Return to Amity

Okay, I lied. I'm back from hiatus. What can I say? Wallowing in depression is boring. I don't know how some folks do it.

Met a tired MM for lunch today. He was exhausted because he was up until all hours of the night watching Shark Week on the Discovery Channel. It reminded me of the first time I watched Shark Week while similarly afflicted with insomnia a few years back. Turns out as I was watching I recognized one of those world-famous shark experts from college. Here's a picture of him at work:
You know a guy who grabs a great white by the snout has some cajones. And you know it takes cajones to hang with me.

I remember good old Mark Marks for a number of reasons. First, my roommate had a crush on him. Problem was, she was vegan, a wee bit uptight, ultraliberal, and had a list of requirements for her future mate. He was a short, meat-eating Army Ranger who taught a self-defense class, a card-carrying Republican, and didn't tolerate crap well. She invited him over for cous cous and brussel sprouts one night. As she was cooking I went in the kitchen to get something, she introduced us, and he and I struck up a conversation. He too was a Desert Storm veteran and into running. It was quite clear he and I had a lot more in common than my roommate and him. I left, they had dinner, and he wasn't there in the morning (not really a surprise). Two days later I literally ran into him on a trail behind the college. We ran together and talked. We ended up meeting for regular runs, becoming fast friends and eventually dating - much to the "I never liked him anyway" chagrin of my roommate. (I did ask her permission, not sure why since they had only had dinner the one time).

Mark was a cool guy and his apartment was full of strange shark stuff, including shark embryos floating in formaldihide, shark jaws, shark toys, shark everything. He even gave me an official 'Shark Protection and Preservation Society' t-shirt. I think only 25 were ever made. I still have it. And I had a shark tooth necklace he gave me until I gave it to a friend's son who was more into surfing than I was into sharks. I also remember he was a fireplug of a man, wore a floppy camouflage hat, and wanted to experiment with spanking. He was ambitious, passionate, energetic, and focused. And he had a moustache that made it look like he had a big, fat caterpillar stuck on his face.

I don't recall how long we hung out but I do remember it ended in December of whatever year it was. He had gotten a grant to study great whites in South Africa and needed to leave soon. He asked me to come along and be his research assistant. I considered but was mid-way through college and really wanted to finish. I wished him well, we exchanged a letter or two, and never spoke again. In fact, I hadn't really thought of him until I saw him that time on Shark Week and noted that he had married a nice-looking strawberry blonde who appeared to be his research assistant. I smiled when I saw him on tv and was happy for him.

So after MM and I spoke about sharks at lunch today, I came back to my office and Googled 'Mark Marks sharks'.

Remember the last time I googled an ex? I was hoping something better had become of Mark than had happened to old Bill.

Turns out Mark is okay himself but had some recent tragedy. Some of you may recall seeing news of a plane crash off the coast of Florida a few weeks ago. A charter plane heading to the Bahamas had inexplicably crashed at sea and all 20 people on board were killed. Sadly, when I Googled Mark, I learned that his wife was the pilot of that plane. Here's a link to the story. I feel pretty sorry for Mark because, based on the article, it sounds like they were a great pair.

Looks like he's starting a foundation in her name. I think I'll send a donation and some cous cous when it's up and running. I also think I'd better quit googling exes - it seems to guarantee trouble.