drew & nina & stella

Drew waiting for camille to hook up playstation...

8-6-06

Drew and Nina came over...Drew used to work on his website. Nina is dancing on the bed while drews working away. Nina and I would do artwork. Oh, of course - I had to put this pic...in of Drews socks...

Nice Socks!!!

Just found this sweet shot.

JENKINS BEACH 2007

HERE WE ARE TRYING TO DREW IT UP AT JENKINS BEACH THIS PAST SUMMER. AND I HAVE TO SAY WE DID IT PRETTY WELL. BURGERS, RELISH, FISH FRY, THE BOAT!, AND GOOD OLD RELAXING AT JOE BEACH. SUCH A BEAUTIFUL PLACE. AND SOMEWHERE DREW LOVED--NICE AND QUITE AND OUT OF THE WAY. JUST A TRAILER AND THE WATER...WE WENT ON VACATION HERE FOUR TIMES WITH DREW AND THIS LAST TIME IN HONOR OF. IT WAS GREAT AND WE WILL ALWAYS BE BACK!

NINA'S PINK BALLOON

Monday December 10th, 2007 we came together to mark Drew's year. We brought flowers and white balloons. Each of us wrote messages to drew. Nina had a special pink balloon so that Drew would know, when he saw it, that it was from her.

They say that within the first year of someone's passing, the soul is floating between here and heaven and after the year they are there...........

REST IN PEACE DREW, YOU WILL FOREVER BE IN OUR HEARTS. X

Want you all to know I am now able to post!!!!

Eric Rasmussen here, now fully activated, very exciting, I can now post my thoughts as they come to me....it has been a year now since Drew's passing and I just wanted to say that there have been a few things this year which I know Drew would be so proud of....when we first drove past the "Old Stop 'n Fight" (an old, closed down bar in Topanga) we were looking for a location to shoot some pics of my band. He didn't say anything cause he wanted to see what I would show him first. But after looking at the spot I thought was good, he said, let's go back, I saw something back there.
We pulled up in front of the place and I laughed because it was such a well known place in it's day and I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it as a location, beautiful as it was....he framed it up from across the highway, dangerously close to traffic, and was sure he could get the shot. So we went up to the door of the house behind, where the crazy lady lived, and asked her if we could take a picture of the bar.
She said we could do whatever we wanted....guess she wasn't so crazy after all, she acted kind of normal, so we set up the shoot for a few days later.
When we came back there was a crew in front of the bar installing a chain link fence, effectively ruining our shot, and it was never taken. But this was the place Drew liked best for that pic.

As it turned out, the fence was a portent of things to come....the place was put up for sale. I had in fact thought many times about buying it before, and I purchased the property last year, before Drew's death. Just recently I was finally able to get the place into some kind of party shape and throw a party there, complete with my own beer on tap as if I had my own bar. I couldn't help it, I almost cried while onstage when I told everyone there about Drew. He would have been so proud and happy to see this moment, and I guess he still is, wherever he is....

I am still working on finishing the songs which I have begun to write about Drew, I think it takes some real time and distance to get it out properly.

I wanted you all to see this image as well, which was the dedication of our album to Drew, which he sadly did not live to see the completion of either. But he and I were musical brethren, he was probably the biggest encouragement for my music in my life and I miss him all the time for all sorts of reasons. Unfortunately the image is too big and I don't have the software to re-size it but I will get it up here next time, keep an eye out ok?

Thank you all for continuing to post and show your love for this man. I can feel it when I come here, how strong it is and how we share this bond of the loss of this dear friend.

Love you Julia, Nina, Jenny, and Hanna, have a good new year, it was great to see you all at our "Drew commemorative Pho dinner" here in LA, and I wish you all peace and blessings in the coming year.

Drew and Me on a Tony Hawk Marathon

i remember this morning. I just called in sick to work. Me and Drew had to get past this one level. We been playing it all night long and were so close to it. I called in sick alot with playstation marathons with drew....of course, camille woke up for work..and took our pictures..as we were in the same place holding a bud....and the playstation controllers....

june 27 2006

Country Boy, Tillamook OR

The beautiful beach at Oceanside. We stayed in a house up on the hill... My grandaunt Rose was married to "uncle" Rodney right at the head of that overlook. This was a family summer place for the young Penny family--my grandfather David, Beth and the kids, all six! Elizabeth and Rose grew up near here and the Penny clan as raised not far away--Klamoth Falls, where a number of family still live, looking out toward Mt. Shasta in the distance. Drew had heard many stories of my family in the northwest, yet in New York, so hard to visit. I am so glad they all got to come together last year. It was a pleasure on both sides.

Drew's favorite neice, Lily!

This was after an amazing stay at Jake's family home in Nasell, WA. Home brewed blackberry wine by the gallons sitting on the stairs. Home made beer and apple cider from the cider shed. Fresh veggies from the garden his dad tends. Nina canned beans. Jake slept under the stars and we were upstairs in the warm cabin. It was an amazing welcome into his home. Drew told his dad he wanted to come back to do an apprentice ship with him next year!
The rope swing was a childhood playground of Jakes!

May 2003

I spent alot of time with DREW

There were a couple or maybe a few years where Drew and i were inseperable. I would even go deliver pizzas with him when he worked at Marcellos pizza. A pizza parlor in the castro neighborhood of San Francisco. We had alot of fun driving around messing with peoples pizzas or atleast i would and drew would yell at me, and say grow up wassen, as i would be trying to eat a slice and then somehow arrange the pizza to look as if no pieces were missing...i even remember the day he met Julia and how crushed out he was. I hadn't seen him this way for quiet some time as him and lazia were on again off again...i miss drew dearly. We weren't so close in his later days, but i always thought of him as a brother...we played music, talked about our sex lives, always tried to find new bands to like, etc. I don't even know what to say, drew was a really big part of my life for a few years. I hope he is happy wherever he is, and looking down on us with his grin that was so contagious..I'm hindu and believe in reincarnation, so maybe he is with us, just in a million different forms...peace and love drew, i hope you understand.

feb 10 2006_Brooklyn

DREW AND STELLA

Driving with Sean of Longhorn Slim to do a photo shoot in atlantic city, they rented Stella. They had a great time together Sean has told me.
Drew tried his luck at the casino and WON. He bought Stella as a gift for Julia.
Drew loved Stella

MORE PHOTOS FROM MEGAN

WONDERFUL LETTER FROM MEGAN ON DREW'S BIRTHDAY 11-04-07

Dear Hanna,

I wanted to send you some of the pictures I have of Drew. I am unable to post on the blog for some reason. It eludes me, technically. I actually have tons of photos of Drew back in California and hope to pull them all out when I go home this December.Thank you for sharing the cake recipe, I think making it will somehow make me feel closer to Drew.I wanted to write you a note to tell you that I am thinking of Drew today, on his birthday. But the fact is I think about Drew every single day. If only for a brief moment. He is always there. Most of the time it's an easy memory that slips into my mind. Maybe the leaves changing color here in Berlin remind me of a crisp fall day in Brooklyn, laughing at a dumb joke, trying not to freeze on the way to the subway or a breakfast with hot sauce and I see Drew so clearly holding up a bottle of 'Kickin' Chicken' and extolling it's virtues to a table of hot sauce neophytes. Sometimes though, it's a sharp pain, the realization that he's gone, a sickness in my stomach, a lump in my throat that makes me want to rewind back to New York, find everyone who loves him and have one more day.Soon it will be a year since he's been gone and he is no less present in my heart. In fact as time goes on I realize that my friendship with Drew came at such an important and formative time for me, my mid 20's, that there are things I say, do and believe that are directly related to him. I tried to tell him this when he got sick. Tell him how important he is to me, how he helped me become who I am. He taught me to snowboard, (god bless him!), among other things. We became so close so quickly because we both loved doing the same things. Going to shows, making pictures and films, cooking food, eating food, meeting friends, this may not sound so unique but being around Drew was easy and inspiring. He had an energy and interest in life that was absolutely precious. Drew knew how to enjoy himself and how to make those around him feel at ease and welcome. He was an instant best friend.He also taught me to be calm in the face of chaos. I always think of his benevolent smile and it brings me peace.It's much harder to write this than I imagined. There's no way to capture a person and their essence in a letter. Or maybe that letter takes years to write.Basically Hanna, I wanted to tell you how important Drew is to me, how much I miss him and love him.It's that light in his eyes that shines like the beam from a star, he may be gone form this world but I can still feel his presence. I always will.So I am sending you all my love today. I'll be thinking of your whole family.And I will be in LA in December. Maybe we can see each other if you are in town too.Love,Megan

DREW'S BIG 3-0 BIRTHDAY 2003

On november 4th drew would have been 34yrs old.. Ever since i started making this chocolate cake, it's became a family favorite, drew, jenn and nina (i haven't made 1 for julia yet, i keep missing her birthday, sorry julia) requested it as a birthday cake.

Last year nina helped me decorate drew's cake and later helped him make a wish and blow out the candles.

Happy Birthday Drew, we Love and Miss you.

For those of you who have been waiting, here is the recipe.

Drew's Chocolate Cake

pre heat oven 350 degrees

oil a cake pan and then lightly spread flour over it, shake off the excess.

2 cups of self raising flour

2 cups of sugar

4 heaping table spoons of hershey's coca

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1 16oz sour cream

1 cup of oil 1/2 cup of milk

put all ingredients in a bowl and mix together. till well blended, no need to use a mixer. pour into the pan and put into the oven for 35-45 minutes.

take 1 small whipping cream and pour into a sauce pan.

add 2 bars of bitter sweet chocolate to it and cook over a small/medium fire till it melts together. mix well so it doesn't stick.

before taking out the cake check with a tooth pick that it comes out clean.

when the cake is done. while it's warm, take a fork and pierce the cake and then

pour the chocolate sauce all over it while it is hot.

if you have a question, feel free to call me : 818.921.0550 or emal me at: hzgoren@yahoo.com

enjoy............... X

DREW'S 13TH BIRTHDAY 1986

DREW'S 11TH BIRTHDAY 1984

DREW'S 10TH BIRTHDAY 1983

DREW'S 9TH BIRTHDAY 1982

DREW'S 5TH BIRTHDAY 1978

DREW'S 4TH BIRTHDAY 1977

DREW'S 3RD BIRTHDAY 1976

DREW'S 1ST BIRTHDAY 1974