Andrew Koenig

There has never been a blog post that I wanted to write less than this one.

I talked to John last night, and he said that Andrew's body was found in a park in Vancouver near where he had last been seen yesterday morning. He said and the news people are reporting that it appears to have been a suicide.

As far as news reports are concerned, I think we should take them with a grain of salt. For instance, this report says that Andrew's father, Walter, played Chekov in the original Star Wars movie, which is completely wrong. So, I'm going to do my best to only say what I know to be true.

I read another report today that focused more on suicide as a general subject, and in a lot of ways, this may be the more useful of the two.

My sympathy goes out to his parents. No parent should ever have to go through their child's death. It's the worst thing that can happen.

I haven't seen him since he was a child, but he was mannerly, and a joy to be around. We sat on the floor at a science fiction convention in New York and played a board game that he'd just gotten for Christmas in early 1979.

I wish he had been able to realize that there were so many people who cared about him and that would have been willing to help him, and that things couldn't possibly have been as bad as they must've seemed.

This Is Bizarre

Check out this news story from China. You'll have to follow the link. I can't possibly do it justice. 

I've seen this in a couple of places where people can comment, and the comments are all very mixed. The general reaction seems to be bouncing back and forth between horrified and laughing.

The weirdest part is that I knew someone who probably would have pushed the man off the bridge. My family will know immediately who I mean, but I don't want to admit it publicly.

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My package from Knit Picks arrived today! Such an event is always cause for rejoicing! I got a pair of Harmony tips in size 6, and three balls of Merino Style in fog. Or mist. Or something. It's light grey, and it's going to be used to make the copy of Hermione's hat from Half Blood Prince. It's for a class in the Harry Potter House Cup KAL. I intend to wear it to the movie, too.

The first thing I have to do on this project is write the instructions. So, I'm going to get busy and do it.

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There's a brand-new Reaper on TV tonight, and unless I'm mistaken, it's the season and series finale. There are a lot of people who are very unhappy about this. I'm not terribly enthused that it'll be off myself.

There's a rerun episode of the The Mentalist tonight, too.

And tomorrow night, there will be the Monster Quest episode about the Jersey Devil on the History Channel. I grew up with Jersey Devil stories, so I'm looking forward to it.

Have a great evening! I hope the weather people aren't promising you three more days of rain to go with the two we've already had like they're doing here.