Non-NaNo? No way!

I suppose it's time for a non-NaNoWriMo related update.

Today is my 43rd birthday. It doesn't look like George and I will be doing much for it -- we're in between cheques and there just isn't a lot of free money -- but I've received some lovely gifts from eastpath and Terri took me out to a fantastic lunch at Bistro Dansk. So all in all it's been a really good one so far.

No birthday card from my mother this year, for obvious reasons. *is sad* There's a memorial service this afternoon at Riverview Health Centre for everyone who died over a certain period of time, including her, but I just don't think I'm up to going to it. Well, that's not quite true: I could go to it, but it would probably crash my mood in a serious way, so I'm choosing not to.

I'm in the middle of a murderous deadline on HB. 40+ pages by November 21st. Gah.

The following website has proven quite distracting over the last few days:

http://www.quicksilverscreen.com

And that's about all I can think of.

A last-minute decision

I've decided to go to the memorial service at Riverview. I have to stop on the way and pick up a single flower; probably a daisy, since those were what I would bring to my mother to cheer her up.

Wish me luck.

Er...

I just got back from the memorial service.

I knew it was going to be a memorial. I did not realize, and nowhere in the invitation did it indicate, that it was an immensely Christian service.

I mean, it had two Christian hymns, lots of Bible passages, plenty of audience response along the lines of "O Lord, our God", appeals to the God of Christianity and many statements of His goodness and mercy, and more "Amen"s than you could shake a stick at. It left me feeling very strange and uncomfortable -- how was I supposed to react to the call-and-responses? How could I sing hymns that were not of my religion and honored a God that was not my God? (I very quietly substituted "Lady" for "Lord", "Goddess" for "God", and "So mote it be" for "Amen", spoken softly so as not to offend those around me. I'm not sure that was the best thing to do, but it was the best I could come up with at that moment.) More to the point, my mother was on bad terms with Christianity as a whole and would probably not have appreciated being remembered in such a service if she'd had the choice.

I had a word with the chaplain afterwards. She was the one who spoke with me several times while my mother was dying and she recognized me immediately, and was sympathetic when I expressed my concern that such a service would make some NeoPagans (and other non-Christians) VERY uncomfortable, and therefore was perhaps not the best kind of service for a facility like Riverview to be hosting. She assured me that they are working on a more inclusive style of service.

Hmmm. I think I'll write her an actual letter, on paper and everything, summarizing my response. It might help the wheels of administration move a little bit faster.