I don’t think I can actually describe the emotions I’ve felt today; they’ve run the entire gamut. I’m not LGBT, so technically, this ruling legally doesn’t affect me directly, but I have really felt strongly today. Strongly proud. Strongly jubilant. Strongly angry at a select few.
The decision came down around 9am Central, just as I got to work. My phone, with its many news notifications, went absolutely nuts. I did my first work stuff, then got online and it was so early it wasn’t even in my regular newsfeeds. But I got to Facebook. That graphic of the guy with the rainbow coming out from his computer – that was it – that captured the moment perfectly.
I was very emotional. This surprised me. I don’t even think I can adequately convey it in words. I got really choked up. I’m still really choked up, but this morning was just something else.
Those of you that read this regular series know that I am from Hackett, Arkansas, just a mile or so from the Oklahoma border, and just about 10 miles south of the Arkansas River. It was a rural sort of place that did not particularly appreciate education, and just zoom onto my previous posts to understand a bit about it.
Well, tonight is different because I have an update about Junior Jace Potter, the new kitten. And I also have to announce that henceforth I shall not use the term The Girl for The Girl. She told me Monday that since she was going to be 20 years old Tuesday I should henceforth refer to her as The Woman.
Back in June I wrote about her cat being killed and how we found a kitten to fill in for him. Tonight is part update on how he is going and part recap of her birthday party from yesterday evening.
In the text are some pictures of the gifts that I gave her, and Saturday night at 7:30 on the Big Orange I am guest hosting What’s for Dinner? with step by step directions for making the cheesecake in the picture here, with lots of pictures of the process.
I normally do not write about current events in this series, but this is actually related to experiences that I had when I was little. Many of you who read this regular series are familiar with the people to whom I refer to as The Girl and The Little Girl, two people extremely dear to me.
The Girl is 19, and her beautiful daughter is three. Their family had two cats, Bella (whom I call Lal after the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Offspring” where Data named the android that he created that from the Hindi word for “beloved”), and Jace. Jace was a tom Tabby (actually more likely a Maine Coon Cat) who both girls lived dearly.
The girls were out of town Friday when I got a call from The Girl’s mum asking me to come and pick up Jace’s body from the street in front of their house. He had been run over by a car, and by the looks of things died instantly because of massive head trauma. I do not think that he was even aware that his demise was in progress.
So much of my life I spend cynically griping about the bad side of human nature. The work I do every day frequently centers around a ceaseless source of constant frustration. Seeking strategies to reform destructive behaviors is the basic skill set of many professions and basic activism. Influencing people so that they might understand the correct means of conducting their lives is a substantial challenge and a constant energy drain. I’m sure many of you understand this quandary all too well. While it is true that we all possess a dark side, some more than others, recent events in my life have provided a unexpected but welcome sense of clarity and perspective. I note with joy over the past three days that I have, much to my great surprise, seen the very best in people. Once again I am humbled to have been proven incorrect in my assumptions about others.
This has been a very good week. My brother and nephew were shot and lived (there is an essay about that that you can find if you follow my name here), my son got very good news about his legal status, the former Mrs. Translator is getting a nice tax refund, and so all is well.
I am happier than I have been in months, if not years. To celebrate it, I am playing The Who at high volume presently.
Hello, folks! Sorry to take a hiatus from Pique the Geek last night, but I was enjoying the bonds of family, not something that I am able to do often. As much as I love all of you, please excuse me for loving those really close to me more.
Eldest Son was married to his sweetheart of eight years Saturday afternoon. Yes, choked up and damn near cried. His mum, the former Mrs. Translator, was about the same, but it hit her more the next day.
Sometimes I forget what’s important. I forget that the world is made of love. I forget it. That’s human. I do it. My consciousness springs a leak and I forget. Ut oh. I do it frequently. And then, after a while, something happens to remind me, gently I hope, sometimes with ferocity, of what’s important, that the world is made of love. I then hold the realization like a glistening diamond for a second, or a minute, or an hour. I’m delighted, amazed, I’m filled with joy. And then, too soon, too soon, I lose it again, forget it, cannot remember where I put it. It’s gone. Where’d it go? I know I had it, I remember what it looked and felt like, but, alas, it’s gone. I know it’s gone. I admit it. I’m sad. I wish it were here. I’m afraid it won’t return. Despair is coming. And then, maybe, in the sound of the wind or the song of a bird or a dream, I hear it again, a hint, a reminder, an echo. There it is. It’s in me, it’s in all of us. We’re all made of it. It’s a world of love. Everything is made of it. We’re all connected, we’re all in everything else. And then, poof, it vanishes again. Where is it? Sometimes it stays gone for a long, long time. Sometimes not. And then, isn’t it wonderful? it returns. And when it returns, when the joy and ecstasy and unity and wonder and love and abundance and bliss return there’s only one thing to do.
Here is an example of the one thing to do:
There are, of course, other things to do also. There are as many things to do as there are people. There are 6 billion things to do. I like celebrations and ceremonies and drumming and dancing and chanting. Why? Because it’s the love we’re made of that’s most important and all of that expresses bhakti. And, yes, there are 6 billion other expressions of it.
May your world, and all of our worlds be filled with abundant love. And may we all celebrate it, each in our own chosen way, in bliss.
I want to know: Does laughter cause gene expression? This is a question I have never heard asked. If there is a psychologist or neuroscientist in the audience who knows if this question has ever been asked, I want to know that, also. The answer is certainly, Yes. Of course, there are genes constantly activated by everything we do. But are there specific genes associated with laughter? This is not a subtle question, such as the difference between humor and laughter. I am talking about Hee-Haw, robust, in yer face, I can’t stop laughing, lol catz!
