Kevin's Watch

Also, I'm gonna talk about how I'm doing because, like... I just checked my e-mail, and... thread title 'n stuff.

How do I feel?
I've been very emotionally-volatile these last few days.
(lots has been happy/excited though! ?)

Thing is... I have some difficult information that I want to tell my dad right now.
It's like... kinda life-shaking stuff; not that my family's moving to another country, or that we're going to have another kid or such, but on that scale. Except tough.

I e-mailed him asking if I could call him.
He sent me one of his e-mails with his whole "I don't like to talk on the phone; I don't have anything of a meaningful nature to talk about, blah, blah blah..." deal.
So... uhh.. yeah; the portcullis went down.

At least it's out in the open now, though. Don't run from reality, Linna, don't run from reality.

Linna Heartlistener wrote: I e-mailed him asking if I could call him.
He sent me one of his e-mails with his whole "I don't like to talk on the phone; I don't have anything of a meaningful nature to talk about, blah, blah blah..." deal.
So... uhh.. yeah; the portcullis went down.

At least it's out in the open now, though. Don't run from reality, Linna, don't run from reality.

I sounds like he is either depressed or has his head in the sand. My father is the same way. Just let him know that when he is ready, you are there to talk to him.

Sounds like you could use a therapist to talk to. Help you sort out this flood of feelings.

lorin wrote:I sounds like he is either depressed or has his head in the sand. My father is the same way. Just let him know that when he is ready, you are there to talk to him.

*hug*
I've already written the e-mail.
Just gonna have a family member do a basic, "does this sound acceptable?" check.
I'm planning to let him know I'm there to talk, but not say it outright.

lorin wrote:Sounds like you could use a therapist to talk to. Help you sort out this flood of feelings.

That's a point... I had an awesome counselor a few years back.

Linna Heartlistener wrote:

lorin wrote:I sounds like he is either depressed or has his head in the sand. My father is the same way. Just let him know that when he is ready, you are there to talk to him.

*hug*
I've already written the e-mail.
Just gonna have a family member do a basic, "does this sound acceptable?" check.
I'm planning to let him know I'm there to talk, but not say it outright.

Given his generation, maybe a snail-mail letter would be more to the point? I know it's hard to believe but back in the Jurassic age before home computers, we wrote letters by hand on paper to send to one another.

Linna Heartlistener wrote:

Ananda wrote:There is a huge one made every year that almost always gets burnt down, too. (illegally, but it is tradition to sacrifice it and us heathens must have our blood for the solstice! )

Well, we Christians require human blood - and not just that, but from the Person in all the world whom we supposedly love the most.
So, to each his own?

Well, I was just sort of joking. But... the goat, if the thor thingie is where it came from did resurrect, too! It led thor's sled and he would slaughter it, make a feast and eat it. The next morning, it was alive again. But, I guess christianity has more to do with the winter solstice. Not sure if the goat fits into any of that or not. Think it was just a feast, but Softy knows a lot more about the goats than I do. Really, I just love the decoration. It is so cuuute! The strands of wheat for the beard is my favourite part.


Sorry to hear about your troubles going on. Isn't it funny how dealing with family can often be the most difficult or complicated interpersonal dynamic in your life? You'd think it should be the easiest, having known them all your life, but it can get so strange due to all the projections and expectations from all sides.

deer of the dawn wrote:Given his generation, maybe a snail-mail letter would be more to the point? I know it's hard to believe but back in the Jurassic age before home computers, we wrote letters by hand on paper to send to one another.

Wild... I hadn't thought of that!

Awhile back, a woman suggested I do that.
She was recommending I write him a long letter telling him all the stuff I wanted to say.
But I ignored her advice because I didn't feel "listened to."

Also... once or twice I've tried to use a long letter to "fix" something with a family member, and then there seemed to be no response to what I'd said.
So I thought this was a lousy plan.
But actually, maybe there was just no obvious response.

ananda wrote:Well, I was just sort of joking... Really, I just love the decoration. It is so cuuute!

Ananda- I was totally thinking the goat decorations are cute!! The braided horns, that nose!

And about the background... wow... I had no idea.
Then there's even more parallels, I think.

Jesus was called a sin offering...
...and he lived in a culture where the animal for the major sin offering of the year (I think.) was.... guess which animal?!?!?

Also, Jesus truly freaked people out the time He told them they had to eat his flesh and drink his bloooood.
(except it gets even worse from there...)

And I love how you expressed that part about family.... totalllllllyyyy.
I called a good friend of mine; told her what I'd mailed my dad.
Then she told me what SHE would have wanted to say and I laughed & cried.

Menolly -- I'm not sure I should post a review yet, since the movie's not supposed to be out 'til Christmas Day. Batty scored tickets to the press pre-screening here in DC. Let's just say Meryl Streep does her usual fine job of chewing the scenery.

I will say that the point of the thing is, "What happens after happily-ever-after?" (Which is not a spoiler -- the play has been out for a long time.) So the first act of the show ends with the prince marrying Cinderella and everybody cheering, but the second act ends on a much more realistic note. Well, as realistic as a show with a fairy-tale setting can be. But clearly some folks in the audience didn't know that. As we were leaving the theater, I heard someone behind me say, "If they'd ended it at the happy-ever-after, it would have been okay." Totally missed the point.

Ananda wrote:Isn't it funny how dealing with family can often be the most difficult or complicated interpersonal dynamic in your life? You'd think it should be the easiest, having known them all your life, but it can get so strange due to all the projections and expectations from all sides.

Well said.

Linna Heartlistener wrote:

ananda wrote:Well, I was just sort of joking... Really, I just love the decoration. It is so cuuute!

Ananda- I was totally thinking the goat decorations are cute!! The braided horns, that nose!

And about the background... wow... I had no idea.
Then there's even more parallels, I think.

Here is the live webbcamera of the goat that keeps getting burnt. You can keep an update on it. I see people guarding it.
www.visitgavle.se/sv/gavlebocken
I see there is an english version of the site, too. Apparently, you can follow this goat on twitter.

There is a bead shop in my area that has been selling some of the cabochons I make. I wanted to show you what these ladies are making with them. Pretty amazing.

lorin wrote:I wanted to show you what these ladies are making with them. Pretty amazing.

Sweet!

lorin wrote:There is a bead shop in my area that has been selling some of the cabochons I make.

That's ROCKIN', girlie!


And Ananda- it's amusing that happens but I'm not going to watch the webcam of a traditional Scandinavian Christmas decoration just like... sittin' there, bein' like.. cute... and inanimate.
It's like the proverbial "watching paint dry."

I don't want a yulebocken picture or video; I want my poem that's related to yulebocken that I memorized as a little girl!

lorin wrote:There is a bead shop in my area that has been selling some of the cabochons I make. I wanted to show you what these ladies are making with them. Pretty amazing.

LOVE!!!! You are adding beauty to the world, lorin.

Vex-dress IRL. The fit is excellent, but this is as exciting as it gets with a bookish nerd who has squirmed in the clutches of a persistent cold for over three weeks now. Oh, and I've toned the hair redder than the usual since summer-ish. I like this color as it's almost exactly the shade I had upon my birth. The curly texture vanished for good, though.

Will comment on the pretty jewelry etc. later, off to bed to cough and sneeze.

The dress looks good, and of course, even if you are not wielding a sword, there is one in the background.

Hope you recover from the cold quickly.

I really like the first one, Lorin - it has so much depth to it. It could be underwater, or deep space. Very pretty.

Nice dress, Frosty. Hope you're feeling better.

Good news:
My dad called me.
I feel like there's been a steady flow of good stuff since then.
(too lazy to look up appropriate Narnia quote yet, though.)

Here are some gifts people gave me along the way:
"Just because your dad is dysfunctional doesn't mean he doesn't love you; it means he's dysfunctional."
"The last time you talked was back in February? Well, he's old, so on his time scale, that's like... nothin'."

Frostheart Grueburn wrote:a bookish nerd who has squirmed in the clutches of a persistent cold for over three weeks now.

Colds.. so annoying.

That hair color is fun!
Curls going away? ...do you think the dyes have been hard on the hair?
(I used to dye my hair with intense dyes myself.)
And you really mean, "until it grows out which will take awhillle," right?

Thanks guys.
I already got told elsewhere they'll demand me to pay their eye surgery bills for the achy color.
At this point when we have 5,5h of overcast daylight and a black ground, bright hues have a huge psychological impact.

Linna Heartlistener wrote:My dad called me.

Yay!

Linna Heartlistener wrote: Curls going away? ...do you think the dyes have been hard on the hair?
(I used to dye my hair with intense dyes myself.)
And you really mean, "until it grows out which will take awhillle," right?

The curls vanished about 32 years back, so I doubt chemicals can be blamed. I use only natural products (like henna) and barely any make-up; keeps the allergies at bay as even hair sprays make my throat burn.

Forgot about the bright colors being useful for that... and I gotta say, I think skirts that 'swoooosh' are fun.

I did not know you could get SUCH a bright redhead-red with henna!
But I do not know... many things.

I avoid the chemicals too.
Well, I mean, there was that episode with bleach and purple hair awhile back, but...

Linna Heartlistener wrote:
I did not know you could get SUCH a bright redhead-red with henna!
But I do not know... many things.

Apparently you can, if you are a natural red(orange)head.
That, and let the mud mature for a couple of hours and take two cycles in the sauna.

That dress is adorable, Frosty! Uh...wait...fierce. Deadly, even. Yes! The roses have razor-sharp pointy things on the petals, I'm certain of it! And the little birds will peck out your enemies' eyes in a heartbeat!

Linna -- glad to hear your father called.

Lorin -- those pendants are beautiful.

My glasses came today from Zenni Optical, and I'm very happy. Nice to be able to see again.

I had a nice birthday. The girls and I went to the Washington Revels. They do a different culture every year. This year was Ireland during the Great Famine, and the emigration to the New World. I couldn't help wondering what u. would have thought of the terrible Oirish accents. And I was a little mystified about why they had one fellow sing a verse of "Deck the Halls" in Welsh. Ah well, I guess if you've heard one Gaelic language, you've heard 'em all.

(Last year's Revels show was about Bulgaria. Having heard actual Bulgarian folk music in Sofia a few years back, I decided to pass. )

Anyway, after the show, we went to dinner at...Noodles & Co. Yeah, we really know how to party.

I took today off for a doctor appointment and stuff. Back to work tomorrow. The new book comes out tomorrow, too. Aieee....