Life Is Full...

... of such delicious ironies...

Was told a few hours ago, in no uncertain terms, to leave as soon as possible from where we are staying because our presence is causing friction between the husband and wife in this 4,200sq ft house... 

9 days we have been here...

They took us in (had offered any help we needed a few months ago) after we were evicted from a week-to-week place...

But they have relationship issues - serious ones - and we appear to be the trigger for them boiling to the surface... 

The wife acknowledges that's what's going on, but still needs us out... not that we want to stay under this hostility...

And - 4,200sq ft they have here, with just themselves, their daughter, two cats and a puppy...

And the irony part???

Husband, wife and their child (and my boy) RIGHT NOW are putting up Christmas decorations INCLUDING the piece de resistance - a humble wooden nativity scene... you know - the hut/stable where Jesus was born/laid in a manger because there was no room in the inn?

The extent of the unconscious hypocrisy is hysterically hilarious...

"Life is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for those who think..."

~ La Bruyere

Postscript (added 1 December 2011):

Well we are now staying with a social activist friend and her family  on Vashon Island...

Gorgeous views - quiet, the water and the green close by, just as I asked for...

One cat here; the other playing hard to get, hiding in the ceiling of the house we had been staying at... expect to retrieve him tomorrow...

"Man of the House" packed us up yesterday afternoon (while we were out!), and helped move our gear across to the island...

Saying goodbye, he apologised for being an "arsehole", as he put it... said he didn't really know why he behaved as he did and then came up with a whole bunch of 'reasons'...

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, myself and the "woman of the house" had had this email exchange:

"As I told P this morning, we are moving on today...

We are going to stay with an activist colleague on Vashon until the Dec 16 court hearing which will determine if I can go back to Australia WITH C...

We'll be moving late afternoon/early evening as my colleague is a teacher and has a meeting after school; she would prefer that we go across to Vashon together since I have not met her family...

She anticipates being in West Seattle around 5.15pm...

I dont know if P still wants to help move our stuff, seeing the location will be Vashon...
 

I can take us, our clothes and the cats today, plus some items can go in my friend's car; if it is possible to put the rest of our gear in your garage, I can come across tomorrow (Thursday) and pick them up...

Thanks for giving us a roof to shelter under for the past week and a half...

I am sorry for the inconvenience and conflict our presence exacerbated - if I had known you and P had these issues and that our presence would further fuel them, I would not have said "yes" to staying here...

Sahila"

"Great Sahila, I’m glad you have what sounds like a nice place until mid-December.   P would be glad to help load up for the ferry trip and then unload at the other end.  I told him the timeframe, so he may stay at work a little later, and show up around 2:30.

No apologies necessary or warranted.   My situation with P was the same before and will remain after.   No big.   He is rather brittle.   At times generous to a fault, then overreacts the other direction whereas I am quite resolute.   Privacy is obviously something we value greatly, and you can see how busy our schedules are.

I will probably see you around 4 today.
 

C..."

So, we're all happy(?) and I guess that's the end of that...

Tribal Web...

"Hey, do you know something? You and I, all of us, are members of one family, we are sisters and brothers, and we are going to sink or swim, together." 

~ Archbishop Desmond Tutu

LYRICS:

Where there's a music should be coming out of every car
There is a silence all over downtown
Where community celebration should be aroused
Life is on empty, Life is on pause

(Here it is)
No can do this!
No can do that!
What the hell can you do, my friend?
In this place that you call your town

(Here it is)
No can do this!
No can do that!
What the hell can you do, my friend?
In this place that you call your town

I guess you can't expect much from the hometown
Well I don't know if you can even call it your own
When they don't want you to get near excitement
In respect of that you just stay home

(Here it is now)
No can do this!
No can do that!
What the hell can you do, my friend?
In this place that you call your town

No can do this!
No can do that!
What the hell can you do, my friend?
In this place that you call your town

On intersection of all dimensions
Where I was stopping by just for a drink
I meet a brother from tribal connection!
And together we began to sing
We going to turn frustration into inspiration
Whatever demons are there, we going to set them free
Such is the method of tribal connection
Of our fun-loving, restless breed
Cus' I want to walk this earth like it is mine (It is MINE MINE MINE MINE!)
And so is everyone in our fun-loving tribe
Come on man, is it really so much to ask
From all these goddamn nazi-fuedals
But I'm going to take it to community
Because I want everyone to see
There never was any conspiracy
And we are all here simply to say, NOW!

No can do this!
No can do that!
What the hell can you do, my friend?
In this place that you call your town
No can do this!
No can do that!
What the hell can you do, my friend?
In this place that you call your town

Where there's a music should be coming out of every car
There is a silence all over downtown
Where community celebration should be aroused
Life is on empty, Life is on pause

(Only intersection semi-alive
Outskirts are sedated, be gone...)

To Be, Or Not To Be - Candid...

 

Need a laugh today... and one of the funniest people on the planet was Allen Funt...

So nice to hear/see good, clean, well-natured humour, that never demeans people...

Times have changed... and not so much for the better... 

Duelling Airlines

Air New Zealand throws down the gauntlet:

Southwest Airlines responds:

I think Air New Zealand won, but then I'm biased...

Homesickness....

New Zealand Pure #1:

New Zealand Pure #2:

and New Zealand not quite so pure!:

 

Kiwis do fly, and have a sense of humour:

The Art of Sarcasm - Knowing When You've Gone Too Far

I have this thing about teasing, which I guess relates to the sarcasm thing also...

A long time ago, I realised that teasing was about superiority - having 'fun' at someone else's expense, and the object (victim) of the teasing was supposed to be all mature and grown up about it and laugh along with it.   If the person didnt respond well, they were told they were 'too sensitive' and to grow a thicker layer of skin...

But, its not about fun or camaraderie, and it doesn't matter how small or apparently insignificant the teasing remark is - at its core, its a power play and a put down...

I like humour that points out the inconsistencies in situations and in life and I like self-deprecating humour - we have the right to make fun of ourselves, we don't have the right to make fun of others...