Alert: Completely Serious Post Ahead.

Pics from Mike's brother added here.

Congratulations will be postponed for the week so that I can give remembrance to a friend from high school who overdosed and died last week. The news came like a punch to the gut and spread quickly across the network of people who knew Mike; we all had the same contradictory emotional response: shock and little surprise.

Mike, like many of us, experimented with alcohol and pot. Then gradually got into the harder stuff. He want to jail, then rehab. He was trying to start over. His parents were driving to his place in California to give him their car when they got the call mid-trip from his friend who found him. News is still coming in.

We haven't seen Mike in years, but the sucker punch was immediate and swift. I'm still close with several people I went to high school with (the average size of a graduating class was 70 people), and each of them have direct relationships with other people from our town; those relationships have kept me deeply connected to that place and that time. A group of my high school girlfriends came to DC for a weekend last November and we talked about Mike a lot, as we did every time we all got together. Most of us had some type of "experience" with him, whether it was making out or more. I mean if you hadn't gone a round with Mike, well, it's probably because you passed out early. But he wasn't a dick about it; he wasn't using you. He wrote several notes to me in the yearbook and on his class pictures that he was "so grateful that we got over our past and could remain good friends." I don't remember having a relationship with him, nor do I remember ever expressing regret that it never materialized into a relationship; it was what it was: two high school friends screwing around.

But he was sensitive. And maybe that sensitivity made him more susceptible to the path he couldn't escape. As my friends and I talked and emailed this weekend, we wondered how he felt; if starting over seemed insurmountable and whether we should have reached out more. We wondered if he knew how much we still talked about him. And how we always held out hope that he would come out the other side.

Note: I'll be scanning and uploading pictures at some point over the next couple days, so check back...

Sincere Congratulations

Congrats Blog is going to get serious (as she can be) and offer her sincerest congratulations to the Changs who delivered Kalina Grace Jia-li Chang yesterday evening. Weighing in a 7lb 8oz 19in. She's a lucky girl to be born to such great parents. Thinking through all the things she could rebel on later in life, I fear that hating hockey would be the worst such offense. Perish the thought!

Also, CB would like to congratulate my friend Jule's son, Nicholas, who was nominated to attend the Junior National Young Leaders Conference (JrNYLC) in DC, which helps scholars develop and sharpen their leadership skills by examining the leaders of the past and empowering them to make a positive social impact in their community and the world. Learn more about it here.

I remember my middle school trip to Washington, DC. Rockin' on the bus to Foreigner's JukeBox hero, flirting with boys at Lincoln's gi-normous feet and playing some weird breathing game in the hotel rooms where you make yourself hyperventilate until you felt high and almost passed out. "My turn now, you went twice!!" Nope, no leadership skills developed on that trip.

So...sarcasm mostly in check for this post. What is the CB, if not to congratulate?

Speaking of which, if you, dear reader, would like to congratulate someone/thing, you can either send CB your request or your "guest blogger" prose to congratsblog@gmail.com.

Happy weekend!

We're Bringing Funny Back

Last night Bex, IH and I saw Margaret Cho at the Warner Theater and gurrllll, "betch" still got it. The Notorious C.H.O. brought the funny in a big way, spewing a stream of intellectual consciousness on d*ck, politics, c*ck, her mother, balls, race, and, of course, the big P.

All the straight people in the house say "Hey-ay." Cue cricket sounds.

What I love about a Margaret Cho show is that it's full on gay pride. Though girlfriend waxes poetic on themes universal to all humans, her sweet spot revolves around the gays, simultaneously poking fun at and demanding self-respect from the LGBT community. Note if you're watching from work: the below video includes some salty language.



If Cho has a mantra it is: love yourself. Followed closely by: love your fellow man / woman. Says she: "if you don't support gay marriage, but laugh your ass off at Will & Grace, well F*** you!"

I have friends and family in the gay community, and it's nice to go to a show that specifically and hilariously honors them. Congrats.

Transitioning from funny relating to the disenfranchised...if you haven't yet seen this website (all 5 of you?), check it out now. If you're anglo (and you know it, clap your hands!), and you like the stuff presented here, but thought you were somehow cool in your affinity for it, my apologies. I've winced a few times myself.

Speaking of stuff white people like, The Office returned! And 30 Rock! And Scrubs! I'm going to settle in this weekend, get up close and personal with my DVR and wrap that NBC love around me like a blanket. Don't judge me.