Damn. He was a good guy. Condolences to his family. posted by jonmc at 7:38 PM on April 14, 2005
I'm not sure we usually acknowledge such a thing in a public way. Something about the nature of this community makes it unsettling to put together a screen voice with a fuller life that has ended. But it seemed wrong to see this news and keep it to myself. posted by Zurishaddai at 7:41 PM on April 14, 2005
poopy was hilarious & a great contributor. This is terrible.
Anyone have backstory? Must be him on the left. Judging from the site, he really had a close family who loved him. posted by dhoyt at 8:43 PM on April 14, 2005
Damn, this is really sad. Rest in peace Eric, you will be missed.
I just looked at his account and realized how depressing it is to know this bit of data will never change again: posted by mathowie at 9:25 PM on April 14, 2005
Matt, has this (an active member passing away, and the passing being discovered) happened before? If you know, of course. posted by yhbc at 9:30 PM on April 14, 2005
God bless posted by caddis at 9:30 PM on April 14, 2005
Is that PST, matt, or his local time (presumably EST)? posted by trharlan at 9:36 PM on April 14, 2005
That'd be PST on the last visit. I can't recall knowing any members that have died before, he may very well be the first. posted by mathowie at 9:41 PM on April 14, 2005
Oh, god. I've been dreading seeing a post like this. Poopy was a sweetheart, and this is just unspeakably sad. My heart goes out to his family. posted by taz at 10:36 PM on April 14, 2005
He was a great member of our big, dysfunctional family, too. For what little it's worth, he'll be missed. posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 11:00 PM on April 14, 2005
Sorry if this info makes anyone more sad. His posting history here shows him in such a good light. I don't know if his last AskMe answer would give his family and friends any relief, but folks here might find it somehow appropriate.
(Sorry, there were no external links to Eric's site on the osterhoudt.net page Google linked; I read it as a dead end. A bit of url-chopping gets to his home site.) posted by mediareport at 1:00 AM on April 15, 2005
In case family members (or others) are wondering what this means—it is how Mefites denote a moment of silence. posted by grouse at 3:26 AM on April 15, 2005
What happened? How could two such strapping lads die so very young? This is awful. posted by CunningLinguist at 6:40 AM on April 15, 2005
.
Ouch. Didn't know poopy personally at all, and yet this brings tears to my eyes on a Friday morning. RIP, and condolences to his family. posted by tr33hggr at 6:44 AM on April 15, 2005
Wow. I don't know what else to say. My condolences to the family.
Take care poopy, wherever you may go. posted by KevinSkomsvold at 6:49 AM on April 15, 2005
Wow, that's really horrible. I enjoyed his posts. I especially hate hearing about young people dying "unexpectedly". Considering his brother died, I wonder if there isn't some congenital condition they had. The alternate explanation is too depressing. posted by mkultra at 6:52 AM on April 15, 2005
"I'm not sure we usually acknowledge such a thing in a public way": You make it sound like there's a de facto policy and the RIP in this posting is somehow gauche. posted by joeclark at 6:56 AM on April 15, 2005
But now, his radiant course is run,
For Eric's was a bright one!
His soul was like the glorious sun,
A matchless, Heavenly light, man. posted by monju_bosatsu at 7:01 AM on April 15, 2005
I don't know anything further. I am moving this summer to poopy's part of the country, which explains my curiosity to go one step past his user page to his family site — I thought I might meet him. From his posts, he was someone I would have liked to know, and this is a terrible loss.
You make it sound like there's a de facto policy and the RIP in this posting is somehow gauche.
This just reflects my awkward consciousness that this hadn't happened before. I'm very shy about posting threads, though obviously I was not in error in this case. I have to say, I'm quite surprised by what Matt says, that to his knowledge this is the first time a known contributor has died. I just assumed statistically that it wasn't, so that somehow there was some "usual" practice other than creating a public web page — in retrospect, I realize how ridiculous this sounds, given the nature of MeTa. Obviously, any question that was in my mind had to do not with whether poopy deserves our commemoration (he does), but with the uncomfortably personal and private nature of what I was linking. posted by Zurishaddai at 7:17 AM on April 15, 2005
Like everyone else, I'm saddened to hear this and send my condolences to the family and all those who loved him. I'd just like to recall one of his early comments -- I think it was the first time I noticed and appreciated him: "I'm agnostic myself and I - like everyone else - want to know what IT all means. I believe that religion and science both seek the same answer, they just go about it in different ways." I disagreed with him but I liked his attitude, as I have ever since.
And I just noticed this exchange at the bottom of the thread:
what is presented as unquestionable is that science will cure all ills , money will make you happy, a good looking partner and a successfull career will fulfill you and that really, truly, one day you will win the lottery....
posted by sgt.serenity at 11:37 PM EST on September 7
...and then you die.
posted by poopy at 1:53 PM EST on September 8
Background info posted by Eric at his family's website - which ends with the statement: "I'm sure I'll be adding much more to this list in the future. " Again, heartbreaking! posted by ericb at 9:01 AM on April 15, 2005
condolences to his family. posted by carter at 9:02 AM on April 15, 2005
He didn't have a loud voice here, never purposely made a big splash, but somehow he made a huge impression on me. I remember being ashamed once when I flew off the handle at someone here at MeFi, ashamed because Eric was right there in the conversation and it was unlike me and so much more unlike him. Maybe I was "justified" in going off, I don't know, it doesn't matter--the point is that it felt wrong and I felt as if I'd lost some of his respect, and that mattered to me. There was just something undeniably affable and friendly about him.
I'm rambling.
My heart goes out to his family, friends, his wife... and his cats, who will miss him, look for him, but still sometimes feel his presence when he's near, as they stare at something human eyes cannot see.
As for Eric, I've no doubt he's on the journey to somewhere better, back here on this Earth someday or somewhere happier... posted by Shane at 9:11 AM on April 15, 2005
Zurissshaddai: I have to say, I'm quite surprised by what Matt says, that to his knowledge this is the first time a known contributor has died.
It's the have knowledge part. How do you tell the dead from the just went away. We were talking about this here or on MoFi a while ago and some people have said they have information in their will instructing people to tie up their online personas and the login information to do so. posted by Mitheral at 11:43 AM on April 15, 2005
Tammy is listed in the obit as his sister. Whatever the situation, my deep-felt condolences to his family. He definitely added very positively to this community. posted by Mayor Curley at 1:38 PM on April 15, 2005
My condolences to his family and friends.
While looking around his site, I found a tribute that someone did for Eric's brother Dwayne Osterhoudt after his death in 2001. Here's a sermon that explains the quote. posted by rcade at 1:58 PM on April 15, 2005
Bye, Eric. My mom types in all capitals too, I hate that... posted by fleacircus at 2:15 PM on April 15, 2005
.
sad, I liked poopy, if his comments didn't make me smile his username always did. posted by dabitch at 2:28 PM on April 15, 2005
I know, dabitch. : >
I propose a poopy scholarship (preferred) or memorial donation somewhere. We can then make someone else smile the rest of their lives when they think of him too. And how fun it would look on a college application or resume. posted by amberglow at 2:37 PM on April 15, 2005
How very sad; he'll be missed. Eric started one of my favorite MeFi threads, and any friend of The Dude is a friend of mine. Take it easy for all us sinners, Eric, and rest in peace. posted by Zonker at 4:01 PM on April 15, 2005
I remember his comments, he seemed like a great guy. I bet he would be somewhat surprised by how many people remember him! I hope his family sees this and realizes that he didn't just have friends in his town, he had friends/admirers/associates all over the world! RIP Eric (Poopy) posted by chaz at 4:04 PM on April 15, 2005
I never knew him, but reading his comment history and this thread makes me feel like I now have at least a little idea of the kind of person that he was, and this makes his death all that much more saddening.
Matt, it would be nice to honor him on the sidebar. Not everyone will see this. Meanwhile, has anyone tried to contact the family about making a possible donation? posted by moonbird at 12:05 PM on April 16, 2005
I went through some of Eric's posts, and tried to get to know the guy. I read that he enjoyed coming here for the lively political debate, even though he didn't think he was the smartest or the most left-leaning of us here. He was a self-admitted agnostic. He was a fan of the author Neil Gaiman - even naming his cat "Nuala" after a character in one of his books -- and the band They Might Be Giants. He was interested in film and art, and the state of the internet, in regards to browser standards, and he struggled with programming some of the features on his sites.. His record here in Metatalk seem mixed, as only 3 of the 8 threads he started have survived. Of those three, one was in appreciation for MiguelCardosa for his tribute to 9/11, one year later.
All in all, he didn't reveal much, and I know that it's hard for an internet community to function very well when something like this happens. We haven't had much experience dealing with it, so maybe we'll all be forgiven, but it is tragic that all many of us can come up with to express the loss of one of our community members is a "." and few of us can really properly eulogize the poor guy who died. Maybe it just proves that we don't really know each other very well after all. posted by crunchland at 2:06 PM on April 17, 2005
crunchland, it's hard enough to eulogize people you know very well. Death isn't the sort of thing we can really deal with in words. That's why moments of silence, or those little dots around here, are such a common response to tragic news. Reading this thread & the stuff on his site, and going through his old comments, made me very sad, but I didn't feel like there was anything I could say that wouldn't just sound like an empty cliche. For me, a whole thread full of dots is kind of moving, in a way that a whole thread full of "that's so sad" isn't, so I went with the dot.
It's true we only know one another in a kind of abstracted way online, but on the other hand, you could say the same about a lot of people in your real life. I feel like I know mefi members better than I know lotsa co-worker type acquaintances in real life, because around here we tend to be pretty open with each other about thoughts & ideas. So, there are people in real life who I have nodded hello to countless times, & have little 'friendly' chats with often, but with whom I've never had a serious conversation. Around here, the situation is the inverse.
I also think it's true that poopy was a somewhat understated member; as people have mentioned, he never tried to grab the spotlight & he didn't seem to get obsessed with things the way some people have their pet topics, etc. But that doesn't mean people didn't notice his presence.
A few years ago I put together a simple will-type-thing (not legal) where I realized that notification is a complicated thing in the modern world, since you can have so many different, unconnected communities, where you often not central, but where people might still want to know what happened if you just disappeared (hobbies, places you hang out, professional or scholarly groups, different groups of friends...) - anyway, I included my online life in that list of people to notify, because it seemed just as 'real' as a lot of my other social / personal interactions. posted by mdn at 2:52 PM on April 17, 2005
Not everyone at a funeral or memorial person speaks, but many want to be there to indicate their sorrow and respect. To me the dots are like this, and I think they are touching.
(Also, crunchland, there is some problem with the MetaTalk thread counting in profiles - this error is showing up for almost everyone, so I'm sure poopy didn't have any deleted posts here.) posted by taz at 9:17 PM on April 17, 2005
.
Damn shame to come out of the woodwork to post a dot for a fellow Mefite. Wish I had more time to participate, be a little more like poopy.
:( I'm bummed. Poopy helped me through my inaugural snarkfest here, and in subsequent email exchanges afterward. What a shame, he was a really nice guy. Warm thoughts to the family. posted by yoga at 7:22 AM on April 18, 2005
(This is a good example of how AskMe has added something more confessional than what could usually be found in the older parts of MeFi.) posted by Zurishaddai at 2:41 PM on April 18, 2005
So Eric and I were very close. He and I dated for five years and were engaged for three. When I heard he passed away, I was plunged into a tailspin of grief and sorrow and some guilt which will take a long time to dig myself out of. He was a magical person, and it's so good to see a community, even a web community, of people who connected with him here. There are very few with the spirit, verve, character and just down-right goodness that he possessed, and the world is a little darker for losing him. He was an amazing artist, he had a brilliant if quiet sense of humor, he was a deep thinker and he truly cared about his family, his community and this world. I think the world just took a little too much out of him. He was, in a word, the consummate nice guy.
It is part of my healing process to know that he touched and will be missed by so many more lives than he would have guessed, and it makes me sad too. It will be bittersweet to read through his posts.
I'll send his family your well-wishes and let them know of this little corner of the world he visited that they may not know of.
To continue the tradition he began on his website, I'm eulogizing him here.
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die! posted by Kimme at 3:39 PM on April 18, 2005 [2 favorites]
The world would be a better place with more people like Eric. From what I can glean from his postings here he was everything you said Kimme and certainly one of the more thoughtful posters here. You and his family are in our thoughts. God bless. posted by caddis at 6:32 PM on April 18, 2005
Kimme, thank you. That was really beautiful.
His gentleness and thoughtfulness were always evident around here, and he was indeed appreciated by more people than he probably realized.
Check out his iPod portfolio 1494 albums!
wow, his taste in music is not so different from mine. It's weird how little details, like some semi-obscure album you both have, can bring things home to you. posted by mdn at 7:58 PM on April 18, 2005
I just saw this at the front page side blog. I really really liked his MeFi redesign. This is very very sad. posted by nthdegx at 5:05 AM on May 5, 2005
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posted by jonmc at 7:38 PM on April 14, 2005