As usual, I'm spending my Thanksgiving quietly at home by myself. Also as usual, this is fine; I've never been attached to the holiday traditions and I'll have plenty of socializing this weekend. I have invitations I could accept if I really wanted to. But I don't.
I haven't done much so far except catch up on my sleep when I really ought to be sewing, cleaning, or doing something else useful. But it's been such a crazy fall that I'm burnt to a sad little cinder and just need the downtime before heading down to Maryland tomorrow.
Not being religious, I don't devote any time today to thanking a deity for anything, but I do want to thank those of you who are still reading Rixo despite my very peculiar posting schedule. I think I've mentioned before that I've acquired this hideous habit of writing posts and then not finishing them, or not adding the pictures, or for whatever reason/excuse putting them on hold. Sometimes I get around to posting them much later, but I have a frightening number of them just sitting around in draft form. I keep thinking I'm going to come up with brilliant things to add to a post if I just wait a bit longer and maybe fuss with it a bit more. This is delusional; if I've got the ability to be verbally witty on a regular basis, it's yet to become obvious.
And that's not a fish for a compliment. I'm a dance historian, not a writer. I like being a dance historian, even though this fall it's just about killing me with overwork. But it makes me a bad blogger. No blogger biscuit for me. I'm more grateful than you can imagine that some folks are still reading and my wonderful little group of commenters is still puttering around in the comment threads making cheerful conversation and the occasional bad pun, even when I vanish for weeks on end. I'd like to have even more commenters, but I realize I've got to give people something regular to chew on in order to inspire this so we can create a happy positive feedback loop and collectively raise each other's beta-endorphins or whatever. I feel like mine could use this.
So I'm going to try to do two things over the next month:
1. Post my posts the day I write them, like good bloggers are supposed to do. Not the next day, not within the week, not two weeks later, but the same day. It's pathetic that I've gotten so bad about this as to feel a need to make a public resolution about this basic element of blogging. (I also should note that regardless of what I do, I have zero control over the LJ feeds, which have been extremely weird this fall and introduced some delays which aren't my fault. I think some posts never fed through LJ at all.)
2. Go through all those old drafts and finish them (or at least declare them finished, whatever their quality), add their pictures or music or whatever excuse I'm using not to have them up, and get them out on Rixo. I'll leave their original dating intact, so Rixo is going to magically acquire a more populated past than it's had this year.
I'm not expecting people to go back and look at those old posts, though if I can get all the drafts out by the end of the year perhaps I'll run a blogcentric scavenger hunt so some of the better ones can get a little attention. But I can't stand having all these loose ends quietly unraveling in the background.
I have dance prep to get done for Darkovercon, eep, and a friend's cats to look in on, so back to the dance history salt mines for me now. I hope everyone is celebrating the holiday in the way you like best, with the ones you want to celebrate it with, and without undue psychodrama or holiday stress.
Oh yes: and I really hope the Cowboys win.
if I've got the ability to be verbally witty on a regular basis, it's yet to become obvious
To you maybe, Susan.
I think I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Your blog has to be a source of pleasure to you first and foremost. Of course, one's definition of pleasure may include some steps that are not that pleasurable. When I went thru this landscaping project, there were some elements I could have done without, for example losing one fingernail. On the other hand, hauling hundreds of pounds of dirt away and up the hill on the other hand was pleasurable because this was part and parcel of the process of making something.
The bottom line, again is that your faithful readers want you to enjoy doing this. This faithful does, anyway. After all, if you enjoy this, you'll keep doing this and that will bring me pleasure.
As for Rixo magically acquiring a more populated past, sure. Just make sure to let me know where and when those blogs entries are.
I'm probably rambling so I'll just say one last thing.
What occasional pun?
Posted by: Serge | November 27, 2009 at 07:26 AM
Pun? I don't know anything about any pun.
Blogging is less painful but more time-consuming than pulling off a nail. I determined this by pulling off a toenail by way of experimentation. It hurt less than I'd expected.
I am once again happily ensconced on a Boltbus and ridiculously pleased at having wireless internet while on a bus in the middle of the Lincoln Tunnel.
Anytime you want to come to Connecticut and landscape my back yard, just let me know.
Posted by: Susan de Guardiola | November 27, 2009 at 08:33 AM
I'm sure you have more blog posts inside of you than your body has fingernails. In my case, I didn't pull the nail. It got pinched between two very unyielding surfaces (aka bricks) and eventually fell off. It grew back, under the other nail. Having the whole thing happen made me feel like Wolverine, albeit in very slow motion.
("That's the only thing the two of you have in common, Serge.")
Humph.
As for landscaping your backyard, should I show up in Connecticut, I'll definitely keep that in mind. Always glad to help a friend. Which reminds me. We never heard what happened with your gazebo.
Posted by: Serge | November 27, 2009 at 09:44 AM
...Rixo is going to magically acquire a more populated past than it's had this year.
Hooray! Maybe I can make up for all the times I've read something here and been too braindead to come up with an intelligent comment. If only I could magically predate my comments.
Posted by: Neil Willcox | November 27, 2009 at 01:44 PM
Neil... You mean that you wait until you're not braindead?
Posted by: Serge | November 28, 2009 at 10:08 AM
I'd like to have even more commenters, but I realize I've got to give people something regular to chew on in order to inspire this
Some of your commenters -- or, at least, one of them -- are likely to keep being pathetic at commenting, no matter how regularly and interestingly you post (although I do hope to improve eventually). I do enjoy reading your posts and the ensuing comments, really!
Posted by: Carol Witt | November 28, 2009 at 03:58 PM
You mean that you wait until you're not braindead?
No. I mean yes. What was the question?
Some of your commenters -- or, at least, one of them -- are likely to keep being pathetic at commenting, no matter how regularly and interestingly you post...
There's no need to rub it in. I do try!
...(although I do hope to improve eventually).
Oh right. Oops. I'll go back to not finishing my blogposts over here.
Posted by: Neil Willcox | November 28, 2009 at 04:41 PM
Neil... I'll go back to not finishing my blogposts
Are we not finished yet?
Posted by: Serge | November 29, 2009 at 09:35 AM
Carol... Neil... I for one find nothing braindead or pathetic about your comments. In fact, I wish I were that braindead and that pathetic, if that's what being braindead and pathetic is.
Posted by: Serge | November 29, 2009 at 10:19 AM
This is a very entertaining surge of group humility. Perhaps we should have a distribution of hair shirts and parade around the blog flagellating ourselves? We could go up the left-hand column, maneuvering carefully around the recent comments and recent post, across the top banner under the title (everyone duck, now, and be happy I didn't choose a blog name with a g or y or j.) Then we could march in single file down the right-hand column and regroup under the "Post" and "Preview" buttons for fruit juice and cookies before dispersing to our individual blogs and LJs to write about the experience.
What do you think?
Posted by: Susan de Guardiola | November 29, 2009 at 11:46 AM
I'm back on a Boltbus heading out of Baltimore now. I remain so pleased with the wifi-on-bus thing that I have to mention it every time. This is supposed to be a 3.5-hour trip to NYC, but the driver told us it's been taking six due to the holiday traffic. That's precisely why I am sitting here in comfort with my laptop and she is behind the wheel.
Posted by: Susan de Guardiola | November 29, 2009 at 11:48 AM
Hair shirts, Susan? I get those all the time, what with my three dogs and two cats. As for flagellating myself, that's no fun. To quote Morticia Addams...
"Do not torture yourself, Gomez. That's my job."
Posted by: Serge | November 29, 2009 at 05:31 PM
You know, the kids keep asking me why I don't have a car. I don't get Wi-fi on the train, but why drive myself when someone else will do it for you? Apparently buying a ticket is a drain. If only I knew where they're giving away the free cars they seem to assume are out there. (They don't have a good grasp of capital vs running costs, but that's fair enough as neither do a lot of adults)
I need a bigger screen to parade around; there's barely room to swing a cat, let alone flagellate myself in a hair shirt. Being tall, I bang my head on the dangling g of my blog whenever I go in the front entrance, so there's something I'm thankful for.
Posted by: Neil Willcox | November 29, 2009 at 06:11 PM
It occurs to me that my own blog's name also is without dangling things. My own subconscious must have whispered into my ear to remember all those times when I banged my head on the pipes hanging from the basement's ceiling.
Posted by: Serge | November 29, 2009 at 06:31 PM
Neil,
I have a perfectly good car (I drove it to Gettysburg last weekend), but Thanksgiving weekend is a big holiday travel time in the U.S., and I'm guessing the trip would have taken me ten hours door to door instead of the eight that my train/bus combo represented. It's six without traffic, but if I'd driven I would have had to sit in the same traffic in NJ as the bus did, then would have had the additional hassle of going past NYC over a bridge which would have been another colossal jam. As it was, I napped on the bus and then transferred to the train and zoomed back home past all the people sitting in traffic. That was fine. And the whole trip was cheaper than the driving would have been. Cheaper, shorter, and I can nap; that's made of win as far as I'm concerned.
Posted by: Susan de Guardiola | November 29, 2009 at 09:05 PM
When we go to the Bay Area for the Holidays, we prefer driving even though it's a 100-mile ride one-way. For one thing, we're bringing presents. Also, that way, we don't have to borrow an in-law's car to go around the Bay Area. Also, who'd want to make a stop at the Los Angeles Airport during the Holidays?
Posted by: Serge | November 30, 2009 at 12:09 AM
I think I don't need to beat myself up any more at the moment: I managed to give my already-painful hips a good jolt after a misstep on some stairs. My doctor has told me to stay off of my feet and rest for a week, which is not the most convenient thing to do during the last week of classes. Thankfully, I have very helpful and accommodating instructors and classmates, so now I just need to concentrate on getting better in time for a final exam late next week.
In theoretically better news, it seems that John Barrowman has confirmed there will be a fourth series of Torchwood with thirteen episodes.
Posted by: Carol Witt | December 02, 2009 at 01:17 PM
Sorry to hear, Carol.
About your hips.
Not Barrowman.
Posted by: Serge | December 02, 2009 at 03:20 PM
Speaking of reduced mobility... I think I may have mentionned this not long ago. Anyway, on January 12, my wife is having her replacement-knee replaced. Yup. The first time around was one year ago and it's never stopped bothering her. I'll be working from home, obviously, from then until the end of February, or later if necessary.
Posted by: Serge | December 02, 2009 at 03:25 PM
Ouch Carol! I hope your hips are feeling better soon. Take good care of yourself. So glad to hear that your instructors and classmates are helping you keep up with class while you're bedridden.
I've previously enjoyed Torchwood, but I found Children of the Earth to be too much of a departure from the guilty pleasure I'd found in the show. I'm a bit hesitant to get excited about Series 4.
Serge, I hope that they get your wife's knee replacement right this time!
Posted by: AJ | December 02, 2009 at 04:08 PM
Carol, I hope you feel better soon. It's hard to stay home and sit, when you're the only person. Just how do they think you're going to eat and wash up and so forth?
Posted by: Marilee J. Layman | December 02, 2009 at 04:20 PM
AJ... The frustrating thing is that they couldn't find anything wrong when they drilled a tiny hole for a fiber-optic camera in the side of her knee. They basically have to open the hood to see what's going on.
Posted by: Serge | December 02, 2009 at 07:00 PM
Drilled... a tiny... hole? *shudders* Please give your wife a hug and my sympathy!
Posted by: AJ | December 02, 2009 at 08:21 PM
I'll do that, AJ. Thanks.
Posted by: Serge | December 02, 2009 at 09:41 PM
This is why, despite having long-term knee problems, I've been very reluctant to pursue a surgical solution. A lot of knee work comes out fine, but the people with problems have BIG problems. Best of luck to your wife, Serge.
Carol, I hope a little rest helps your hip enough for you to carry through to the end of the semester.
On Torchwood: I meant to blog about CoE when I watched it this summer, then didn't have time with Newport and all, and have been meaning to do a re-watch and then blog about it any time now. But the short version is that I was as much if not more attached to the interactions of a particular group of characters as to the concept, and since all of those characters except Barrowman's are now gone, I'm not sure I have much interest in another season.
Posted by: Susan de Guardiola | December 03, 2009 at 12:32 AM
Susan... The overall rate of success with knee-replacement and other joints is quite excellent, but you never know. A local fan had one knee done last year and she's fine. My mother, who is in her seventies, had both hip joints replaced, and she's ok too. My wife's problems aren't as bad as for other people: one neighbor had so many problems caused by poor blood circulation which themselves were caused by years of smoking that he wound up having the lower part of his leg amputated. Obviously, this should be a last-resort thing.
Posted by: Serge | December 03, 2009 at 07:05 AM
Thanks, all. I'm continuing to rest and haven't attempted to cheat -- "oh, surely doing this one little thing wouldn't hurt *that* much..." -- even once!
Marilee: I have been doing okay on my own so far, since my son has been sick and my husband is in Baltimore (he did offer to come back right away and has been keeping close tabs on me, but I didn't think there was anything he could really do). I have lots of family in the area who I can call on if necessary. I have a chest freezer with lots of already home-cooked food that just needs defrosting and sticking in the microwave to feed me/us, and biweekly delivery service of fresh fruits and vegetables (with other items available). My bedroom and bathroom are on the main floor, so I don't need to worry about climbing up and down stairs to get to the kitchen.
I realize that the situation would be more problematic if I were laid up long-term -- but then my husband would definitely be here to help -- and that not everyone has others nearby or a chest freezer and pantry to stock things in. I'm lucky in a lot of ways.
As for more Torchwood, I have mixed feelings too, but that's nothing new since I've been ambivalent about watching it for most of its past seasons.
Posted by: Carol Witt | December 03, 2009 at 12:00 PM
I'll be taking the first few days off. Officially anyway. I'll probably wind up telecommuting part-time, when I'm not at the hospital keeping my wife company. Then, when she's back home, I'll be juggling full-time telecommuting with taking care of her. It'll help that her mom will be flying here to help.
It's going to be difficult, preventing our three dogs from sleeping on our bed with her. They tend to shove themselves against us, when the nights are cold, and a messed-up knee is quite sensitive to even slight bumps. Where will I be? Sleeping in a lawn chair, next to the bed. Safer that way.
Posted by: Serge | December 05, 2009 at 11:48 AM
I'm reading Ravens in the Library and enjoying it. Nary a dud. Besides that, I've been watching Holidays-related movies and shows. HERE is a photo from one of them. Be warned that it's not for the faint of stomach.
Posted by: Serge | December 14, 2009 at 11:45 AM
Speaking of Torchwood, I read the following in today's Toronto Star:
"Fox is developing a U.S. version of the U.K. hit series Torchwood. The project is from BBC Worldwide, with original series creator Russell Davies writing the script; John Barrowman, who played Capt. Jack Harkness in the original, might star in the remake."
Um.
On another note, since I'm here, the Kalamazoo schedule came out today.
Posted by: Carol Witt | January 20, 2010 at 10:53 AM
Woo hoo! Thank you! I was needing that. Looks like I'm Friday at 10am, which is pretty good timing for me.
(On the Torchwood thing: well, that seems totally unnecessary.)
Posted by: Susan de Guardiola | January 20, 2010 at 12:07 PM