Patrick W. Welch (1965-2008)

Patrick Welch, one of the few people I would like to call mentor, friend as well as one of the greatest instructors I’ve ever had the honor of knowing, has passed away last week.

Normally, I would give a blurb about who he was and how he has impacted the lives and art of everyone he had come in contact with, but my sadness is a sign of how he has impacted mine, so I shall continue on the topic as it’s going with not as many tangents as I usually go off into.

When I first heard the news, I just arrived at work. My boss told me that he “is no longer with us.” I admit I originally thought that he was simply not working for the school.

“Cool, I’ll just drop him a line when I get the chance to see what’s going on, right?”

These were my thoughts going through my head as I was checking in equipment for an employee. Then he [my boss] looked at me in the eye and asked me if I knew what he meant by saying that.

All of a sudden, my world just stopped.

This was the same man that helped define who I am as an artist and an animator. The same man who showed me how I can give all of my characters depth to a point in which I can only refer to them as “My Children” The same man who, when I was feeling unsure about myself and abilities, had enough confidence in me to be that voice that would tell me to “Keep on truckin’”. The same voice who told the department head when I felt embattled during my 2nd stint at portfolio class that I was going on the right track. The same man who told both me and my wife to never give up when times were tough….even when things weren’t going all to well for himself as well.

…and like that, he’s gone.

For the past few days, I felt somber, to say the very least, but I know he wouldn’t want me to continue feeling that way, though he would understand, I guess. There were times which I wanted to cry, but cant and other times where I unexpectedly cried. Emotions are weird like that.

There are a lot of things that I wish I would have done, but it’s not the time to regret. It’s time to move with it as opposed to moving on from it, as a friend once said in his blog entry. It makes all of the sense in the world, because moving on is a lesson in futility….and I never want to move on, anyway. I’m happy moving along with it. We all should do it.

In remembrance of him, I will do three things…maybe more…I don’t know.

1.) Being that he’s well known for his facial hair, I have decided to grow out my sideburns as he had it when I first met him. It may be the most petty of the three, but it’s of sentimental value. I also know that I may slip up while shaving, therefore messing it up, but if I can keep it up as long as possible, it’s cool by my standards.

2.) I’m going to draw a remembrance drawing for him…not sure what I’m going to do with it, if anything at all. It’s just something that I feel that I need to do.

3.) And this is something that I encourage everyone to do, by the way:

You see, Patrick loved drawing pictures for his twin sons, Ben and Alex to color. Right now, this is what they miss most, aside from the obvious. No one else in the family can draw like him, so they’re forced to make do. So as a way for his students and those who wish to give their condolences, there is a drive for drawings. This will help them out a lot.

The Pages should be simply drawn, so they can color them in and add images in the blank spaces. They particularly like trains, cars, planes, and other modes of transport; rainforest scenes; the ocean; insects; and animals of all types, especially kittens and mice. (Alex thinks he’s a kitten. Ben thinks he’s a mouse.)

Of course they can be combined, like a frog flying a plane. (Something Patrick has recently drawn for ben, who loves tree frogs.) Having their names in the image (like having a mouse labeled Ben or a kitten labeled Alex) is also something he would do for them.

For those of you that knew him, you may draw a likeness of him so they can remember him. Just make sure that whatever you draw is absolutely for kids. Nothing grim or ironic whatsoever.

If you want to participate, as I will…being that it’s the least I can do for him, let me know and I can have it sent over to them on your behalf.

…Thanks, Patrick. I’m forever grateful and will miss you.

Mr. Burley takes a wife. (Long read...semi-rant inside.)

Now, before I begin, I would like to say this to those who I've invited...Claiming that they would not miss it for the world, yet no-call-no-RSVP-no-showed.

A little over four years ago, I have decided to throw a birthday get-together for myself at Navy Pier. There was nothing really special about it aside from the invitations I had made. Everyone paid for their own food, beverages, etc. It actually was more of a social outing more than anything, but I just wanted to enjoy the company of friends on a huge night on the town in which I aptly called a "raid". There were people that said that they couldn't make it due to either finals or whatever they had going on in their world...and it was ok. However, there were those who said they would show and wouldn't miss it.

Bottom line is that absolutely no one showed and I wound up taking myself to some restaurant, ate some wings and had a bottle of beer. Hands down, one of the most depressing days in my life.

Fast forward to exactly one week ago from this very date: Saturday, October 4, 2008. This was the day of my wedding reception. I have sent out invites to everyone I felt closest to, being that most of the people that were in attendance were complete strangers, it would have been of some comfort to have a few familiar faces in the crowd of well-wishers. So, I've announced it, sent invitations (both online via email and traditionally, being that my in-laws took their time to get them out.) Hell, I've even corresponded with you regarding the time, date, and place of the event, again, some people who couldn't make it have at least told me that they wouldn't be able to do so and in my books, that's fine because at least I know about it and know that I can rely on someone to at least let me know they couldn't make it. What irks me is that those of you that said you're going to make it, has the information, and even responded to me regarding the event, did not show up nor give any reason at all why you couldn't neither before nor afterward. I admit, at first, I was livid about it.

Then I thought about it for some time and realized something...

I shouldn't expect to rely on people although they can (or rather could--past tense) rely on me and I really shouldn't be as trusting. It may seem pessimistic and bleak for me to say this, but it's true and would yield me far less disappointments in the long run. (I really do not like to be disappointed at all, as you can tell.) So I'm neither as mad as I was nor glad by any sense of the word, now I'm just more cautious from now on about trustworthiness and respect. Out of respect, I will not call anyone out at all, though those that wish to make themselves known can do so by all means. Or address this with me privately. Or not address this with me at all. I'm perfectly fine with any of these.

Now for those that have shown up from my list...all four of them...out of 12... (as well as the two from hers), I appreciate your attendance very greatly.

Now that's out of the way, I would like to formally announce that yes, I am now a married man. On Friday, October 3, 2008, Andrea and I tied the knot at a small, courtroom ceremony, where those in attendance included her parents, my mom, and my best man, Quincy...(aside from the judge, of course.) We spent the next day at the banquet hall for our reception where we completely devoured the cake. ("Screw tradition," we say "...HAHAHA!!")

We were up since 3 am that day and there were ignorant as hell kids all over the place screaming and hollering, especially during the 1st dance...which pissed both of us off to no end considering the fact that we made it clear (or so we thought) that we didn't want any kids at the reception. Mind you, out of all the kids there, only two were well-behaved. Her cousin and my niece.

It's not that we don't like any kids whatsoever. It's just the bad ones that gets on our last good nerve. The good ones are actually VERY hard to find, apparently. Maybe it was their way of telling us that we should have some of our own. Doesn't matter... it ain't gonna happen at all, our line ends here. I'm through raising kids (my siblings and my niece is it for me.) and she doesn't want to go through that hell either. So that's that. I can continue on the topic later if you want, but be prepared for a long conversation. Moving on...

The meal was ok at best and "blah", for lack of a better term, at worst. The desert was awesome, though. The DJ, however just kept playing music we didn't want played louder and louder....so loud that in order for anyone to talk, they had to scream at the top of their lungs. And being that we were seated closest to the DJ table, it made things worse.

After that ordeal, we decided to take a couple of days to go away to this classy (to us, anyway) hotel in the burbs. We dodged a lot of goose turds, ate out, and just relaxed while not worrying about anything for once. Our spines loved the bed and kinda wept when we had to check out.

All in all, this was our week to enjoy, and we enjoyed it. For those of you that are picture mongers, we may be tempted as they become available.

Till next time kids!