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There couldn't be a society of people who didn't dream. They'd be dead in two weeks. |
Sunday, September 24, 2000
Two years ago: New Building
Three years ago: Service Rendered
Jack cooked pancakes this morning, and scrambled eggs with cheese, for me and his newly returned daughter A-----. (He had some too, of course.) While he was cooking, A---- asked if he would like to hear some poetry she wrote on her travels. He said yes, but could she let him sit down first? She read various passages from a notebook she's been carrying in her bag. Her poems showed a range of vocabulary, but she read them so quickly that I had difficulty understanding parts of them. I don't think she was really asking for feedback as to whether they were well written.
Jack was talking with A---- about how she needs to go turn herself in to the authorities. She broke parole by leaving town last January, so it's likely she'll have to spend some time in the lockup. This was an idea she kept denying, though she's known it all along. "But I don't want to go to juvie!" Still the denial about any personal responibility -- apparently it's all some mean judge's idea, or her father's, in her mind. But she finally agreed.
She said to me while Jack was upstairs, "I have to go to jail today." This was said in a fairly matter-of-fact tone, but with a hint of looking for sympathy. I could only say, "Well, might as well get it over with," since it's certain that she needed to go handle this before doing anything about school or the rest of her life.
Jack drove off with her around noon, after she asked him not to pack up her clothes while she was gone. She acted as if she couldn't understand why we'd gathered up all the dirty clothes and garbage she'd left all over the floor of the second bedroom. We'd washed the clothing and packed it up into plastic boxes when Jack's younger daughter H---- came to spend the summer, of course.
* * * * * * * *
A---- being there will take some getting used to. The house is small and there's no way to avoid or hide away if the tantrums start again. If there's someone in a house who has shown themselves untrustworthy, one has to think about that and take precautions. On the good side, A---- has cooperated about smoking outside the house so far.
* * * * * * * *
After Jack returned from the juvenile detention center, we had a quiet afternoon, mostly reading. I told him that I'd read too many Regency romances in the last day or so, even though they were mostly very good ones. It's like eating too much candy! I'd read Mary Balogh's The Notorious Rake and A Counterfeit Bethrothal. These were two of her earlier books which I hadn't read before. By Mary Jo Putney I'd read The Would-Be Widow. This 1988 Signet Regency (a short book) was rewritten and expanded into The Bargain which I read some months ago. It was an interesting comparison, though I didn't have the newer version handy. I'll have to reread it now!
So, for a change, I picked up Bujold's Cordelia's Honor and started rereading that!
* * * * * * * *
When we'd been at the grocery store yesterday, Jack had found some gorgeous red bell peppers, and had been inspired to make stuffed peppers for our dinner tonight. I did my part: I put the brown rice in the rice cooker, and when it was done, I helped chop the veggies and some pepperoni. The dish turned out great.
Jack had a lot on his mind with his daughter home. "Normally when I'm in a bad mood, I stay by myself," he said. He's not used to sharing that sort of thing -- part of him felt that he should be entertaining me.
After dinner, we did break out that DVD we bought yesterday. American Movie was wonderful! It's a documentary about an indie filmmaker in Wisconsin, Mark Borchardt, who's trying to finish a horror short that he'll sell on video. Then he'll have enough cash to do his "serious" drama.
I knew I'd like this film, and I did! It's fascinating and funny. The comments from the filmmaker's brother and father were harsh! Somehow the act of revealing all in a movie doesn't seem so strange to those of us who keep our journals online. (There's a daily journal on the movie's website written by Borchardt.)
The extra material on the DVD was worth the money -- we watched all the deleted scenes, and about fifteen minutes of the film over again with the commentary track turned on. I want to see it all that way! But Jack had had enough, even though he'd laughed as much as me, or more.
We tried to get to sleep early, but I ended up not getting to sleep until eleven. I kept having to pick up my book again to distract myself from dark thoughts.
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