Did you guys chew your way through Chile/Argentina? Just asking.

(Andree here, photo from Dad) Family dinner, Ushuaia, Argentina, Terra del fuego country.

Erik has had a couple of tough days, I won't lie to you. But his answer to this? Got himself a puppy. Take THAT, gloom merchants! Stay tuned for a photo of the new family member as soon as I get one.

And Bivens? THE Bill Bivens? Excellent to hear from you. What's new?

Sometimes life is like a mop.

Andree here. One of my friends at work recently lent me the '80s movie UHF, starring Weird Al Yankovic and a pre-Seinfeld Michael Richards. It's Richards who carries the scene I'm going to try to embed below, in which he explains the great similarities (especially lately) between life and a raggy cleansing implement. . .

More Chile: beaver and stuff.

Andree here. Couple more snaps from the Chile trip here, courtesy of Dad:

Wine tasting. Including the kids!

Dad calls this one "Erik eats beaver, Puntas Arenas, Tierra del Fuego." (I wasn't looking very carefully just now and thought, What's the roundish thing, the TAIL!? I think it's zucchini.)

Maatita remembers some fast food

(Andree here - got this from Ron Maatita yesterday. )

Hey Andree,

I've finally been able to sort through my pic archives. This is my favorite picture of me and Erik. Shot on Catalina island in early '96, it's a beautiful example of a life full of interesting pursuits.

Having just earned his pilots license we'd occasionally skip out for a flight. On this particular day, the inspiration for product design was running on empty. Time for a recharge,...stimulation, inspiration!

We got a plane from the local flight school and headed out over the Pacific. Left turn at the coastline, permission to fly through class B airspace (over and West of LAX) and nothing but clouds ahead of us. The sight of a fully loaded jumbo jet climbing out below you is rare and incredible. On any other day Catalina would sit in front of us like a massive dinosaur turd in the pool. Not the case today. I'd accompanied Erik on only a handful of flights by then, but never one where we couldn't see where we were going. Beads of sweat formed on my upper lip as my voice crackled over the headset, "You sure about this?", I asked nervously. He smiled back at me, pointed at the instrument cluster and showed me that we were locked onto Catalina's VOR ( Catalina's navigational signal). 15 minutes later we were pushing this plane into it's parking spot at the Catalina Airport. With Buffalo burgers on our agendas, we stopped to think of all the suckers back at the office who were either brown baggin' it or crossing Ocean Park Blvd. for a Subway. We paused and laughed heartily at them all. Cory McCullough captured the shot of my professional lifetime. Me and my pal, living the life,...like Indy and Short-Round on another death-defying adventure.

This picture has been with me on every office I've inhabited since going back in-house in '01. (Note from Andree: Yeah, I've seen in it a few of OURS, too, bro.) I look at it every day as I leave my office for Subway. Time for me to go back and get that pilots license I suppose.

bruce beck says

(Andree here: Below, a note from Bruce saying things with which I totally agree.)
* * *

Hi:
I have not sent Erik a card of any sort. As far as I'm concerned he is not going anywhere.
When I found out about the situation I called immediately right after Hans told me not to. Told Erik about a friend of mine who 8 years ago was diagnosed with Hodgekins lymphoma. The aspect of seeing wheather the treatment would kill him before the cancer did was not inspiring to him so he made the choice to go with alternative treatments only. No chemo, No radiation.
He is now 67 years old and healthy as a krout horse. I told my little story to inspire him. Then I proceeded to bury poor Nancy with a ton of information and resorces for more information. I have also offered vacation time to go up and help with whatever. Everyone who looks at this blog I'm sure is doing what they can do to pitch in in any way they can.
Dean you remember that owl on your back? A lot of people have Erik's back in a very positive way.
Beck

DeanMan chimes

(Andree here) Dean. That's all I gots to say. Read him below.
* * *
Earthquakes. Tsunamis. Tornaders, menaces of nature in general; nyah, Biiiig Deallll. Plagues, Pollution,Famines, Genocides, Terrorism, don't give a ripsnort. Oil Crisis? Global Warming? Al Gore, you Putz, take yer global warming crisis, roll it up real tight, and cram it up your little squirrel's puckered fannygasket. CAN'T YOU SEE MY BUDDY ERIK IS IN TROUBLE?!?!

Jackasses.

I think in reality, less Americans were actually diagnosed with the dreaded Bird Flu than reported cases of what Erik's got. WTF is wrong with you people!??!

See, I feel this way because in of our wacky circle of friends and family, and our little tribe of mutant buddies, Erik is a pretty important guy, sort of a hub. So, giant asteroids crashing into Jupiter is a major cosmic event, but this li'l crisis is way-the-F bigger. He's kind of our tribal leader. I and many of us often say, in the middle of certain conundrums,"What would Erik and Nancy do?". He and Nancy have their shizzle dialed in better than anyone, so there's the role model thing not just for the kids in their life, but for all of us out here too.

Out of all my crazy stories and tales, Erik is in about 90% of 'em. Back long ago in high school, I was driving the gang around, looking for a party in the middle of nowhere. I unwittingly saved our lives by slowing down right before a car blew through an intersection and it would have creamed us, it was going about 90.

Maybe the psychic powers kicked at the right time so I could avoid that. Now while I think we'd all throw ourselves in front of a bus to save each other's lives, Erik's new situation isn't so simple. The Superhero part of me wants to drop everything and beat up doctors that aren't trying hard enough or whatever, but actually the network of family and friends is better than anyone else's in the world. That's what is going to push him through this.

That's Gold. GOLD!

I haven't written anything here 'till now, mostly because I'm still stunned and in a stupor about all this. I think I'm actually having real, physical sympathy pains also. So everyone out there reading this, keep him laughing; as he's said, He's not dead yet. None of us are! Now get to work making his life easier. Below is the earliest photo I could find of me and Erik together, circa 1983 maybe? We're posing for a yearbook picture, analyzing a press in McNabb's print shop. I'll post more as I find'm.

All this recent talk about Grizzlies and Jack Black makes me think of the Friendship Song:

Friendship is rare,
Do you know what I'm sayin' to you?
Friendship is rare.
My derriere,
When you find out much later
That they don't really care.
It's rare to me, can't you see?
It's rare to me, can't you see?
Oh shit there's a bear,
Could you hand me that shotgun buddy,
Also that chair?
We're fighting a bear
Now your life's in grave danger
And you don't even care.
It's rare to me, can't you see?
It's rare to me, can't you see?
It's rare to me,
Say a prayer for me,
'Cause it's rare to be In Tenacious D.

Ron Maatita says

(Andree here) Here's a lovely message from Ron Maatita -- and his daughter Bailey.

Hi Andree, I just wanted to take the time to share my daughter's performance dedication to Erik.

Bailey spent a good chunk of her first year on earth periodically accompanying me to the Chatsworth office of Purdom Footwear Design. Her mother, Flossie, worked early mornings across the valley at (Jim Agnew and Bob Burns') Edgequest and would pick her up from PFD by 11am or so. Bailey shared in just a bit of the hectic life at PFD....before speaking her first word.

She is now 9 years old and is very active in children's community theatre. She's done 8 plays thus far. Each play requires months of rehearsal and commitment to learning songs, dances....and songs while dancing. I'm very proud of the tenacity and dedication she displays while taking on the challenge of each new play.

Bailey has memory of Erik in her young little brain and understands how dear he is to our family. She also understands that he's got a fight on his hands. She took it upon herself to bring him into her world by dedicating her performance in her program bio. This play was enjoyed by many in the community and her dedication was read by all who took the time to read it.....

Best,Ron

thinking outside the . . . pump

(Andree here) Bruce Beck dropped a line with this evocative photo and a short message:

This lonely gas pump is a great metaphor for just how quickly things in life can change. The begining of last year gas was 2.75 and suv sales were good. What a difference a year makes. The video about what BMW is just thinking about is sitting in my driveway. Meet my smart car. A structural high carbon steel space frame{The black part] and plastic body panels in silver. These have been built since 1997. I guess it takes a while for some people to catch on.

Here's Bruce's smart car:

How quickly things change, indeed. And good to see movement away from what is not optimal, to choices and abilities that are much more sustainable and optimal. It's like our search for what will do best by E - a cancer "smart car"!

¡Que choro!

(Andree here) I understand that's Chilean slang for "entertaining, worthy of attention." And what could be more so than two mighty dudes and a cardboard cutout of Che Guevara?

I'm right, right?
By the way, did you know Che Guevara was of Basque and Irish descent? God Almighty, what a mix. If you would like to learn more about him try this (Wikipedia).

Here's an adventure snap from Chile

(Andree here, photo from Dad) Everybody knows Mom, Dad, E, Nancy and the kids went to Chile in December, right? Here's a photo of the ferry crew and passengers at the end of the trip up the Beagle Channel and Magellan Straits to Puntas Arena, Chile.E is center back. Mom and Dad, back row, 6 and 7 from R. Nancy and the kids, next to E. We might get some more of these snaps - they're wild stuff.

the continuing sauna

(Andree here) No, I didn't mean "saga." The weather hasn't made it any easier to get the sauna done, so a dry weekend would be just the thing - not to mention Erik enjoys the sun therapy when he can undertake it.

Dave Pelsue (hey there Dave), knowing E's interest in all things good and original in design, sent along a most fascinating video link on BMW's newest idea - let's just say a car that weighs less probably uses less petrol. And apropos of E's situation he adds, "Zero in the artillery and commence FIRE! Los Los Los!!!" Ha ha, Pelsue! (Wait - weren't you the guy who drew The Alien as Santa one year for your Christmas card?)

Tonight when I chase the dragon*....I will run his flammable derriere over with a Pinz.

(Andree here) Ah, opiates. Useful and yet with side effects that mildly irritate, like a bit role in The Office, I suppose.

See - E had a recurrence of "ascites" or the accumulation of fluid in the peritoneal cavity. Happens a bit with folks in his situation. It's gone now thanks to a doctor who was happy to help it find exit a couple days ago, so E is more comfortable now and not feeling quite so bloaty.
Now he just has to navigate some of the side effects of his opiate-based painkiller, but cessation from pain is a certain value of itself.

*It's a Steely Dan reference.
"Tonight when I chase the dragon/The water will change to cherry wine/And the silver will turn to gold/Time out of mind." Chase the dragon = smoke opium. I don't think the opioid family's anywhere near as fun in real life as that sounds. Didn't you see Trainspotting? Ew.

If 6 was 9

(Andree here) . . . then I'd have gotten Nancy's birthday right. But noooo, I honestly thought it was today. It isn't. It was Friday. I suck.
I sent a card. It's late too.
But it's never too late to send a special thought for Nancy, the power behind the mouse, the mailings, the motivation. She's cataloging every possibility and logging every phone call to the health care system. She is really, really good at that. She is Erik's first line of defense. Send up big respect for Nancy as she fights at Erik's side.

Meanwhile - as we all wait for the next step - did you all see Gregory's comment under the "Erik says" post? He's quoted some lyrics to uplift us:

Don't worry about a thing

'Cause every little thing gonna be all right

Singin': "Don't worry about a thing

'Cause every little thing gonna be all right!"

Rise up this mornin'

Smiled with the risin' sun

Three little birds

Pitch by my doorstep

Singin' sweet songs

Of melodies pure and true

Sayin' "This is my message to you-ou-ou:"

Singin': "Don't worry 'bout a thing

'Cause every little thing gonna be all right."

Singin': "Don't worry don't worry 'bout a thing

'Cause every little thing gonna be all right!"

Thanks, Gregory!

Andy and Amy say

(Andree here) A & A Collen, good sports and great friends, shot us a warm message for posting. So please enjoy this with us . . .

* * *

Hey there Purdom Family and that means Erik too.

I know you have some idea of how much you guys mean to Amy and I. So! I just wanted to say that over the years you meet a bunch of people in one door and out the other. Every once in a while a really cool person comes along. You know someone you want to hang on to. This is where you guys all come in. I was introduced to Erik through our Jack Black man of hour the almighty "Dean Paris". Over the years Erik has introduced us to most of his family and in some strange way have become the alley cat that swings by the front door for the Holiday bowl of milk. Well you know what I mean. Over the years I have grown to almost feel as through both Amy and I have become adopted by this wild bunch. In my world things get crazy and I have always found Erik and Nancy to fall back on for those "Oh don't worry it's not that hard....why we dealt with a crew of over 1400 employees." All of a sudden with a few quick retorts from Erik Von Inspiration and we are back off to the race tracks. I want to say thanks so much for being there and I know that both Amy and I are there for you whatever your needs may be. Right back at you Cowboy! This reminds me of one of my childhood quotes from the book Illusions.

The Bond that links your true family

is not one of blood, but

of respect and joy in

each other's life.

Rarely do members

of one family grow up

under the same

roof.

Welcome to the family... No lets go kick some Cancer ASS!

A & A

Relax. Don't do it.

(Andree here) Oh, you thought I was actually going to quote those lyrics? No.

I only mention the soundbyte because I chatted with E a couple of minutes ago. It's been a few days. Things remain quiet and filled with nurturing fluids. And E is working hard at not doing so much. Since you know the man, that last sentence made perfect sense to you.

Erik has worked very hard for many years, and now his job is to relax and not do maybe so many things. Not right now. Later.

Relaxing is an acquired skill for some of us. But perhaps not for this jolly little dog, named Handsome, who belongs to E's friend Sheri at Swiss Army Vehicles. His seat has an airfilled, built-in pillow for the relax augmentation thereof. Dogs know this stuff. Learn and enjoy.

Steam.

(Andree here) I didn't get any photos of it, but on Saturday Erik and Nancy were working on the redwood sauna kit they had acquired. The idea is that E can sit within the sauna and detox - a pretty good idea, don't you think?
E was having a bit of heartburn but was taking advantage of every scrap of sun. Remember how he was speaking of his wish to manifest better health? Friend Dreanna N. sent an email or two to that purpose as well, including a link to The Healing Power of the Mind and Visualization from the About.com site on Holistic Healing. If you read it you'll get a good brief guide on how positive visualization works and how to start doing some. (Thanks, Dreanna.)