The Outlaw
In a real sense Tim was every one of us, the exact correlation between self and digital self is not possible. In a world without physical cues we are forced to supply the voices, demeanour and image of every encounter. We are provided with disembodied type prefaced by an introductory handle, then we are on our own. The fact that every one of us has to do this puts us all in the same room, so to speak.
Tim's demise didn't leave a lot of room for rewrites. I could point out salient facts, he died with a water pistol in his hand, Tim was in a lot of pain, he had recently lost his father, but the bottom line remains, not a lot of room for rewrites.
Tim was and still is, both a pillar and an outlaw.
The fact that Tim built the crazy train is enough in and of itself to make Tim a pillar, this is serendipity. The real crazy train that Tim was building was never the sleek beast made of metal and flash that he thought it was. Look around SI today and you can see that the crazy train that rolled was the one where coach tickets meant friendship and caring, caring about the fact that we are all little guys in the greater scheme of things. Tim did make a train that worked and his machine was an early prototype of the machines that will bring us into the future.
Tim always claimed he was an outlaw and it is likely that in the minds of most of the community he will always be an outlaw, I am not sure that Tim would want it any different. Tim's style of posting and his ability to bleed into the keyboard were nothing short of remarkable, you could see his black leather jacket after two or three his posts, leather doesn't make the best armour.
Writing about Tim directly is a limiting proposition, Tim was unique, but each one of us is unique. Tim is gone and yet, as you will see, so is every other investor in this story. I will tell you that I decided to leave many stones unturned in telling Tim's story, Tim created a full range of reactions in our community. Examining the scenes that made up Tim's time in this land reveal a story that cannot be told, it is for lack of a better word, crazy. |
