new thread
Longtime members will remember Sorted who used to be very active and was a moderator at one time. He still would visit here occasionally. He shared his journey to becoming a longhair on a website with progress photos and was very enthusiastic both of his own long hair and in supporting others.
His real name was David Parkes and he lived in Tenerife. I only found out this morning because he was usually active on facebook and hadn't been. According to the latest information on his wall, it appears that his death was accidental and occurred about 10 days ago. He was an avid hiker and led people through the mountains of the island where he lived. It's possible something happened connected to that. If anyone knows more, please share.
RIP
That is very shocking news. I had just been talking to David a couple of months ago via the Board's email. R.I.P. David - John
Really is a sad thing in this young man's life to have something like this happen. I find it odd and sad to read the post that was made in memory of him and see that it specifically states that he "wasn't a religious man...the opposite, in fact." That it ended that way for him or anyone, really, is the saddest part of the situation to me. No negative comments here, please. I'm simply expressing my personal feelings about it in the way that I see it, just as anyone else has.
Steve
Hi Steve,
No worries about me being negative at all towards anything you said, above; but I'd like to share something that I've learned over the years myself on this topic...
My favorite sister-in-law is an Atheist. In fact, astoundingly, both of her parents raised her (and her sibling) as Atheists -- in fact that whole side of the family happens to be very devout Atheists (if I can use such a word as "devout" - LOL)!
Now just for the record, I happen to NOT be an Atheist; but neither am I currently a member of any church, nor rarely do I ever even go to church (although I was raised a Christian Scientist, and still greatly respect the best of what I learned from that upbringing).
My sister-in law is an amazingly kind, considerate, generous, compassionate humanitarian -- and a great mom to my nephew! To me, all of those above qualities are very "god-like" (fine moral qualities that Christians and other folks of other religious faiths claim to be, but sometimes behave in ways that really aren't). One day I said to her: "You know, it's never bothered me that you're an Atheist, because you live your life in such a way that you do everything that an honest, earnest believer in God would and should do -- and that is more than most people who loudly claim to be God-fearing do!"
Nowadays you often hear the word "spiritual" bantered about; but there is a lot of truth to the fact that many people who aren't necessarily religious are actually very spiritual in both their thinking and in their actions. Although I don't claim to know Sorted as a close personal friend (I only knew him through MLHH here), my take on him was that he was not only very passionate about life, but that he was also, on some level, quite a spiritually-minded man.
I hope my sharing the above you find to be helpful.
Take Care,
Ken in San Francisco
I did not know him, but am nonetheless saddened to hear of his passing. Sounds like a cool guy. Also sounds as though he lived the way he wanted, which is what each of us should strive to do.
Oh man, what a shock... RIP. Truly sad that he passed away.
Oh crap. I should have noticed his absence as well. On his Facebook page his brother posted:
"For those not privy to this info on my own timeline: It seems that David did not take his own life, rather it was a tragic accident. There's been a brilliant amount of suport on here for us as his family, I'd like to thank everyone for their condolences and also point out that upon further inspection of Daves house, he did not take his own life - it transpires that david had an adventurous private life..... I won't go into detail but think michael hutchens & david carradine.... "
He was quite a character and will certainly be missed by many.
--Dale
After doing Wikipedia research of the two names mentioned above, my theory about the hiking accident is clearly incorrect. Yes, he was a character and lived life to its fullest.
I think that one name is misspelled. If they are referring to the INXS singer, his name is spelled Hutchence. I shall miss all three of these men, but do respect the fact they lived their lives to the fullest. RIP.
Ted
Jason,
So sorry to hear of David's passing. Thanks for passing along the memorial information with the picture. He will be missed.
peace,
jonalbear
WOW, I'm in shock. My condolences to his family. He will be sorely missed.
Thank you, Jason, for posting this unfortunate news, even though I'm greatly saddened by hearing about it. I'm not a member of Facebook; so appreciate being told information like this. Sorted contributed in so many ways here at MLHH, it was a privilege to have gotten to know him a bit through his many posts, replies, and unwavering support of long hair -- and without a doubt, his many volunteer hours he gave MLHH when he was a Moderator here.
I'm feeling rather speechless right now, I'm so so sorry to hear this news. He was way too young to leave us like this.
Oh wow! This is very tragic news indeed! May our brother with the beautiful long hair and adventurous spirit always Rest in Peace! We shall miss your occasional posts here and will continue to grow our hair in your honor! Until we meet again my friend...RIP.
Ted
Jason;
As sad as the news is, Thank You for sharing the fate of one of our family.
I corresponded with David several times discussing geology. He and I share a zest of Life and while his was short, he lived more than most.
Walter
This is truly heartbreaking news and I am so sorry to learn of Davids passing. I knew him quite well. David was the most wonderful person and I always had the utmost respect for him as an exceptional Human Being. As a moderator, he was surely beyond the best that anyone could have ever wished for in his abilities and what he did behind the scenes for countless hours to make sure that all would tick so well.
David, wherever you are, please know that you touched so many lifes for the better in your brief stay here, and though we may never have said it in any posting, we all loved you very much. Rest well.
Justin~
I remember him. I wish I hadn't read the whole thread, but I can't unread it now. RIP Sorted.
I'm so saddened to learn of this. David and I had corresponded, but on an irregular basis, throughout the last several years. He would have likely been just another Internet friend to have just disappeared, had you not told us, Jason. Thanks for doing that.
Bill
I have no idea who he was, but I found shocking the fact of getting to know via Facebook that someone you interacted with just passed away-.
RIP -.
Sorry to hear of this news.
R.I.P. brother.
- Oren
I'm sorry to hear about this, he was way to young to die!
Rest in peace.
Terribly sorry to learn of this, but happy to know that the time he spent here was lived fully and worth celebrating. See you on the other side of the veil, bro.
--Validus
Hi Jason,
Thank you for letting us know, and I am shocked and saddened to hear this. Although I never had the chance to communicate with David personally, I always held him in the highest regard, and remember his outstanding contributions to our community.
My heart goes out to his family and his friends during ths difficult time.
David
-------------------------------------
This is terrible. He was on my Facebook friends list. I did notice he had not been recently active.
Rest In Peace David, you will always be remembered.
Scott
How desperately sad. David was a strong influence here particularly due to his own reasons for growing out his hair which had reflected difficulties in his life. He was certainly one of the two major influences on me those years ago when I retraced the steps of my youth to become a true long hair again.
RIP
Duncan
Thank you Jason for bringing this news to the attention of the MLHH community as sad as it was to read.In a way it gives us closure as otherwise those of us who remembered Sorted would wonder whatever happened to him.It's a shame when active members suddenly stop posting leaving you to wonder whatever happened to them.I certainly remember Sorted and recall he posted here not all that long ago.It's always sad when someone passes but even more so when it's prematurely:( Even though I never corresponded with him outside of MLHH I know he was a loyal longhair who lived life to the fullest.My condolences..........
Mârk
Despite our getting to know him well, did anyone ever find out what it was that got him his nickname? What items exactly was it that he had been sorting?
Bill
Good question, Bill, although I haven't a clue how he got his nickname. I even just looked the word up in the Webster's American Family Dictionary, and even that definition didn't clarify anything to me... Oh, well, RIP David, you will be greatly missed!
- Ken
Yes, the nickname does not make sense when considering the meaning of the word. We only sort things, not people. People may get selected, classified, rejected, and probably lots of other verbs, but people just don't get "sorted".
Well, the word sounds a lot like "sordid", but I really doubt that was it.
He apparently liked the nickname, since as Scott mentioned, he called his web company "Sorted Sites". The name must have been related to some positive event in his history. He did live in a small town, and small town people can get goofy nicknames. It would have been interesting to have heard the story.
Bill
Bill,
I'm quite certain that I remember him explaining it here once perhaps on a thread where the meanings of various handles are explained. I, however, don't remember what he said it represented. Perhaps somewhere in the archives it could be found but I imagine it would be difficult given his large number of posts.
Jason
Well there's your problem, Ken. Wrong nationality of dictionary, although I doubt if that particular meaning has made it's way into British dictionaries just yet.
Alun
LOL, thanks Alun -- and sorry about the wrong nationality! (LOL) I'm at a computer at work right now; but enjoyed catching up with the replies, especially hearing your explanation of the definition of sorted... very interesting, and amazing how there is quite a difference sometimes between American slang and Brit slang
- Ken
If I remember correctly, David was a website designer. I think his website was called "Sorted Sites".
Scott
He did once post the 'history' of this here. I think publicly, however it is not shameful in any way and is actually a further encouraging thing.
He had been suffering from OCD Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)and the manifestation was that he was obsessed with cutting his hair - he never thought it was right. Growing out to become a long hair (to which he was absolutely devoted as we know) was the 'cure' for this, hence 'Sorted' as he was content with his decision to grow and the result and his illness (as it is recognised by the medical profession) was cured.
Yes, this was it. Apparently, he considered himself "sorted" out after growing his hair long and overcoming the constant haircutting.
Jason
The most recent t6hing on the internet seems that he was active in internet design at some point of 2012:
NuclearInternet.com
More recently he seems to have a been a full time guide with two web bases:
tenerifeoutdoors.com
and
tenerifehiking.com
Duncan
Ah, so he had sorted out the issues in his life. Thanks for the explanation. I think most people would have used "now at peace" to describe the situation and "sorted" is a strange way to say it, but it's a short single word, something people prefer for nicknames, however it was far enough off base that few "got it". Nevertheless, your explanation makes perfect sense. Thanks for it.
Bill
Bill, using the word 'sorted' in that way is a piece of British slang that is relatively recent. I have been gone from the UK for over 20 years now, but certainly people didn't used to say that before I left. It seems to be a one word substitute to mean something like "I've sorted that problem out now".
Alun
It's not slang - it is the past participle of the verb 'to sort'. The use of that part of the verb is commonplace in normal English usage, just as someone might exclaim 'finished' when at the end of a task and so on.
As an adjective, though, the usage here, it's not usually used for people, and it's never used for one thing, living or not. A bunch of things can have been sorted, but one thing can't have been. Unless David was schizophrenic, he could not have been sorted. As for issues (more than one) he might have had, one would say they were "sorted OUT". And as for people, the word is usually only used when people are seen as objects. One might say people upon getting off a train at a concentration camp, into different groups they were sorted.
It appears it was a quirky use of the word that only made sense in his mind. God rest his soul. He is now most certainly at peace, and "at peace" is probably what he meant by "sorted".
Bill
I'm assuming, UK, that you provided "finished" as an analogy, not as a synonym. To say that David is now "finished" is true, but a bit macabre. [wink]
Yes indeed
An example of when it used for people is in Harry Potter when the sorting hat sorted students in houses.
Not that unusual in normal English usage. "I've sorted him", "He's sorted" when speaking of resolving someone's problem.
Most native speakers of English would not regard those expressions as usual. When a subset of native speakers do see such an expression as ordinary, the reason is most often a usage limited to a region or social group that the user seldom migrates out of. "Slang" is a loaded term, and I wouldn't apply it as one user suggested. I think we can leave it as saying it's a regional variation. I would add that the expression is enough off base that most who are not familiar with it would not intuit the correct meaning, or any meaning to it. To the majority, it thus just comes off as weird.
There are some expressions common where I grew up that I don't use when away from there. There are some expressions among those in my profession that I don't use when I am not at work. Some expressions only have meaning within certain generations. There are even some words that we made up here in the house and I only use with my husband. Someone who is not well traveled geographically or socially. though, may not be aware of the limitations on some expressions that they use.
Bill
You are completely right, Bill. It's a matter of usage. This particular usage of the word is common in England, but was unknown there 20 something years ago when I left to move to America.
The bottom line is, "Do most people understand it?" It is not, "The Internet was invented in the U.S., so we only use American English." It is not, "The English language was invented in England, so we only use British English." It is not, "We only use California English because the MLHH web server is in California." And when I tweet, I don't use San Francisco expressions with abandon, because Twitter is two miles from my house.
Key here is what is in my first sentence. Will most people understand it? There are several expressions for forming a line, for example. Canadians call it a "line up". It may sound a tad quaint, but we all know what it means. Brits call it a "queue". This used to be meaningless to others, but programmers have used the word so much that it is now well known. A Spanish speaker may call it a "tail" because that is the word that they use in Spanish. English speakers would not "get it". Even in the U.S. there are variations on this. Most people say they are "in line". New Yorkers say they are "on line". I had a New York friend once ask me at a party serving a buffet if I was on line, and I gave him my e-mail address. He was very perplexed.
The good news when the world adopts your stuff as the standard is you don't have to learn their stuff. The bad news is that you will no longer own it. Non-native speakers of English now outnumber us. No matter how traditional and entrenched one feels he is, a crowd of newcomers will always come along and change things, and damn it, what they won't ask for is your permission.
Bill
I'm finding this nit picking over what the word means rather distasteful, the poor chap deserves to rest in peace.
Dave
But surely the trump card is that the English would.....
The problem with playing trump cards is that you may discover your deuce in the trump suit won't beat a trey in another suit, when you discover the others at the table are not playing bridge, but poker.
You are not alone in assuming that attitude, of course. Where do you think the phrase "ugly American" came from? [grin]
Key is sensing who the other players are and what game they are playing. No one wants to be as drab as an international shortwave station, which uses only simple words and pronounces ev-er-y syl-la-ble. Variations that reveal other things about you, including your origins, are what make you colorful. What makes one cool is being as colorful as one can be, without going so far as to lose people. The majority rules at these games, and when you don't make sense to people, they might just adjudicate you as out of touch with reality.
If I am talking to a Mexican who doesn't know English, I will use Spanish. If I am giving directions to a German tourist, I will use metric. Communication is about reaching your audience, not about stroking your ego. And to reach your audience, you have to know who they are.
No one can dictate the rules here. The majority does. Centuries ago, the Court used French and the Church and academia used Latin. They wouldn't touch that horrific gutter language of the common people called "English". Well, we know what now has become the language of diplomacy and the language of learning. And the United States Congress adopted the metric system in 1893. We also all know how well that turned out.
Bill
Maybe not slang exactly, but certainly recent usage
I remember when Sorted was active here. Very sad. RIP.
Thanks for the comments. I think it helps to grieve as a community and, as several expressed, much better to know what happened to a person than to be left wondering.
Life just keeps flying along and sometimes we forget about our mortality. ItÂ’s sobering when someone as young as David dies. It seems he may not have made the best choices at the end but he definitely did experience many things in life. He was a man with strong opinions and I enjoyed having quite a few discussions on various subjects even though we didnÂ’t always agree. It sounds like many others also enjoyed their interactions and discussions with him.
He was a good example of a longhair who successfully established at least two businesses, his software company and his guided hiking operations.
Wow.
I always looked forward to reading his posts. I've been more of a lurker here for the past few years, but interacted with David privately.
Thanks, Jason, for letting everybody know.
I did not know "Sorted" but It is very sad when anyone dies. At 59 years old I've had alot of friends/relatives/co-workers die. Life on this planet is very short and fragile, and it can end in an instant.
Which is why I always say you should live for today.
One of the great things about facebook is you can communicate
with old friends, friends that knew a common individual who
has passed away.
I've had a number of friends die in recent months and the only
way I was able the hear it them was through facebook. And even
though those deceased individuals are gone a number of very
close friends are not, and a number of spouses are not. And having
all these friends on facebook helps alot with the spouse to deal
with the pain of death.
Without facebook it could very well have been many years before
I learned that these individuals had died.
So at 59 years old i'm glad i connected with alot of thesee old
friends on Facebook.
Indeed, although I suspect sometimes people just disappear online without anyone knowing what happened. We are lucky we even found out.
I heard online that someone I knew from high school had died some time ago, but I still haven't figured out exactly who it was. Was it the guy I bought a motorcycle from and knew mostly from trips to the ice skating rink, or the one I also went to college with and knew quite well? They had the same last name, although they weren't related. I don't know if I should mail any Xmas cards to the latter guy. I hadn't heard anything back for a while, but is that because he had passed on?
I only have online contact with a small sampling of the people I once knew, and now I live in a different country. That is, I live in the US and most of them still live in England. I'm sure some of them could die and I would never know. Indeed, evidently at least one of them has.
Where you only know people online there is a chance that the whole board will never know where they went, or if they are alive or dead. The posts just stop.
He was always great to talk to.
Thank you for informing us Jason
I'm quite taken by surprise by this, it's so sad =( I remember him very well...
My heart goes to his family and friends and I do hope he enjoyed his life.
I initially had thought I didn't know him or interact with him
but I was looking at the archives using the Keyword "Sorted" and
noticed that indeed I had interacted with him.
It is really sad that he has died. Another reason why you should
live for today. You never know when the end will come or how it will come.
This is very sad indeed. "Repose en paix", Sorted.
Vivien.
So sad to hear this news.
I never had the chance to interact with 'Sorted', but I can clearly say that, along with the other resources in the board, his photos and posts were part of the 'push' I needed to start my own 'longhair' journey.
I'd often sift through the archives looking up his posts for inspiration.
It is indeed shocking to learn of his passing at such a young age.
Rest in Peace, David. You lived your life well...