Ghosts

Early today, my grandmother died (not that we were really close, since it's hard to get close to someone you don't speak with a common language).

Wakes aren't really for me, especially considering I'm socially inept. Add that to the fact that I'm coming from a Chinese family and I don't speak Chinese. I believe funerals are for the living (since no matter what religion you are, there's not much else you can do for the dead) and quite frankly, I really can't comfort people.

In the hour that I was at the wake, I was like a ghost since everyone else had someone to talk to and I was all there, alone. Highest point was probably when somebody was adding the time and date of the funeral and the strip of paper was too large; I got out a scissor from my really big bag and got thanked for it.

Of course regarding my grandmother's death, I view it as a good thing in the sense that we can all move on. To begin with, her legs have shrunk so much so that they're thinner than her arms. For another, even if she did manage to speak English, she lost the capability of speech several years ago ever since a tube was inserted into her throat to suck out the phlegm. And this has been going on for nearly a decade now (the female members of my family are a hardy lot... my other grandmother lasted three years in what was predicted to be a lifespan of three months).

Rick Jones

Of course the said event above is a complete contrast to C3. I was helping people left and right, acting like the extra that I am. It seems I'm built for being errand boy, since one tends to stand up all day long and walk around a lot, something I can actually do.

To everyone who won/volunteered/participated/organized in the event, congrats.

Jan. 17 is the scifi convention, and while it won't be as hectic, I'll probably come in as someone's sidekick again.