Saint Patrick's Day Planning

Poppets like to do some of the things that Silly Humans do. Of course they like to be responsible about their fun too, so they make sure that they eat something if they are going to be out all night, hanging out singing old Irish Sea Shanty's with the Band.

And they will raise a pint and toast to Spencer Anderson's health, and speedy recovery for he is a fine and quiet man.

And if they have enough pints they will make sure that they have a sober ride home, or take the subway or call a cab.

Poppets never Drink and Drive.

Happy St. Paddy's Day.

The Taunting - Cheapass Edition - Dramatic Recreation

OK, I may be spectacularly late in posting the summary of the Taunting but my Terrible Tardiness is matched only by my Magnificent Single Mindedness - I just kept feeling like I couldn't move forward with anything else unless I could manage to finish this. It would be like admitting defeat in the face of things that kept happening in December. And then January. Things were beginning to threaten February too but I'm gonna show those pesky Things what's what.

Also, I realized that the holidays started for me in September and kept coming every single weekend until the first week of January. It was like an avalanche of Holidays. And when I got to the bottom of them I collapsed.

Whew. And now NEW holidays are happening - because time keeps moving forward. Which is, frankly, a little annoying. Things are happening for the big Hallmark Holiday coming up and it's not right to write about them without giving the last major holiday it's due.

So we left off (or more accurately I left you off) here.

Where I mentioned that since the Taunting had snuck up on me I didn't handle the display the way I usually did - so I did something else. Even more Tauntingly. It ended up that the makeshift wrapping system fit absolutely every present for every night. So I put all of the presents in two suitcases and every night before the candle lighting went upstairs wrapped the evenings clues . . .I mean presents into the scarves with the really cool paper that Uncommon Goods used instead of styrofoam and handed the tied scarves to the Children.

So every night sort of looked like some variation of this:

As you can see, the Poppets from Taunting 2008 were helping to supervise, and they were curious as to how a non-Poppet based taunting works.

So the First Candle had given the Girl recycled kimonos that held things together and the Boy got a timepiece that looked a bit like a spaceship had landed on his arm. It's in the link I put up above.

The Second Candle the Children both got bento boxes:

Bento boxes are magic, that's why the Tiny Wizard wanted to show them to you. The Ronin Panda is for the Girl and the "Lunch System Black Box" is for the Boy. The paper that is surrounding them is the wonderful un-styrofoam packing paper. Bentos end up being a really good way to keep your sandwiches from getting squished in your backpack. And you can pack salted cashews without having to use a lot of little ziplock baggies.

Using bento is green too.

Now there were two nights - the Children were not yet willing to hazard guesses.

You remember that there is always a theme right?

Third Candle came.

We lit the candles, sang the songs, and the Children opened their cheapass - I mean "green" wrapping on their gifts.

The Ninja is by the Nom Nom Nom insulated lunch bag, and Choco Poppet is by the Happy Bees lunch bag making sure that they each go to the right Child.

The Children were willing to hazard a guess that the themes had to do with food, but were slightly confused about how kimono based shoelaces fit in with that.

Fourth Candle came and then things changed up a bit - The Girl got a bag of Zen and the Boy got a Sonic Screwdriver and this really cool Tardis T-shirt.

Well neither of those things had anything to do with food. Now they were confused.

I should take this time to point out that one of the advantages Hanukah not having a Hanukah Fairy or anything similar means that when your Children are not quite childish anymore there is some room to maneuver. The Girl had wanted something that was artisan made and quite expensive and basically the equivalent of her entire Hanukah budget. So we obtained the artisan made thing for her with the understanding that it basically was her Hanukkah present - but you cannot stop the Taunting!

So she was Taunted regardless . . . which means she knew the gifts all led to something specific. And she started throwing out some ideas for the Boy's Theme, but wasn't willing to guess at hers. But gentle readers, you may start noticing a bit of a disparity in the gifts moving forward and I didn't want you to assume favoritism.

Fifth Candle - the Boy's gift is being shown by the Skeleton Who Wants to Run a Flower shop doing his impression of James Cameron.

It's a globe that floats - he's wanted a globe for some time.

The Girl got a handmade Peace bracelet made by Pammy J. So as you can see there are also nightly themes where their presents relate to each other and back to the bigger themes for each of them. So Fifth Candle was a gimme - It was World and Peace. Although the Poppets did point out that the Children hardly ever disagree with each other, but they didn't really seem like they could spread World Peace around.

I told the Poppets it was OK as long as they tried. And they managed to try it without using nuclear technology.

The Sixth Candle brought the Boy a Donegal Tweed hat with an Asian Dragon and the Girl got a Lucky Cat coin purse from Japan. Orange and Violet approved. They both figured that they weren't going to get it until Eight Candle at this point.

And on the Seventh Candle The Girl got a Djinn, trapped in a sweatshirt and the Boy got Time trapped in gears under glass. "But wait" you say. "Didn't he get a watch at the beginning of the Taunting". Why yes, yes he did. You see, we have all sorts of important milestones in out family for girls marked with a piece of real jewelry that can be kept or handed down to future generations. But there have been nothing BUT girls born into our family for four generations until the Boy. The jewelry given to the girls is to learn things about trust from your elders, taking care of things, learning the differences in material value and craftsmanship and maturity. We have markers for the first real ring, (usually engraved with an initial, that the child picks themselves at a real jewelry shop) when you can pierce your ears. (6th grade for me and the Girl - younger for my sister and my niece).

When the Girl turned 16 I gave her the gold necklace that my parents had given me on my 16th birthday. And when looking for the first sports watch I realized that there was no equivalent tradition or items for the Boy. Who was going to need a dress watch. So the First Candle was a sports Chronometer, but the Seventh Candle was a Sturhling Winchester Skeleton watch in Rose Gold. Because the Boy has excellent taste in Jewelry for others and he like to make things work.

It's a really cool watch.

And he also got a copy of Electronic Gadgets for the Evil Genius - 28 projects to build for yourself.

It's a great book, but some of the projects are actually illegal in some states, so build with caution.

And then finally it was The Eighth Candle - this is when the Big Presents are given.

The Girl's Eighth Candle was actually acquired in the summer, long before the negotiations over very expensive artisan made things. So all of the things she had received were actually the lead up to her receiving a Zen Poppet.

There are only 5.

I have one too, so we own 2/5 of all the Zen Poppets in the world. Someday I shall take a picture of them having tea together.

The Girl really needs some Zen, and Poppety Zen is the best kind of Zen.

The Boy has now reached the same height as me. I am not exactly short. And he has wanted a leather duster for a long time. I happen to have a leather duster. It hits us mid calf.

The thing the Children love about my duster is that it doesn't look fashionable, although it can be. It just looks like it's Mine. I've worn it to the desert, to the symphony, thrown it on the floor in open space rehearsals, worn it to Europe slept on it in tents in the rain. It's weathered. It's mine like the pointy hat is Elphaba's. It doesn't matter that they weren't originally made for us, once they were Ours there were no other defining characteristics. Oh that's the Witch's Hat. Oh that's Drinne's Leather Coat.

And ultimately, that's really what the Boy wanted for himself.

But my duster is black, and the Boy is not dark, and he is young. There are people who signify THINGS when they see young men in black leather dusters. And those are none of the THINGS that belong to the Boy. He is not interested in playing with other people's symbols.

So I found a vintage full length Dark Brown leather trenchcoat from London. Because it matters that it was long, not that it was black. and it looks smashing with the Donegal hat with the Asian Dragon and it has an inside chest pocket that is perfect for holding the Sonic Screwdriver. It's like it was meant to be. And now the Boy has exactly what he wants and doesn't look like anyone else.

I'm sure you've guessed the themes by now.

It only took about an hour for it to be His.

Which is the way it should be.

And that, finally, is the tale of the Taunting of 2009.

Better late than never.

The Taunting - Cheapass Edition

Do you all remember The Taunting? It is my family's personalization of our Americanized Holiday celebration.

As time goes on and I study more, I am harboring a secret suspicion that Judah and the Macabees became a macho male veneer on a holiday that had been celebrated by Jews previously that celebrated Judith. I've done a presentation on Judith in art and history- she is fascinating in the mixed up worlds of art history and political history . . . . but that is another truly wonky, geeky, potentially controversial story - for another time and perhaps a different audience.

Questions like Judith burn through my brain - but the someone to tear through the questions with me, well that doesn't work out so well. Their brain would have to be burning too. It's tied up with Western religion and history and art and the role of women and the values of monarchy. Too complicated, to much trust needed to have the conversation. No one wants to play with me. . . . .

So my fevered brain and I put all of our energy into the Taunting instead. And indeed, Channuka snuck up on us this year, and I "lost" my job 4 days before it started, (it's not lost, just ending in a few weeks, but in the Meatworld the effect is the same) and I was far too optimistic about time estimates for some artwork I was trying to do. So as a result the Taunting was planned, but the execution was not out of Phase II:Find Key Elements. Phase I is Create The Theme.

Every year at the beginning of Channuka, I put all of the presents out at the first candle. They are numbered, there are 8 for each child (who aren't so childish anymore) and each present is a clue. Every Taunting has a Major Theme, and every night has a Minor Theme. You have to open the presents in order. The "big" present is always the 8th Candle.

The wrapping is part of the Theme - and last year it was Poppets. And Chinese Takeout Containers - My sister was the one to get the wrapping theme. It's an in joke. But this year, we opted for The Taunting - Slacker Edition:

As you can see things were ordered and arriving - instead of hiding the packages as they came in I stacked them all in front of the portal mirror and set the Poppets from Last Year's Taunting to guard them.

The Slacker Taunting actually is related to a legendary event called Slacker Camp. When My Perfectly Normal Husband was simply My Accountant Who I Brought With Me to the Desert, Because You Only Bring The Things You Really Need, we set up very elaborate, generous interactive performance art and helped everyone who needed it with their own.

Then we went to a local event about 3 -4 weeks later and brought everything we needed and enough for lot of other people, and offered to share and give instructions but only performed the barest minimum needed. Those who had known us from the other events saw the art in it, and those who had just met us thought it was a brilliant conceit while they ate the steaks that we brought but they cooked.

It was interesting for us, because we are people who do, and help, and plan, and execute. It taught us things like letting go of complete control, and that if we give that out into the world, good people who are fun to hang out with will come to us and give us their enegry, work and company. However I must admit - we were only willing to do Slacker Camp once. It's not our nature.

So the same way Slacker Camp was not conducted in a vaccum, The Taunting - Cheapass Edition was also held within the context of Tauntings gone by. Good traditions grow new stories.

When the first Box arrived it was approximately 4 feet tall and 5 inches square and I had no time to unpack it so it stayed in the livingroom and I declared that the Cheapass Taunting had begun. The Boy asked if it was one gift but it actually contained several - it would take me three days to be able to get enough time to unpack it. The Taunting had begun! It Taunted me too.

On the First Candle I had a lovely stack of Amazon Boxes. ( because I'm a Prime Member and they deliver in two days with free shipping for me) and a few boxes from other places.

First Candle also happened to be Shabbat and it was such a Slacker Channuka that I hadn't bought candles for the Channukia ( menorahs) so we scavenged the leftovers from previous years.

However The Skeleton That Want's To Run A Florist Shop came up with a backup plan.

He likes to arrange things. He gathered a group of the minis and they put together Poppets Pretending to be a Menorah.

See - the mini wizard's wand is pretending to be the first candle and Wind is the Shamesh.

I reused the Chinese Food Gift Containers from last year's Taunting. See Slacker Channaka is Green!

We lit the regular candles, The Boy got a timepiece and The Girl got recycled kimono fabric made into fabulous shoelaces, which in turn ended up looking a lot like something Mini Poppets should dance with.

So they did.

Last year it was the Calender that caused Chaos because of the Great Holiday Overlap. This year the Chaos came because I was tricked into believing in The Week That Was Not There. But just you wait Calendar . . . . I'll get you my pretty, and your little ticking minutes too.

The Taunting can be messed with, but it cannot be stopped.

We emerged from the eight days victorious - The next entry or two will tell the story.

Tales of the Tiny Alien Episode 11 - Finally

When we last left our Tiny Alien, he was being invited to open the Door to the Sleek Dangerous Thing, having been introduced to Hizzoner and the Fixer by the Lead Singer of the Band.  He had knocked on many Doors, he had asked many questions, he knew now that he was looking for something that for him would be the Ultimate Treat and that he would never be asked to go Home again. Is this then the answer to the heartfelt question "Trick or Treat?" Will the Tiny Alien find  way to live in a Land of Tiny Doors where it's only Halloween sometimes, we'll find out  . . . . 

The Tiny Alien followed the pointing wrench of the Fixer and the approving flashes of Hizzoner and made his way through the door at the back of the Sleek Dangerous Thing. Climbing inside, there was a seat at the fron and a seat at the back.  He settled in to the seat at the fron and then the Sleek dangerous thing reared up to twice the height it was before!

The Sleek Dangerous Thing climbed inside his mind a teensy bit and introduced itself, welcoming him on board and asking if he'd like some In Flight Peanuts. The Tiny Alien, never one to refuse a Treat of course said yes, and CLINK! the upper windows shut down and sealing noises squished sealingly and In Flight Peanuts popped up next to him at the same time In Flight Harnesses pulled him back to the seat and the Sleek Dangerous thing warned him that there would be stronger g-forces shortly as they were heading into space, so perhaps he might want to wait to open the peanuts. 

There was stowage for his bag and his raygun and the Sleek Dangerous Thing lived up to its nomenclature by taking the Tiny Alien out for a game of Asteroids with actual Asteroids. 

The Tiny Alien was very impressed and eventually learned enough to use the manual controls to shoot the Asteroids himself. They took a quick tour of the local solar system, since the Tiny Alien hadn't had a chance to sight see on the way in, and buzzed the Empire State Building for Irony's sake, and returned to Hizzoner and the Fixer, although the Tiny Alien was watching the helm readout he still wasn't able to tell how they navigated back or how they were attached to anything on the planet but still it was a good and exhilarating trip. It was so exciting the the Tiny Alien had quite forgotten to open the peanuts at all.

The top cage open and the Tiny Alien popped out raygun in hand bristling with happiness and joy. "That was GREAT!" But the Fixer's head was shaking 

very gently from side to side.

"Are you where you need to be?" asked the Fixer

"I'm not sure what you mean?" responded the Tiny Alien.

"Well then it wasn't the right fit."

"Oh, I think I see. Well you're right, it was an adventure truly and surely and a great game, but it was a little narrow, and the Sleek Dangerous Thing seems like a great playmate, but I wouldn't want it as a roommate, it would probably eat all the leftover roast beast and drink all the water that the Alex supplied without asking first."

Hizzoner indicated, that indeed, the Sleek Dangerous Thing was forever doing things like that.

The Fixer was bustling down a hallway motioning for the Tiny Alien to follow. They stopped in a darkened workshop. There didn't seem to be Anything To See Here.

"You know," said the Fixer, "That the definition of Alien is in effect outsider, and that you enjoy that definition immensely. It is good to be true to yourself."

"Well, it's much better to be a Tiny Alien when everyone else around you is not. Then you don't seem so redundant" The Tiny Alien had reflected on this himself more than once.

"Do you remember what the first inhabitant you met told you?" 

""Please don't spill the Cocoa, it's very hot?'" 

"A little bit later than than that." 

"That 'Everyone here is from someplace else, but it's still nice to have a place to put one's paperwork.'"

"Yes, that's it. Although paperwork shouldn't really take up so much space if you did things electronically or mentally like you should. Please drink this cup of cocoa and then see if you see anything?"

The Tiny Alien wondered where the cup of cocoa had come from because it was just himself and the Fixer, but he took it and was pleased that it had marshallows in it. As he sipped it he felt himself to be back on the stoop with the Inhabitant that had supplied him the Else, his alien equivalent of skin prickeled and chills ran little races up and down his approximation of a spinal column. He was overwhelmed with the same feeling he had felt back in Episode 2. It was an immense Feeling,  something a bit like the opposite of homesickness and not quite the same as wanderlust.  It was so big, that the intensity of it filled the Tiny Alien and went right out of him expanding throughout the entire workshop, filling the available space with it's out-of-sortedness. 

The Tiny Alien watched the Something expand and saw It, and seeing It opened the door himself and went right in. 

It was perfect.

He was happy.

And it didn't talk to him at all.

The Fixer looked up and studied the Tiny Alien in his Exosuit and nodded.

Handing the Tiny Alien a care and feeding manual, the Fixer stated declaratively,"Good Fit."

In all of the worlds, in all of the realities, in the Dreamtime and the Meatworld there is NO Tiny Alien that is as happy as our Tiny Alien is, sitting exactly Where He Belongs. 

And Where He Belongs moves with him.

Just the way it should.

The End 

(Mostly)

Tales of the Tiny Alien Episode 9a - The Band- Encore

By Popular Demand here at the House . . . . 

An appearance of The Moon's Fire Eating Daughter in concert.

Apparently, lack of concert pictures took away from the last Episode, according to some residents. The text for Episode 9 is right under this post, if you haven't read it yet.

Tales of the Tiny Alien Episode 9 - The Band

When last we left our Tiny Alien he was being escorted to the Band having been given a Pass by the a Ninja In Fake Pants.  He had been in the tiny basket on the very tall pole, he had survived the Bad Puns and the Meme, and ignored the cries of an underinsured  Director. He was on his Way. .  . 

Together they travelled from the Corner of Sky and Sea. It was quite the adventure with sailors with curved swords and seamonster fixations,  and sea saltwater taffy, and various storms and various calms. When it was over they finally arrived somewhere on the coastline of what might have been Ireland, except for the fact that it wasn't.

In all the time they had travelled together, it had never occurred to the Tiny Alien to ask what a Band was. Possibly that was because the Ninja reminded the Tiny Alien of the Alex, but without the whole "what happened to the law of gravity" effect. The Ninja never altered physics, but he also didn't speak much and the Tiny Alien wasn't about to disrupt that, because secretly he was afraid that if he did, the Ninja might change time and space too, and really, one being like that per story is enough. However, the side effect was that the Tiny Alien found himself at building with a shiny laminated Pass that had his picture on it, in front of a Door with two giant beings that were dressed in black canvas and stretch cotton sporting bicepts the size of the Tiny Alien's head and a lot of decorative skin dye. 

He stood tall and declared "Trick or Treat, or Else!"

"Aw gee, aren' you just the cutest thing." One of the large beings bared his teeth while looking down with a clipboard. The Tiny Alien knew that the tooth baring was friendly, but where he came from clipboards with papers on them did not bode well. The one with the clipboard nodded at the other one, who opened the Door. The Tiny Alien then noticed that while the Ninja had gotten him right up to the two black clad beings there were long queues of other beings snaking around the building some of whom were looking very unpleasantly at him. He also noticed that the Ninja was no longer there.

"Excuse me, but I am new around here, could you please tell me what a Band is?" he asked the kneecap of the being escorting him through a series of bluegray lit hallways.

"A Band is the way that people who've had to put their dreams and identities in quiet safe places get to live their dreams vicariously through the tiny group of people who put the real world and paying bills into a quiet safe place so that they can create music. "

"So the Band is a group of aesthetics?"

"More like functional hedonists, they do everything so everyone else doesn't have to. What kind of Band you like depends on which dreams and identities you have. But each Band that forms and stays together long enough to perform encapsulates someone's dreams, and gives those dreams forms and voices. Or bears witness to their experiences. When a Band makes music, the music makes the audience feel like themselves for a small period of time until they have to go back to what everyone else thinks they are. But in their hearts, they know that the Band knows who they are for real. And if the Band knows, why then they are real. Whichever Band it is. The closer the music is to their inner selves, the bigger fans they are of the Band."

"So which Band is this?" asked the Tiny Alien, wondering if he was real since he had never heard a Band. Then he started wondering which Bands the various people he had met liked. Then he realized he didn't know any Bands, so that was a particularly short-lived thought.

"This Band is called "The Moon's Fire Eating Daughter" which frankly, I don't get, and they've been travelling underground playing local gigs for a while, but this is a big break for them, but they know it's just for a little while. No one who sees them tonight will know them when they go back."

The Tiny Alien thought this was very odd, but couldn't figure out enough of what the Gentleman in Black was saying to ask the right questions. On the whole, it sounded like the Band might be just the kind of thing to help him find the Ultimate Treat. 

Finally the winding but angular hallways stopped. They were let into a room that was beautifully lit and filled with food and candy and couches and video games, but no one was there. The Gentleman in Black opened up another door and there were five beings roughly the height of the Tiny Alien all humming and joking and clearing throats while typing away on tiny keyboards and in the corner was a stressed looking woman pacing back and forth on a miniscule communications device.

"Dude, you made it" said one of the five gentleman with what looked like oversized chopsticks in his hand. They were all wearing black, they all looked very intense but happy. He soon came to learn they were "getting ready for the gig".

It seems that part of the deal for the concert they were about to play was that they had to leave their fates up to the Powers -that-Be, and keep trying Come-What-May. In the course of the leaving and the trying, the Powers-that-be, let them know that there would be an Alien, and he would need to Redefine Things. 

The lead singer sat him down and said many insightful and poetic things to him, the accordion  player who was being stifled by playing lead guitar instead told him about the many ways to compromise when working in a team, the bassist told him about Jazz and the keyboardist invited him to the sound check. 

That was when the Tiny Alien heard the Band, and they were Very Good, but he realized that they weren't His Band. They were singing someone else's dreams, but their songs made him think about that other person's dreams and experiences and the Tiny Alien felt like he could understand that other person in a way he wouldn't have if he hadn't listend to the songs. And that, as the drummer would say, was really rather brilliant. 

After the sound check they went back to the beautifully lit room with all of the Treats and no Tricks to be seen anywhere. They laughed and sang and the Tiny Alien taught them some tunes from his world and he sang the Indie Oracle's song for them and they took copious notes. 

The lead singer told him that after the concert, they would introduce him to the only person they knew who could help him, but after that it would either work out or not. The keyboardist suggested that if it didn't work out he could always write a song about it, because you never know where a song might lead you. And then, just like a dream where time moves too quickly when you are enjoying yourself, it was time for the concert. The Tiny Alien got to watch from the lighting control area surrounded by the comfortable whirrs of technology and randomly blinking lights. 

And if you can remember the very first time you heard live music played well with a whole bunch of people who were there because they liked the music, then you should think about that time. Then it will almost be like you were the Tiny Alien, who was listening to live music with other beings for the first time ever, and living in that moment so completely that he might almost be you. That first Band might not have been your Band, but they will have changed a small piece of you forever, in an opening sort of way. 

Almost like you were a Door. 

And when it was over, the Tiny Alien hung out Backstage and was able to talk about the music, and the Band got to ask what they sounded like to someone who had never heard a Band before. And everyone got to feel special to the other ones. Which the lead singer declared meant that it was a Good Gig, even when everyone forgets later. But the Tiny Alien suddenly knew that he was never going to forget, even if the Band did, and that not forgetting was one of the reasons he had been given the Pass. 

Settling down into that comfy thought he plumped up a pillow on a random couch an relaxed into it, setting his ray gun on "mild". He would leave it to the Band. Whatever else was going to happen next, it was probably going be OK, since he was with the Band.

Stay tuned for the next Episode when the Tiny Alien meets the only person who might be able to help. Will it work out or will our Tiny Alien have to take a class in music composition? We'll find out in the next episode of Tales of the Tiny Alien. 

I come from a long line of bartenders so I know . . .

You know you've been at the bar too long 

when the only people there with you are the emo/folk/punk band with two members arguing about whether or not to use an accordion, and the talking cat with the British accent tells the Irish Barkeep to flag you.

And he does . . . . .

Click on the pic for larger version.

The Taunting - Travel Edition Fifth Candle

On the way to the fifth night we were experiencing technical difficulties on the inside of the Taunting and on the Outside.

The Taunting is carefully balanced and full of ying and yang. I do not know what The Taunting would look like if there weren't two children and they weren't different genders.  I do know it would still be there, and it would still celebrate each child's individualities and similarities simultaneously. The Taunting is not about being even, the Taunting is about being heard, even if they don't realize we were listening.

So thus when we put together the Taunting, we realized there was a problem - the balance on the fifth candle was off! It was a Poppet Emergency! Despite the best efforts of Poppets and People alike, the tiny culprit that threw off the balance prevailed and settled into the Takeout Box. That was the technical difficulty from inside and outside. Then there was the difficulties that come from the Overlap. We were not going to bring our channukiot (plural of channukia) because Grandma, of course has one. A decision was made that group photos of The Taunting participants would just take place at the end. During the Travel Edition individual crews would take photos with Grandma's Menorah (Grandma doesn't like to put on airs either).

Then  . . .  disaster! The charger for the camera was missing. Which of course was discovered while getting ready to leave because the camera was on low battery. It seemed that the Taunting would not be Blogged. But then . . . . .Salvation! Our friend who has no Overlap, had the same model of camera and we could stop by and pick up her charger. Then  . . . Disappointment. It was just a little off, but then  . . . . Hope and Redemption! She found a AA battery operated Canon and sent us on our way promising that the Taunting would still be aired. We felt very religious, after all that disaster and salvation and hope and redemption, and we also had someone who was keeping Black Death in his pocket so I'm sure we were acting out someone's religious narrative somewhere, even if it wasn't a terribly serious religion. I'd like to think it might be the religion associated with the small God in Dirk Gently's Refrigerator.  Most importantly we could keep our promise to air the Taunting.

And initially it was all OK. For the Fifth Candle, one recipient was given Monday's Poppet.

 

She was most appreciative, having eyed the little feline type friend for a while, but you and she both realize that Monday's Poppet is only pretending to be a Cat. 

Our problem was with the other Takeout container, because you see, Poppets are generally polite if pressing, but Cats are Cats, and there is really nothing anyone can do about that. 

When the other recipient opened his takeout container he looked in and found this

The note reads:

"I am keeping this space warm until a little Black Poppet arrives.

Then I might move.

El Gatto"

And then the borrowed Cannon promptly ran out of AA Battery life, which is when we found out that Grandma's house may be very powerful and it may very well have been both Christmas and Channuka, but no one in the house was capable of finding new batteries for the camera. And that was the last picture taken on Fifth Candle. We think El Gatto did it and just didn't want to move to take a photo.

Where was the little Black Poppet? His story will come later, there were other Poppets wandering but not lost this Taunting, and there were still three candles to go . . . .

You can mess with the Taunting but you cannot stop it.