Comments on: Obituary

Obituary

Zurishaddai — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 19:35:55 -0800

An active MeFi member, poopy, has passed away.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 19:38:22 -0800

Damn. He was a good guy. Condolences to his family.

By: Zurishaddai

Zurishaddai — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 19:41:12 -0800

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.

By: LouReedsSon

LouReedsSon — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 19:41:25 -0800

By: Kwantsar

Kwantsar — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 19:43:47 -0800

I'm genuinely saddened. It's inexplicable, really.

By: SeizeTheDay

SeizeTheDay — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 19:44:52 -0800

By: amberglow

amberglow — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 19:54:20 -0800

.

what happened?

By: felix betachat

felix betachat — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 19:58:48 -0800

By: amberglow

amberglow — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:00:31 -0800

this sucks.

By: mischief

mischief — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:08:45 -0800

;-(

By: amberglow

amberglow — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:10:36 -0800

thank you, poopy (i'll never forget that)

By: dg

dg — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:14:28 -0800

By: yhbc

yhbc — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:15:30 -0800

Godspeed, Eric.

By: melissa may

melissa may — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:16:10 -0800

By: Doohickie

Doohickie — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:20:49 -0800

By: matteo

matteo — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:24:51 -0800

By: fionab

fionab — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:26:27 -0800

By: stray

stray — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:35:51 -0800

By: ThePinkSuperhero

ThePinkSuperhero — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:38:52 -0800

By: obloquy

obloquy — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:41:12 -0800

By: dhoyt

dhoyt — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:43:10 -0800

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.

By: sugarfish

sugarfish — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:47:40 -0800

By: pieisexactlythree

pieisexactlythree — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:49:22 -0800

By: Stynxno

Stynxno — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:49:55 -0800

By: Space Kitty

Space Kitty — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:50:07 -0800

My profound condolences to his family. It's just so sad...

By: Item

Item — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:51:02 -0800

By: quonsar

quonsar — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:57:45 -0800

By: dobbs

dobbs — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 21:13:23 -0800

By: Shane

Shane — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 21:18:16 -0800

Jesus Christ. I LIKED POOPY! Goddam, and he has a brother named Shane, too.

Damn.

I can't believe this is real.

Good luck, poopy, wherever you are. You were one of my favorite MeFites.

Eric's family: I'm so sorry.

.

By: riffola

riffola — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 21:21:10 -0800

My condolences to his family. This is sad.

By: hackly_fracture

hackly_fracture — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 21:25:08 -0800

By: mathowie

mathowie — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 21:25:42 -0800

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:

By: yhbc

yhbc — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 21:30:34 -0800

Matt, has this (an active member passing away, and the passing being discovered) happened before? If you know, of course.

By: caddis

caddis — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 21:30:45 -0800

God bless

By: trharlan

trharlan — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 21:36:13 -0800

Is that PST, matt, or his local time (presumably EST)?

By: mathowie

mathowie — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 21:41:07 -0800

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.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 21:57:14 -0800

.

*sighs*

By: Tarrama

Tarrama — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 22:10:29 -0800

By: jonson

jonson — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 22:16:43 -0800

Not that it matters, but does no one here know the cause? Zurishaddai, how did you find out?

By: crunchland

crunchland — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 22:18:18 -0800

obituary. No details are given, though.

By: bshort

bshort — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 22:21:02 -0800

.

If Eric's family is reading this, I'm truly sorry for your loss.

By: The God Complex

The God Complex — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 22:21:45 -0800

By: dhruva

dhruva — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 22:22:09 -0800

By: mediamelt

mediamelt — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 22:22:50 -0800

By: taz

taz — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 22:36:48 -0800

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.

By: whatnot

whatnot — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 22:47:17 -0800

35? way too young.

.

By: First Post

First Post — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 22:47:20 -0800

By: unrepentanthippie

unrepentanthippie — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 22:51:30 -0800

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 23:00:07 -0800

My heart goes out to his family.

He was a great member of our big, dysfunctional family, too. For what little it's worth, he'll be missed.

By: ramix

ramix — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 23:04:59 -0800

By: Quartermass

Quartermass — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 23:05:48 -0800

By: cali

cali — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 23:31:12 -0800

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 23:47:06 -0800

Eric's design entry for the Metafilter Redesign contest.

By: stet

stet — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 23:51:24 -0800

By: librarina

librarina — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 23:53:03 -0800

By: squeak

squeak — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 23:55:35 -0800

By: eyeballkid

eyeballkid — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 23:59:06 -0800

By: jmd82

jmd82 — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 00:07:53 -0800

By: scody

scody — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 00:10:10 -0800

By: arto

arto — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 00:13:31 -0800

By: swordfishtrombones

swordfishtrombones — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 00:26:10 -0800

By: mattr

mattr — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 00:26:32 -0800

By: sgt.serenity

sgt.serenity — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 00:37:43 -0800

By: mr.marx

mr.marx — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 00:48:21 -0800

By: mediareport

mediareport — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 00:49:47 -0800

Anyone have backstory?

Google was pretty much a bust, but Yahoo led me to a resume and his design studio, which he apparently ran with his wife Tammy. Here's his Sandman catalogue, too; like a lot of us, he was a Gaiman fan.

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.

RIP to a fellow member.

By: Lionfire

Lionfire — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 00:53:01 -0800

By: mediareport

mediareport — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 01:00:06 -0800

(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.)

By: underer

underer — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 01:13:31 -0800

By: Remy

Remy — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 01:29:56 -0800

By: the cuban

the cuban — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 01:34:47 -0800

By: sebas

sebas — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 01:38:42 -0800

By: rpn

rpn — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 01:53:46 -0800

By: terpsichoria

terpsichoria — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 02:00:16 -0800

By: ninthart

ninthart — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 02:02:51 -0800

By: longbaugh

longbaugh — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 02:04:39 -0800

By: blasdelf

blasdelf — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 02:29:51 -0800

Oh My.

By: viama

viama — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 02:30:49 -0800

By: Snyder

Snyder — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 02:35:53 -0800

By: grouse

grouse — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 03:26:59 -0800

.

In case family members (or others) are wondering what this means—it is how Mefites denote a moment of silence.

By: benzo8

benzo8 — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 03:30:50 -0800

By: graventy

graventy — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 03:31:29 -0800

By: Smart Dalek

Smart Dalek — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 03:40:46 -0800

By: dflemingdotorg

dflemingdotorg — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 03:48:43 -0800

By: XiBe

XiBe — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 04:01:48 -0800

By: schustafa

schustafa — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 04:13:00 -0800

By: dodgygeezer

dodgygeezer — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 04:20:26 -0800

By: Faint of Butt

Faint of Butt — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 04:55:22 -0800

By: Marquis

Marquis — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 05:01:18 -0800

By: rocketman

rocketman — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 05:08:00 -0800

By: cyrusdogstar

cyrusdogstar — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 05:13:23 -0800

By: Cyrano

Cyrano — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 05:22:40 -0800

By: birdherder

birdherder — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 05:26:45 -0800

By: Radio7

Radio7 — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 05:31:51 -0800

By: bonaldi

bonaldi — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 05:35:55 -0800

By: Dr_Octavius

Dr_Octavius — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 05:38:08 -0800

By: jperkins

jperkins — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 05:39:17 -0800

By: asok

asok — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 05:40:41 -0800

Condolences to the family

By: jackofsaxons

jackofsaxons — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 05:40:56 -0800

By: studentbaker

studentbaker — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 05:45:42 -0800

By: dfowler

dfowler — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 05:48:35 -0800

By: iconomy

iconomy — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 05:53:03 -0800

I'll miss you.

By: exlotuseater

exlotuseater — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 05:54:00 -0800

By: stupidsexyFlanders

stupidsexyFlanders — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 05:54:38 -0800

Real life is not the opposite of Internet. Unfortunately.

Condolences.

By: Baby_Balrog

Baby_Balrog — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:01:27 -0800

By: adampsyche

adampsyche — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:08:55 -0800

By: digiboy

digiboy — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:09:21 -0800

By: punilux

punilux — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:09:21 -0800

By: buriednexttoyou

buriednexttoyou — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:11:54 -0800

By: danherwig

danherwig — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:13:00 -0800

By: fletchmuy

fletchmuy — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:14:53 -0800

By: cmyk

cmyk — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:15:58 -0800

By: Fuzzy Monster

Fuzzy Monster — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:17:20 -0800

By: brheavy

brheavy — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:18:34 -0800

By: sciurus

sciurus — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:23:40 -0800

By: dong_resin

dong_resin — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:24:07 -0800

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:25:08 -0800

By: debralee

debralee — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:25:14 -0800

By: Floydd

Floydd — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:33:04 -0800

By: amberglow

amberglow — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:34:30 -0800

maybe we can collect a donation for some charity in his name? or something?

By: brevator

brevator — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:35:29 -0800

By: grateful

grateful — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:38:51 -0800

By: CunningLinguist

CunningLinguist — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:40:29 -0800

What happened? How could two such strapping lads die so very young? This is awful.

By: tr33hggr

tr33hggr — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:44:28 -0800

.

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.

By: danOstuporStar

danOstuporStar — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:45:29 -0800

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:46:19 -0800

By: AwkwardPause

AwkwardPause — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:46:39 -0800

By: theFlyingSquirrel

theFlyingSquirrel — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:47:54 -0800

By: KevinSkomsvold

KevinSkomsvold — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:49:41 -0800

Wow. I don't know what else to say. My condolences to the family.

Take care poopy, wherever you may go.

By: mkultra

mkultra — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:52:37 -0800

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.

By: joeclark

joeclark — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:56:08 -0800

"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.

By: Kellydamnit

Kellydamnit — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:58:45 -0800

By: mdn

mdn — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:59:23 -0800

.

old thanksgiving moment

By: monju_bosatsu

monju_bosatsu — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 07:01:41 -0800

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.

By: Ruki

Ruki — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 07:07:27 -0800

By: hughbot

hughbot — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 07:15:44 -0800

By: Jikido

Jikido — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 07:16:25 -0800

By: Zurishaddai

Zurishaddai — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 07:17:01 -0800

Zurishaddai, how did you find out?

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.

By: mygothlaundry

mygothlaundry — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 07:24:19 -0800

By: Item

Item — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 07:25:18 -0800

Very well said, Zurishaddai.

By: ashbury

ashbury — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 07:25:41 -0800

By: moonbird

moonbird — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 07:31:47 -0800

By: 40 Watt

40 Watt — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 07:41:53 -0800

By: languagehat

languagehat — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 07:45:14 -0800

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

RIP, Eric.

By: unreason

unreason — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 07:48:27 -0800

By: furiousthought

furiousthought — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 07:51:00 -0800

! . Man.

By: tinamonster

tinamonster — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 07:55:23 -0800

By: flashboy

flashboy — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 07:58:05 -0800

By: PhatLobley

PhatLobley — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:04:42 -0800

By: coelecanth

coelecanth — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:07:34 -0800

By: lola

lola — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:11:04 -0800

By: Divine_Wino

Divine_Wino — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:11:14 -0800

Was a funny cat, very sad.

By: cyniczny

cyniczny — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:11:43 -0800

By: dogmatic

dogmatic — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:18:52 -0800

By: MsVader

MsVader — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:20:40 -0800

By: plemeljr

plemeljr — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:22:31 -0800

By: cillit bang

cillit bang — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:22:33 -0800

.

Relevant/irrelevant discussion of hypothetical dead mefites

By: scottymac

scottymac — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:27:15 -0800

By: jazon

jazon — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:27:56 -0800

By: eckeric

eckeric — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:30:51 -0800

By: myopicman

myopicman — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:31:16 -0800

By: LittleMissCranky

LittleMissCranky — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:33:37 -0800

By: fungible

fungible — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:34:20 -0800

By: lilboo

lilboo — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:38:00 -0800

By: white_devil

white_devil — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:41:07 -0800

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:46:18 -0800

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:47:36 -0800

Heartbreaking to read his family's comments at their website.

By: pardonyou?

pardonyou? — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:50:12 -0800

By: terrapin

terrapin — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:57:13 -0800

By: kenko

kenko — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 08:59:25 -0800

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 09:01:16 -0800

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!

By: carter

carter — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 09:02:44 -0800

condolences to his family.

By: me3dia

me3dia — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 09:04:40 -0800

By: Penks

Penks — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 09:06:55 -0800

By: Shane

Shane — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 09:11:47 -0800

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...

By: TheDonF

TheDonF — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 09:20:19 -0800

By: lpqboy

lpqboy — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 09:21:54 -0800

By: stevis

stevis — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 09:25:11 -0800

>> has this (an active member passing away, and the passing being discovered) happened before? - posted by yhbc

http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/13447

By: stupidsexyFlanders

stupidsexyFlanders — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 09:30:43 -0800

Let's not forget Eric's role in the media empire built around PinkStainlessTail's rendition of Jingle Rock Bell.

By: mmahaffie

mmahaffie — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 09:34:13 -0800

.

.

.

By: Scoo

Scoo — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 09:40:19 -0800

By: m0nm0n

m0nm0n — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 09:41:51 -0800

By: rhapsodie

rhapsodie — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 09:43:40 -0800

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 09:45:30 -0800

Let's not forget Eric's role in the media empire built around PinkStainlessTail's rendition of Jingle Rock Bell.

Wow, I totally forgot about that. One of them is sitting in my t-shirt drawer right now.

By: box

box — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 09:56:25 -0800

By: Witty

Witty — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 09:56:46 -0800

Word.

By: ..ooOOoo....ooOOoo..

..ooOOoo....ooOOoo.. — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 09:59:35 -0800

By: LarryC

LarryC — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 10:01:50 -0800

By: jaden

jaden — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 10:28:38 -0800

By: y2karl

y2karl — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 10:32:05 -0800

Well, jeez... Sorry to hear this.

--and thanks for the notice, Zurissshaddai.

By: pyramid termite

pyramid termite — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 10:32:46 -0800

By: thinkpiece

thinkpiece — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 10:34:15 -0800

By: deborah

deborah — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 10:35:07 -0800

By: greasy_skillet

greasy_skillet — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 10:45:35 -0800

By: Lynsey

Lynsey — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 10:50:44 -0800

By: putzface_dickman

putzface_dickman — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 10:50:47 -0800

By: substrate

substrate — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 11:11:29 -0800

By: xammerboy

xammerboy — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 11:16:00 -0800

By: entropy

entropy — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 11:21:37 -0800

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 11:21:57 -0800

.

Matt, would it be possible to make a notation on his userpage of some sort?

By: rooftop secrets

rooftop secrets — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 11:42:05 -0800

By: vraxoin

vraxoin — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 11:42:05 -0800

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 11:43:37 -0800

.

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.

By: safetyfork

safetyfork — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 11:48:43 -0800

By: page404

page404 — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 11:49:18 -0800

Holly crap, this is shitty news. RIP poopy.

By: Specklet

Specklet — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 11:58:49 -0800

By: LeeJay

LeeJay — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 12:01:13 -0800

By: SisterHavana

SisterHavana — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 12:10:43 -0800

This is sad. I never knew him well, but I always thought he seemed like a nice guy, just based on his comments.

Eric, you'll be missed.

By: armage

armage — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 12:15:34 -0800

By: scarabic

scarabic — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 12:21:01 -0800

.

sympathies to the family

By: nelleish

nelleish — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 12:29:26 -0800

By: 27

27 — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 12:43:39 -0800

By: vignettist

vignettist — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 12:47:23 -0800

By: dness2

dness2 — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 12:52:40 -0800

By: banished

banished — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 12:57:21 -0800

By: OmieWise

OmieWise — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 12:58:12 -0800

By: edgeways

edgeways — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 13:00:47 -0800

By: joe lisboa

joe lisboa — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 13:19:21 -0800

By: socratic

socratic — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 13:30:08 -0800

By: Mayor Curley

Mayor Curley — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 13:38:44 -0800

which he apparently ran with his wife Tammy

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.

By: rcade

rcade — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 13:58:08 -0800

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.

By: armoured-ant

armoured-ant — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 14:03:00 -0800

By: fleacircus

fleacircus — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 14:15:46 -0800

Bye, Eric. My mom types in all capitals too, I hate that...

By: dabitch

dabitch — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 14:28:35 -0800

.

sad, I liked poopy, if his comments didn't make me smile his username always did.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 14:37:19 -0800

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.

By: shoepal

shoepal — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 14:43:11 -0800

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 15:14:36 -0800

.

I love the "I went to MetaFilter and all I got was this poopy scholarship" idea. Sad to see him go.

By: rorycberger

rorycberger — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 15:16:17 -0800

By: aine42

aine42 — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 15:28:33 -0800

By: atchafalaya

atchafalaya — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 15:52:23 -0800

By: Zonker

Zonker — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 16:01:15 -0800

.

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.

By: chaz

chaz — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 16:04:49 -0800

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)

By: interrobang

interrobang — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 16:07:17 -0800

Very, very sad.

By: mathowie

mathowie — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 16:24:34 -0800

I'll contact the family and see if there's any place we can make donations in his honor.

By: Coffeemate

Coffeemate — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 16:27:55 -0800

By: FunkyHelix

FunkyHelix — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 16:33:01 -0800

By: inky

inky — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 16:48:43 -0800

By: reflecked

reflecked — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 16:55:53 -0800

By: sp dinsmoor

sp dinsmoor — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 17:21:19 -0800

By: Jimbob

Jimbob — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 17:27:53 -0800

By: yodelingisfun

yodelingisfun — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 17:37:47 -0800

By: Lush

Lush — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 17:53:24 -0800

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.

.

By: th3ph17

th3ph17 — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 17:59:19 -0800

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 18:09:12 -0800

By: LinusMines

LinusMines — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 19:23:06 -0800

By: Ethereal Bligh

Ethereal Bligh — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 19:47:41 -0800

We'll miss you, poopy.

By: peacay

peacay — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 19:54:54 -0800

By: quonsar

quonsar — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 20:02:46 -0800

How do you tell the dead from the just went away

why do you need to? sheesh...

By: crythecry

crythecry — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 21:32:36 -0800

Spot on, Lush.

.

By: netbros

netbros — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 22:19:59 -0800

By: Dreamghost

Dreamghost — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 22:36:51 -0800

By: SpecialK

SpecialK — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 00:47:17 -0800

By: jba

jba — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 01:39:30 -0800

By: samh23

samh23 — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 02:50:01 -0800

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 05:21:48 -0800

By: spaghetti

spaghetti — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 07:08:35 -0800

By: clever sheep

clever sheep — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 07:10:38 -0800

By: grumblebee

grumblebee — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 07:10:38 -0800

By: melissa

melissa — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 08:07:09 -0800

Condolences to the family and loved ones.
.

By: Ljubljana

Ljubljana — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 10:14:04 -0800

By: moonbird

moonbird — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 12:05:57 -0800

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?

By: VulcanMike

VulcanMike — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 13:13:49 -0800

By: boo_radley

boo_radley — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 14:03:29 -0800

By: amberglow

amberglow — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 14:11:15 -0800

moon, matt contacted them. hopefully we can do something in his memory.

By: swerve

swerve — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 14:13:33 -0800

By: chota

chota — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 14:18:06 -0800

By: PocusHocus

PocusHocus — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 20:38:22 -0800

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 20:58:40 -0800

By: carmina

carmina — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 21:44:37 -0800

By: fraying

fraying — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 23:08:30 -0800

By: spinifex23

spinifex23 — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 01:30:34 -0800

By: arha

arha — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 02:04:44 -0800

By: pruner

pruner — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 02:58:16 -0800

By: complex

complex — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 05:36:24 -0800

By: tommyc

tommyc — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 06:15:43 -0800

By: ruelle

ruelle — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 06:41:04 -0800

By: geekyguy

geekyguy — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 09:22:19 -0800

By: theora55

theora55 — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 09:39:37 -0800

By: Bdave

Bdave — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 09:40:25 -0800

By: seawallrunner

seawallrunner — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 10:16:33 -0800

By: BadSeamus

BadSeamus — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 11:50:37 -0800

By: j

Sun, 17 Apr 2005 12:04:01 -0800

By: vacapinta

vacapinta — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 13:05:41 -0800

By: Simon!

Simon! — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 13:06:17 -0800

By: crunchland

crunchland — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 14:06:09 -0800

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.

By: mdn

mdn — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 14:52:49 -0800

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.

By: nalihasan

nalihasan — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 20:45:54 -0800

By: taz

taz — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 21:17:54 -0800

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.)

By: will

will — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 22:33:16 -0800

.

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.

.

By: orbit

orbit — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 22:49:31 -0800

By: eriko

eriko — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 04:31:29 -0800

By: yoga

yoga — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 07:22:37 -0800

:( 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.

By: milov

milov — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 08:33:27 -0800

By: angeline

angeline — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 10:10:26 -0800

By: thomcatspike

thomcatspike — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 10:14:25 -0800

[ teary eyes] poopy , you will be me missed -- thank you for sharing yourself through MF's posts.
Check out his iPod portfolio 1494 albums!

Goodbye Eric, poopy

By: jragon

jragon — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 13:32:37 -0800

By: quadog

quadog — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 14:33:49 -0800

By: Zurishaddai

Zurishaddai — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 14:41:08 -0800

By the way, this AskMe answer of poopy's provides more personal revelation than crunchland's comment suggests.

Oh, and he really loved those cats.

(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.)

By: calico

calico — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 15:01:55 -0800

By: Kimme

Kimme — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 15:39:09 -0800

Hi all.

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!

By: Rumple

Rumple — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 16:57:59 -0800

Thank you for coming, Kimme, and condolences.

.

By: taz

taz — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 17:11:11 -0800

Thank you, Kimme.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 17:37:00 -0800

i'm so sorry, Kimme. he was a really good guy, and i'll never forget him.

take care.

By: eustacescrubb

eustacescrubb — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 18:08:35 -0800

By: caddis

caddis — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 18:32:24 -0800

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.

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 19:03:30 -0800

By: mdn

mdn — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 19:58:22 -0800

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.

By: somethingotherthan

somethingotherthan — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 21:31:47 -0800

By: azazello

azazello — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 23:07:45 -0800

By: Sinner

Sinner — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 00:41:58 -0800

By: stoneegg21

stoneegg21 — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 01:59:47 -0800

By: notsnot

notsnot — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 07:40:56 -0800

By: Numenorian

Numenorian — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 11:08:22 -0800

By: Freen

Freen — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 12:28:11 -0800

By: Ugh

Ugh — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 17:14:09 -0800

By: badger_flammable

badger_flammable — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 20:41:28 -0800

By: DuoJet

DuoJet — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 22:30:18 -0800

By: Feisty

Feisty — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 09:07:40 -0800

By: littlegreenlights

littlegreenlights — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 10:07:34 -0800

By: caution live frogs

caution live frogs — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 11:03:29 -0800

By: everichon

everichon — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 11:53:46 -0800

Loved the username, Eric, made me laugh every time.

.

By: john_son

john_son — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 11:54:33 -0800

By: Huw

Huw — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 12:03:43 -0800

By: Lafe

Lafe — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 12:52:46 -0800

By: countzen

countzen — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 14:52:58 -0800

By: rio

rio — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 20:16:51 -0800

By: Four Flavors

Four Flavors — Thu, 21 Apr 2005 13:15:55 -0800

By: HiddenInput

HiddenInput — Thu, 21 Apr 2005 16:41:17 -0800

By: trillion

trillion — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 09:50:20 -0800

By: maggieb

maggieb — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 21:29:30 -0800

By: h00dini

h00dini — Sat, 30 Apr 2005 08:36:03 -0800

By: malaprohibita

malaprohibita — Tue, 03 May 2005 10:00:36 -0800

By: nthdegx

nthdegx — Thu, 05 May 2005 05:05:45 -0800

I just saw this at the front page side blog. I really really liked his MeFi redesign. This is very very sad.

By: The Great Big Mulp

The Great Big Mulp — Thu, 05 May 2005 18:18:30 -0800

By: konolia

konolia — Fri, 06 May 2005 13:56:33 -0800

By: hojoki

hojoki — Mon, 09 May 2005 09:28:42 -0800

By: taumeson

taumeson — Tue, 10 May 2005 16:27:21 -0800

By: bachelor#3

bachelor#3 — Wed, 11 May 2005 17:12:13 -0800

By: echolalia67

echolalia67 — Thu, 12 May 2005 11:54:09 -0800

By: Pliskie

Pliskie — Thu, 12 May 2005 18:51:08 -0800

By: Carbolic

Carbolic — Thu, 12 May 2005 19:59:15 -0800

By: cookie-k

cookie-k — Thu, 12 May 2005 21:55:14 -0800

By: louigi

louigi — Fri, 13 May 2005 08:33:54 -0800