Robin Williams, 1951-2014

It's always a hard road to tread,
as demons tear your mind to shreds.
It's tough to decide
that ending your life
is the best way to escape your head.

Robin Williams, an extraordinarily prolific, extremely talented, occasionally funny actor, listened to his demons. He was found dead of an apparent suicide at his home in California.

I understand what he was fighting. On July 22nd, 2014, I attempted to take my own life. I can now say that I am glad it was an unsuccessful attempt, but the day after I was very angry that I was not dead. It was the darkest time in my life.

Mental illness is something that can affect anyone. It doesn't matter how rich or famous or intelligent or successful or pious you are. It treats people the same way as cancer or any other illness. It's just as insidious and just as deadly, and needs to be treated just as importantly.

My heart aches for his family. I can see now how my suicide would have affected my family, far beyond me just not being there. It is truly sad that he did not get all the help he needed.

One Small Limerick

On a pillar of flame through the air
he went to the moon, cause it's there.
Since I was a boy
I've looked up with joy
and wished that I could join him there.

Neil Armstrong, the first human being to step foot on a world other than our own, has passed away. Phil Plait, the Bad Astronomer, put his achievement better than I could hope to:

"I’ve said many times that we can divide all of history into two parts: before humans landed on the Moon, and after. It was not just an important moment, it was the moment, a defining, crystallizing slice of time that confirmed that we humans had become a space faring race. One world could not and would not contain us, and the sky itself was no longer the limit."

July 20th is one of the Stage Family Holidays. We celebrate Moon Day, the anniversary of his singular moment, his one small step that will forever mean that we earthlings shall never more be bound to this one rock.

Goodbye, moon man.

Farewell, Hitchens

He raised all our IQs a notch.
Idiocy fell on his watch.
We all know that Hitch
was nobody's bitch,
so let's thank him by raising a scotch.

I've never liked the term "New Atheist". Speaking out against religion is nothing new. That is why the old gods are now seen as myths, and why the current deities are destined to follow.

Christopher Hitchens was a voice against the tyranny of religion, and the idiocy of belief. His voice was silenced after a fight with cancer. I do not agree with all of his political positions, but I have nothing but respect for him.

Oh, yeah:

FUCK CANCER

RIP, Fred Shuttlesworth

We also mourn Fred Shuttlesworth.
Some think he was afflicted at birth
But he proved that skin
don't show what's within.
He was clearly too good for this earth.

“A person who can’t stand for something will fall for anything.”

Fred Shuttlesworth

The Rev Fred Shuttlesworth died last night, aged 89. He was one of the "Big Three" leaders of the Civil Rights Era. Although I am certain that we would have disagreed about religion, I stand with him that we are all equals, and none of us should be treated differently because of how he looks, or who he might love, or what sex she might be.

We have lost a true hero, and a patriot who truly lived the ideals on which this country was founded.

The "afflicted at birth" line is to point out the idiocy of racism. We are all humans. None of use are different than the next. Let's stop acting like we are.

RIP, Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs has just passed us by.
On his visions we all could rely.
Now he is gone,
but he will move on
to that great iPad in the sky.

For a time, I drank deeply from the kool-aid that is the Cult of Mac. I realized that the 'cool' factor was not enough, for me, to make up for the price difference. Steve Jobs did, however, help usher all of us into the future. Apple Computers introduced the world to personal computing, and his vision is second to none.

The world has lost a legend.

Edited to add: FUCK CANCER