Hands Across Gheorghe

On very, very rare occasions, the G:TB family calls upon our better angels in support of the people we hold dear.  FOG:TB KQ's cousin Dan Butler passed away last August after a seven-year fight with colon cancer.  Cancer, as we all know by now, sucks.  KQ and her band of merrymakers (not the least of whom is Shlara) honor Dan's memory in a number of ways, including participating in the annual Undy 5000 run in Washington, DC on November 5.  Her racing outfit is pictured at left.  And yes, we've asked for race day photos.

Here in KQ's own words are a few recollections about Danny, who she said, "was Gheorghe before Gheorghe was a movement".  Unfortunate phrasing aside, he seems like a prince of a guy:

He was amazing, with sense of humor and facial acrobatics akin to Steve Martin. After he graduated from Indiana U, he went to NYU to study film, and eventually worked in NY and LA in the film industry. He even worked for a while as Al Pacino's driver. And had a penchant for closing down bars by standing on a table, belting out a heartfelt rendition of "God Bless America," often with his tie on his head. At his funeral the organist played 'God Bless America' for the recessional and the priest (who was an ass) commented that he thought it was a lovely touch, considering how patriotic Dan was.

When he was at IU, Dan had brought a new girlfriend home to meet his family. His mother was making small talk when she noticed the girl kept staring at Aunt Nancy's feet. When she finally asked if something was wrong, the girl said, "I'm sorry. It's just that Dan told me you had flipper feet." "Excuse me?" Aunt Nancy replied. "He said you had webbed toes and flippers for feet." Needless to say that relationship didn't last long.

Dan was the second oldest of four brothers. When he was in middle school Kevin, the youngest, had to write a report on obscure presidents, and chose Chester A. Arthur. Dan asked Kevin what was unique about him. Kevin responded "well, he had exceptionally long side burns." Kevin worked very hard on his report, but after he went to bed, Dan took the liberty of making a few edits to the paper. The next day as Kevin was handing in his paper, he noticed a slight change in the title. It now read, "Chester A. Arthur: President, or Boob?" When he came home after school Kevin was furious at Dan, telling him the teacher was making him re-do the paper, and yelled at him "there is an appropriate time for humor, and an inappropriate time for humor." Dan's response was, "Kevin, the inappropriate time for humor is the ONLY time for humor." Which has since become somewhat of a family motto.

At present, KQ is in third place in the race to see who can raise the most money in support of the DC Undy 5000.  Join Team G:TB in supporting a worthwhile cause: girls running around in their underwear. And if you want to ogle, the race is at West Potomac Park at 7:40 in the morning.

G:TB, combining philanthropy with awkwardness around women since 2003.