Dying/broken/forgiven.... now I begin

Born: 17-06-56....gemini.... monkey
re-born: 3-09-80
born again\found: 14-04-08
other notable dates: 10-03-68; 03-09-87; 23-03-96;
1-05-98; 31-01-02; 5-04-04

Interests: movement, stressed/transgressive embodiment, lived experience (body\space\time\relation)
expression ( word, dance, text, image, story, music, poetics)
learning, yielding......

Hopes for the blog:
offer up the wild intersectedness of lived experience and engage others in creative, expressive, perhaps irreverant, hopefully playful, and respectful encounters....
enact kindness
create moments of pause for disclosure, discovery, stillness

Friday, November 13, 2009

Dark Knight

It's my turn to get my name.
Gabriel, my colleague, has long since taken on the task of assigning each of us a cartoon or fantasy character suited to our personality. My department does this every December at our greedy gift exchange. Gabriel named himself first : Batman, and on from there through my other colleagues.... Wonder Woman, Captain America, Porky Pig, the Energizer Bunny...
this year, I'm up.
I'm perversely excited because I am a bit of a pariah in my home unit... not exactly a model citizen. I'm hoping for a character appropriate to my mission.Greedy gifts done, paper and ribbon piled high, cutlery and food remains scattered over the table. Gabriel stands to his full 6'5" and the light from the window catches the shine on his magnificent bald head. He stands there, majestic, our dark knight. I say a small, silent prayer of thanks that he is not wearing lycra. He clears his throat.... the drum roll.
H......, you are Buttercup, queen of the powder puff girls.
My face feels like it is falling in on itself. I wish I was a cat... I would do that thing with my ears that cats do when they're pissed off. If my face were a hand, it would be a fist; if my face were a sky, it would be a thunder cloud. I'm horrified. How could he have made such a huge miscalculation?
I gaze at the expectant, happy faces. It's my chance to be grateful, and my joy is taking far too long.
Instead, I move my wrapping paper around the table; a ribbon falls and I lean over and pick it up. I fiddle with it, examining the lovely play of colour by the light of the window. I place it on the table next to my fork, and I gaze at my fork, weighing its potential as a weapon. I fold my hands in my lap and I look up, my forehead betraying my consternation.Gabriel knows. They all know.
I sigh.

11 comments:

  1. Hah! I enjoyed this wee stoll through your humorous tale.

    Think yourself lucky though, look what they nick-named me.

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  2. Haha! I never cease to be amazed at the gap between how we imagine ourselves and how we are seen - most times (as in your case) it is best not to be confronted with it.
    At work I imagine myself to be witty and anacranistic - but I'm sure they all think I'm a twat. :]

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  3. ha ha, powder puff..mm... not what I expected.. still, handy if you want to find out who likes butter..) Cool story.

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  4. Methinks he's cruising for a bruising. More like Xena Warrior Princess.

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  5. You don't seem anything remotely like a buttercup or powder puff to me. Sounds like Gaby doesn't really know you after all...

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  6. thanks, everyone... I am gratified that a community who knows me only through my words already knows me better than ( most ) of the people in my workplace who have worked with me for almost two decades...
    Punch.. loved the line insertions.... are you sure you are not a Newfoundlander?
    WM, Madame and Dave.... I am plotting ....
    Jimmy ... I'll take it over buttercup, although Selchie has got me thinking...
    Deedee.... I doubt that he has this as a goal anyway
    Pisces... a twat?! not you, surely...
    Gerry-- my sister said the same thing; she insists it was the visual of the cat ears on the top of my head :)

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  7. Ha Ha! I actually kinda like the Powderpuff girls... so I wasn't sure what you would say. I am sad it was such a miscalculation. Oh well...
    I'm six foot tall, even, and barely 170 pounds, and wished I was some kinda combo of Tom Swift and He-Man when I was a kid. Come to think of it... I still wish it sometimes...

    Here's to the lovely flower that means no cruelty in this world. And here's to the Princess Bride!

    Up, Up and Away... Harlequin, our comic high jester of would be namers. Sticks and stones....

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  8. Andy--- thanks for the comment; I am more of a Klingon, myself... and you are most likely more of a hero than you realize :)

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  9. I'm with Walking Man and Dave - in spades!

    :)

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