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

Comments

[nightdog_barks]

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]

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

[roga]

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]

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.

[pwcorgigirl]

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]

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]

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]

Where's the pic, huh?

[musicisbelievng]

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

[elynittria]

It's good to have you back!

[bironic]

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]

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

[bironic]

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.

[perspi]

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

[bironic]

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]

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.