There was an old joke between him and I that he was "the good twin" since back when he was interested in mysticism, he mainly stuck to practices involving Archangels and gnosticism, whereas I was a bit more liberal in my studies and practices.
Much respect in honor of my old friend, Jonathan Morris. He was known by many names depending on where you met him. DJLotek, doombuggy, etc.
Jon passed away on Christmas Eve. It is said he passed in his sleep.
Everyone I've told (or almost everyone) has asked "how did he die?" I'll take a page from The Last Samurai and pose the question to "ask me how he lived."
Some of my best memories of Jon:
He could always tell a good, plausible story and you were generally laughing so hard at the end due to the imagery presented that you didn't care to question.
My favorite story he used to tell was of a time when he had gotten in from clubbing in the wee hours of the morning and went right to bed without washing off the face paint he had worn to the club. He had slept only a few hours until he heard a man's voice coming from the living room. He lived with his grandmother and his grandfather had passed some years before. Thinking something was wrong he came storming out of the back room, black spiky hair, messed up white facepaint, in only his boxers. His grandmother had worked for ORU for years at this point. As the story goes, Jon comes storming out into the living room to encounter Oral Roberts wearing an expression like Satan himself had just appeared in the room. Jon concludes the story by saying Oral Roberts left the house soon after he returned to bed and was never seen there again.
We would go to Casa Bonita. I would eat 2 plates of food, Jon would eat generally 4. The waitresses never complained, just stared in shock. Jon also loved Pancho's Mexican food. The people at Pancho's hated him though since he would continually send them back for more food. You don't bring a 6'9" 300+ lb guy one single taco when he says he wants more. :-)
Many people didn't see him emotional (other than enraged while finding themselves tossed out of a club Jon was bouncing at.) When his grandmother passed, it was plain to see how large his heart really was.
I loved messing with him. It's not often you can tease a giant and get away with it. But he did teach me that no matter the stature, a person is a person. People would ask him "hey, do you play basketball?" He would look down at them and say "no, do you play miniature golf?" Generally people wouldn't get it.
When we were roomates, one time I warned him that I would play 'Night on Bald Mountain' whenever I needed to get my mind in a space to do powerful rituals. Generally ones to induce change. Well, one night I came home and turned on the stereo in the bedroom. I had intended on listening to the Beastie Boys, but obviously I had the wrong tape in the deck. So, yup, 'Night on Bald Mountain' came blaring out of the stereo. Then from the living room I heard this roar of 'OH SHIT!" then things being knocked over, the door slamming, and his car screeching away. I laughed my ass off. It helped bring about change for sure, the rest of the night I was in the best mood.
During this time we found a baby kitten in the parking lot of the apartment and Jon took him in. For some reason, I was never allergic to this kitten and it was fun to have around. To see Jon laying on his bed listening to music with this tiny puffball perched on his shoulder was something special.
Then he met Jennifer and he was hooked. I couldn't get him to shut up about her to focus on anything else. The giant was in love and stayed that way until the end. :) We could all be so lucky.
So, in closing, Jon was a guy who loved life despite all his pain from his size and loved to help people. He was gruff at times, but always had the best of intentions.
I'd pour beer on the curb for my fallen homie, but due to his size, only a keg would be fitting and I can't lift that much.
(I know I've left out a lot of good memories, as they come to me, I'll update this.)
