Nine Feet Underground

I implied there'd be another, and there is. This is it. I have been doing quite a lot, so there's probably a lot to write about. I'm uncertain how much I am in the mood to write, though. I'm going to list a lot of the things I could write about, then see what that sparks in the little grey cells. Of note: Bagheera being put to sleep Robyn Hitchcock John Bishop Suzanne Vega Todd Rundgren Slow Horses (Season 5) Celebrity Traitors MAFS UK (Have mercy on my soul) The Sandman Lots of Archaeology on TV Ancestors (Book) The Idler The White Lotus (Season 1 - Descent into Hell) Online Course at the James Joyce Cultural Centre in Dublin studying 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man' (Next 6 weeks) The Reader at Calderstones Park Mansion House Back pain/Balance - Full Spine MRI scan (next week) The saddest thing has been the death of Q and φ's cat, Bagheera. She was a lovely black cat and is much missed. Q and I saw Robyn Hitchcock at Prohibition Studios in Liverpo...

Next week would have been E's birthday. Her first birthday since she died. Every day is the birthday of millions of people, living and dead. I'm wrestling with how to commemorate this day.  The date is still the day of her birth; however, she is not physically here to have her birthday celebrated. If someone is no longer here, should you celebrate their birthday? In remembering, we are commemorating.  It's not something that can be forgotten (not that I want to), not this close to her death, but perhaps it's about how I and our sons and her brother feel inside. For me, it feels wrong to celebrate the day, especially now. As her illness progressed, each birthday had less and less to celebrate. We always marked the day. More or less, even though it became impossible to do the things we would have done, since E couldn't leave the house. I have spoken to my sons about this upcoming date to see if they would like to do something special to mark the occasion.  So far, th...