I’m Dea . .

BANG! BANG!

Wait . . . Wha?

What the future tells us

Me. Approximately Age 7

Nice suit. Thanks, Mom.

What I Foresaw

Days LeftSunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

29 30 1 2

3 4 5 8 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24

I’m grateful to have . . .

Lived my life openly for who I am

I’m grateful to have . . .

Never become a statistic (part one)– Approximately one out of every three teen

suicides is a gay teen– Approximately 496 youth gay/lesbian

suicides per year• This rate is greater than the witch genocide rate in

Western Europe during the witch burning times in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance

I’m grateful to have . . .

Never become a statistic (part two)– From the time I entered college through the start

of my first career, AIDS deaths (not cases, but deaths) increased approximately by 4000 each year. These numbers included many of my friends, associates, mentors and teachers. I find myself lucky to not be in those numbers.

I’m grateful to have . . .

Had a career I liked and left it on my own terms but can still bring that vast experience to my current work.(and, yes, I’m particularly proud to have been the original Breathe Easy Man, the official spokeshero for the Illinois EPA)

I’m grateful to have . . .

My family ties and having been a positive influence on the next generation, specifically my nieces and nephews

Regrets, I’ve had ‘em

I kinda, sorta regret . . .

Taking a long, circuitous path to finding my life’s passion.Taking a long, circuitous path to finding my life’s love.

I kinda, sorta regret . . .

Never learning to play chess very well

. . . but then again . . .

“I never look back, darling! It distracts from the now.”

Words I Have Lived By

“The one important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one’s work seriously and taking oneself seriously.The first is imperative, and the second is disastrous.”

-Dame Margot Fonteyn

Words I Have Lived By

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.” -Albert Einstein

My ObituaryMichael Annetta, after a long, courageous struggle with Life, passed away today. Born shortly after the Summer of Love, to decidedly non-hippie parents, Michael escaped the life he was born into, that being New Jersey. He was raised in the pastoral setting of Northeastern Pennsylvania, amidst miners and farmers who spent their days focused solely on the past. In a typically juvenile fit of rebellion, Michael focused solely on the future, neglectful of the fact that it never truly gets here.

. . .

My Obituary continuedTrained as an artist in several disciplines, Michael’s work often centered around adaptation, whether from one medium to another, one social group to another, or one career to another. He was preceded in death by his father, who, despite his mother’s warnings, did not actually die as a result of Michael’s coming out of the closet. He is survived by his mother, one sister, one brother, two nieces, two nephews, and a partner of not nearly enough years. He leaves behind many friends in a variety of fields, the more successful among which are probably still owed money, and much, much, much unfinished work.

The final word