The Net Monkey

Oh, boy! This blog is in serious need of an update.

The funeral for my cousin Chuckie was last week on Monday. It was nice, but very surreal. I drove Mom and Jake to Connersville, while my sister Lisa and her husband Jim came directly from Louisville to meet us at the funeral home.

One thing you never see here in Indianapolis is everyone pulled over on the side of the road while a funeral procession passed. It was like that all the way through town and down the state highway to the cemetery in Everton.

In other news, I went down to Louisville a couple of weekends ago to hang out with Lisa. Her neighbor Claire has a Kentucky Derby party every year. It’s always a lot of fun because it’s full of artists and intellectuals.

Claire’s derby pie is the best!

This past Saturday I spent the early evening attending my cousin Amanda’s wedding reception. It was just north of Connersville out in the country.

On the way back, I got stuck behind a tractor.

That’s about it! I’ll update more later this week.

Jason C. sent me this article.

Link: New Order Has Broken Up

New Order is one of my favorite bands of all time and it is really sad to hear that they’re no longer together. I never got a chance to see them perform live, but at least I have some of their concerts on DVD.

I have to say that I’m a bit impressed.

I was reading the online version of the Indianapolis Star (about a bill the governor vetoed that would regulate interior designers, to be exact) and noticed a Web 2.0 tool bar at the top of the article. Included are buttons for reddit, del.icio.us (my favorite), Digg, many others.

See! Who would have thought the local, widely-circulated Republican newspaper would be so trendy and savvy?

It all started yesterday morning when I was on my way in to the office.

The number of cars coming down Central Avenue at just 8:40 in the morning seemed high to me. Traffic was getting backed up in ways that I’d never seen before. I figured it was due to the fact that I rarely make it work by 9:00, and that traffic patterns have changed due to construction on I-70.

I needed to get to the office on time because of a vendor meeting, so I was frustrated, to say the least, since it normally only takes me 20 minutes from my door to my desk.

While sitting in a parade of cars on Michigan Street, Mom called to give me some pretty bad news. My cousin Chuckie, in Connersville, died earlier in the morning in his sleep, apparently from a heart attack related to his sleep apnea.

He was the oldest son of my Uncle Chuck, and was just 39 years old. He is survived by his 8 year old son, Seth.

I can’t say that I was close to Chuckie. I don’t really remember spending any time with him when I was a kid, and as adults we would pretty much just say hello to each other at family events. Those things don’t make it any less shocking. After all, he is the first of the grandchildren to pass away. Mostly, I just feel bad for my uncle, Chuckie’s brothers, and his son.

The funeral is planned for Monday, in the late morning, so I will be taking the day off work and head to Connersville with my family to attend the service.

And the traffic problem downtown was some silly motivational seminar put on by some celebrities. I heard you also had to sit through some real estate sales pitch.

Update: An obituary for my cousin has been posted.

Title: Something For The 500

Uploaded By: mattbarton77

Took this from the window on the floor where I work. There’s always something interesting like this happening during the Summer.