It's been awhile

Two months since I've posted. Not enough time, energy or inspiration. Plenty of happenings, few of them interesting. The interesting ones were mostly not good. Yes, my aunt did pass away. No, my uncle did not. He is still not well, though better, and has been moved to a long-term care facility. Wench's grandmother also passed away. In between, there have been visits from my mother and sister, visits to my grandmother, possible progress in rebuilding relationships with certain family members and probable degeneration in my professional relationships. All other connections seem to be stable, or at least about what I expect. Also, some (hopefully) minor health concerns. (I'm not trying to be vague to solicit sympathy, there's just no use going into detail until I know. I'm not sure this will ever be an appropriate place for details, nor am I certain I'll ever wish to share any details.)

Most of my free time lately has been taken up with old movies and books. I hadn't intended to post the above, all of that just popped out. Now that I've gotten it out of the way I can get back to my original purpose in this post.

Book recommendation:
Touchstone, by Laurie R. King. Mystery, set in England, in 1926. There are numerous reviews available through a Google search and I'm not interested in doing another. Just pick up a copy and read it. It's not light, it's not sweet and it doesn't have a normal happy ending. This book is, however, so good I stayed up to finish, didn't skip a single word and just had to put this post up. Touchstone is a keeper. Now go read something.

Family update

Latest news on that:

Uncle J - the aneurysms are repaired but he isn't doing well. He has very serious heart problems (quadruple bypass, blood pressure is wonky, lungs bad etc etc) and the doctors felt, at the time the aneurysms were diagnosed, that surgery was higher risk. But things got bad enough that surgery became less of a risk. The surgery went well, recovery has not. As of last night the drs. have given him a paralytic and are using a ventilator and a balloon pump to keep his heart and lungs going. They are keeping him like this for a while until they think his heart and lungs have rested enough to function minimally. Also, they are giving him anti-coagulants to increase the chances his heart will be able to pump. (yes, anti-coagulants 48 hours after major surgery is not good, this is considered "last resort measures") As of this morning, there has been no change so he is still not doing well. The best hope they can give us is that at least he's not getting worse.

Aunt Ro - hospice is saying 6-8 weeks. Her husband is saying not even that long. The cancer has spread pretty much everywhere and she is in near constant pain. Aggressive forms of breast cancer are just that, really aggressive. Not much else to say since not much has changed. Just getting worse.

For those who have sent good thoughts and prayers, thank you so very much.

Cuteness

These are 2 of my nephews, sons of my youngest sister.
This is James
And this is Dero
and that second pic is just way too cute. Made my day perk right up so I wanted to share. Now I just gotta figure out how to get out of sending pictures of me.

And this is what I hate...

about Facebook. The people who pop up and want to friend you that you'd really rather not know are still walking the earth. Or at least don't care one way or the other.
I'm trying to decide what to do about a message I received today. One of those hey-are-you-who-I-think-you-are messages. From someone I last spoke to about 12 years ago, someone who decided to take sides in my divorce from the Gimp. Obviously, it wasn't my side. Also, obviously the side taking wasn't done nicely, nor did the friendship end well. But end it did. So, I accepted that decision (not gracefully, no, but what 20-something is graceful in the midst of divorce?) and moved on. I haven't actually thought of this person in about 10 years.
And, now completely out of the clear blue I get a message from this guy. My first reaction is why? What possible reason could he have for looking me up this far down the road? Really, what need is there? I certainly haven't felt the need to reconnect. Why would this man decide to contact a former friend he ditched so long ago? Is it an attempt to resurrect a long buried friendship? If so, I can't imagine that going well. The relationship has been dead over a decade. While it may no longer carry the stench of decay, it's certainly not something I want to see shambling around like a reanimated corpse. And then there's the whole question of is it a squishy zombie with the bulging, pus-dripping eyeballs or a dried up zombie, leathery and raisin-eyed? Neither of those is at all appealing.
So, I'm trying to figure out exactly what my response will be. Obscene rejection, dignified fuck you or no response of any kind. I'm leaning more towards no response, simply because I have the sneaking suspicion this will be a squishy one. One little poke and it will explode, spraying rotten bowels and maggots everywhere. Not really a clean up job I'd volunteer for.

btw - there is no doubt in my mind he knows exactly who i am, i have 2 very unusual last names. so unusual that i am the only person by one of those last names in the entire state. not to mention, i look almost exactly the same as i did then, at least as far as i can judge going by photos. so beyond the why bother of reconnecting, there is the why be coy issue. i despise coy.

what I'm reading

Books I've read over the last week or so:
The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt.
The Perfect Poison by Amanda Quick.
Complete Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde.
Edge of Hunger by Rhiannon Byrd.
Nauti Intentions by Lora Leigh.
You're So Vein by Christine Warren.
Beyond Heaving Bosoms by Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan.
The Immortal Hunter by Lynsay Sands.

I'm trying to decide which book to start next. The Scarlet Pimpernel, Time Enough for Love (Heinlein, not a romance) or The Difference Engine. Hmmm...

As close as I get to religion most days

Orison

Bright Lady, hear me
fill me with Your love
banish the chill from my soul
Bless me with the warmth of Your embrace
Mother, I have need of Your bounty
Grandmother, grant me Your wisdom
Maiden, impart t0 me Your courage
Sweet Goddess, heed my pleas
lend Your ears to my prayer
Your child wails in darkness
Grant me the light of Your presence.

An occaison where sloth could be seen as a virtue

'cause it means I'm too damned lazy to strangle someone until their eyeballs pop out and bounce around like Ping-Pong balls.

Greed:	Low
Gluttony:	Medium
Wrath:	Very High
Sloth:	High
Envy:	Very Low
Lust:	Medium
Pride:	Medium

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