In November 2003, I made my usual pilgrimage down I-5 from Seattle to Portland, to spend Thanksgiving with my sister and brother-in-law, Jim. Over the summer Jim had become increasingly drawn into the whole world of blogging, and by November had found a favorite political site, Daily Kos. He'd been talking to me about it for months, but I was still in an extreme political funk from the 2000 election, horrified by the Bush administration and furious over the war. Like everyone else I knew, I just ranted and raged with like-minded friends and family, but couldn't find a productive outlet. At the same time, I was working on the project from hell at work, and had absolutely no interest spending any more time in front of a computer than I absolutely had to, so I never really took the bait, really not wanting to do this blog thing. Until that long Thanksgiving weekend.
Jim spent a great deal of those four days reading the blog out loud to me, determined to win me over. He finally wore me down. Over the next couple of months, I returned to the site when I had a few minutes at work, and even started turning the computer on at home. I was still on dial-up, so I guess I should have known then the danger I was in. By the beginning of February, I had registered. But I was pretty intimidated by the level of debate going on. It wasn't until Markos started the dKos 8 project that I finally jumped in and started posting.
Jim was thrilled to see me writing, and became convinced that I was going to make a mark here, that I'd end up on the front page. He had great faith in me, telling my sister "Joan needs to get in there and knock some heads in that boys' treehouse." I'm not really a head knocking type, as you all might have noticed by now, but his belief in me was pretty gratifying.
So that's how I came to Daily Kos. And now for the hard part.
Jim died last Thursday night, unable to withstand the return of the cancer he had been battling for the past eight and a half months. I've spent most of this time with him and my sister, taking turns acting as care-giver with my mom, as my sister wasn't able to care for him on her own. So he and I had a lot of time together during the long winter. And we had many, many conversations about the blog. He was more thrilled than anyone to see my name on the front page, feeling vindicated, no doubt. I spent many afternoons and evenings hanging out with him in the hospital (which thankfully had wireless), now reading the blog to him.
Jim had a wonderful, wicked sense of humor. On his last stay in the hospital he pulled a prank on his favorite nurse involving a urinal (you probably had to have been there--trust me, it was very funny). He was absolutely inimitable, and the strongest person I've ever known. He faced cancer, and death, with grace, dignity, and incredible generosity. And humor.
In a few of the good days we had some weeks ago, he started working on a special song for me. It's a song about us, this crazy virtual community. I had thought that he had it in his head, and that it went with him, but my sister found it on his laptop. The problem is, it's not finished.
So I thought maybe I'd appeal to you guys to come up with another couple of verses. It uses the tune (and the spirit) of Dr. Hook's "On the Cover of the Rolling Stone." Here are the lyrics to the original:
Well we are big rock singers, we've got golden fingers
And we're loved everywhere we go
We sing about beauty and we sing about truth
At ten thousand dollars a show
We take all kind of pills to give us all kind of thrills
But the thrill we've never known
Is the thrill that'll get you when you get your picture
On the cover of the Rolling Stone
{Refrain}
Rolling Stone
Wanna see my picture on the cover
Rolling Stone
Wanna buy five copies for my mother
Rolling Stone
Wanna see my smilin' face
On the cover of the Rolling Stone
I've got a freaky old lady name o' Cocaine Katy
Who embroiders on my jeans
I've got my poor old gray-haired Daddy
Drivin' my limousine
Now it's all designed to blow our minds
But our minds won't really be blown
Like the blow that'll get you when you get your picture
On the cover of the Rolling Stone
{Refrain}
We got a lot of little teenage blue-eyed groupies
Who do anything we say
We got a genuine Indian guru
He's teachin' us a better way
We got all the friends that money can buy
So we never have to be alone
And we keep gettin' richer but we can't get our picture
On the cover of the Rolling Stone
{Refrain}
Here's what he had so far for "On the Front Page of the Daily Kos":
Well, I'm a hot shit blogger, I've got golden fingers
And I'm loved by everyone I know
I rant about Truth and I rant about Justice
At one thousand words a post
I use dirty words to give you all a thrill
But a pleasure that I've never known
Is the thrill that you get
When you see that your shit
Is on the front page of the DailyKos
{Refrain}
The DailyKos...
Wanna see my byline front and center
The DailyKos...
Gonna send a link to my mother
The DailyKos...
Gonna see my diary promoted
To the front page of the DailyKos.
So late night kosizens, what do you say? Wanna finish the song?