Ship of Fools: Obituary

Thread: Obituary Board: Erin / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Tubbs (# 440) on :

Erin's obituary has appeared in the local newspaper.

Thank you Raspberry Rabbit for finding this and posting it on the Styx thread.

Tubbs

[ 06. January 2011, 09:28: Message edited by: Tubbs ]

Posted by PeteC (# 10422) on :

I'm tired and emotional. How do you view the other messages. I got how to write one, and I did.

Posted by Tubbs (# 440) on :

quote:
Originally posted by PeteC:
I'm tired and emotional. How do you view the other messages. I got how to write one, and I did.

There's a delay of about 24 hours between writing the message and it being published on the website. The obit only appeared recently (today?) so the messages may not be viewable until tomorrow.

Tubbs

Posted by Sir Pellinore (ret'd) (# 12163) on :

Thanks, Tubbs. It was a brief factual obituary. I guess you and others have fleshed it out.

There is much about others that is known only to God.

Posted by Chorister (# 473) on :

From what I could see, you had to state which 'state' you were from. Rather tricky if you don't live in the US.

Posted by Tubbs (# 440) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
From what I could see, you had to state which 'state' you were from. Rather tricky if you don't live in the US.

It accepted my post when I just entered my town and left the state blank.

Tubbs

Posted by Deckhand (# 15545) on :

There are four entries at the moment, one from Jacobsen, so perhaps you can just ignore it.

Posted by lily pad (# 11456) on :

If you leave the page with the obituary up, it automatically cycles through the messages. I didn't understand it either at first.

Posted by PeteC (# 10422) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Deckhand:
There are four entries at the moment, one from Jacobsen, so perhaps you can just ignore it.

Not just jacobsen, but 2 others I recognise by name or place. Not that I am keeping tally. But I guess it just took time for the messages to be reviewed and posted

Posted by Janine (# 3337) on :

I posted something -- I guess it will appear after review -- but I don't recall at any time that there was a place for my name. Email addy, of course, that was required, but no name. Maybe it's incomplete, then, a malfunction and didn't really get submitted?

Appreciate the links, folks.

Posted by Sine Nomine (# 66) on :

Now - a day late and a dollar short - we know what she looked like.

Posted by Boogie (# 13538) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
From what I could see, you had to state which 'state' you were from. Rather tricky if you don't live in the US.

If you just click 'next' each time your message is posted anyway.

Posted by Moo (# 107) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Sine Nomine:
Now - a day late and a dollar short - we know what she looked like.

Where did you find a picture?

Moo

Posted by Moo (# 107) on :

Erin would have loved this description of location in the Guest Book.

London, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands

I hope she knows about it.

Moo

Posted by Sine Nomine (# 66) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Moo:

quote:
Originally posted by Sine Nomine:
Now - a day late and a dollar short - we know what she looked like.
Where did you find a picture?

Moo

Moo, click on 'visit guest book' - It's over on the right side. Then click to enlarge.

[ 06. January 2011, 13:37: Message edited by: Sine Nomine ]

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

quote:
Originally posted by PeteC:
I'm tired and emotional. How do you view the other messages.

Click on "Visit Guest Book" next to her name at the top. (Maybe the link wasn't there when you posted, if none of the messages had been approved yet.)

[ 06. January 2011, 13:38: Message edited by: Autenrieth Road ]

Posted by Silver Faux (# 8783) on :

Yep. A picture of Aunt Erin, holding two small children.
Looking as American as apple pie.
IMO.

Posted by Moo (# 107) on :

Thanks, Sine.

Somehow, she looked much the way I expected her to.

Moo

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Moo:

quote:
Originally posted by Sine Nomine:
Now - a day late and a dollar short - we know what she looked like.
Where did you find a picture?

Moo

If you visit the Guest Book, there is a picture of her with a nephew and neice.

Posted by jlg (# 98) on :

Years ago, during some random thread conversation Erin was asked what she looked like. She posted a link to a '50s era advertisement featuring a perky red-head housewife illustration. I have always retained that image of her, but wondered if it was true or a red herring.

Well, she's missing the pearls and the Peter Pan collar, but it was a good match.

Posted by Eutychus (# 3081) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Tubbs:
There's a delay of about 24 hours between writing the message and it being published on the website. The obit only appeared recently (today?) so the messages may not be viewable until tomorrow.

If they apply that moderation policy (which they don't seem to be) they are going to get snowed under pretty quick. They could do with someone with a keen eye and a good BS detector. Wait... [Tear]

Posted by PeteC (# 10422) on :

I got to Page 8 of condolences. That's when I started to cry as I realised just how many of you I have actually met, of how many more I will meet and others I have not met yet, but recognise from the signature or the location (and a combination of both)

And they say the internet is a mass of strangers. Not our little corner. [Tear]

Except maybe Kelly. I've wondered about that axe.

[Biased]

Posted by comet (# 10353) on :

She looked almost exactly like I pictured her! That almost never happens.

I love the "US minor outlying islands" Erin could unknowlingly spark a last pondwar. Wouldnt she love that? [Biased]

Posted by comet (# 10353) on :

"stranger" is a relative term, Uncle Pete. [Biased]

Posted by Wesley J (# 6075) on :

quote:
Originally posted by comet:
She looked almost exactly like I pictured her! [...]

Interesting! Same here. - Always reminded/reminds me of a cousin of mine.

[Votive]

Posted by Trudy Scrumptious (# 5647) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Moo:

Somehow, she looked much the way I expected her to.

I feel it's a terrible shame that was posted only after her death, so that no-one here ever got the opportunity to call her "Sweet Auntie Erin."

I mean, not that I'd have had the nerve to do it, but someone should have.

Posted by Trudy Scrumptious (# 5647) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Trudy Scrumptious:

quote:
Originally posted by Moo:

Somehow, she looked much the way I expected her to.
I feel it's a terrible shame that was posted only after her death, so that no-one here ever got the opportunity to call her "Sweet Auntie Erin."

I mean, not that I'd have had the nerve to do it, but someone should have.

Although, on second that, maybe that was a misprint, and that was her alter ego, the Sweet Anti-Erin.

Posted by RuthW (# 13) on :

I gotta admit, she doesn't look anything like I thought she would. I thought she would be tall, slim and drop-dead gorgeous, wearing a little black dress and stiletto heels.

But I always do that -- people I like but never see I picture in highly idealized images. So you're all beautiful! Until I meet you. [Razz]

Posted by Leaf (# 14169) on :

RuthW: You mean your avatar isn't a photo of you?

Posted by PeteC (# 10422) on :

quote:
Originally posted by comet:
She looked almost exactly like I pictured her! That almost never happens.

I love the "US minor outlying islands" Erin could unknowlingly spark a last pondwar. Wouldnt she love that?

I said stranger. Not strange or weird. That's a given.

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :

If you click the link just above the guest book entry form, you access the complete guest book. There are currently 54 entries.
The cycling text seems only to reference the first page.

Posted by Chorister (# 473) on :

Those teeth don't look at all sharp. We woz duped. I always knew that gleam in the avatar eye hid some secret truth.

Those nieces / nephews are going to miss her really badly. [Votive]

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

quote:
Originally posted by RuthW:
I gotta admit, she doesn't look anything like I thought she would.

I'm afraid my mental picture was influenced a while ago by the "tiny invisible judge", so was expecting someone tiny (as well as invisible and judge-like, obviously). For some reason I was convinced she was small and round with long wavy dark hair and an olive complexion.

Yes, over the years I've become remarkably good at forming detailed and completely inaccurate mental pictures of people I've never met.

Posted by Zappa (# 8433) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Trudy Scrumptious:

quote:
Originally posted by Moo:

Somehow, she looked much the way I expected her to.
I feel it's a terrible shame that was posted only after her death, so that no-one here ever got the opportunity to call her "Sweet Auntie Erin."

I mean, not that I'd have had the nerve to do it, but someone should have.

But now I'm confused ... would the comment have been rewarded with a resounding reptilian snap (and resultant avatar modification, even) or the apparent enigmatic gentleness of the aunty on the couch ...?

(Hmm ... I'm guessing, but... [Paranoid]

)

Posted by Moo (# 107) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
I'm afraid my mental picture was influenced a while ago by the "tiny invisible judge", so was expecting someone tiny (as well as invisible and judge-like, obviously). For some reason I was convinced she was small and round with long wavy dark hair and an olive complexion.

She once said she was 5'8", so I knew she wasn't small.

Moo

Posted by monkeylizard (# 952) on :

jlg, I seem to remember the 50's cartoon thing too. That's how I always pictured her. The red background on her avatar must have subliminally kept me in that mindset of redhead. It's a great picture on the guest book. She looks very happy with those two mini-gators.

Posted by Ye Olde Motherboarde (# 54) on :

She once told me she was 5'10, Moo, but, what's a couple of inches? And yes, she did go through a red hair phase (didn't we all?)

Posted by Sir Pellinore (ret'd) (# 12163) on :

So she looked normal?

Why would anyone expect otherwise? Adopted persona and person often don't match. Perhaps she needed the 'terrifying' persona to deal with shippies? [Eek!]

Unless you really knew her well and some did and are emphatically not talking, I suspect you are largely in the dark.

Posted by Lynn MagdalenCollege (# 10651) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Moo:
Somehow, she looked much the way I expected her to.

Actually her skin is much pinker and less scaly than I expected... go, Gator!

Posted by iGeek (# 777) on :

I had trouble with the guest book and ended up with two entries. Ah well, at least they're a bit different with the same theme.

Posted by iGeek (# 777) on :

Forgive the gauche double-post ... 84 entries in the book just now. So glad that Erin's loved ones and friends can see the shower of love from all over the world.

[Axe murder]

(I have never in the past used and likely never in the future will use that smilie. But for this occasion, it seems an appropriate icon of what we're doing.)

Posted by RooK (# 1852) on :

I oddly thought she actually looked something like this:

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Question-- did Dave Walker do the honors on that avatar?

Posted by RooK (# 1852) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Question-- did Dave Walker do the honors on that avatar?

Heh. No.

Posted by Robert Armin (# 182) on :

My picture of her will alawys be the 'gator with the troll in its mouth. Could that appear again please?

Posted by Jonah the Whale (# 1244) on :

quote:
Originally posted by comet:
Erin could unknowlingly spark a last pondwar.

(my bold)
Gosh I hope not. I would like to think there will be many more in the years to come.

Posted by comet (# 10353) on :

quote:
Originally posted by RooK:

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Question-- did Dave Walker do the honors on that avatar?
Heh. No.

I suspect that's a RooK original.

Posted by dyfrig (# 15) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Lynn MagdalenCollege:
Actually her skin is much pinker and less scaly than I expected... go, Gator!

Because of using inverse video settings on our home computer, her avatar was always a beautiful pink allegator on a sky blue background.

Posted by Spike (# 36) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Question-- did Dave Walker do the honors on that avatar?

It was Simon I think. I put a bit about it here

Posted by Jengie Jon (# 273) on :

No not Simon.

I asked permission to do it, Simon gave it, but it was already up by then, and Simon said it wasn't him.

Jengie

Posted by Grits (# 4169) on :

Are you still talking about who drew it? I think it looks like something RooK would do.

[ 08. January 2011, 15:14: Message edited by: Grits ]

Posted by Jengie Jon (# 273) on :

No you can post pictures on the obituary site, one is now Erin's Avatar so someone must have posted it.

Jengie

Posted by Angloid (# 159) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
Those teeth don't look at all sharp. We woz duped. I always knew that gleam in the avatar eye hid some secret truth.

Those nieces / nephews are going to miss her really badly.

My first encounter with Erin was a hostly slapdown after one of my first posts on the Ship. That, together with the all-too-fierce alligator avatar, made me wary of her from then on. But I always strongly suspected that a real and warm human being lay behind the image, and this has been proved by these recent outpourings of love and sadness. It's such a great pity that this clearly talented, generous and humorous woman is no longer with us. And most sadly, no longer with her real-life family and friends.

She will certainly remain in Ship history and mythology, and continue to challenge us from her newly-exalted position. 'Rest in Peace' maybe isn't the most appropriate prayer for an apostle of Christian Unrest, but I pray that she will have the reward she so richly deserves.

Posted by Chorister (# 473) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Jengie Jon:
No you can post pictures on the obituary site, one is now Erin's Avatar so someone must have posted it.

Jengie

If you look in the memorial book, the avatar appears as part of Joan Rasch's post. As I understand it, if you include a picture in your post it also appears in the gallery.

Posted by leo (# 1458) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Angloid:

quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
Those teeth don't look at all sharp. We woz duped. I always knew that gleam in the avatar eye hid some secret truth.

Those nieces / nephews are going to miss her really badly.
My first encounter with Erin was a hostly slapdown after one of my first posts on the Ship. That, together with the all-too-fierce alligator avatar, made me wary of her from then on. But I always strongly suspected that a real and warm human being lay behind the image, and this has been proved by these recent outpourings of love and sadness. It's such a great pity that this clearly talented, generous and humorous woman is no longer with us. And most sadly, no longer with her real-life family and friends.

She will certainly remain in Ship history and mythology, and continue to challenge us from her newly-exalted position. 'Rest in Peace' maybe isn't the most appropriate prayer for an apostle of Christian Unrest, but I pray that she will have the reward she so richly deserves.

I have been reading the various threads about Erin and have been at a loss as to what to say until I read this.

I was slapped down by Erin when I was fairly new to The Ship and was also going through a very bad time. I was also fairly new to the net and to its ways.

As I result, I disliked her and have always been wary of her.

On reflection, we only know each other by what we post. We post in between the trials and other stuff that is going on IRL.

People react to us in what is going on their RL.

The Ship has a wide variety of people who we would not normally meet or have dealings with IRL.

I looked at the PDF of Erin's funeral service. Parts of it make me cringe. Other parts make me cheer.

IRL we would get to know people over a drink or three and see the whole person.

The 'moral' I am drawing from all this is that we, and I particularly, need to be more imaginative and tolerant in the way we respond to each other in what is still a relatively new arena.

And if there are bars in heaven, I owe Erin several pints (and arguments).

Posted by Angloid (# 159) on :

If there are bars in heaven! [Yipee]

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