Remembering Mario

NEEEEEEERRRRRRDDDDDDSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!

justinsalive@gmail.com (Chaucer) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 02:08:00 +0000

At least it's a song Super can appreciate.

"nullnullnullnullnull

justinsalive@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 21:14:00 +0000

Saw in the gossip news this morning that your girl Jessica Biel is finally single. Thought about how I wish I could email you and let you know that now's your "big chance". Thought about how you would give me so much crap for reading celebrity gossip, but that you secretly appreciated me keeping you in the know. Thought about how sad I am that you missed that "big chance" among others.

You're never far from the minds of those who loved you. There are always things that make us think of you and smile. Wonder what you'd be doing if you were here.

I read a book recently called "The Art of Racing in the Rain". It's about a Formula 1 racer. Well, actually it's about his dog. The dog's name is Enzo. You always said you wanted a kitty of your own and that his name would be Enzo. (That is when you weren't calling my cat Mars by that name.) Between the racing references and the dog's name, that book had me thinking about you a lot.

You would always want to call Andrea and talk about racing. Occasionally you'd watch just so you could have an excuse to call her. Sometimes you'd call, sometimes you wouldn't but I thought it was a pretty charming thing to love your sister that way - to have some special little thing to share.

I wish you were here so we could just exchange an email every now and again. So I could know that you are well and you could ask how my family is. I just wish you could have had more great rides, more laughs, more successes and more stories of shenanigans. I wish you'd have had more delicious food, more love and maybe even a family. I just wish you would have had a fuller life, although I know you would say your life was full.

Cheers, Mario.

Super's Fun

justinsalive@gmail.com (Chaucer) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 23:36:00 +0000

Came by these pics when I was searching through my computer folders. Put them on FB so I figured I would add them here too.

Super's Helmet Two Years Later

justinsalive@gmail.com (Chaucer) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:00:00 +0000

So that is what has become sort of a Super shrine in my living room. His "special" helmet in the case sitting on a 3 foot stand, and Ducati special edition Oakley sunglasses. There is nothing special written on the lenses yet- as with JC's Oakleys, but I am planning on it.

My Present to Super: Ducati Bikes In Italy

justinsalive@gmail.com (Chaucer) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 07:01:00 +0000

Forgot to always upload these for Super. They are pics of every different Ducati bike that I passed by in Rome when I was there for a week last year (couldn't be quick enough to take pics of the ones in motion). Thought there would be more, but the ones I saw are pretty sweet ones I think. Although, it would be nice to ride one like Warren has and not just look at them, but for me, that probably would not be the smartest move...I think Super would have agreed.

Mario TV Episode ∞- Bullet For My Valentine: Your Betrayal

justinsalive@gmail.com (Chaucer) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 23:53:00 +0000

Bullet For My Valentine- Your Betrayal

More stuff coming Super. Thinking about you. Wish you were here- could use your expert advice on certain subjects. Chauce.

Lucid Dream

justinsalive@gmail.com (Chaucer) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 02:50:00 +0000

After two years and a day, it is still difficult for me to believe that my best friend is gone. The notion that it's true is still so surreal for me. It's like awaking in a fog of drunken and drugged consciousness where I am not sure if I am in the middle of a dream or if I am awake and it's real life. I guess the event that has shaped my past two years so much is just that, not real in my mind, and any minute I'll gain back my cognitive abilities and realize that it was all just a very bad dream. I wish that was so. Miss you man.

Later,

-Chaucer

Everybody Loves Mario Lucchiari Frassetto

justinsalive@gmail.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:38:00 +0000

Knowing what I know now, I guess it is pretty incredible what Mario was able to do.

He made a choice to move to AZ where he could ride his motorcycle all the time. Where he could be who he wanted to be – even take the name his mother had picked out for him before she saw the blonde haired hazel eyed baby. Mario Lucchiari didn’t seem to fit that baby, but he invented a character it did fit: funny and lovable, knowledgeable yet irresponsible, good looking, charm that could draw anyone in. He read books about women, cooking, writing, racers. He shaped himself from a skinny, pale kid into a muscular bad boy with a heart of gold.

I told Mario that even after dating him for some time, I felt like there were people I had known only a matter of days who I knew better. He said that was silly. I said that I felt like I never knew what was going on in his head – only surface stuff – happy, sad, hungry, tired, horney – the basics. He just laughed.

Now I know how true that was. I didn’t know his given name. I didn’t know the real year he was born. I knew only what he told me about ASU. I knew the Mario he wanted me to know – the Mario who he designed and built when he moved out here. The beautiful, excitement loving, life-of-the-party Mario. I knew the guy who wanted to look good naked, who wanted to be the best in bed and the best on his bike, but who wouldn’t open up about what he wanted out of life. The guy who wanted love and stability, but not to be tied down. The guy who loved making kids laugh, but was really afraid to have any of his own.

Unanswered questions are what bother me the most. Wondering if I ever would have known the answers, if he ever would have told me the whole story. If ever we would have gotten to a point where I didn’t want to nag him about things he was (or wasn’t) doing and where he wasn’t bitter about choices I made.

The truth is that Mario was pissed at me the last time I had a spoken conversation with him. He and I had continued carrying on long after we should have called it quits – there was something neither of us could quite walk away from between us. Then the day came that I met someone – another man who captured my interest, and I wanted to give him a fair shot. When Mario called me early one Sunday morning, I told him. He wasn’t pleased, yet he knew that marriage and a family was something I wanted and that he was never going to give it to me.

We continued to email a little, text a little. He wanted me to know he was writing again. He needed to tell me that he was working a “real” job, that he had a company. That he was, after all, getting his ducks in a row. Mario told me about how excited he was that his California Dreams were finally going to come true. We could talk about his accomplishments, my family, my work, the cats, people we knew in common…. What he wanted to share and what he wanted to know about, but nothing further. He never really commented on the sarcastic congratulatory card I sent after I heard about that woman. And I let it slide when he would bash my new boyfriend’s occupation.

A couple of weeks before he moved, I was running some errands on my lunch hour. I saw Mario on his bike whizz by me going the other direction. I turned around to try to catch up – I wanted to chat for a minute, give him a hug and wish him luck. I didn’t catch up to him in time – he made it through a light and I didn’t so I let it go… One more little regret.

Missing Mario today and each time he crosses my mind. Every time a well built guy on a motorcycle passes by me, every time I eat an Italian meal, every time the cat cries at the door for no reason and I wonder if he's out there. Wondering how things would have been two long years later.

Pics by Super...

justinsalive@gmail.com (Chaucer) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:24:00 +0000

didn't realize that i had the photo(s)- Super sent them to me (and others), extremely excited about the revelation he had.

It's that time...

justinsalive@gmail.com (Unknown) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:13:00 +0000

Super Duper Paratrooper! It's that time of the year so I stopped off to drop you a little something. Heather Vandeven wishes you a Happy 35th Birthday. Of course, I told her you're only 29. Again.

: )

See you when I see you, if not sooner.............

Super's first trip to Vegas

justinsalive@gmail.com (Chaucer) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:08:00 +0000

Got in the night before JC and the Mudvayne concert at the Hard Rock Casino (see earlier story/posting)

Met these chicks inside at the Nine Fine Irishmen at the NY-NY Casino

Met this chick outside the Nine Fine Irishmen

Met this chick late-late that night at the Hard Rock Casino

Good 'ol Super- the out-going, party with everyone, could be the mayor of every town he visits, guy that always made going out to hang a great time.

-Jeffy Chaucer (hey, I took pretty good pics for once)

Pictures I have been promising for awhile...

justinsalive@gmail.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:24:00 +0000

These are already up on Facebook (all but one)...

Out in San Diego 11/05 for a make-up NIN concert. Super is camera friendly...

This was the third attempt at getting a picture together...finally a decent one : )

...second attempt...Jeff is still awed by the carpet...

...first attempt...Jeff likes the floor...

Mario, myself, and Frank - at a party in Ahwatukee, early 2000. This was the first picture of us.

Mario and I in San Diego for the NIN concert, 09/05

You tell Mario to behave and...

...you better hope you get 2 pictures quick before he does the latter, haha.
At The Venetian in Las Vegas pregaming it before the Convention.

Mario, myself, and Jeff - at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe AZ for NIN, 05/05.

Pictures sent from Mario's friend Andre

justinsalive@gmail.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:18:00 +0000

There weren't any captions, but use your imagination on the 1st and the 3rd and you'll be O.K. : )

Pictures sent from Mario's friend Josh (1)

justinsalive@gmail.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:55:00 +0000

Mario, Scott, and I getting ready to head out in Tempe, March 1997. Mario's apartment.

Mario and Josh.

Mario and Scott.

Mario at his apartment. (JC wonders if the Oompa Loompas were in town...hehe.)

Mario in his apartment, March 1997.

Pictures sent from Mario's friend Josh (2)

justinsalive@gmail.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:54:00 +0000

Josh and Mario, chillaxin' pt 1.

Josh and Mario chillaxin' pt 2.

UW-Whitewater vs. Oshkosh. Mario is in the long-sleeve white shirt on the left.

UW-Whitewater Lacrosse Team, Spring 1995, at UW-Oshkosh. Mario is third from the left in the back row, in his Detroit Red Wings Hat. He played defense and loved to get under the skin of opposing team attackmen.

A year goes by

justinsalive@gmail.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:56:00 +0000

Today, more than any other in a long while, I reflect upon the last year and what it has meant to me. It's still so hard to imagine that Super is no longer here. Yes, he's definitely here in spirit. And yes, his voice laughs like Tyler Durden in my head. And yes, sometimes I think he's watching me (and it freaks me out, in a funny sort of way.) "I know Super, I know, I should use something better than Jergens. I'm on it." :] But there are also days where I feel like I'm in a perpetual dreamlike state - and it's only a matter of time before I snap out of it and come back to the real world and see my friend again.

Alas, this is reality. Though I do mourn in my own way, I think my psyche has actually stepped it up a notch in response to Mario's death. I'm beyond the point of feeling sad for me, I only feel sad for Mario. I don't want to be selfish anymore, I want to acknowledge the things he's not here to do anymore. The things he loved doing, the things that made him laugh, and the things that made him the person he was. The person he always will be. Once again, I find myself staring in the mirror with that mantra, "hey, he's doing *everything* he wants to do now. Get over it, Justin."

I have little reminders tacked throughout my day to day that help keep his name nearby, such as a couple Super Mario miniatures, custom Oakleys, custom Nikes, a photo, and some of his old tees. He's every bit of motivation and inspiration as I would expect him to be. And yet, he still makes me smile. You have to admit that he was pretty bold. Thanks so much Mario, for being such a good friend to me. You're in my thoughts more than you know. Keep your eyes open brother, if all the rest of my years fly right on by as fast as this one...it won't be long before we're laughing it up together again. Love 'ya man. (And yes, I know exactly what you would say to that, haha...)

One Year Anniversary Ink For Super

justinsalive@gmail.com (Chaucer) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:01:00 +0000

55424 is the final mileage on Super's bike. As you can probably notice, the tat is written backwards, as seen in the picture with the reverse image in the mirror. I got the tat with Justin when I visited AZ in early January, prior to going out to Cali to spread Super's ashes.

For "Super" Mario Frassetto : 08*31*74 _ 06*29*08 : who is greatly missed.

-Jeffy Chaucer

MarioTV: Don't know how much of a fan Super was...

justinsalive@gmail.com (Chaucer) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 19:24:00 +0000

...but I am sure he would have respected the music/artist of MJ. Here is one of the top pop culture moments of all time - for all of us old enough to have remembered watching it.

Motown 25: Michael Jackson: Billie Jean

The first ever appearance of the "moonwalk" can be seen around the 3:40 mark.

Some Robot Chicken For You

justinsalive@gmail.com (Chaucer) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:54:00 +0000

"Joy Stick"

"Inside the AT-AT"

Warning: Mature Content

100 movie quotes in 200 seconds

justinsalive@gmail.com (Chaucer) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Super loved the movie quotes...here is some of the best.

Needs editing: Video No Longer Present - Wait for update

Pics by Super...had to have made him happy

justinsalive@gmail.com (Chaucer) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:00:00 +0000

(even though it's just against the 'oytes)

Pics by Super...Super on the track at laguna

justinsalive@gmail.com (Chaucer) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:00:00 +0000

Pics by Super...his babies

justinsalive@gmail.com (Chaucer) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:00:00 +0000

Pics by Super...he took it out side the Hard Rock in Vegas

justinsalive@gmail.com (Chaucer) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:00:00 +0000

Pics by Super...at the beach

justinsalive@gmail.com (Chaucer) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:00:00 +0000

These pics were found on Super's myspace, most likely taken on "his" beach in Cali.