Random Ephiphanies

OKay... some really funny stuff and some not so funny stuff and some really weird stuff happened to me yesterday. Bear with me...it was all just so goddamned random.

* The Cave Troll and Ladybug had an ongoing argument as to whether or not the star on the top of the Christmas tree was a "Patrick Star" or an "Arwyn Star" (in honor of Ladybug's actual name:-) The argument was pretty funny at first, but by dinner time last night, Mate had closed it down. It was "a star... that's all, A star." Given how single-minded they'd been about it, we were lucky it wasn't a "Goddamned star!!!"

* I got a very nice offer from a fashion photographer in Europe to do the cover art for Bitter Moon II. I'm both floored and flattered (you had to read the rest of the letter--it was really very wonderful) and thinking seriously of taking her up on it. The covers wouldn't match, no, but... but I've got this lovely vision of a b&w pic of a river bank in the day, with a river of stars reflected back. And really...it's not like anything I do matches anyway, right?

* The Cave Troll stole my glubs. He wanted me to make him glubs on the spot this morning, but when I said we were on the way out the door and I could not knit him any glubs in thirty seconds, it seemed only my glubs would do. I miss my glubs--my hands are damned cold.

* Big T insists on watching Heroes and asking me which heroic archetype each 'hero' fits into. This makes my head hurt, and I'm starting to not like the show so much. He doesn't understand why we tell him not to talk to us during movies--but I'm sure you all do!

* Chicken is glad her dad is on vacation this week--he claims to be fixing the bathroom, and I'm hoping! But that's not why Chicken is glad. She's glad because I can pick her up 15 minutes after school gets out instead of an hour afterwards. I think her ass is getting damned cold in her corner, and she's running out of books to read.

* I had a kid bitch me out on my lunch hour because he wasn't going to charm his way into a better grade. He asked me two weeks ago and I said, "Okay--turn in your paper." He said, "I'm working on it." Yesterday, he couldn't even remember what the paper was about. Why? Because his mouth motors non-stop during class to his buddies. The only funny thing about this horrible encounter with a kid who doesn't speak 'reason'? He totally threw his buddies under the bus. "If I'm failing, how come they're passing? They should be failing too!!!" Now THAT'S character!

* And here's the epiphany. *WARNING* It's hella sad.

A few year's back, our school secretary was a very nice, hellifically efficient woman who moved on to a better, less stressful job, but left her kids in our district--I have her older son in my 3rd period class. This last Friday, Berto's little brother passed away from brain cancer. We all knew it was coming--but it sucked big anyway. When I saw Berto in class yesterday, (wearing his 'memorial shirt') I told him privately that I was sorry to hear about his little brother.

Berto's a laughing kid--always. Always laughing, always smiling, always nice, even when he's getting in trouble--which is a lot. His smile stayed right in place, and he was totally sincere when he answered. "No worries, Ms. Lane--he's all better now."

And I went into the bathroom and cried.

Here's to the lot of us, suffering, celebrating, being irritated, grumpy, fierce and friendly, broke and heartbroken, hoping, hopeful, and hopeless, heres to our happy misery continuing in cheerful contemplation out in blogland. I don't want anybody to be 'All better now', for a very very long time.