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Whatcha been up to anyway?
Mar. 28th, 2017 12:18 pmI've been noticing the expected drop-off in content and then realized "hey, you're contributing to that, y'know." So I'm going to jot some notes about what's up in my life and I encourage you to do the same.
1. Pygment and I seem to be super-solid these days. She's having a lot of health challenges and we're trying to navigate those. She's listed the various plates she's got spinning and the stresses involved in that. But her-n-me? That's freakin' awesome.
2. Kids. I wrote a longer piece about this under lock because I'm still a private person but generally things are middling-OK to good. Thing 1 has one more college to tour and then we head into the summer. Thing 1 is continuing to bust ass doing schoolwork and grades seem good. There's a gap in extracurriculars but we've never pushed that on the kids and aren't going to start now. Thing 2 continues to have issues with the current school system, particularly one teacher who seems unwilling to play by anyone's rules but her own and Thing 2 is treating that situation pretty much exactly like you'd expect if you know Thing 2 or have been reading my past entries.
On the plus side the first meeting with the town high school went much better than expected. Thing 2 would still like to go to the tech HS that Thing 1 has been going to but that would require an actual G-d created miracle of Thing 2 getting up for an early bus every day. We can pray for miracles but plan for other options.
We went as a family to a bat mitzvah this Saturday and while I did not like the service(*) I liked doing this thing with the family. We have great kids and we're doing as much as we can to support and love them through this stage of their lives. We've made a couple adjustments to the support teams for both Thing 1 and Thing 2 to get folk with the right attitude, expertise, and approach on board.
3. Social. I keep thinking I'm not as social as I'd want to be then I have problems scheduling things when people say they're available. Ewps? I think it's a factor partly of April having large chunks carved out of it by Passover and a planned trip to Philly (Thing 1's final visit, celebrating my Dad's b-day, more below).
That said, I would like to spend more time with people I don't see often. We had a former D&D gamer/friend come by for a visit recently and that was quite nice. I have two friends whom I see regularly every 6-7 weeks and I really appreciate that both of them help keep up the connection. If you're interested in social, let me know.
4. Social+. The long-distance girlfriend will be returning to town in a couple weeks for what ought to be her final divorce court date. That's not the best way to get to see someone, and the timing is super-awkward so we aren't going to get the time together that we'd like but it is what it is. I'll probably try to arrange to visit her (or meet her somewhere).
There's also one possible + that would be crazy-awesome if it could actually happen but things are Complicated and I'm working on being a Reasonable Patient Adult. Sorry for the vaguebooking but that's all I'm willing to say at this point.
5. Arisia. I organized and ran a reasonably successful brainstorm to try and figure out what we're going to do about publications. I need to get that written up and distributed and I think people felt like we accomplished a lot in a fairly few hours. I have one key position filled and offers out to two people I would be very excited to work with in two other key positions.
I do need someone who is interested in doing marketing - basically, organizing the selling of ads in Arisia publications. If you or someone you know is interested in doing work pre-con (and getting a free membership) ping me and let's talk.
--- There's more but this is already long; go forth and write! ---
(*) The service was Reform and the prayers were accompanied by a LOUD piano that felt very distancing. I got the sense I was at a performance (the cantor had a good voice and was well-trained) rather than participating in a service. Also, the fact that seemingly every new melody seemed cribbed from a B'way musical rubbed me the wrong way.
To get into the synagogue we had to use a buzzer system, and the service was amplified. Now, I'm not a religious Jew by any means, but electric amplified sound system and electric devices you're required to use in a synagogue also rubbed me the wrong way. The woman who came to open the door made some remark about "security" which seriously set off my "do you have any idea how much privilege you have, lady? hackles.
I mean, I get that antisemitism is on the rise in the US, but you're a white congregation in a white town in a very liberal state with a significant Jewish population. If you're that concerned about security, hire a Shabbos goy to sit by the door. The only good thing about that was I found a table in the foyer covered with flyers for a Jewish-centric organization that assists refugees. I have already written to them and filled out their volunteer form; we'll see if something comes of that and I'll write more when Passover gets closer.
1. Pygment and I seem to be super-solid these days. She's having a lot of health challenges and we're trying to navigate those. She's listed the various plates she's got spinning and the stresses involved in that. But her-n-me? That's freakin' awesome.
2. Kids. I wrote a longer piece about this under lock because I'm still a private person but generally things are middling-OK to good. Thing 1 has one more college to tour and then we head into the summer. Thing 1 is continuing to bust ass doing schoolwork and grades seem good. There's a gap in extracurriculars but we've never pushed that on the kids and aren't going to start now. Thing 2 continues to have issues with the current school system, particularly one teacher who seems unwilling to play by anyone's rules but her own and Thing 2 is treating that situation pretty much exactly like you'd expect if you know Thing 2 or have been reading my past entries.
On the plus side the first meeting with the town high school went much better than expected. Thing 2 would still like to go to the tech HS that Thing 1 has been going to but that would require an actual G-d created miracle of Thing 2 getting up for an early bus every day. We can pray for miracles but plan for other options.
We went as a family to a bat mitzvah this Saturday and while I did not like the service(*) I liked doing this thing with the family. We have great kids and we're doing as much as we can to support and love them through this stage of their lives. We've made a couple adjustments to the support teams for both Thing 1 and Thing 2 to get folk with the right attitude, expertise, and approach on board.
3. Social. I keep thinking I'm not as social as I'd want to be then I have problems scheduling things when people say they're available. Ewps? I think it's a factor partly of April having large chunks carved out of it by Passover and a planned trip to Philly (Thing 1's final visit, celebrating my Dad's b-day, more below).
That said, I would like to spend more time with people I don't see often. We had a former D&D gamer/friend come by for a visit recently and that was quite nice. I have two friends whom I see regularly every 6-7 weeks and I really appreciate that both of them help keep up the connection. If you're interested in social, let me know.
4. Social+. The long-distance girlfriend will be returning to town in a couple weeks for what ought to be her final divorce court date. That's not the best way to get to see someone, and the timing is super-awkward so we aren't going to get the time together that we'd like but it is what it is. I'll probably try to arrange to visit her (or meet her somewhere).
There's also one possible + that would be crazy-awesome if it could actually happen but things are Complicated and I'm working on being a Reasonable Patient Adult. Sorry for the vaguebooking but that's all I'm willing to say at this point.
5. Arisia. I organized and ran a reasonably successful brainstorm to try and figure out what we're going to do about publications. I need to get that written up and distributed and I think people felt like we accomplished a lot in a fairly few hours. I have one key position filled and offers out to two people I would be very excited to work with in two other key positions.
I do need someone who is interested in doing marketing - basically, organizing the selling of ads in Arisia publications. If you or someone you know is interested in doing work pre-con (and getting a free membership) ping me and let's talk.
--- There's more but this is already long; go forth and write! ---
(*) The service was Reform and the prayers were accompanied by a LOUD piano that felt very distancing. I got the sense I was at a performance (the cantor had a good voice and was well-trained) rather than participating in a service. Also, the fact that seemingly every new melody seemed cribbed from a B'way musical rubbed me the wrong way.
To get into the synagogue we had to use a buzzer system, and the service was amplified. Now, I'm not a religious Jew by any means, but electric amplified sound system and electric devices you're required to use in a synagogue also rubbed me the wrong way. The woman who came to open the door made some remark about "security" which seriously set off my "do you have any idea how much privilege you have, lady? hackles.
I mean, I get that antisemitism is on the rise in the US, but you're a white congregation in a white town in a very liberal state with a significant Jewish population. If you're that concerned about security, hire a Shabbos goy to sit by the door. The only good thing about that was I found a table in the foyer covered with flyers for a Jewish-centric organization that assists refugees. I have already written to them and filled out their volunteer form; we'll see if something comes of that and I'll write more when Passover gets closer.
