The prodigal blogger returns

[bironic]

Back from grandparents' house. Had a nice time. We ate a lot and sat around and chatted and napped and read (with the plane rides and siestas, I got through one Discover magazine and 3/4 of Ursula K. LeGuin's The Dispossessed). They were so happy to see us, so appreciative of our company in addition to everything we did for and with them (e.g. run errands, chauffeur them around, cook, attend physical therapy with them at the pool at the local Y, go to Friday night services, install a new doorbell); it was pretty much five days of basking in unconditional love, which I guess is the ideal relationship for grandparents and grandchildren, even if it induces guilt and discomfort when it continues for so long (e.g. It's only a doorbell! We're not so good to you; it's been two years since I last came down to visit!). It was difficult, though, to see them failing physically and mentally, with our grandmother confined to a wheelchair whenever they go out, and both of them repeating conversations and jokes without realizing it. Still, they're in pretty darn good shape for being almost 90.

Top five moments of the trip include:

5. Geckoes! On the porch and sidewalk and once in our bedroom. Adorable.

4. Beautiful stained glass at our grandparents' temple (estimated average age of congregants: 65). Four floor-to-ceiling panels on stage right (bima right?) with brilliant colors and pleasing patterns, leafy bushes, flames, tents in the desert, pack animals under the planets and moon, fluffy clouds in a radiant sky, Vulcan hands over the sea, doves and a Star of David, a menorah, and, strangely, goldfish.

3. Watching a PBS program on emperor penguins and Wilson's lost expedition in Antarctica, we saw a segment on mating behaviors. Male penguins fighting for dominance is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Standing mostly still, belly to belly, heads tilted up so their beaks don't clack, they whack each other with their flippers and try to keep their balance. The only thing I think could be more hilarious would be a pair of t-rexes attempting a slapfight.

2. At the Ours concert on Thursday (during which I happily played bodyguard to prevent people from bumping into my sister's achingly new half-sleeve tattoo), the singer caught sight of her in the middle of his between-songs talk and asked her what the hell she was doing down in Florida, to her thrill, my amusement and other people's curiosity/jealousy/confusion. Then they played my favorite song off their upcoming album. Then mosquitoes snacked on my legs as we waited for Jimmy to come out afterwards by a pond that had formed in the rainy venue courtyard, but I'm counting the evening as a success.

1. My grandfather fell asleep while we were visiting his sister, and she told us stories, hushed and giggling, about how delinquent he was as a kid. We'd never heard anything of the sort before, and were delighted.

I was very happy to find that they did get the Sci Fi Channel down there, and we returned from services two minutes before SGA started. Also: caught Spaceballs on TV and decided that John Sheppard loves that movie like he loves The Princess Bride and has taken great inspiration from Bill Pullman's character.

Have a lot of catchup to do now: came back to a ton of emails, voicemails and new projects at work; have some personal emails and comments to reply to; bookmarked about 40 posts to read on LJ. Don't know when I'll get to those last, but I'm looking forward to them, from new "Aftershocks" chapters and other stories to House & SGA episode reviews to personal posts. I did take a moment to check out the emo Wraith poetry 'fest (spoilers for SGA 4x5, "Travelers"). Ginsberg and Williams and Heaney, oh my. *shakes head* Once again, let it never be said that fanfic writers aren't an incredibly literate bunch.

Well, back to the grindstone. Leg is already bouncing as I sit here. It's chilly today, inside and out; colder than when I left last week, and far colder than the sunny shorts-and-sandals humid heat we just left yesterday. I don't really know what time it is, either: one clock says 10:24, one says 11:27, and the third says 10:06. Ah, well. All I need to know is it will be dark by the time we get out of here later.

Comments

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

You're back! Yay!

Sounds like a wonderful trip. Old folks tell great stories, for anyone who has the patience to listen. I still remember one of my elderly uncles telling me a story he'd heard from his father about how when they were crossing the Oklahoma Territory the Comanches (or Kiowa, or whatever) were raiding again ("and kidnapping white babies!" -- oh, the horror) and so they hid the youngest child -- a baby girl -- in a huge iron coffeepot. Hee.

The Dispossessed is a great book -- one of my favorites of all time.

... and, strangely, goldfish.

Heh heh heh.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Yay! It was a good trip. They do have good stories; we're used to hearing about our dad's and uncle's exploits and tales of things we did together when we were growing up, and they always have something fascinating to say about what it was like growing up in the '20s and '30s, relatives who emigrated from Russia and Europe, relatives who fought in and got caught it wars, her job as a civil service worker and his as a bookbinder, trips they took (they've traveled all over the world), etc. Our great-aunt's tales were a real treat this time because we'd never heard anything about our grandfather being a troublemaker before -- though maybe we should have suspected, since he's infamous for being a jokester. He's strong evidence that lifelong good humor makes for healthy longevity.

The Dispossessed is a great book -- one of my favorites of all time.

I remember you saying that when I posted pictures of my bookshelves. Finally did get around to reading it. It's excellent so far; beautiful language, fascinating characters and connections. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the grand unification theories of the physics and the planets ultimately tie together. Makes me wish I knew more social-political science to understand what she's doing with the Urrasti and Annaresti societies more deeply, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable to read. It's reminiscent of Ayn Rand, don't you think? With all the attention paid to egoizing, altruism, self- and community ostracization, working for one's own visions, and so forth.

[roga.livejournal.com]

I have a fascination with all things grandparently, and you have just explained it perfectly.

Also, your description of The Dispossessed has officially whetted my appetite.

And last, thank you for the emo Wraith link :-)

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Hee! Aren't those poems brilliant? I love fandom so much sometimes.

The Dispossessed is really wonderful and thought-provoking. There's a capitalist planet and a communist planet -- though that's greatly simplifying things -- and there's a Simultaneity theory and a Sequency theory, and the main character, a theoretical physicist (heh), is trying single-handedly to unite both pairs at the same time with seemingly no-one on his side. I love everything I've read of Le Guin's (though admittedly it's only been about three books), and this one -- which won a Nebula, I believe -- is no exception. Recommended, definitely.

Grandparents are awesome. Well, sadly, that's not always true, but ours are really amazing (it's my dad's mother and stepfather), and your grandmother sounds fascinating too, full of stories and opinions. I wish I knew what questions to ask them to uncover more. There's a sense of urgency there, too, you know? however faint, that time is running out and we need to ask and listen while we can.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

p.s. Dreamt one of the nights that I was watching a fic you'd written in which Ronon bottomed. Blame the fic-reading withdrawal.

Hm. I don't have a Ronon icon.

[pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com]

It sounds as though it was a great trip.

a pair of t-rexes attempting a slapfight That's one of the funniest mental images ever! And Bill Pullman has a character? I always think of him as Mr. Generic.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Or Mr. Wrong. Gah, what a terrible movie. He is a bit bland and same-y, isn't he? I meant that Sheppard might've modeled himself after the character he plays in Spaceballs rather than Pullman in general -- aside from being pilots, they share a tendency to smirk and quip and fly by the seat of their pants, a terrible sense of humor, a talent for attracting damsels in distress, a policy not to leave people behind... His argument with the princess on the Winnebago was heavily reminiscent of the previous night's interaction between Sheppard and Laryn. And we know Sheppard loves Star Wars. I'd try for something deeper but I don't know the movie that well.

It was a nice trip, yes. Good to see them and to be away and forced to slow down in many different ways.

T-rex boxing match: an eternal tie between opponents.

[musicisbelievng.livejournal.com]

5. Geckoes! On the porch and sidewalk and once in our bedroom. Adorable.

Pfft. Made cooler by the fact that I named him Jimmy Gecco.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Where's the pic, huh?

[musicisbelievng.livejournal.com]

on my camera... in my bag that's next to me. I'll upload it eventually.

[elynittria.livejournal.com]

It's good to have you back!

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Good to be back! Kind of. Back online and in better weather, anyway.

I don't know if/when you sent what you were going to send, but apparently our mailbox was run over while we were away, so no mail for the past four days or so!

[elynittria.livejournal.com]

Oh noes! I hope my package wasn't in the mailbox at the time. (I mailed it on Wednesday.)

[bironic.livejournal.com]

I believe anything that was in it at the time got rescued; it was the days in between knocking-over and putting-back-up-with-new-post that nothing got delivered, and then it was Sunday. So perhaps this evening.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Update: It's here! Yay.

[perspi.livejournal.com]

Welcome back! We're so glad to see you!

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Hi! Thank you. I am glad to see everyone too. It's a strange thing, being away from LJ -- life goes on just fine without you, and you wonder if you're missed. Not in an emo Wraith poetry way, but still, one gets curious.

Cute kitty icon. Have bookmarked your Halloween you-know-what for checking out ASAP. The party's supposed to be a week this year instead of a day, right? So there's some leeway there.

[perspi.livejournal.com]

Thank you--the kitty icon is from snuggle_muffin, an artist I met via TWoP. She made me a beautiful illustration in honor of Z (back when she was still the PeaPod) and I need to iconize that.

And yes, the party is a week long, so I *should* get the thing done on time. I hope.

[purridot.livejournal.com]

Welcome home!

I would LOVE to live in a decommissioned church or similar, because somehow stained glass = instant calm. I'm not religious, either -- it's something with the light pouring through the coloured glass that is magical.

Yay for grandparents! I miss mine very much. So comforting and loving...

Watching a PBS program on emperor penguins and Wilson's lost expedition in Antarctica... There's a House/SG:A fanfic lurking in there...