(no subject)

[grinninfoole]

Much to say, and little time:

 

This past week, M and I went on vacation.  In practical terms, what this meant was that on Saturday 5/26 I worked until 5 pm, when M picked me up.  We went to the diner and then to her office so that she could leave lesson plans and such for her subs while she was away.  This was to take two hours, but actually took until 3 AM, including me spending an hour Xeroxing for her.  So much, we thought, for leaving at 8 AM.  Still, we decided to sleep, get up, finish packing, and then just go.

 

On Sunday, just as I was clawing my way back to consciousness, the Destroyer called and asked if my store was closed for a reason.  So I pulled on some pants and went and opened up and called the person who was supposed to work, who had misread the schedule and came right in.  Happily, we didn’t have a stream of customers get locked out, so it’s mostly embarrassing.  Anyway, that completely screwed up my sense of urgency about leaving, so I went home and futzed around with stuff I’d been meaning to do for awhile, like mowing the lawn, and I think that spilled over to M.  Anyway, we both wound up being very ADD and, after a late supper and nap, we wound up leaving at 3:30 AM on Monday.  The drive was a bit wearing at times, as we were very tired, but we made it in about 12 hours (690 miles or so) to the home of our friend Frogmama, her husband F and son Z (must come up with cool aliases for them) in Granville. 

 

It’s a small house, but we were very comfortable.  Our visit had inspired a fit of house cleaning and improvement, so despite the sultry weather, we were quite comfy in their beautiful guest room, with a lovely bed, beautiful linens, and central air.  (I have stayed in that house before, and my but does central air help.)

 

We spent Tuesday through Thursday loafing, really.  We read books (I finally read Neil Gaiman’s Coraline) and took a day-trip to the Columbus Zoo, where M took lovely photos of gibbons, tigers, flamingos and otters.  Many of the animals didn’t look all that happy to be there, alas, but a few of them seemed active and enjoying themselves—though I really don’t know how to tell if a gibbon is happy or not from a casual glance, so who am I kidding, really?

 

Z was completely charming:  he’s very smart and imaginative, though he’s a bit lonely, as an only child with ADD in a new school,  and he seems somewhat isolated from the other kids in his school, which is exactly how I felt when I was his age.

 

I didn’t get to see that much of F, as he was swamped under with end-of-semester stuff in his doctoral program at OSU.  He’s going through some bumpy patches, but considering that he was in community college five years ago, and five years before that was a high-school drop out working sound, tending bar and bouncing, he’s really adapting well to a whole new world.  I wish I had his guts, frankly.

I got see more of G, since she was home a lot.   It was great to see her and talk again (which we haven't done in ages--I haven't been phoning enough), and just hang out and watch silly Will Ferrell movies.  It's been too long  since I heard anyone, much less her, go on so fervently about feminism.  Back in college, I thought about feminism, and how to practice it, quite a lot.  My self-identification as a feminist meant a lot to me.  It still does, but I don't think about it much anymore.  I just accept it and don't put much thought into how to act on it more.  I am older, and I have other things to do now, but I will try to hold onto this bit of recollection and look for opportunities to pay more than lip service to teh cause.

One thing that made me sad was that G still seems to struggle with depression, anger, and grief over the loss of her parents. I wish I could help her with that more, but I found myself staying silent and listening more.  I guess I have learned some lessons about getting caught  up in cycles of passion and co-dependent validation.  S would be so proud.

Then, on Friday, we went to my alma mater Kenyon College for my 15^th reunion.  We arrived on campus around 3 pm, checked in, and then I gave M a quick tour/overview of the place.  Then we ran into Pope Jeffe I of the Infinite Spellings, since this year also happened to be a reunion year for FLOO (Friends and Lovers Of Others, i.e. the Church of Otis).  M and I made plans to join them for bad movie night/Bar Trek later.  Then, we found my dear friend J (alias!), his lovely wife K (who had never met M before, so it was a classic two guys who are close friends are hoping their wives get along situation.  Happily, all went well, and none of the injuries required stitches.)  They were there with their two genuinely adorable children N and P and chatting with two other couples who had been in our class.

 

Then, I had a bit of shock.  Another of my classmates, Taciturn, was there.  He and I used to be good friends, but things soured between us about ten years ago, and I feel like it was really my fault, so I was feeling quite awkward about seeing him, and I wouldn’t have been at all surprised if he’d been stiff and avoided speaking to me.  Instead, he was not only polite, when we went for pizza, he sat next to me, and we talked about comics and games and stuff rather as we used to do.  It was really nice to see him, hear his news (He’s a private sort, but I think I can fairly share that he’s been working as computer programmer doing contract work for NASA, working on experimental equipment designed for micro-gravity.  I didn’t catch the details, and I would have asked if he happened to know gfish, but I realized that I don’t know gfish’s real name, so I didn’t) and enjoy his orderly thinking and insightful comments about storytelling, but more than that, it felt like a weight was lifted from my spirits.  We’re not friends again, but I was pleased to be considered worthy of polite company and a handshake.

Saturday, we dawdled and I missed garb making and  a lecture on the history of fake religions and the Church of Otis by the incomparable Scott Simpson.  I had quite looked forward to it, as I always admired Scott for his humor, erudition and worldliness, which seems only enhanced by his living in Poland for several years.

Anyway, M and I got in on the libations around the campus, which was fun though a bit damp.  Afterwards, I joined in both my class picture (1992) and the FLOO photo.  I got M to sit next to me for the latter, and after our names I wrote my self-proclaimed title (Popesicle) and after hers I wrote "Team Captain".  Then, it struck me that this would be a really cool church office, so I gave teh Pope a buck and asked him to confirm it at the banquet.  (M quietly asserted herself and said she'd prefer the FLOO one to my class dinner, so that's what we did.)  I was surprised when Jeff awarded me the title of "Equipment Handler". ( I guess he'd had enough of me telling him what flavor I was every time he was drinking something.)  This made me really happy.  I really do crave acceptance by the other kids.

AFter supper, M and i waited in teh bookstore until J joined us and we talked about writing until the store closed at 11.  Then we drove back to Granville.

Sunday, we slept late, but still could have left by 1 as planned, but Zed was so unhappy we were going that we stayed, had lunch with the family, and spent some lovely more time with our friends.

So we  didn't leave until 4:30  PM.   I drove until somewhere east of Buffalo, while M sat with her laptop in her lap, organizing her music and then writing.  Then I  sat and wrote.  Then, around 4 am, we swapped again  at the first rest area in Mass.    We got home about 5 AM.  Our friends 

wandelrust and omnia_mutantur had obviously done a fine job of caring for our cats, as they were only mildly miffed to see us.

 

Then it was  Monday, and I went to work.

Since then, I have been rahter busy, and it has delayed my posting this.  In the mean time, my creaky old van, Skull, has suddenly started to decline rapidly.  Thus, I will soon have a new(er) van, courtesy of my father.  This is a happy thing, but it's a lot of extra hassle, and I have other things I  want/need to do.  But that's another post.

Comments

[millari.livejournal.com]

Yay! I 'm glad you posted this. It's great to have our trip documented. I wish I'd realized what a hassle it was to make our desktop post it before it was too late to turn back, and I could have let you use the laptop.

Oh, and this is not really related, but thanks so much for cheering me up last night, in your inimitable way. I love you lots.

[morlock.livejournal.com]

the destroyer?

[grinninfoole.livejournal.com]

http://claxman.livejournal.com/profile