Stygian Gloom

This is a tribute to a friend of ours--he has not passed away, but we have moved on. My sister and her boyfriend of 3 years have just parted company, and we are all sad for our friend (who for the purposes of protecting the innocent we will be calling) Norbert.

Poor Norbert.

I can see why my sister can't quite bring herself to love him forever. He is not the vibrant ray of shining joyfulness that she is. He is not *exactly* of the same general demeanour as our Jessica Rabbit/Scout Finch hybrid. He doesn't really exude an awful lot of happy, or even energetic, vibe, if you know what I mean. I can see how they must be very dissimilar from 4000 miles away; they must be even more so, when you get close enough to really contrast and compare them.

On the other hand, are we not all made up of light and shade? Has my sister never had a day of gloominess? Is she not just as prone to tempers and tears as the rest of us, when the urge strikes?

Well, no. She's not, really. But she's always been happy to put up with my moods and insecurities, and not that I know Norbert as well as I know myself, but I can't see him being any worse than me.

And--to put the emphasis back on our good friend Norbert, Big Bert, The Man Who Sounds Like Seth Rogan--Norbert seems really, really groovy. Downright awesome, even. Funny. Well-read. Reasonably educated, in a very interesting area. He quotes good authors and shite films, and is just as quick to laugh at himself as he is to laugh at anyone else. He's bright enough, likable enough, chatty, pleasant, seems open-minded, and if he's a *bit* less cultural than one might hope, well... we ARE all from the Deep South.


That includes myself and my sister. We're crackers, yo. That's one step up from poor white trash, for those of y'all who don't know, and we really shouldn't go 'round putting on airs. I include myself in this admonishment--I'm nothing if not prone to bouts of extreme pretentiousness--but, you know. It should be nipped in the bud, when you realise you're doing it.

Not that I'm calling my sister pretentious, necessarily. This is a lot of guesswork--Norbert says they have no money to go out, sister says they never go anywhere fun, I'm largely *assuming* that my sister wants to go to 'fun' places like the theatre, or the ballet, or art galleries. She *is* a bit artsy-fartsy, always has been, but maybe I've got the wrong end of that stick. Still. I kinda have an idea of what Norbert likes, after talking to him, and I kinda know what my sister likes, and I can kinda see how their individual ideas of fun *kinda* don't interweave in a seamless tapestry of shared enjoyment...


But. However. I digress. Neverminding why, and leaving out all the wherefores, we must all salute Norbert, for he has been among us, and we will always love him (if not in the way that he wants). Thank you, Norbert, for the time you have shared with us. We hope to remain friends.

And I, for one, am sorry things haven't worked out with you and my baby sister. Better luck next time *kiss kiss* And we'll keep you around, if we can, until you feel steady enough to move on.