I had some work calls to make during my lunch hour, so I decided to catch up on Facebook while I was making small-talk. Despite current bullshit studies by managers with too much time on their hands who say multitasking is counterproductive, I can't fathom wasting my time by not doing multiple things at once.
And so there I was discussing ink limits for printing on plasticized board... when I lose my ability to speak. I somehow manage to end the call as my heart starts crushing my chest.
Long-time blogging friend, Tracy Lynn "Kap" Kaply, is gone.
It's impossible to reduce Kaply down to words. She was hysterically funny, yes. She was exceedingly kind, sure. She was delightfully raunchy, indeed. She was keenly observant, absolutely. She was craftily opinionated, no doubt. But to keep piling adjectives on her seems somehow a disservice when no amount of words will ever paint the whole picture of who she was. You had to know her to love her and, even though I didn't know her exceedingly well, I came to love her just the same. Your life was far more entertaining with Kaply in it than out of it, and I just don't know what higher praise I can offer than that...
You will note that she is wearing one of my "Try Evil" T-shirts. When looking for photos of her, it was almost impossible to find a recent image where she wasn't wearing one. She'd wear them until they were falling apart, then ask me to send her another one. And I always did. She told me that the T-shirt said everything about her that she wanted people passing her on the street to know. Adjective-free, of course.
I think the first time I met Kaply in person was back in 2007 at the first Daveattle blogger meet, but we had known each other online for years before that...
I'm pretty sure she introduced herself with "Yeah, I'm Kaply. Try not to fall down at my feet or anything embarrassing like that." Which is oddly typical of the Kap I would come to know.
It's more than a little sad to see that Kaply is the second person in this photo to leave us. Rick Leonard, another wonderful human being, passed on a while back.
People wonder why I act like a two-year-old most of the time. It's because growing up means your friends start to leave you.
And Kaply is somebody I just don't want to say goodbye to.
So I won't.
I'll just say that I will miss her.
Now if I could just figure out to do with all these fucking "Try Evil" T-shirts I had custom-printed in her size. It figures that Kap would go and die on me before she had worn them all. So typical. It's just like her to be sure that I had something hanging around to remember her by.
As if I could ever forget.
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I came right here. That’s the day we all met. I thought you might have the words I can’t find. She was unfailingly kind to me, and to my family. God dammit.
Yep. Her kindness was always tempered with that acerbic wit of hers, which is pretty much all you could hope for.
Fuckin’ Kaply. Didn’t she know she was supposed to live forever?
I know, right? Fuckin’ Kaply…
Boo. That sucks. I’m sorry man. :-/
Dave, I didn’t know Kaply, and I didn’t read her blog. But, she was your friend and that’s enough for me to know that she was pretty fucking awesome. I am sorry for your loss and am sending you much love.
Hard to believe! I’m sorry for your loss, would’ve loved to have met her. Reading her stuff was always a highlight!
Oh, I’m so sorry. This was a lovely tribute to what sounds like an amazing woman.
Thanks for this beautiful post, Dave. And for being the catalyst for that fateful meet up where I first met Kap. She was one of a kind and I am eternally grateful I got to be her friend. She made me a better person and I honestly am not sure what I will do without her. xoxo
“No amount of words will ever paint the whole picture of who she was” <–perfectly said.
The only time I think I ever saw her NOT wearing her "Try Evil" shirt was at Sizz's wedding (oh, and she totally wore a skirt. I have picture proof). I would love to buy those shirts from you, if I could.
Ye gods, what a person is Kap. Always will be, but damn it’s hard to let her go. Thanks for a beaut of a post.
I’m sorry for your loss. I did not know her, but she sounds like someone I would have liked. Sending lots of love your way and to her family and friends. xoxo
I wish I’d known her, too! What happened?
Thank you for such a great tribute and such a nice picture, Dave. I’m simply lost at this news.
Thanks for the tribute, Dave. Like many others, I’m lost for words right now after hearing the news, despite I’ve only met her once. We will miss her.
I’m a friend of Kaply’s from Seattle, and one of the little crew working on putting a memorial service together. During a brainstorming session last night someone threw out the idea of having a blank journal out for people to write their Kaoly-isms in. We all thought it was a great idea, and I was charged with finding a journal. My first thought was of that black T-shirt she always wore with the little devil and the text, “try evil.” I didn’t know where it had come from, but thought it was worth a shot to see if it came in journal form. I went home, Googled “try evil” journal, and up popped this blog.
These last couple days have been unbelievably heartbreaking, but finding this post was a great reminder of how loved Tracy was. She inspired great affection from a lot of people, from a lot of places–which says something about who she was. And I thought you’d like to know that she wore that damn shirt so much that it is literally the first image associated with her in my mind 🙂
She was one of the best, by far. You will be missed, Kap.