The End Is Near
First, this week’s column has the first Girl of the Week I didn’t consider hideous…sorry. This week’s girl leaves your imagination active. I like that.
I’m guessing the circumstances of your last column approaching are weighing heavy. I’m interested to read your last column, but only if you enjoy writing it.
What many aren’t considering and maybe you’re the same, but “Stick” is an institution, an Icon larger than the man who created it. “Stick” is the guy living the life and doing the things we all aspire to be and do. I’m sure some who are full of themselves will resist the truth, but even the most hardcore will come around in time.
“Stick” for many of us has always been there. We count on that. He has the answers, he’s lived the life, he takes the high road and had held on to the moral imperative when at times the rest of us have sunk to our eyeballs in the sleeze of Bangkok’s deepest mire.
He’s our brother, our father, an aunt and an uncle.. he’s family. But more, he’s everyone’s friend and you know if you email you’ll get a response long enough to make you wonder how he has time to sleep if he is as generous with all his readers.
And for a handful of us, he takes on more than the mythical form. He emerges from Bangkok’s smoky haze with a humble smile and a voice you can easily distinguish from the local chatter. He really is your friend. A real face you’d invite inside your home and introduce to your family. You’d trust him with your wife, the keys to your car, and even your best lense. He’s more than the website. Somehow when he steps through the door the website is forgotten and the friend.. the friend is as real as any other and more solid than most.
StickmanBangkok.com is important to our lives because we’ve accepted and made it such. We don’t like to think about it not being there. But today we must. And while for most of us, a healthy perspective kicks in and our lives will continue unaffected.. for some the loss will be more personal. Yet, even those will move on.
17-18 years for me. 12 years living the life as a Bangkok expat. The site, the man, the myth, and the readers. An unlikely alliance who have stood together through the tests only time could define. I could easily name 20 prolific writers many would consider equally germane to the story line, and not be close to naming them all. I’ll never forgot those who primarily see life through their lenses and either as a student or a friend or both.. have stood with me and created memories few are ever privileged to own.
On one such trip to Nakorn Nowhere, an easy two-day drive if you stop for the evening to take advantage of the growing Khon Kaen expat community, I found myself sitting across a table from Stick with a drink in my hand and the Mekong River in front of us while listening to a talented singer entertain the peaceful crowd.
Our cameras with long lenses were on the table between us and a tranquil smile resting on our lips. The silence begged to be filled but we were both afraid of spoiling the perfect moment which had crept up on the both of us. Stick grunted, and I grunted in response and said “our friends back home are missing out. It doesn’t get better than this and someday this slice of time will become larger than the moment. And we’ll remember it as such. And so it has come to pass..
And so shall StickmanBangkok.com. Around the world we can individually raise our glasses and say thank you to a man who has given us so much. A weekly column, wonderful readers submissions, unforgettable imagery, when asked his sage advice and unique viewpoint, and the many friends we’ve made as a result of this site. “Here Here” my friend. A job well done! Fare winds and following seas and long may your big jib draw..
Thank you, Stick..
The author cannot be contacted.
