Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Death, underdogs and dressing up

Death -

Regina's mom passed, quietly and peacefully with her familia by her side, Monday evening. The funeral mass is next Thursday and watching a close friend mourn the loss of her mother is painful and beyond words. Please keep my dear friend in your thoughts and prayers now.

Tonight, D and I went to dinner at our local Irish pub and raised a pint of Guinness in honor of Irene (Regina's mom). We talked about how different cultures celebrate life and honor death. Earlier in the day, I was sharing the news with a mutual friend Chuck who is Jewish and spoke about the similarities of Irene's passing and sitting shiva. I shared with Duane some memories of Irene, we spoke about Waking Ned Devine and how the Irish deal with death. Then a song by Lorena McKennet came on and I nearly lost it.

I continue to text, email and phone Regina to remind her that I am here if/when she needs me. The school she teaches at (where BG attended summer school, thanks in part to her tia Regina) will hold the First Friday mass in Irene's honor and I will attend with Regina.

Underdogs -

When D told me that the Milwaukee brewers have a chance of making it to the play offs (is that what they are called?) and have not been since 1908 - we decided it was imperative for us to suddenly become brewers fans - unless of course, they play our beloved Angels. Please don't make me say the whole name ( Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, yeah - don't get me started on how stupid that sounds).

Dressing up -

Though I am not speaking to my dad (long story/family shit -we are however, emailing) I am hoping he is still planning his Halloween party because D and I have the perfect costume. We are huge fans of the movie Anchorman - He will go as Ron Burgundy (how easy is that, thrift store shopping here I come) and I will go as Veronica Corningstone. Though I do not have the blond hair - I am going because of one of the names they call her in the movie has been a nickname of mine (only in Duane's family, thanks to his cousin Chris) - it's a bit crass, however the first one that correctly identifies the nickname will get a prize mailed to them.

Wanna hint - My last name and my bra size is a 34/36 DD.

Ok - Stay classy San Diego and nighty-night.

3 comments:

kate said...

Oh, Kara- I am so sorry for your friend's loss. Losing anyone is terrible, but there's a special kind of pain that appears when we lose a parent. Please (as appropriate) let her know that there's someone in the blogosphere thinking of her and wishing her and her family peace in this sad time.

I do think that one of the remaining valid functions of religion in this modern world is to give us a blueprint by which to grieve. I have my own twisted spirituality, but it's at times when I think of the loss of someone that I feel like I don't know much about how to go about processing a death. 'Cos I don't necessarily believe in an afterlife, but neither do I believe that the soul simply evaporates. Religion is sure useful to us in giving us a ritual to hold on to, and without it, I wonder what we as a society would come up with to help us process death. You've raised an interesting set of ideas. Now, I want to go off and just think about all of this for a while.


I have a hard time being a sports fan anymore. I love hockey, but I love the farm teams, not the NHL. I love seeing the sport in person, and though we have an AWESOME pro team in NC (Go, 'Canes!!!), they play in Raleigh, and thus, I care less about their performance, 'cos I never see them live. And I mean, what could be more underdogged than an ice hockey team from the South???


Heh. Your halloween costume sounds awesome. I never dress up for halloween, 'cos I never come up with anything good. For a few years there, I tried to force myself to start thinking earlier, and all that did was to make me feel even lamer, 'cos even with three months to contemplate, I still come up with NOTHING. The last decent costume I came up with was going as a drag queen (which was all awkward and bizarre with people grabbing my -unbeknownst to them- REAL boobs all night...). So good for you. If I get my shit together (and have anywhere worth going this year), I may repeat a costume from 10 years ago, which no one ever gets, which is Devil With A Blue Dress On (that old Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels song...). Once I explain it, people think it's cool, but I find it lame to have to explain myself all evening, you know?

Sigh. Stupid Kate. Good thing I have cool friends like Cool Kara...

Emily (Apron Strings) said...

So sorry I've been MIA lately. I've been reading though ... and I'm sorry to hear that your friend's mom passed away. Big HUGS to you and your friends and her family ...

Bridget McGee said...

Tits McGee!