[Kulamafi]

I met Shannon in January of 2000 while working for Knowledgenet. He was my first friend in Arizona.

So many people have expressed so many kind words and stories on this and other posts. It's really out of a need to release express something, anything that I'm even contributing here. We've been close friends ever since we met, and I'm flooded with my own memories of him although I don't ride and that was probably what he loved to do the most.

When I think of him, I'll think of a guy who lived as himself more than any other human I've ever met, an uninhibited and very open book, sharing, charismatic...funny and often innappropriately appropriate. There is no way for me to include even a fraction of my thoughts, but:

I'll think about off roading with him in his Isuzu trooper invariably on an almost empty tank of gas. Al, you can speak to some alternate outcomes, but it always seemed to work out for us the times I was out with him.

I'll remember driving through a blizzard and finding an abandoned cabin up near flagstaff where we stayed for the afternoon using boards from walls to start a fire in the decrepit fireplace. I'll remember soaking up countless hours of sun with him at the pool outside his condo, getting in trouble when trixie was caught swimming in that pool.

I'll remember a guy who always made my days a bit better and a bit more like a sitcom when he'd just show up and come in.

I'll remember shots of wild turkey over too many games of pool to count.

I'll remember his stories, his cooking, his pictures, loading him up with new music...

This is all really personally devastating, and my thoughts go out to every person on here who knew him in all your varying degrees. I can't stop thinking about this, and I hope I don't anytime soon. There's a big void I still can barely get my head around.

I love the fact that someone quoted hunter s. Thompson and I couldn't think of anything more appropriate. Thank you to everyone on here for your thoughts...it's amazing and powerful to realize all the lives he's touched besides mine.