Eulogy for Friend

882 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: What does friendship teach us in life

Eulogy for Friend

Yesterday, as Martin's friends poured into town, I was struck by how many distinct sets of friends he had. Family, skaters, punks, his Swampland posse, his boys and his girls, Professors, colleagues, Ann Arbor friends, Chicago friends, cyberspace friends who'd never met him "in the flesh"... Trying to walk down the street with him was an exercise in frustration, as Martin's fans flocked to him like the Pied Piper. He was so much, to so many. One of his greatest gifts to us is each other.

I remember the first time I saw Marty 12 years ago. You couldn't miss him, of course. It was Computer Science 101, a lecture hall with hundreds of students. He would skate into class 20 minutes late, flip his skateboard up onto his desk, crack open a chocolate milk and begin to drink... 200 eyes on him. Martin would turn around and give us a little wave. The thing was, and it *clearly* pissed off the Professors, he routinely scored the highest marks in the class on every assignment. Immediately I said to myself, "I need to know this guy..." So I cornered him and announced, "You and I are going to be friends..." Martin looked me up and down and said, "Uh....No thanks..."

And so it began. Martin, in those days especially, had an approach to people that was at best "challenging", & at worst confrontational. Those who didn't "get" Martin brushed him off as a clown, but to those who watched, and listened, it was clear there was something extremely profound going on. Martin had an uncanny ability to see into people, to look through you, to reflect your own insecurities and hangups back at you, until you had no choice left but to drop them... and dance with him. Martin called your bluff every time... Despite his best efforts to the contrary, eventually we did become friends. I simply refused to let him go, or to let him push me away... I knew in my core that if being Martin's friend required change, well then I'd change. He was worth it...

Martin was a hacker in the true MIT tradition. As a teenager, and Marty didn't often brag about this, he reengineered some communication software into what became the de facto standard for software pirates around the world. In those days he was known by his handle, the "Redheaded Freak".

Show More
Related

  • The Most Dangerous Game Tone

    739 Words  | 2 Pages

    The setting is an important piece of any story. The setting can help paint a clear picture in order to establish what the characters are feeling as well as setting the tone of story. In the following stories, “The Destructors” and “The Most Dangerous Game,” Graham Greene and Richard Connell demonstrate the tone of the story by using Old Misery’s house and General Zaroff’s Chateau as the main focal point. While the two stories present differences in the tone of the setting, they both make a connection of the beauty that these two places possess. Greene uses Old Misery’s house to formulate the story that prepares the reader of how a post-war building and surroundings can have an effect on people’s behavior and feelings while Connell uses General Zaroff’s Chateau in a way to deceive the reader from what is really happening in the jungle of Ship Trap Island.

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Friendship In Munro's 'The Open Window'

    720 Words  | 2 Pages

    He mentions many everyday examples that tie back to his main idea of decaying friendship. He states that there is no greater disappointment than to meet an old friend and discover how they have changed. He thoroughly explains how the overall renovation of friendship is basically hopeless, and how one should try to keep his friends close in order to remain joyful. Lastly, he reminds us of the greatest novelty in the world, the gift of friendship, and the lengths we need to achieve in order to keep it.

    Read More

  • Phonological Awareness Case Study

    317 Words  | 1 Pages

    Jose applies basic phonemic awareness skills for unknown words; however, he struggles with sight words which may hinder his reading abilities. He struggles when more advanced phonemic skills are required such as with deletions, substitutions, and reversals. Jose will benefit in rigorous activities to build his phoneme and grapheme understanding and build his phonological awareness.

    Read More

  • Impactful Influence: Remembering Kurt Zuidmulder

    916 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many people have come and gone through my life. Like a revolving door, but it doesn’t matter how long they stayed in my life. To me, it only matters on how they made an impact on me. I think about Kurt Zuidmulder every day, he was a coach, teacher, and father. He was also a friend to the whole community of Hermantown, MN, and Hibbing, MN. He was the greatest human I have ever met, and I will never forget him. Kurt affected me through his larger than life personality, his incredible sense of humor, and his overall kindness.

    Read More

  • Comparing Insanity In The Tell-Tale Heart And The Yellow Wallpaper

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is a thin line between obsession and the black pit known as insanity.. Although obsessions may differ, the end result is the same the obsessor falls victim to their infatuation. Gilman use isolation to trigger the narrator’s obsession in The Yellow Wallpaper, while the narrator in Poe’s, The Tell-Tale Heart, is consumed by the eye of a man without a trigger. Obsession and insanity go hand in hand almost always, and in both The Tell-Tale Heart and The Yellow Wallpaper by Edgar Allan Poe and Charlotte Perkins Gilman respectively, the narrators give a first person point of view account that shows the reader their journey to insanity and the destruction of their mania.

    Read More

  • Interpersonal Commmunication in the Movie Marty

    1120 Words  | 3 Pages

    middle of paper ... ... In conclusion, Marty becomes a better person after he has companionship with Claire. He has started a relationship with her due to the attraction theory, his and her’s self-concept is raised, and although he and Claire broke the rules of self-disclosure, they became better people. Marty was happier than Claire when they met each other.

    Read More

  • Theme of Growing up in Spies by Michael Frayn

    1102 Words  | 3 Pages

    Eventually contact among one another becomes a rare event without either of them having much apprehension towards the matter. After a while Keith just ?stopped coming out to play? which was the first domino in their fall out of friendship and the slow diffusion of the bond they once thrived on. New interests consumed their lives leading them down new paths and further out of childhood and into adulthood. They had simply grown up.

    Read More

  • The Research Support Facility is a Green Building

    1050 Words  | 3 Pages

    2. Thermal Mass and Thermal Labyrinth- A massive concrete basement will allow to either release heat during winter months to release cool air to reduce high summer temperatures. The massive S- shaped basement, will direct the air into labyrinths two stories up, and traveling down ventilation shafts. The North section of this sustainable development will be used for heating, while the South section will be use for both, heating and cooling.

    Read More

  • Eulogy for Son

    1205 Words  | 3 Pages

    Eulogy for Son The Death of a Child. Not many people realize that the death of a child is NOT in accordance with God’s NORMAL scheme of things. It is not a natural. God did not mean for a child to go first. A child buries the parent.

    Read More

  • The Recyclability Of Embodied Energy

    1455 Words  | 3 Pages

    In recent development, sustainability has become an integral concern in the performance of architectural principles and technology, in which conscious approaches to energy and ecological conservation involves strategies during the design, construction, and operation of buildings. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the Building Sector is the largest contributor to most of the energy consumed: in the United States by itself, buildings consume 47.6% of all energy produced and is responsible for 44.6% of CO2 emissions in 2010 (“Problem…” 1). In terms of sustainability, initial decisions in the design process can significantly help deliver results. Evaluations and explorations through the impact of materials, such as concrete, wood, bricks, masonry, and steel, can help improve reductions in energy through its applicability to a building. While wood and steel are simply identified for their strength, durability, and functionality in structures, accentuating these materials’ embodied energies and recyclability offer a more comprehensive understanding of their overall impact in sustainability — and ultimately reveal how both have advantages and disadvantages depending on the context.

    Read More

  • Tangerine Paul Character Analysis

    867 Words  | 2 Pages

    Paul is invariably discovering new information and elements about his friends, and is working to better strengthen his new found friendships. Although not at first, Paul’s friends will soon see and learn his value and appreciate his skills. At first Paul feels out-of-place and is treated like a four-eyed freak. For example, Gino Deluca,

    Read More

  • Teens, Sex, and Virginity - I Lost My Virginity

    778 Words  | 2 Pages

    i signed up for a rock climbing orientation trip. it is here that martin enters the picture. he was one of my trip leaders, a twenty three year old senior from california. he was a runner and a republican, and his looks were not unlike those of teen heartthrob scott wolf. i quickly dismissed the idea of his being interested in me. he seemed too hot, too experienced, too suave. i was so young. the rock climbing trip was quickly over, and i returned back to campus covered in bruises and pride. classes started, i settled into the swing of things, and i gave martin no further thought, except when i ran into him at parties. i learned to drink, a lot, and learned to pass out at parties to avoid having to go back to my room alone. i experienced my first...

    Read More

  • Teens, Sex, and Virginity - I Was Raped by My Teacher

    2064 Words  | 5 Pages

    Ken was my voice teacher.  I never admired anyone more than him.  He meant the world to me.  It would be safe to say that we did not have a typical teacher/student relationship.  I was infatuated with him.  He was tall dark and had the voice of an angel.  But he was eleven years older than I was, and he was my teacher.  I learned from him, I confided in him, and I trusted him.  I never pictured myself being with him.  I never dreamt he would think of me as a 'woman' and not just a love-stricken seventeen year-old vocal student.

    Read More

  • Eulogy for My Father

    1352 Words  | 3 Pages

    Before I begin I would like to thank all of you here on behalf of my mother, my brother and myself, for your efforts large and small to be here today, to help us mark my fathers passing.

    Read More

  • Boy Talk

    763 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the summer between my freshman and sophomore years, I began to miss people - no one person in particular, just those mystical creatures that I missed walking down the street while I spent three or four days inside reading and watching television. I made something of a commitment to myself to actually befriend more than the handful of people I talked to over that summer. I committed myself to making close friends whom I could talk to about personal problems. Friends, ironically, like Michael.

    Read More

More about Eulogy for Friend

Open Document