On a scale of 1 to 10, how well do you sing?
The musical scale I was taught only went to 8. Doh Ray Me Far So La Te Doh. I'd probably rank 'Far', seeing as there's no 'Lo' to go with the 'So'.
If you get it, drop a comment.
What's your favourite memory from the summer of '09?
Which bit? January-February, or the December yet to come?
...so let me correct that. We've all heard that saying, "shit happens", and we all know it does. We've all been visited by Mr Murphy who takes perverse delight in laying down his law. We're currently going through a "shit happens" visit from Mr Murphy. My other half, perhaps known to some on Vox as Rabble, goes under the knife on Monday to have a breast cancer removed. The 10 days have been a rollercoaster of emotions, fears, doubts and amazingly an over-flowing of support of a kind I'd never thought possible from people she's never met.
Rabble runs an online website called Down Under Street Team (DUST) within the art and craft community called ETSY. A huge collective of people, men and women, who practice their arts and crafts online, marketing themselves and their handcrafted goods. Some obviously make quite a business of handcrafted soaps, jewellery and knick-knacks which appeal to a vast number of others not so gifted as they. Last Tuesday, when Rabble was diagnosed with a small, barely discernible Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, her spirits was shattered and fear was evident. She wasn't sure how to feel or what to feel. Neither was I but I'm not the one with cancer. She wrote about her feelings in her online journal/blog, made a mention of the entry on her Facebook page which is extremely limited in contacts, and the floodgates of positivity, good wishes and genuine offers of assistance opened wide.
What fascinates and delights me is the vast number of well-wishers who Rabble has never met and not likely to ever meet because they are so far flung. She might chat to them online and even know what they look like on a webcam or from photos, but one-on-one, they've never met. We met online, 11 years ago, but even so, I remain amazed at the connectivity to a genuine sense of community the internet offers to those who put in the time and effort to make the links.
Rabble has the best surgeon available, and while we're going 'public' based on the care, thought and attention we've received from the Queensland hospital system already, I have no doubts that Monday will be a complete success with only the absolutely necessary invasion of her body through surgery happening. Her spirits are bouyant and while her anthropophobia - a social phobia similar to agoraphobia - gives her some small cause for concern, we of her family will be right by her side as closely as the system permits. I know she'll be just fine.
Yes, shit does happen, which is why it's always good to have friends.
