dual personalities

Tag: family

January 11, 2016

O, Comforter draw near*

by chuckofish

The OM circa 1956--picture him in the same get up in a wing chair.

The OM circa 1956–picture him in the same get up in a wing chair.

It turned cold over the weekend. We got a dusting of snow, but nothing to write home about. The windows were icy Sunday morning though. Brrrr.

It was a good weekend to stay in and needlepoint/read/putter. I also watched a few movies.

Let me just say, I am most definitely not a fan of Amy Schumer or Judd Apatow. But someone had left a copy of Trainwreck at our house and I had nothing to watch on Saturday night. I knew I would hate it, but I like to stay current, right?

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I assumed I wouldn’t watch the whole thing, but I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised.

I watched the whole thing. Yes, it is vulgar, but the title character is a trainwreck after all, and the movie is about her figuring that out. There is actually a moral to the story. Spoiler alert: She cleans up her act.

I also watched Bulldog Drummond (1929), a rather bizarre pre-code movie starring Ronald Colman and a 19-year old Joan Bennett.

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Colman was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor as Bulldog Drummond and he is, indeed, young, funny and very appealing–not the stiff-upper-lip epitomizer of his later films (think Random Harvest). And there is plenty of sexual innuendo in this movie, let me tell you. This 87-year old movie is worth checking out!

On Sunday night we celebrated daughter #3’s birthday (a few days late) with pizza, cake and ice cream.

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Now it is Monday again and the salt mines beckon. Have a good week!

Hymn #516

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December 24, 2015

“Hey, unto you a child is born!”*

by chuckofish

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But as far as I’m concerned, Mary is always going to look a lot like Imogene Herdman – sort of nervous and bewildered, but ready to clobber anyone who laid a hand on her baby. And the Wise Men are always going to be Leroy and his brothers, bearing ham. When we came out of the church that night it was cold and clear, with crunchy snow underfoot and bright, bright stars overhead. And I thought about the Angel of the Lord – Gladys, with her skinny legs and her dirty sneakers sticking out from under her robe, yelling at all of us everywhere: ‘Hey! Unto you a child is born!’

Happy Christmas Eve. We are going to the early service this afternoon which includes the Pageant. It always reminds me of the book by Barbara Robinson and takes me back to my own Christmas Pageant experiences at school. How well I remember going to the Inn to ask for a room and my friend Trudy Glick turning me away. We had a moment where we nearly burst into nervous laughter, but we didn’t.  I sang a tremulous solo to my wife Mary. The Angel of the Lord fainted…or was that a Wise Man?

Keep the faith!

*Barbara Robinson, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever; the painting is by N.C. Wyeth.

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December 23, 2015

All she wants to do is dance

by chuckofish

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Tradition says we must play 1980s 45s and dance at Christmastime. Who are we to mess with tradition?

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December 22, 2015

Flyover good times

by chuckofish

“He saw clearly how plain and simple – how narrow, even – it all was; but clearly, too, how much it all meant to him, and the special value of some such anchorage in one’s existence. He did not at all want to abandon the new life and its splendid spaces, to turn his back on sun and air and all they offered him and creep home and stay there; the upper world was all too strong, it called to him still, even down there, and he knew he must return to the larger stage. But it was good to think he had this to come back to, this place which was all his own, these things which were so glad to see him again and could always be counted upon for the same simple welcome.” (Kenneth Graham, The Wind in the Willows)

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Hope you are enjoying your countdown to Christmas! Try to slow it down and enjoy the simple things.

2 Comments
December 21, 2015

What fun it is to laugh and sing

by chuckofish

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Phew! The weekend was crammed full of holiday fun. Haven’t had time to distill it all yet. But in case you didn’t know, DIY photo props are the newest thing. More on that tomorrow.

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December 18, 2015

“A flock of blessings light upon thy back.”*

by chuckofish

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Today is the birthday of my dear dual personality! I wish her peace on earth, good health and tickets to the Star Wars movie!

Ha ha.

They say the movie is worth seeing, but I say ho hum.

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I can wait. A long time.

Anyway, to get back to my sister’s birthday, we are having a little party tonight for some of daughter #2’s friends who are in town for a wedding. But I will be thinking of my dual personality and wishing she were here laughing it up with me.

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Dual personalities festively attired in red and green circa 1983

I’ll be toasting her and sending my love.

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In other news: daughter #1 arrives on Saturday! Hope she bundles up for the trip home!

*Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

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December 17, 2015

Oh, come all ye faithful

by chuckofish

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Tree’s up! The boy came over Tuesday night and we put up the tree. Doesn’t it look nice?

The OM got creative and put a collage of his favorite bears and scouts on his Facebook page. I couldn’t figure out how to recreate the snazzy moving images here, but here are the photos.

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Well, I am very glad to have this major holiday feat accomplished.

And daughter #2 made it home! Shortly after arriving, she rearranged some of the ornaments on the tree. Can’t wait for daughter #1 to add the finishing touch on Saturday!

It’s all good.

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December 14, 2015

Rejoice, rejoice, believers, and let your lights appear!*

by chuckofish

I did a very brave thing this weekend. I took an eighth grader out to lunch. Yes, as a confirmation mentor, it was time to go to a confirmation class again on Sunday before church. So I asked my mentee to go to lunch after church.

Being in the class threw me into a time warp. I remembered so vividly what it was like to be in eighth grade again. The awkwardness. The resistance to participating in the proceedings. OMG, what fresh hell is this?

Not that we had mentors back in the day. It is a good idea and a bad idea at the same time, you know? All that awkwardness made public. Ugh. Daughter #2 assures me that, although it is awkward now, it is a good thing in the long run. The kids will learn something about talking to people other than their peers and will probably look back on it fondly in the future. I think she’s just being nice.

We had a guest in the class–a man with MS, a surgeon who can no longer practice, who talked about his life. Afterwards when we were discussing his visit, I told the class that Rudy had just explained one of the secrets of life to them and I hoped they were paying attention. Live in the day. He also reminded us that the Plan is His and not ours. Be grateful for what you have, because it can change. Be grateful for the change too.

We also watched this video:

I had to give credit to the teacher–it’s a good song, even if the kids had no idea who Steve Earle is.  Anyway, I said the revolution starts in your own backyard. Just be nice to the fat girl on the school bus. Be nice. As old Fred Buechner said, if you want to be holy, be kind.

I have a feeling that everyone involved in this Sunday morning activity was uncomfortable, and I guess that’s the point. For me anyway. It is a good thing to push oneself out of what we used to call “our comfort zone.”

Even if it is just having lunch with an eighth grader.

*Advent hymn #68

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December 3, 2015

“Every Christmas it’s the same. I always end up playing a shepherd.”*

by chuckofish

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Well, as they say, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

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Lots of old friends are showing up.

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I’m sure it’s the same at your house, right?

I watched A Charlie Brown Christmas the other night, but not the 50th Anniversary Special which was un-watchable. I mean I tried, but woof. As always, I enjoyed A Charlie Brown Christmas which I was no doubt watching for the 50th time!

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Indeed, I remember watching it for the first time 50 years ago and loving it so much. All my friends watched it. I became a huge Peanuts fan after that. I had a lot of Peanuts stuff.

I insisted on reading the book aloud at our family Christmas Eve celebration the next year (everyone read something) and annoyed my older brother by trying to read in the voices of the kids on the television special. He was extremely intolerant of me in this respect. I felt his judgement keenly. (I was in the fifth grade and he was a cool tenth grader.)

Siblings. How do we survive the judgement of our older siblings? (Well, I guess my dual personality can tell you.) That was the last year we had our family reading and sing-along on Christmas Eve. Our older brother went to a party at his girlfriend’s house the following year, and was always busy elsewhere after that.

C’est la vie. Funnily enough, I think our brother resurrected this tradition for his own family. I’m sure they never read A Charlie Brown Christmas.

*Shermy in A Charlie Brown Christmas

7 Comments
November 27, 2015

Omnes grandinem puer!*

by chuckofish

Tomorrow is the boy’s birthday.

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The boy with the OM in their denim phase

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The boy in overalls and camo boots with his uncle and sister

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The boy wearing badges

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The boy’s the one on the right.

It may be true that “Most young men are such bores. They haven’t lived long enough to learn that they are not the wonders to the world they are to their mothers.” (L.M. Montgomery)

Well,Screen Shot 2015-11-25 at 4.42.43 PMI still think you’re pretty cool.

Have a great birthday and here’s mud in your eye!

*All hail the boy!

7 Comments