Matthew Craig

As a close friend of Luke's I'm not sure where to start. But for now I am hosting this site, which is a start.

I knew Luke for almost 4 years. We became good friends about 2 yrs ago, we went through a lot in those 2 years, many a night/weekend fixing cars, having drinks, and watching movies. My last memory with him in person was at the driving watching The Fast and the Furious: Tokio drift. Myself, Luke, and our common friend Dan Vantassel all really enjoyed the movie, although Luke's car battery died, so we had to get a jump-start.

I miss Luke. I miss the silly dances, the loud music, and the crazy ideas. We spent many hours talking in our various contacts over the years. He was creative and genious... however he lacked a lot of the social skill and experience to convey what he was thinking to people, so he often appeared crazy, and out of place. His mind was truely a multi-tasking peice of work. One of the things that I liked about him most, is that his mind always had about 12 things going on in it. And he would talk about all of them fluidly... I was fortunate around him long enough to be aware of most of them; So it made sense to me, when he would switch topics mid-sentance, but to many people it just seemed random and strange.

I know that Luke also loved his car, He and I spent many (oh way to many) hours working on it. He was a perfectionist... always tweaking, breaking, and fixing it. Always seeking the very best it could do. Unfortunatly he never go his car to that place, but I'm sure he would have eventually got it running better than new.

His perfectionism was a wonderful asset, but also his greatest hinderance. It cost him a lot, and yet gave him a great deal.

He also hated pop-culture... the reasons changed from time to time... but he hated things that did not seem original, or genuine. He really disliked most pop-rock music and musitians. I have to admit, I only got to hear him play guitar 2 times. And both times he was just doodeling.. so I have never got a chance to really see him play, although I know he loved it.

I have to admit my favorite memory of him is seeing him ( all 6'4" of him) riding a pocket motorcycle.... I think his knees were almost over his head, doing about 35 mph down the parking lot. And trying to stop before he hit a car.

Randomness:

He would often run around singing the phrase "Shake it like a salt shaker" (He used to hear that song on the radio and didn't understand it... he thought it was saying "Shake it like a sausage..." and it took him a while to figure it out, so he would randomly just bust out with that phrase at times)

I also have to say it... it is not apropriate, but I want it to be remembered... Luke laughed for hours over the song "Damn it man"... I don't know who sang it, but I can remember him laying under a car in U-Pull it (a local junk yard where we often got parts for our cars), and he is trying to pull a starter and you can hear his ratchet clicking... and the song "Damn it man" comes on... and it gets to the part "hmm.. hmm. hmm .hm..." and all of the sudden... he gets it... and starts laughing... he laughed for a solid 30 min... and from that day forward all you had to do to make him smile was say either "Damn it man" or "hmmm.hmmm. hmm. hmmm" and even if he was angry you could get him to crack a smile. If you want to listen to the song feel free... it is not exactly something for the kids... but it made Luke laugh a lot. (For the back story... he had been singing the song for weeks, and didn't understand all the words... when he finally understood them is when he started laughing.)

Luke even though immersed in technology, really did not seem to care for video games, myself and mike moss would play them and he would come over and watch for hours just to hang out... but he never wanted to play. I didn't understand that part, but I think he just didn't see the point in it... (maybe)