Friday, November 11, 2011

Remembrance

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
-Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

Thursday, November 3, 2011

You are not Cool: Drug Users Playing EVE

Cozmik R5's 'Ode to a friend' post got me thinking a lot about some of the things I have heard while playing EVE. Basically if I had to divide EVE into two groups it could be the 20-somethings (including some teenagers) that seem to be always talking about what awesome drugs they are taking, and the 30+ who think the 20 somethings are idiots.

The reason for the difference is simple. 20-somethings think that it is cool to be stoned, and that they are immortal. The 30+ know that being stoned is a waste, and have attended too many funerals of friends who died of drugs in their 20s to have any misconceptions about the dangers.

Personally I lost three people I knew to drugs. One in particular was a very close friend and former room-mate. His funeral was beyond horrible. The parents (immigrants who came to Canada to give their child a better life) had to be hospitalized and couldn't even attend due to grief. His life had been full of possibilities. He had recently finished a degree in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo and was making lots of money in the early dot-com era. He had a passion for cars and recently bought some 80s V8 muscle car which he was souping up. Who knows what he could have accomplished if he had not overdosed?

Now the only reminder of him left in the world is his cat that is currently owned by his ex-girlfriend (who had to dump him early on in his drug use, you can imagine the amount of guilt she felt although it was not her fault, she tried but could get him to quit). The cat is very old now, probably will not make it through the winter. After that there will be nothing left of him. He would have been 38 this year.

Yesterday my baby daughter was sick with a cold. I took a vacation day and stayed home from work to take care of her. We spent the day playing and having fun (in between naps). It was a perfect day. Maybe it is just chemicals, the Dopamine, Oxytocin and other natural hormones that makes parents love their children, all I know is that the 'hit' from real life so outweighs the artificial hit from drugs, I think that anyone who bothers with them is a fool.