Life has been pretty full lately.

Early summer: Bought $87 worth of frisbees. I'm practising nearly every day, throwing forehands, backhands, inside-outs, outside-ins, hammers, scoobers, pushes, lofts, high-releases, low-releases, air bounces... I'm determined to be the best guy on the Sam Houston team by the end of the year.

I've also started running and working out. It was very satisfying when I showed up at Kellie's birthday party, and virtually the first thing Chris K said to me was, "Dathan, have you been running? You look healthy." Oh yeah!

I got a tentative job offer teaching calculus at Coldspring High School. I haven't heard back from the principal since Monday, so I don't know if the job offer is going to go through, and I'm not sure if I'll take the job regardless... I've also applied for a full-time position in the Criminal Justice department on campus at SHSU doing web development. I would prefer the web development job. I pays better, keeps me on campus near my friends and all the hot girls at Sam, and gives me a lot more time to take classes.

I had this great idea regarding what to do after college. I'm working on a master's degree in digital forensics right now (or at least I will be in the Fall, assuming my application is accepted), and I already have that bachelor's degree in computer science. I could always get a job doig development for a business, or something, I suppose, but I really don't like programming that much. I'm working right now on an application to turn my laptop and my pocket pc into universal remote controls. I like projects like that that I can really sink my teeth into, but I really don't relish the idea of becoming a cubicle rat for some development firm. So, I'm figuring that I'll graduate, get my degree, and then not do anything with either of my degrees. Instead, I'll be a dance host for a cruise line during the autumn, and then ski patrol in the Rockies for the winter, and then something during the Spring and Fall that I haven't decided upon yet. We'll see.

I had dinner with Christina on Wednesday. It was nice. It felt very comfortable and friendly... And somehow not quite right nevertheless. Things have been over between us for a long time now, but I guess not quite long enough for that tension to disappear. Then, at the end of the meal, the power went out for eight counties around. The restaurant got hot and smokey, and we left.

Thursday I was supposed to go out with Shelly, but she cancelled, claiming a bad back. I wasn't really surprised, actually, because Shelly frequently finds a reason to cancel activities that weren't her idea. But I was disappointed nonetheless. I went home, and got a call from my brother's ex-girlfriend's father, telling me that a good friend of ours had been killed in a car accident. The viewing was Saturday. It was weird seeing all my friends from high school. We used to hang out and laugh and tell each other jokes and play pranks on each other... And here we were, together again. Dressed in black, with tears streaming down our faces.

I left the wake to go to Houston to attend Kellie's birthday party. It was great seeing my UH people, chatting and catching up on recent times. Jared's sauer kraut injury was particularly amusing. You guys managed to make me forget about my loss for a while, and I had a great time. And oatmeal stout is good.

And today... Today was the funeral. My friends, some of whom flew in from New York and Colorado on a day's notice to mourn the loss of potentially the greatest and most loved person to ever come from our home town... There wasn't an empty seat in the church, or a dry eye. Friends were holding each other and sobbing, blowing their noses and wiping their eyes, and feeling the loss keenly. The entire world would have wept had it known what was lost. I never saw DJ without a smile on his face for more than a minute at a time. Hell, I almost didn't recognize him when he wasn't smiling. I had to breathe deeply and steadily to keep from sobbing, and as it was tears were rolling down my cheeks and I was sniffling. DJ's best friend offered a very touching anecdote that had everyone in the building crying... It was very touching. It was very striking to me that I didn't recognize a bunch of people that I spent a lot of time with in high school. They all looked so different... And then I realized that they didn't recognize each other, either. We were all older, perhaps wiser, and for a day at least, sadder, jaded, and less innocent. It almost seemed like DJ was the keeper of our innocence -- he had an enthusiasm and joy for life that struck everyone with its similarity to a child's innocent view of the work -- and when he was taken from us, so was our innocence, at least for a time. We all gathered at Leslie's house after the funeral, talking and laughing, looking over old pictures of ourselves -- and especially DJ -- and sharing our stories of high school and DJ's antics, and wondering why it is that the people who have the most to live for and who contribute the most to the world around them seem to be taken from it and from us the soonest. When I think of all the people I never thought I'd see again, DJ wasn't on the list. He was indomitable and immortal; he was cheerful and irrepressible, and he made the world brighter. And when I looked down at his corpse, lying cold and gray against the white satin lining of his coffin, I couldn't help but agree with Anna that never had a body looked so much like a shell. All the joy, energy, warmth, and enthusiasm that embodied DJ was gone, never to return to grace us except in our memories and our recollections as we talked and will talk about him, and our joy in the company of our friends and loved ones, with whom we shared him during his all-too-brief 24 years on the Earth.

There was a bright side to it all, of which I'm sure DJ would approve: we've all decided that since our parents all live in or around San Jacinto county, we should get together next year (and hopefully every year thereafter) the day before Father's Day. The plan is to go visit the cemetary first, and then get together over a lot of food and booze and have a grand old time. I sincerely hope it works, even though I doubt we'll ever manage to get all the people who were there today... But that's the way it works, I suppose. My family has already missed the opportunity to do such a thing, since my Uncle Bill died almost four years ago. The entire rest of the family showed up for my Uncle Dave's 50th birthday, but Uncle Bill wasn't there... That's how it is now for us. Just seeing each other is never enough to motivate a large group to get together, and then one day something comes out of nowhere and smacks you upside the face, and you realize that it's too late. We took our fellowship and camaraderie for granted when we were together every day, and now that that's gone forever, we'd all give so much to have it back. Here's to DJ. And here's to all my friends: we take each other for granted far too often, and we don't make the effort to spend time together when we have the opportunity. But I love you all, and I wish you the best in all your lives and endeavors.