I am alive, despite being off radar for a while now.
I want to bring attention to this gem, thanks to of . Only the hardcore tolkeinites will get it, the rest of you will scratch your heads and give the usual funny look. Whatever, it made my day.
My cousin died.
This is a sad, but not unexpected thing. No trips to Atlanta are to be made. Apparently, my uncle, in his infinite wisdom, has totally flipped out. He was somewhat in denial about the situ with my cousin for a long time. His delusions turned to unhealthy obsession towards the last leg of her sickness. He blames my aunt for my cousin getting cancer, and for her not getting it treated quickly enough to save her life. This is fucking brain cancer we are talking about here – tumors embedded in the hypothalmus folks – make sure you check the inside of your kid’s brains on a daily basis! The man didn’t even accept she was going to die from it until about 3 months ago, and they have been calling her terminal for the last year and a half.
His grief since her passing has been huge. He undid all the plans for a small religious ceremony and a local burial. She is to be cremated without ceremony, so he can keep the ashes by his side “at all times”. He confided in my aunt that when she and her son died, he would take all their ashes to be housed in his mother’s grave back in Ecuador.
This man is screaming for a shrink.
Anyhow, his recent weirdo behavior kinda freaked out my aunt, who needs reassurance and help more than a whacko husband and an over sedated son at the moment. She, in turn, confided in my grandmother (both my grandparents live a stone’s throw away from my aunt and uncle). My grandmother took it upon herself to tell my uncle he was being a dipshit (though much more diplomatically doubtless) and pointed out that he was destroying the relationship he had with his wife and biological son through his excessive grieving over his adopted daughter.
Yeah, that went over like a aardvark shit sundae.
My uncle went over to my grandparents’ house and threatened both of them with bodily harm. He told them not to come between him and his daughter, in memory or action. My aunt related all this via email to my mother. She, in turn, replied saying she thought he was unstable, and thinks that my aunt should seek some professional help for him.
(Have we hit the Jerry Springer level yet? If not, buckle up)
My uncle, naturally, checks the email, and sees my mother’s response. All this took place within 12 hours of my cousin dying mind you.
He threatens my mother with death if she ever sets foot inside his house. He says that she will never see my aunt (my mom’s sister) again, alive or dead.
Needless to say, my mom decided not to go down to try and comfort my aunt. This is bad, cuz she is not getting any of the theraputic value of being “the shoulder”.
This apparently escalated last night (after the cremation ceremony) wherein my mother and aunt were talking on the phone. My uncle got on the other phone, and started cursing out my mother. My dad grabbed the other line at home, and told him that if he wanted to take a flight up to settle this, he would meet him at the airport, and that he didn’t need to buy a return ticket. My father is definitely not the person to piss off, and the fastest way to do it is to threaten my mom. I am so tired of this crap – I just want to find out I am a testube accident sometimes.
So yeah, my family is a big morass of short tempers, unresolved angst, and frayed heartstrings right now.
Work is hectic, my side jobs have been particularly dumb and demanding, and I have not been able to write, not a whit, which is why this damn entry is so long. Even if it is all pissy ranty crap, at least the words are flowing, instead of the mental constipation I have faced since Sunday every time I have tried.
I spent all of Tuesday at a vendor pitch from IBM. I like some of their stuff a whole lot. That conference made me realize something hardcore – I need to shape up or ship out. I need to either truly commit to a working career as a geek, or start making hardcore plans for “Option B”. Otherwise, I am going to end up like fucking Harvey Pekar.
In other news, has pneumonia. I am worried shitless over this – I can’t stand it when there are problems I can do _absolutely_nothing_ about. She is on serious meds and bedrest, and weathering my constant mothering relatively well. I just hope she gets better before she gets fed up with me.
Kill Bill Vol 2 Friday night. The letter “p” was never so happy as it was in psyched! Hopefully tonight we will watch Volume 1 over again, which I recently came into possession of through the generosity of . Tip for the future: if you want to get your computer fixed fast, paying in advance with good DVD’s is not a bad strategy. G could be the Sun Tzu of computer repair process reformation!
