.

  22. 22.

    Pogonip

    Was Mr. Kauffman a public figure? His name rang no bells.

    My condolences to his family and friends.

    There have been an unusually large numbers of deaths this year in my little circle, as well.

  27. 27.

    Tom

    SEK was one of the funniest and most insightful guys who’s ever blogged. He was the guy, as a matter of fact, who convinced me that I could do it back in 2009 or so.

    Never met him or talked to him outside of a couple comment replies at LGM, but there was always just some searing humanity on display in his writing, even when he was just messing around.

    I’ll miss him dearly. And as others have said, fuck 2016.

  34. 34.

    Linnaeus

    @Tom:

    I’ll really miss his “funny and/or weird things that only happen to SEK” posts. And there were a lot of those things.

  37. 37.

    Patricia Kayden

    @James Powell: NOPE. Especially now that Trump is the President-Elect. Never thought I’d live to see the day when a reality star would be elected to the highest political office in the land. Unreal.

    R.I.P SEK.

  38. 38.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Pogonip: Dr. Scott Eric Kaufman, PhD. He documented the absolutely amazingly – in terms of just wacky to bad things happening to him – rough time he had completing his doctorate at Acepholous:
    http://acephalous.typepad.com/

    He then moved to Lawyers, Guns, and Money and while still a front pager there to paying gigs at Raw Story and Salon after he left academia.

    Dr. Kaufman had been ill – severely to chronically and cycling between the two – for a very long time. Every time it appeared he had managed to make it through into something better either illness or some other calamity would befall him.

    He was always funny, snarky, and just astounded by events he was involved with and/or that happened around him.

  40. 40.

    Ruviana

    I’m so so so sorry for this. From bits and pieces I’ve seen on LGM this year was awful for him even before this. I’m sorry he’s decided to take this ride, but so be it. Go well, batman.

  44. 44.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    Oh, no. I feared that was the news as soon as I saw the post title. He was one of the funniest people on the internet and seemed like a mensch. Dammit.

  45. 45.

    mai naem mobile

    This is depressing. Have nothing to add I feel like good people being taken away because we’re going to be going through a really dark period in history.

  48. 48.

    ThresherK

    @Auntie Anne: My wife doesn’t interface with computers well, but she loved the Oldman Cat diaries. I’d read them aloud to her, and I felt like Fiorello LaGuardia reading the comic strips.

    @Pogonip: I sorta stumbled on LGM and Balloon Juice at the same time. There is a fair amount of subject and commentor crossover.

  49. 49.

    Lizzy L

    Damn it damn it damn it. F***. Ah, this is hard. I only knew him as an internet presence, but he was a long time friend of a friend. So much grief this year, public and private.

  50. 50.

    Linnaeus

    Scott Lemieux over at LGM says they will be posting soon on this, for those who may be interested.

  51. 51.

    Phoebes

    I’ve never heard of this blogger but from what you’re writing about him reminds me of another brilliant blogger, Steve Gilliard, who died in 2007, also of massive organ failure. He was an historian and political junkie without peer and I always felt bad he didn’t live to see Obama elected president.

  54. 54.

    GrandJury

    I have no idea who this person is. Googling turned up one person who was a writer for Salon at one point. Is that who this person is? Are we supposed to be aware of who all these people are?

  56. 56.

    Adam L Silverman

    @GrandJury: As I indicated here: https://balloon-juice.com/2016/11/20/awful-news-2/#comment-6127453

    Dr. Scott Eric Kaufman, PhD. He documented the absolutely amazingly – in terms of just wacky to bad things happening to him – rough time he had completing his doctorate at Acepholous:
    http://acephalous.typepad.com/

    He then moved to Lawyers, Guns, and Money and while still a front pager there to paying gigs at Raw Story and Salon after he left academia.

    Dr. Kaufman had been ill – severely to chronically and cycling between the two – for a very long time. Every time it appeared he had managed to make it through into something better either illness or some other calamity would befall him.

    He was always funny, snarky, and just astounded by events he was involved with and/or that happened around him.

  58. 58.

    celticdragonchick

    Fuck you 2016.

    SEK is another voice that will be missed. His Oldman Cat series at LGM never stopped being funny. :(

    OLDMAN CAT: HALLOWEEN!

    SEK: Cats don’t wear costumes.

    OLDMAN CAT: Do too.

    SEK: That’s not a costume.

    OLDMAN CAT: Is too.

    SEK: That’s a shrimp shell on your neck.

    OLDMAN CAT: CALL US BATTLE PRAWN.

    SEK: That’s not a thing.

    OLDMAN CAT: BATTLE PRAWN.

    SEK: Do I even want to ask about the trash can?

    OLDMAN CAT: IT IS DEFEATED.

  59. 59.

    Adria McDowell (formerly Lurker Extraordinaire

    Seriously- FUCK THIS YEAR! Fuck it with a titanium spiked dildo.

    SEK’s posts over at LGM were always funny and insightful.

    Rest In Peace.

  62. 62.

    Ruviana

    @GrandJury: A lot of people who comment here comment at Lawyers, Guns, and Money. SEK was one of their front pagers. It’d be like Cole or DougJ dying. It’d be, and is, awful.

    My favorite OLDMANCAT:

    I’M SO FUCKIN’ BUFF. I DO CROSSFOOT.

  66. 66.

    celticdragonchick

    Laugh for a moment with SEK in this bit of silliness. We need to, I think.

    OLDMAN CAT: IN YOUR FACE

    SEK: Get off my chest, I’m trying to sleep.

    OLDMAN CAT: ON YOUR NECK IN YOUR FACE

    SEK: Can’t breathe here.

    OLDMAN CAT: ON YOUR NECK STEALING YOUR BREATH IN YOUR FACE

    SEK: OK, off you go.

    OLDMAN CAT: STANDING ON YOUR SHOULDER STEALING YOUR BREATH IN YOUR FACE

    SEK: Seriously?

    OLDMAN CAT: PAWING AT YOUR EYEBALL STANDING ON YOUR SHOULDER STEALING YOUR BREATH IN YOUR FACE

    SEK: Knock it off.

    OLDMAN CAT: HOWLING IN YOUR EAR PAWING AT YOUR EYEBALL STANDING ON YOUR SHOULDER STEALING YOUR BREATH IN YOUR FACE

    SEK: Is there any food in your bowl?

    OLDMAN CAT: NO

    SEK: Fine, fine, I’m getting up.

    OLDMAN CAT:IN YOUR FACE

  69. 69.

    oldster

    That’s a damned shame. SEK was an irreplaceable comic voice.

    He’ll be missed.

    It was a shame when Steve Gilliard never got to see the Obama presidency.

    In time, we may come to envy everyone who died before the start of the Trump presidency.

  71. 71.

    Miss Bianca

    Oh, no, oh no! *not* SEK, too! I’m not sure I can bear much of this year. : (

    ETA: OK, I know there’s not much more of this year left to bear, but the point remains.

  72. 72.

    Schlemazel

    @Patricia Kayden:
    The great prophet, Mike Judge, prophesied this exact even in his 2006 warning of future events. Verily, it has now come to passed and plants will soon be getting what they need.

  74. 74.

    stankley

    @GrandJury So you feel compelled to not only read a thread about the death of someone whose writing you’ve never read, but also post in it to declare your ignorance.

    Why?

  80. 80.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @JPL:

    I watched the whole thing streaming on the WH feed. He requires his very own Charlotte to weave the words “SOME PRESIDENT” every day for the next two months.

    I am really going to miss him (and Michelle).

    As for SEK, I’m afraid I’m among those who is/was not at all familiar with him. (I hope the Oldman Cat dialogues are archived — they look like fun.) But from all the comments here, he was a treasured member of the blogosphere, and I feel almost as sad as I would have had I known him. May his transition be easy, and may he rest in peace. Comfort and condolences to his family, friends, and fans.

  82. 82.

    Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA

    @GrandJury: I wasn’t familiar with him either. I am, however, familiar with Google. It’s an amazing tool — you can find out who everyone is talking about without annoying people who are clearly grieving.

    This is quite a loss, and I can see why people are hurting over it. I’m sorry I wasn’t aware of him before. My condolences to all who know and love him.

  83. 83.

    celticdragonchick

    @SiubhanDuinne: You can find the Oldman Cat entries at Lawyers Guns and Money. Click on SEK in the front pager bar up top and enjoy his work. He has had an amazing eye for the ridiculous bits you encounter in life.

  86. 86.

    Mnemosyne

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Never thought I’d live to see the day when a reality star game show host would be elected to the highest political office in the land.

    Fix’d for accuracy. “The Apprentice” wasn’t a reality show. It was a game show. Trump was a game show host. He doesn’t even get the fig leaf of “reality star” from me that the Kardashians get.

    He was a game show host, and people decided he should run a large complicated country because how hard could the job be if a Black man was doing it?

  88. 88.

    RepubAnon

    @celticdragonchick: I really enjoyed the Oldman Cat diaries – glad the cats have got new homes.

    On December 31, 2016, I’m going to make a bonfire out of 2016 calendars – it’ll be nice to bid this year farewell, so I can start scraping it off my shoe. Not looking forward to 2017, though. Wasn’t it Heraclitus who was known as the “crying philosopher” because he cried at the follies of mankind?

    I would smile, though, if someone manages to hack into the loudspeakers and play the Star Wars Darth Vader Theme just before The Donald starts his speech. It would be a nice homage to Democritus, who laughed at the follies of mankind…

  89. 89.

    Lizzy L

    OLDMAN VIRGIL: FINALLY YOU MAKE ME MY MOFONGO
    SEK: I’m making ME mofongo.
    OLDMAN VIRGIL: I AM PUERTO RICAN GIVE ME MY MOFONGO
    SEK: You’re from Mississippi, you’re not —
    OLDMAN VIRGIL: PUT SHRIMP IN MY MOFONGO
    SEK: Get out of the kitchen.
    OLDMAN VIRGIL: PUT PIG IN MY MOFONGO
    SEK: Knock it off.
    OLDMAN VIRGIL: PUT MORE PIG IN MY MOFONGO
    SEK: Do NOT hop on the counter.
    OLDMAN VIRGIL: [HOPS ON COUNTER] I AM PUERTO RICAN GIVE ME MY MOFONGO
    SEK: [TOSSES OLDMAN VIRGIL OUT OF THE KITCHEN]
    OLDMAN VIRGIL: [FROM THE LIBRARY] I AM PUERTO RICAN GIVE ME MY MOFONGO
    SEK: Shut up!
    OLDMAN VIRGIL: I AM PUERTO RICAN GIVE ME MY MOFONGO
    SEK: [HEARS CRASHING IN THE LIBRARY]
    OLDMAN VIRGIL: WHAT I DON’T KNOW BEATS ME I DIDN’T DO IT
    SEK: I didn’t say anything. I think I preferred it when you couldn’t jump quite so —
    OLDMAN VIRGIL: TAKE THAT BACK YOU DON’T MEAN IT
    SEK: You’re right, I’m sorry, that was awful of me to even —
    OLDMAN VIRGIL: STOP YOUR WORDS APOLOGIZE WITH MY MOFONGO

  92. 92.

    Suzanne

    @Mnemosyne: I am realizing (see the last thread) that there is a contingent, larger than I thought, who appears to believe that education doesn’t have any genuine worth, that it doesn’t help develop any skills or qualities of value to an employer. In that light, it is obvious why people didn’t have qualms about Trump having no education or experience in government. I can’t help but wonder what they think DOES qualify someone for a job.

  94. 94.

    Mnemosyne

    Speaking of 2016 sucking, there was a little tiff at the meeting of my writer’s group this morning about which death really opened the portal to The Year Of Everything Sucking Ass: Prince or David Bowie?

    Yes, we are mostly women in our 40s and up, why do you ask?

  97. 97.

    Uncle Ebeneezer

    Damn, what a loss. His analyses of Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Game of Thrones etc., really changed the way I view tv/film as a craft and art. Also, his posts about random occurrences living in Orange County and Louisiana were always hilarious. He seemed to care quite a bit about not only politics but it’s effects on marginalized people. He will be deeply missed.

  98. 98.

    Mnemosyne

    @Suzanne:

    I can’t help but wonder what they think DOES qualify someone for a job.

    You don’t really wonder. They think that if a person is the “right” race/ethnicity and the “right” gender, they should get the high-paying job. If there are extra jobs left over, the rest of us can have them if we can prove our credentials. It’s a pretty well-known truism that men are hired based on their potential and women are hired based on their credentials.

    The saddest part is that there are still a lot of women who believe this just as wholeheartedly.

  99. 99.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Mnemosyne:

    He was a game show host, and people decided he should run a large complicated country because how hard could the job be if a Black man was doing it?

    “Where have you gone, Wink Martindale
    Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you
    Wu wu wu”

  100. 100.

    jake the antisoshul soshulist

    2016 has bern a horrible year in a lot of ways for a lot of people.

    I will miss SEK’s mordant commentary and his retelling of his interactions with the public and the Oldmen.

  101. 101.

    Uncle Ebeneezer

    @SiubhanDuinne: Check out his visual rhetoric posts as well. He broke down all the subtle ways camera angles, lighting etc., made some of your fave shows, so emotionally gripping. With lasers! Anyways, they are some of his best work, imo. He truly had a passion for film.

  110. 110.

    Mnemosyne

    @Schlemazel:

    It’s an ongoing conversation, so there’s probably some shorthand involved in the previous comments. But, yes, it’s a conversation about people in the general population who don’t think schooling and credentials are important, not people at Balloon-Juice.

  111. 111.

    Elizabelle

    Sad. Godspeed.

    I didn’t follow LGM much (enjoyed seeing etgoldman there), so a tribute with SEK’s work would be much appreciated.

    2016 continues to feel like a Rapture.

    Watching The Wizard of Oz on TBS. Grinch stole Xmas was on earlier.

    If only we could drop a house on Trump. Although Pence is worse.

  113. 113.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Uncle Ebeneezer:

    Thank you! I will do that! I’m awfully sorry that I wasn’t familiar with him or his work prior to John’s putting up this thread. Glad to have the chance to catch up, even though there’s the accompanying sad awareness that there won’t be any more.

    @Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA:

    Clever and funny animal-human dialogues always crack me up, if they really are clever. Your Iggy, and SEK’s Oldman, both clear the “clever and funny” threshold by a long shot. (I’ve seen far too many others that are ponderous, leaden, and ham-handed. It’s not an easy thing to pull off, but you and SEK both manage(d) it.)

  114. 114.

    Suzanne

    @Schlemazel: I was writing in the previous two threads about an,interaction that I had on John’s FB page, in which I stated that there seems to be an aggrieved subsection of the WWC who believes they are entitled to low-skill jobs making $100K, with only a HS education. I noted that I think that everyone should make a decent living with full-time work. One of Cole’s friends took issue with that, essentially stating that there was nothing unreasonable with a HS grad in a low-skill job expecting to be rich, and (in summary) arguing that higher education shouldn’t be a significant differentiator in the marketplace. I was noting in the thread that the cohort of people who appear to feel this way is much larger than I thought.

  116. 116.

    PhoenixRising

    Assuming that one manifests at LGM, let’s get a link to his parents, assuming either are among the family that survived him.

    I’d like to organize a condolence card from…well, from his fan base of parents of children who are deaf/HOH.

    Scott’s descriptions of his childhood, specifically how hearing parents raised a highly accomplished person who was open about his disability and not defined or limited by it, were inspirational for many, many hearing people like me.

    Also OLDMAN CAT: MOVE THE SUN.

    My teenager is crying. He inspired her.

  118. 118.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Patricia Kayden:

    I cherish him. What a great man he is. I’ve heard him tell the library card story previously. For him to win the National Book Award six decades later is the very definition of bittersweet.

  119. 119.

    Mnemosyne

    @stankley:

    Does it help if you know that Oldman Virgil is a cat and does not speak human words?

    I have yet to run across a pet owner who doesn’t attribute human voices, thoughts, and actions to their pets, but maybe you’re the first one.

  120. 120.

    Baud

    Such a sad situation.

    @Suzanne:

    arguing that higher education shouldn’t be a significant differentiator in the marketplace

    Seems likes that’s something for the marketplace to decide.

  121. 121.

    Ruviana

    Awesome! A SEK memorial troll! I suspect SEK would approve.

    ETA: At least it toned down the nasty comment.

  123. 123.

    Peale

    @Suzanne: God. Its like they are maoists or something. Next up, all of us with college degrees who have managed to make a decent living in the “knowledge economy” will be branded couter-revoluationary and be marched into the countryside to plant rice.

  124. 124.

    Suzanne

    @SiubhanDuinne: Mr. Suzanne doesn’t know it, but after hearing Lewis cry when he received his National Book Award on NPR, I ordered the boxed set of “March” for him for Yule.

  125. 125.

    Patricia Kayden

    @SiubhanDuinne: I hadn’t heard that story before. So touching and inspirational. Lewis is such a fighter. Glad he’s still with us as we’ve lost so many giants in 2016.

  128. 128.

    PsiFighter37

    2016 is really when the driving events of ‘The Leftovers’ occurred, and we are the damned who are left behind to sort through the rubble, I suppose.

  129. 129.

    celticdragonchick

    @Mnemosyne:
    Exactly.

    I always imagine our cats (Olivia and Tuxedo) would say something to the effect of:

    Olivia: I love you human I want some cake.
    me: This is chocolate cake. Cats can’t have chocolate
    Olivia: I’m not a cat I’m like you
    me: You’re a cat
    Olivia: I want some cake!
    me: Not for you!
    Olivia: I love you and I purr give me some
    me: I don’t want the vet bill
    Olivia: What is vet bill? Give me cake I love you

  131. 131.

    Patricia Kayden

    @GrandJury: Oh dear.

    P.S. At first I didn’t recall who S.E.K. was but after a quick Google search, I remembered him from LGM. He will be greatly missed. Died way too young.

  135. 135.

    CaseyL

    This is awful. Last time I checked his FB, they said he was feeling better.

    The man could write. Someone on his FB page recently posted one of his greatest hits: an account of the time he opened the door to his office to find two students gettin’ it on in there, and they acted like he was the intruder who should apologize.

    Plus the Oldmen diaries. He did a fundraiser recently for them – aged, ailing cats are expensive – and I kicked in some $$. What will happen to them now?

    Oh, Scott. We will miss you so much.

  137. 137.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Suzanne: What a wonderful gift!

    @Patricia Kayden: I know I’ve mentioned previously on this blog that I had a few opportunities to meet and interact with him when I worked for the Canadian Consulate General here. He is invariably gracious. My first encounter with John Lewis is when acid rain was the big bilateral issue between Canada and the U.S., and I was tasked with phoning every congressional district office in our seven-state territory to get a bead on their position on acid rain (this was during the late-Reagan/early-Bush 41 administration). Just about every office I called, I either talked to an intern or left a message on the answering machine (I don’t think we had “voice mail” per se then). But when I called John Lewis’s Atlanta office, he actually picked up the phone himself. We had a nice chat, and he was totally on board with confronting acid rain, had a solid understanding of the causes, consequences, and possible remedies.

    Worked with him several years later on planning his annual international/multicultural festival. Canada had a booth. He stopped by on the day and had his picture taken with our life-sized Mountie cutout :-)

  139. 139.

    RealityBites

    I made a small donation to his medical fund last week. I will try to send a little more. Is there any way to know if money is also needed for Oldmen Cats? They have to have expensive special food, among other things. 2016 sucks.

  140. 140.

    Uncle Ebeneezer

    SEK also had some amazing interactions with his Southern neighbors:

    SEK was driving to the Winn-Dixie, about a block away from his house, when a man ran into the street waving his arms wildly. SEK pulled over, thinking the man’d just chopped off some vital extremity with his lawnmower or something.

    SEK: You need help?

    MAN: Hey, you don’t live around here, do you?

    SEK: I — are you all right?

    MAN: I don’t know you.

    SEK: I live just around the corner (SEK said, pointing to his domicile).

    MAN: Your music was really loud.

    SEK: I’m deaf, so sometimes it gets a little loud. Sorry about that, I’ll try to —

    MAN: What’s with your hat? Is that a gang thing?

    SEK: !?!

    MAN: Well?

    SEK: It’s a lazy thing. Didn’t feel like combing my hair this morning. I’ve gotta get back home soon, get to work, you know?

    MAN: —

    …

    Remember SEK’s NEIGHBOR? The one who thought SEK belonged to a gang because of his backward hat? Well, this morning SEK decided it was about time to start watching The Sopranos, and so when he was driving home from the grocery store and saw his NEIGHBOR, SEK thought it’d be a great idea to slow his car to a crawl and give NEIGHBOR a good eye-fucking. The fake neighborhood “police” started driving around until, finally, MR. POLICEMAN — with NEIGHBOR in tow — knocked on SEK’s door.

    MR. POLICEMAN: Have you been threatening this man?

    SEK: What? No.

    MR. POLICEMAN: Is that your car?

    SEK: Yes.

    MR. POLICEMAN: He says a man in a hat was threatening him this morning.

    SEK: (points to hair) I’m not wearing a hat.

    NEIGHBOR: It’s you! You have a hat!

    SEK: I’m sure I do somewhere. What’s this about, officer?

    MR. POLICEMAN: Have you been speeding recently?

    SEK: I’ve been in Houston, my sister just had a baby. Wanna see a picture?

    NEIGHBOR: He has a hat!

    MR. POLICEMAN: So you haven’t been speeding?

    SEK: I haven’t even been here.

    NEIGHBOR: Ask him about his hat?

    SEK: Do you need a hat, sir?

    NEIGHBOR: I want to see your hat!

    SEK: Officer, should I get him a hat?

    MR. POLICEMAN: I don’t think that’ll be necessary. Sorry to have bothered you, sir.

    NEIGHBOR looks at SEK. SEK waits until the officer turns around, then eye-fucks NEIGHBOR again.

    NEIGHBOR: ASK HIM ABOUT HIS HAT!

    MR. POLICEMAN: (to NEIGHBOR) We’re done here.

  143. 143.

    joegy

    Not familiar w his writing but can see by the comments he was loved and closely followed.

    Sharon Jones passing yesterday really was a push-back to me. She fought hard against pancreatic cancer which is a vicious fate. Such feel-good music; voice; and life story.

    Life leans towards unfairness & cruelty. Do unnoticed good things. It might piss-off a Trumpeter.

  147. 147.

    Anne

    This was just posted on Facebook by Marty Kaufman (I think SEK’s brother?):

    “To anyone following Scott on Facebook this evening or the next few days, please consider the impact that your various tags of assumed status may have on family members that we may have not reached out to this evening or our parents when they get home from a long day at the hospital seeking some level of solace. While well intentioned, the engagement in rumors results in a most vile emotional reaction to those closest to him. Thank you for your compassion and understanding.”

    I hope this means this has been a misunderstanding.

  151. 151.

    Patricia Kayden

    @SiubhanDuinne: Lucky you!! From your account, he seems like a down to earth guy. After all he has been through, I’m happy he lived long enough to see a Black President. Love him.

  152. 152.

    ThresherK

    I’m only going to indulge myself once: From OLDMAN CAT FB page, back in August, when there was a flood threat:

    [NICE CHURCH LADY came to SEK’s door and asked him if he had an evacuation plan “just in case,” and SEK said he’d looked up some shelters. She told him about some closer, unlisted ones.]
    SEK: Are they cat-friendly?
    NICE CHURCH LADY: That depends — how sweet are your cats?

    OLDMAN MUND: THE GODDAMN WATER BOWL IS DIRTY AGAIN
    OLDMAN VIRGIL: I AM LOST IN THE DINING ROOM SAVE ME
    OLDMAN MUND: IT WAS CLEAN FIVE MINUTES AGO WHAT THE FUCK
    OLDMAN VIRGIL: NOW I AM LOST IN THE KITCHEN SAVE ME
    OLDMAN MUND: DON’T MAKE ME KNOCK THIS SHIT OVER I WILL DO IT
    OLDMAN VIRGIL: I AM RIGHT NEXT TO NOW YOU SAVE ME I AM LOST

    SEK: They’re adorable — just adorable.

  156. 156.

    Bailey

    @Bex:

    Leonard Cohen was buried in Canada. He was smart enough to get out of here.

    That and the fact he was Canadian.

  159. 159.

    Mnemosyne

    If anyone interested in race, science, ethics, or all three hasn’t read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks yet, the Kindle version is on sale for $3.99 today only.

  163. 163.

    Suzanne

    If anyone is in need of a smile, I submit this Sunday dinner bon mot from my Spawn the Elder, who is twelve:

    “I don’t know why the term ‘staff member’ isn’t funnier, because both of those words mean ‘penis’.”

    Anyone from this blog who is a Trump orphan is welcome to break bread at my home this holiday season. But consider this a warning regarding the level of our dinner conversation.

  166. 166.

    ThresherK (GPad)

    @BigHank53: I am sorta binge-reading a couple of webcomics, but always looking for another to add. Any reccos on the Dave Willis oeuvre?

  167. 167.

    (a different) brad

    Fuck this fucking year. It knows no mercy. I’m glad his old men have homes, at least.
    I’d ask what this year has left in store, but for me I know; gotta put my cat to sleep soon. Which I mention here because back in May Anne Laurie was wonderful enough to post my link to raise funds for his care, and all you good people here came through in spades. That money gave me another 6 months with him, the first few like he was young again, so there’s no way for me to thank all of you enough. It was bonus time with him, but now it’s just a matter of time, and when he gets too weak or starts to suffer. For now he’s comfortable, and just wants to be close to me, always. Thank you all so much, and apologies for wandering from the immediate loss.

  168. 168.

    Jeffro

    @Suzanne:

    I was writing in the previous two threads about an,interaction that I had on John’s FB page, in which I stated that there seems to be an aggrieved subsection of the WWC who believes they are entitled to low-skill jobs making $100K, with only a HS education. I noted that I think that everyone should make a decent living with full-time work. One of Cole’s friends took issue with that, essentially stating that there was nothing unreasonable with a HS grad in a low-skill job expecting to be rich, and (in summary) arguing that higher education shouldn’t be a significant differentiator in the marketplace. I was noting in the thread that the cohort of people who appear to feel this way is much larger than I thought.

    Hmm…perhaps we should ask them why it’s called “higher” education, then? I kid but one would think (hope? pray?) that with about 30 seconds thought most could figure out that ringing up McOrders doesn’t take as much training as helping people invest their life savings wisely, or teaching kids, and therefore wouldn’t be likely to be paid as much.

    So many special snowflake issues these days…so many fewer Boomers around to blame that attitude on…so I guess it’s not the Boomers or Millenials or whatever, just plain ol’ human nature.

  169. 169.

    sherparick

    As a regular reader of LGM, I loved SEK’s posts, and of course the continued sagas of OLDMAN Cat. A very young man, who has left us far to soon. Robert Farley and Paul Campos had posted on Friday that his medical condition had gotten very bad, but that it had taken a turn for the better and posted the GoFundMeLink.

    Life is never fair, and breaks your heart in the end.

  170. 170.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Mnemosyne:

    Thanks, Mnem, just ordered on Kindle. I’ve owned the dead tree version for a while, but my ripening cataracts* keep me from reading much of anything where I can’t adjust the font size.

    *(After years of stasis, the cataracts seem to be progressing quickly — I’ve been aware of them literally just in the last two weeks, and for the most part I was ascribing my blurry vision to non-stop sobbing at the election results. But I think it’s time for the long-promised surgery, and will be calling my eye doctor tomorrow for an evaluation and rec for the tiny-knife-and-wee-vacuum-cleaner. Have cancelled my trip to Canada for American Thanksgiving with my bi-national cousin — driving anywhere but my most familiar routes is bothersome, and mixed with possible nasty weather, I just don’t wanna.)

  173. 173.

    Schlemazel

    @Suzanne:
    OK, as I said in an earlier comment, my mistake. I didn’t know the conversation had continued down there & thought your take was way off but it was me not knowing the rest that had been said. Sorry & thanks for the explanation.

  175. 175.

    opiejeanne

    @James Powell: I invited you to Thanksgiving and/or Christmas with my family, where you will not have to talk to anyone who voted for Trump. We’re near Seattle, if you’re interested.

    shoot me an email at opie underscore jeanne at yahoo dot com.

  176. 176.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @efgoldman:

    Oh, I’m not at all nervous about the surgery itself. Just the timing, and whatever out-of-pocket costs I will need to absorb. I do love my long-haul solo driving trips and want to be able to do them again as soon as reasonable, so I hope to have the surgery taken care of in the next couple of months.

    Maybe I could schedule it for January 20th. Then I’d have a perfectly cromulent reason, like I need one, to skip the ::spit:: inauguration ceremonies.

  177. 177.

    Shana

    @SiubhanDuinne: I had cataract surgeries in 2012. The idea of it is worse than the actual surgeries which are the most commonly done ones in the US. They drug you pretty well so you think (or at least I did) “this is pretty weird, if I weren’t drugged I’d be pretty creeped out.”

  180. 180.

    Lizzy L

    @SiubhanDuinne: Just about everyone I know who’s had cataract surgery is delighted with the result. A friend of mine had both eyes done at the same time this past summer. (I didn’t know they did that, but it turns out yeah, they do.) I was his ride to and from the hospital. They did the surgery on Friday, and on Tuesday when I dropped by to see him he was driving quite comfortably.

    Not planning to watch the inauguration. The thought of it makes my fingers want to curl into fists.

  181. 181.

    Johannes

    So sorry he’s gone; I loved his posts, especially the Old Man Cat series, which just add a light dash of surrealism to cat companions–but not much of one.

  182. 182.

    Suzanne

    @efgoldman: Count me out of the inauguration, too. It’s going to happen with or without me watching, so why stress myself out further?

    I am, however, going to the Reorganization meeting of my local Dem party. LD18 in da HOWSE.

  183. 183.

    catclub

    @efgoldman:

    Me either. I’d likely shatter a flat screen, have another stroke, or both.

    This is where Rimmer in Red Dwarf says: “A plan with no downside!”

  184. 184.

    Central Planning

    @Lizzy L: I keep having this fantasy of going to the inauguration and standing there, with both arms up and middle fingers extended, for the whole ceremony.

    I’d probably get assaulted by trump supporters

  185. 185.

    Lizzy L

    @Central Planning: You probably would. Don’t do it. Marches in support of the Million Women March on Jan 21 are being planned in cities around the country. Don’t know where you are, but you might think about joining one.

  188. 188.

    Adam L Silverman

    @karen marie: No, not necessarily. Just wanted to let you know if you had, it did not make it. I’m not offended that you didn’t send it to me.

  189. 189.

    Adam L Silverman

    @efgoldman: Here you go:
    http://acephalous.typepad.com/acephalous/2005/11/my_morning.html

    My Morning: A Play in One Uncomfortable Act

    ME: Do do do do WHOA!

    HALF-NAKED COUPLE IN MY OFFICE: GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!

    ME: What?

    HALF-NAKED FEMALE: DON’T YOU KNOCK? (putting shirt back on)

    ME: Before I come into my office?

    HALF-NAKED MALE: GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! (buttoning pants)

    ME: (starting to enjoy this) I have a student coming in two minutes. Finish up.

    HALF-NAKED, BLUE-BALLED MALE: GO ALREADY!

    ME: (closes door, waits one minute, knocks) Are you decent?

    HALF-NAKED MALE: GO THE FUCK AWAY! THIS IS PRIVATE! WE’RE BUSY!

    ME: (holding the door half-open) I’m coming in.

    HALF-NAKED MALE: STOP HARASSING US YOU PERVERT OR I’LL REPORT YOU!

    ME: (still holding door) You’ll report me for your having sex in my office?

    HALF-NAKED MALE: GO THE FUCK AWAY!

    ME: (still holding door) That’s it. Put your clothes back on. You can’t have sex in my office.

    HALF-NAKED MALE: DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE COME IN HERE!

    (my student walks up)

    MY STUDENT: What’s going on?

    ME: (still holding door) Some people are trying to have sex in my office. I keep interrupting them.

    MY STUDENT: Are they really having sex in there?

    HALF-NAKED MALE: THIS IS SEXUAL HARASSMENT!

    ME: (props open door with rubber stop) They’re trying.

    This continues for a couple more minutes. He shouts profanity, she starts crying, &c. About two minutes later the couple emerges and I get some nasty looks. Who am I to stop them from having sex in my office?

    Here’s the link for the updates:
    http://acephalous.typepad.com/acephalous/2005/12/my_morning_the__1.html

    MONDAY, 12 DECEMBER 2005

    My Morning: The Final Chapter

    On Thursday, two students somehow feel entitled to have relations in your office. You interrupt their passionate paroxysms. He cries sexual harassment. And wolf. And for his mother. She cries. And cries. And cries.

    Come Monday, the Sexual Harassment Police call you to “talk” about “the incident.” You are asked to participate in a “fact-finding interview.” You ask the investigator what this about and are informed that its purpose can be discussed it in detail on Friday. An hour later, you send the investigator an email asking for more information and the response contains nothing but a link to your employer’s sexual harassment policy.

    On Wednesday you call the Sexual Harassment Police to confirm the time of your “fact-finding interview.” The person who answers the phone informs you that your “hearing” will occur on Friday at 10:00 AM. “My hearing?!?” you interrobang. Only polite-like because you’re from the South and in the South one interrobangs politely.

    Given this sequence of events, would you suppose that the student had followed through with his threat to file a sexual harassment complaint against you? The patently spoiled student swore a blood oath. The investigator stonewalled you. The secretary sprung a hearing on you. Things had spun out of control.

    So you don’t sleep well . . . and when you muster some winks you dream about tar and torn down-pillows. You imagine yourself covered in the first feathering of countless young birds and everyone (denuded fowl included) points and laughs at you.

    You wake from these dreams dripping sweat and craving chicken. (You are determined to give those stripped striplings the what-for they so richly deserve.) So you wouldn’t sleep that much. You would occupy the couch and watch terrible movies while your wife slept soundly in the bedroom. You would fear the hounds this indulged undergraduate loosed upon you. You would fear the investigator who refused to divulge details. You would fear your shadow and inadvertently damn New England to another six bitter winter weeks. Don’t deny it. You would . . .

    . . . and in doing so you would involve yourself in the monumental misunderstanding that has been my life for the more than a week now. Today I have been thoroughly detenebrated. (Not defenestrated. In this house only cats are defenestrated. And only by other cats. And in good fun. Except for the defenestrated feline. Who was fine.) I have seen the errors of my cynical ways because today I learned that sometimes people are not out to destroy all I hold dear with hot tar and serious plumage. Turns out no one filed a complaint.

    Turns out the Sexual Harassment Police wondered whether I wanted to file one. Why couldn’t the investigator have told me this over the phone last week? Why all the cryptic comments about coming in to discuss it? Apparently that’s protocol in sexual harassment cases. The investigator prefers to question faces over voices. The investigator also cannot fathom how I would think a complaint had been filed against me.

    From the perspective of the investigator, I had cancelled Friday’s meeting and lawyered up as prelude to filing suit against the university for creating an environment in which I could be harassed. When I lawyered up, they consulted their lawyers and all of this is nothing more than the result of an initial but fundamental misunderstanding: I took the student’s complaint seriously because we live in a litigious culture. The investigator thought I would have some common sense about the situation. From there our attempts to aid each other according to the policies which bind us both were doomed to fail.

    What I want to know from you good people is whether 1) I have lost faith in humanity and need to learn to love my fellow man again or 2) treated this situation with admirable cynicism. Sadly I seem to feel both options equally compelling. But then I’m still swimming in suspect ambiguity and haven’t learned my lesson. I need to learn my lesson.

    And sleep. All day. And all of the night.

    [This melancholia has been brought to you by Wilco’s Kicking Television, John Vanderslice’s Pixel Revolt and Wolf Parade’s Apologies to the Queen Mary. Excellent albums all. Music to despair your humanity to. What more could you ask for?]

  190. 190.

    Gemina13

    Fucking hell. Just . . .

    Ah, fuck it. Fuck it all to hell.

    2016 can die in a fucking fire, and I’ll piss on its ashes.

  192. 192.

    ruemara

    @GrandJury: You know what’s a good thing to do? Just be nice. “I don’t know who this person is, but I see so many of you liked his work. My condolences to everyone he touched and sympathies to his family and friends. It’s clear he is deeply missed.”

    See? Easy.

  194. 194.

    Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]

    For this.. Horrible, Horrible,.. HORRIBLE year, There is a T-shirt I need to buy. 2016 SUCKED, Still, I’m thinking that I’ll need a new T-shirt next year: 2016 SUCKED, but 2017 was WORSE

  198. 198.

    Caravelle

    This is awful, I loved his writing and missed it this year. I don’t know anyone on the internet that did analysis of visual media like he did.

  200. 200.

    Tyto

    And 2016 continues to be the worst. We needed his humanity and absurdity now more than ever. Although my interactions with him were few and brief, this hurts badly.

  201. 201.

    Calming Influence

    I have SEK’s OLD MAN CAT “move the sun!” magneted at the bottom of our fridge door where our cats can see it. This is just so fucked up.

    Others have, but I’ll post this again: https://www.gofundme.com/help-for-scotts-medical-bills This has been ongoing, and anyone who has gone through one of these medical catastrophes knows that not all the cost show up in a medical bill. Beside helping with gas money to and from the hospital, unpaid days off, etc., his family would appreciate knowing that Scott touched many lives. Give a few bucks if you can.

  205. 205.

    steverinoCT

    @Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]: I have a shirt reading “Visit Earth In The 80s (Off-Season Rates Now Apply)”. Hasn’t fit in decades, yet I hang onto it. Ah, youth! What did I know then? SEK is just one more log (straw being insufficient) on the camel’s back, alas.

  206. 206.

    David Hunt

    LGM has put up an announcement that Scott has passed away. I know that since seems redundant given the announcement that he was going off life support, but my own mother hung on for several hours after we turned off the support machines. They are quoting an post put up by Scott’s brother. So now it’s “official.”

    I’m sorry that his is dry, but the only honest response from me would be a string of profanity and that seems disrespectful even though I suspect Scott wouldn’t have minded.

  207. 207.

    David Hunt

    @kindness:

    What is going to happen to Old Man Cat?

    I read somewhere, perhaps the gofundme account to help his family with the medical expenses, mentioned that the cats (Oldman Cat is actually an amalgam of his two cats, Virgil and Sigmund) are with foster caregivers.

  208. 208.

    pseudonymous in nc

    SEK was legit, and though I was at best semi-detached to his online presence, this hurts.

    I haven’t felt this bereft in terms of blogfolk since Steve Gilliard died.

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