We're back, safe and alive, from San Diego -- I plan to fill in the details on that one later. Here's something that came in my e-mail while we were away:
At Portland Independent Media Center, CatWoman writes movingly about the death of Vernon Allen, shot by Portland city police on May 19th.
CatWoman raises an issue that is worthy of general consideration: how do you sum up a person's life?
Here is a challenge for you: describe yourself in three or four phrases, according to whether they are going into your local newspaper's coverage of your death, if you were killed by
a) a terrorist attack?
(Example: Loving husband, father of four, massage therapist, pre-nursing student)
b) your local police?
(Example: Reputed to have been married to a woman 23 years his senior, lived in a shabby house which prospective buyers plan to demolish, rejected when he applied to nursing school in 2004)
2 comments:
a)Author of 12 books for children, she also held down a full-time job and struggled to maintain a historic home on a limited income. She was a familiar sight in the downtown area and on the city's bus system, a book and a smile her constant companions. (Insert quote from boss about reading while walking.)
b)Cited more than once for city code violations on her rundown property, she had few friends and was known for her violent temper. Though she fancied herself as an author, she could not make a living at it, and seldom attended events sponsored by the local Society by Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. (Insert falsely sweet quote from the middle-class hobbyist currently in charge of the organization.)
Oh, I completely forgot the most prominent thing that would be featured in b:
She was a long-time player of roleplaying games such as Dungeons and Dragons, and one entire room in her house, known as "the game room" was devoted to a collection of books about roleplaying. Other books in her house included a number of works on Jack the Ripper.
The contrasting section of a) would omit my roleplaying association altogether in favor of mentioning my doll collection, and the game room might become my sewing room (because I keep my sewing machine there, though I only sew in fits and starts and some of it has traditionally been costuming for LARPs and SCA).
The gaming reference collection, btw, is Damon's, who would appear differently in each summation, too, but that's another matter.
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