He used to opine that we were just about as diametrically opposed as we could possibly be. But we made really good friends anyway. I thought he was the most amazing drummer alive, andhe thought I was a talented singer and a good Karaoke host. In fact, few things fascinated him more than my Karaoke shows and my regular singers who attended them–he even had this crazy notion about filming a documentary about Karaoke and the characters who delight in getting drunk and singing to their fellow drunks.

I wish I wasn’t so damn stubborn. If I weren’t, I’d contact him again. But I am.

A few months ago, a friend f mine from my high school drama days passed away. A month or so later, a bartender at the venue where I do my Thursday night show also passed away (I will readily admit that I really only knew her by reputation only). And both events got me to thinking, however clichéd and hackneyed the concept, that life really is fleeting; in the words of Col. Sherman T. Potter, “life is a now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t kind of affair.” It occurs to me that I should really try and overcome my stubbornness and contact DrumDude again–friends as good as DrumDude are very difficult to come by.

I don’t really believe that DrumDude called me multiple times a day because he was trying to drive me insane. He was doing it because he’s a good friend.