really struggling with trying to make this post as funny or as light-hearted as
colin does. dude has a knack of making me laugh about the fact that he's living with and will eventually be dying from
ALS. if you want a better idea of this then check out his blog from time to time. if you've got some free time do yourself a favor and dig through the posts til you find the rocker knife albums. point is, before i get too long winded, i'm asking you all for money. i'll be joining colin for the
ALS walk in minneapolis on september 26th and i/we are shamelessly asking that you donate to the cause. as colin has already pointed out, these donations will not help him live any longer or make his life any better, but they might someday for someone who is also fighting ALS.
colin is much better (and again, much funnier) at telling his story than i am, so please take time to check out both his
blog and his
website (he's a computer guy so he gets both). he even has a game you can play if you're not good with words/reading.
CLICK HERE to donate. keep reading if you want the sappy story as to why i give a shit.
colin was the first person i ever talked to from college. a phone conversation the summer before our freshman year after finding out we'd be living together in a 3 person room along with jason ended up being about an hour of pretty much talking music and dorm room necessities. we got along well enough on the phone and despite his first impressions of me we had an awesome freshman year. i couldn't have been happier/luckier getting to spend my entire first year with those two roommates. colin had been athletic and shared similar interests in soccer, running, was into cycling long before me, alcohol and general debauchery. he even forgave me for attempting to ruin everything he owned after one particularly devastating night (for the record, the only thing that didn't actually survive was his graphing calculator). although we never lived together again after that we stayed friends and hung out in the same group of friends. after school he and everyone else i think headed up to the twin cities. i got into riding and he was seeming to be doing more of it as well. my focus turned to mountain bike while he had a broader spectrum but was really getting into the triathalon scene. at one point, a few years after college, i remember wondering if he ever worked given the physical shape he was in. he was looking incredibly fit and obviously digging the tri stuff. i raced with him at a couple of mtb races and took him out on a gravel ride around decorah after he got his crosscheck built up. not long after this he began to mention something weird going on with his thumb/hand and some tests he was having run. over the course of several months it was obvious that the hand/arm were beginning to deteriorate. the contraptions he and his dad were coming up with to keep him on the bike as he began to lose control of his hand were evidence of his love/need to be active. knowing that his
mma diagnosis was enough to suck but not enough to kill him was sad but his attitude toward the whole thing made it impossible to feel bad for him. he was laughing about it so how could you not? earlier this year when he broke the news that his other arm was beginning to be affected and that he was now being diagnosed with probable-ALS was devastating. he began talking time frames and i couldn't wrap my head around it. colin has attacked this with the same amount of humor as he has anything else in his life. as he said, he ain't dead yet and i'm pretty sure he's just telling ALS to fuck off and smiling while he does it.
so...yeah...i give a shit. colin's an awesome guy and you should consider yourself fortunate if you've ever gotten to meet or hang out with him. part triathlete, part weezer-like slacker, part computer geek, a lingering dab of hippy, and just an absolutely righteous guy to party with.
hangin' with colin at the end of the als walk in minneapolis
mail day brought a new shirt from xxcmag.com
