A Twist of Things to Come

I apologize for the bluster. *grin* I did feel rather good about it, though. The end is in sight.

***

Today I'm going for lunch with my friend Mer and her friend who has an Aspie daughter. The girl is three or four, and her father is freaking out and being depressed and saying that they need to institutionalize her. It makes me angry to hear about that, even third hand. Good GOD, man, grow a pair already!

Hopefully, meeting Wee Boy will help to reinforce that spectrum peeps are awesome, and that it's her idiot husband who needs to consider institutional help right now.

***

When I got home from the Nerf Wars last night, the hubby (who had promised me when I left that he would facilitate my writing when I got home, since I was making a huge time sacrifice to let the boys have some fun) had made dinner and cocktails. He was singing (to the tune of "I Know What Boys Like") "I know what girls like! I like to feed them."

It was very funny. :) He made donuts Saturday morning and eggs, bacon and biscuits for Sunday brunch. He's determined to 'Feed me up' apparently. *shallow breaths*

***

Ugh. I love living in New Orleans, but I really want to travel. Also, I am becoming more and more open to moving away, as my homeschool friends scatter to the winds. Robert's BFF in NOLA is moving to Takoma in less than a month, and I'm just sick about it.

So many of my friends are in the PNW now. I want to go there. I really do. Ideally, I just want enough money to travel a lot more than I do now, so that i can visit my far-flung friends more often.

In any case, Danny Boyle's "Frankenstein" is going to be shown in US theaters (and theaters all ove rthe world, but this article is somewhat US-centric), but the closest participating theaters are all 8-9 hours away by car. *sniffle* (New Orleans usually gets wonderful entertainment -- nationally renown dance and musical performances, etc. -- but they're not getting this.) Even Houston would be a day trip, but no dice. The closest options are Macon, GA. and Dallas, TX. both about a nine hour drive, with Daytona Beach, FL. third at about 10 hours. I have family or friends in these places and others, but . . . *opens purse and moths fly out*

It's just not happening. Also, it's on St. Patrick's Day, which is yet another excuse for NOLA to go on a bender, so there will be plenty to keep me busy here.

Still, if you are a fan of Danny Boyle (or Benedict Cumberbatch or Johnny Lee Miller) you might want to check out this link and see if it will be happening near you.

If I can't do this, at least you guys can, and I will live vicariously through you. :)

... and other songs guaranteed to annoy literal-mind folk like Wee Boy and me.

So, Wee Boy had been complaining for weeks about how much he hated the last song his chorus was supposed to sing for their Christmas performance. "I hate it! It's so stupid! It makes no sense at all!"

We told him he could just mouth it if it bothered him that much, but we weren't letting him out of his commitment to the chorus just because he didn't like one song. Then, my Beloved told him we could go to the toy store and he could buy this Bakugan set he'd been eying, if he did well in the performance.

So, when it came time to sing that last song, we watched. As soon as I heard what they were singing, I got the giggles. Because it really is incredibly annoying, lyrics-wise - just the sort of thing that would have driven me nuts as a kid.

Where are you Christmas
Why can't I find you
Why have you gone away
Where is the laughter... etc.

Can you not see why a literal-minded child would find this risible? Christmas is December 25th, it hasn't gone anywhere. Why should anyone be looking for it when it's the same place it has always been? No wonder he hated it. It takes itself so seriously! I nearly did myself harm trying to be quiet. Listening to that song, hearing the lyrics through my son's literal, logical, wee ears... it was just too funny. Poor baby.

He came up to us afterward, looking serious and pale, and said, "I sang every word." Sigh. "May I please go to Toys R Us now?"

My sweet little stoic. *chortle* The things he would endure for Bakugan! (Not any Bakugan, but a specific set. We were exceedingly lucky that they had just the one he wanted, let me tell you.)

So, in relating this story to my friend Sara, she mentioned the "Rainbow Song" from her childhood. It lists the colors of the rainbow as "red, yellow, pink and green, orange and purple and blue." She got in trouble for "fixing" it by singing the colors of the visible spectrum in their proper order with their proper names.

Now, I totally get poetic license. I really do. I never had a problem with "Do you hear what I hear?" despite the fact that stars don't really have voices and lambs don't really speak English, or whatever. Extended metaphors are beautiful things, and anthropomorphism can be fun. I get that. I know that "Where are you, Christmas?" is meant to be a more emotional thing, to tap into the common enough feeling that the joy of the season can be elusive. But the idea is crammed so uncomfortably into those words that I'm sure it has blisters by the end of the song.

Makes me want to run it a hot bath and remind it that this will all be over soon. Poor little "Feeling Lonely and Adrift at Christmas," you should not have to suffer such abuse.