Today is Greg Beck‘s 50th birthday, and this would have been a big celebration weekend for him. Greg always updated his blog with his birthday adventures, and here’s my favorite of his birthday posts:
I’ll make this quick and dirty. Friday night after work I went out to celebrate my birthday. Michelle, Raven, Bottle, Rusty, Mito, and various other people joined me. Here are some things I remember.
1. Doing shots with Mito.
2. Doing shots with Bottle.
3. Doing shots with Michelle.
4. Doing shots.
5. Drunkenly talkin to Carrie and Harper about doing a threesome and watching Carrie nip up. (she took it surprisingly well)
6. Watchin Springer and yakking at the hot lesbians sitting at the bar.
7. Coming home and talking Cassie’s ear off.
8. So hung over that the best I could do all day Saturday was sit on the couch and watch ten hours of the science fiction channel
And here are the things I don’t remember.
1. Driving home.
2. Doing shots.
3. Confessing my drunken love to all my friends.
4. Coming home and waking Cassie out of bed and telling her because she’s my roommate now, I can’t, won’t, hit on her any more.
5. My tab.
6. Walkin Michelle to her car and trying to talk her into flashing me and pressing her tits up against the window.
And the number one thing I don’t remember.
1. Sitting in the Cane tonight with Cassie and Michelle and listening as two Westport cops told me that I was so drunk that I asked for their guns so I could off whitey. God truly loves and watches out for the insane. Word.
posted by Greg Beck at Sunday, December 08, 2002
So kids, if you get out this weekend, have a drink for Greg… you know he would have.
It’s that time of year to do a little spring cleaning. I cleaned up my blogroll and left all the people I read on a regular basis. And Tony, I took you off because I haven’t read you since you put up this blog about Greg Beck and the bloggers who went to his funeral…
All right, now that your token Black guy is dead and you’ve had time to grieve . . . Let’s talk turkey.
And…
So, until you folks dig up some other Black person to be “friends” with (don’t even think it) then you’re doing nothing but offering a skewed perspective on blogging in Kansas City…
And yes, I’m sure you’ll tell me it’s a joke… but it’s pretty sad to joke about a dead guy and his mourners. So do me a favor and take me off your blogroll. That way at least I won’t owe anything to someone who thinks so little of Greg and the people who cared about him.
* Oh, and Greg wouldn’t have approved of this post because Greg thought Tony was a bitter blowhard who people should ignore. But, I guess I’m so delicate that [I'm] unable to accept any criticism about my best friend a week after his funeral. And from Tony’s response to this post, I guess he’s so delicate that he can’t take any criticism at all.
I found out that there’s a distillery in Wisconsin named Death’s Door Spirits. They make gin and vodka… no whiskey yet (Greg’s drink of choice). Even so, I think I’ll make a road trip when it gets warmer to buy a few bottles…
*Update — Brian at Death’s Door Spirits say that their whiskey will be available on April 1st. Now I’m planning a road trip for sure.
I’ve been sorting through photos of Greg to make copies for his family and friends, and it’s been pretty hard to do. It’s making me remember all the good times, and it just doesn’t seem right that Greg isn’t here now. But anyway, I wanted to share a few of the photos. (Click on them to see full size versions.)
At the Hurricane.
Officiating his friends Kyle and Paulina’s wedding. Doesn’t he look ruggedly handsome?
At my wedding in October 2006. I asked him to officiate my wedding, but he said he would be too emotional to do it. So then I asked him if he wanted to be a bridesmaid, but he didn’t think too much of that idea.
Greg with his friend Melissa and me at my house last summer. Eric and I had a few people over for a deck party. Greg could be shy around people he didn’t know, but that night he was talkative and hilarious. He went on this funny rant about bicycles on the road without knowing that at least 10 people there were avid cyclists.
Last night of the old Hurricane in June 2006.
Showing off our matching undergarments.
Greg’s barstool at the Hurricane. The first bar stool to the left was pretty much reserved for him.
Hanging out on his back porch last summer. I love this photo. The Hurricane had closed for the night and Greg and I decided to meet at his place. I drove up and Greg had this huge grin on his face, so I had to take a picture.
Thanks to everyone who came out last night for Greg’s birthday. Despite the circumstances, it was a good time. His family really appreciated all those who stopped by. The fried chicken was close, but not quite like Greg’s special recipe.
I want to get a Christmas card to send Greg’s family. We probably won’t have a get together before then, but we are creative people… we can figure out some way to pass it around for everyone to sign.
Greg’s birthday is next Tuesday. If he was here now, I would be giving him crap about next year being the big 5-0 for him. Every year for his birthday, Greg and I would take the day off of work, hang out at his place, and do whatever he wanted. We would order take out, watch movies, look at crazy websites, and talk about anything that popped into our heads. So next Tuesday, I’m staying home and celebrating his birthday the way he liked it.
Greg also liked to drink on his birthday, so this occasion calls for a happy hour.
Where: The Record Bar
1020 Westport Road
Kansas City, MO 64111
When: Tuesday, December 4th
5:30… 6:00… whenever you can get there
The Record Bar’s dinner special will be Greg’s Per-fuckin-fect Fried Chicken.
*Please repost the happy hour info to help get the word out.
So many bloggers have already written beautiful, heartfelt posts about Greg, but right now, I’m really at a loss for words. When arrangements have been made, I’ll post an update on his site.
