the human condition...

lately, i've been wondering about the types of posts that could fill my blog. i know that i always want to put down a signature pièce de résistance, but it certainly isn't possible. i also realize that people may not want to read about all my daily happenings. really, how much more interesting is my taking a crap than someone else's?

as my 10th grade English teacher, Barbara Arkin, would say, "Substance, people. I want substance in your essays." Or was it my European History teacher? anyway, regardless of the quoter...the gist of this small rant is just to give my blogpile some 'oomph.'

I think that I may try to have a theme three times a week in my blog. Perhaps I'll talk about an incidence in my travels, or a quirky person whom I have encountered in my life, or even a hopelessly trivial fact.

the title of this post is called "The Human Condition" because that is one aspect of anthropology that interests me greatly. my formative years were spent meeting some truly neat (weird, sad, you fill in the adjective) individuals who frequented my parents' restaurant. you meet all these people, talk about the weather, TV, Broncos, etc., tell them to come again or that you'll see them soon...and yet, you never really get to know a person; you end up lacking the pertinent facts of their lives. they're just going to come in and order egg rolls, sweet and sour pork, broccoli beef...and they're out the door again.

the person i'm going to talk about today ordered vegetable fried rice for a good eight to ten years at my parents' restaurant. his name was Edwin Golik-Golikov, we called him EGG.

rumor has it that EGG was once a Dartmouth art professor who just lost it one day, left New Hampshire, and made his way to Denver. he used to come in with his large gray sweatshirt, tattered leather bag, and an occasional beige, straw cowboy hat. EGG was a large man. i'm guessing that he was about 6'1" and near 300 lbs. he was in his 50's and had long salt and pepper hair, accompanied by a mustache and beard. he had a smile that could really brighten your day...but he also had an unstable side that could wreck it too.

when i was eleven years old, i started hanging out with EGG whenever he came in. he declared that, in a space of eight months, he had lost 50 lbs. by coming in every day and eating our vegetable fried rice. this was fifteen years before that obnoxious Jared did the Subway diet and the subsequent commercials.

for the next two years, EGG and i would spend a couple hours a day at his table, just shooting the breeze or doodling on pieces of paper. the doodles were usually rapid-fire pieces that we'd hash out by drawing a bit and passing it back and forth, adding to it each time.

EGG always had either a black, fine-tipped, felt pen or a medium point, black rollerball pen. he was a phenomenal artist. he could whip something out that would just blow yer mind. i smile when i think of the exquisite details he could add to my simple, amateurish drawings.

that was 1981 to 1983. from 1984 to 1990 (when my parents closed the restaurant), EGG came around a little less often. we still chatted, but the doodling dwindled considerably. in fact, i don't think we drew anything the last four years.

EGG seemed to be battling a bit of mental illness. sometimes, he'd be 'normal' and other days, he'd be moody and talk about strange things (i.e., conspiracy theory-type). in fact, when the weird stuff popped up, EGG would disappear for a couple months at a time and resurface, back to his old, jolly self. we always wondered if he went through periods of institutionalization.

even after the closing of the restaurant, i did see EGG on occasion. he'd call me and we'd spend some time at the Krameria Cafe. unfortunately, the last time i saw him (1992?), he was a bit belligerent and contrary.

just this past year, i got on a kick about searching for people through US Search or the Nat'l Database of Obituaries. well, i found out that EGG had died in August 2001. i had hoped to see him one last time. i'm sorry that i didn't try harder to keep in touch.

after doing a search online, i also found out that EGG was a well known advocate of mail art and rubber stamp art. i always wondered what circles he traveled, other than Chinese kids who hung out at their parents' restaurants.

a couple weeks ago, i came across a postcard of Jesse Hall, which is the main administrative building at the Univ. of Missouri - Columbia. i had addressed it to EGG, but never finished it. i think i'll make a tribute to him and tag-team doodle on it with someone...R.I.P., my friend.