February 2008 Archives

Lay Down Your Weary Tune
February 25, 2008 | permalink

You're going to love this, Gentle Readers.

A few weeks ago, I got a text message from The Old Man. This, in and of itself, is not really anything of note. I get a lot of them from him (mostly after he has had a few too many daiquiris), and they are run of them mill text messages from a tipsy parent. Which probably isn't really all that run of the mill in and of itself, but that's another issue, for another time.

In any case, this one left me floored, mouth open, and incoherent. I present it here in its entirety, because I just don't know how I could possibly do it justice otherwise.

By a series of improbable coincidences a daughter I was unaware of and I have found each other. Her name is [redacted], 33 years old. We have grown very close over the last few months. I am adopting her, we truly love each other.

Let me repeat: this was a text message. My sisters The Rockette and The Star got the same one, as I nearly instantly learned, since there was much talking on the phone between the three of us. It became clear shortly that all of my siblings (wait, scratch that- all of The Old Man's children; I have siblings that are not his) got the same message.

Obviously, this is a large and complex issue, and we will be returning to it several times over the coming weeks, but here are the things that, at first gloss, really blew my mind...

a) Did I mention this news was delivered via text message?

b) [redacted] is 33. The Rockette is 32. Which means that Redacted's mother was already pregnant with her when my mother got pregnant with The Rockette.

c) Except for The Rockette, The Star, and myself, none of the other siblings had any problem with the fact that this news was delivered via text message.

d) Um... adopting? At 33? If The Old Man had any assets, I would be worried this was some kind of scam.

So, yeah. Wacky, right? This has been rippling around for a while- as I said, it was weeks ago. And I have lots more to say. But I think I will pause here and let all that sink in a little before I go on.

Posted in Family Matters & The Old Man & WTF!?
(2) Comments

haiku 164
February 22, 2008 | permalink

Haiku No. 164 (Snow in the Morning)

Snowfall; Lady Winter's
blessing. Cold, gentle kisses
on my upturned face.

Posted in Miniblog
(0) Comments

Tales of Yankee Power
February 20, 2008 | permalink

One of the things I love best about my job is that sometimes I get to work on things that are really cool and interesting, and actually see things I would not get to see otherwise (learning something in the process), all while getting paid to do a job that is fairly fun and interesting in and of itself. Doesn't that rock?

This dispatch is from just such a job, Gentle Readers. I am sitting in The Catholic Church of St. Peter, which is the oldest Catholic church in New York City, while a group of Buddhists rehearse the ceremony that they are going to perform here tomorrow morning. It is all part of this week's activities centered around the opening of a show of sculpture by Shinjo Ito, a renowned Buddhist artist and the founder of the Shinnyo-en order of Buddhism.

Not a bad way to spend a couple of days.

Posted in Working
(1) Comments

The Waves at Night
February 19, 2008 | permalink

I realized this week why I have been having so much trouble writing here lately.

It's not that I don't want to write- I most certainly do. And it's not that I am burnt out on the internets, or blogging, or any of the other internal things that sometimes causes a writer to stop writing in the public forum, though I did examine that possibility. The problem I have been having, Gentle Readers, is that the reason I started this blog is no longer valid.

Wait, that's not quite right. What I really mean is that it has served it's purpose, and helped me to air out a great deal of the darkness that was in me. Now that that has been done, I have to approach it, and the writing, in a different way. Which I haven't been doing, because it took me a while to catch on.

I am not saying, by the way, that there is no darkness left; those of you that have been with me for a while must know that that would be very unlikely. What I am saying is that it is no longer the driving force in my life. Which is a pretty fucking awesome realization, let me tell you.

So I need to strike out in a new direction, or at least have a new focus. And I am not sure what that will be. But I think now that I have stopped approaching it in the old way, the defunct way, the words will flow and the direction will become clear.

Thank you, Gentle Readers, for coming along for the ride thus far, and for continuing on with me.

Posted in Blogging & Musings
(1) Comments

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