Wednesday, July 12, 2017

I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major General

La version español está después de la primera foto.

I'VE BEEN FINDING my days lately a bit emotionally challenging. No one specific reason. That's life with clinical depression I suppose. I'm up one moment and down the next. Nothing to be concerned about. I'm not crashing, only dipping. I'll just think of it as "that time of the month." (Sadly, my "cycle" is very irregular.)

As for ups and downs:
Tuesday was the sixth anniversary of our arrival in Spain. Six years! My mother would have turned 90 in late June. We're planning our next visit to see The Kid Brother in Brooklyn. My aunt, who has been living with advanced dementia for several years, is finally very close to the end of her life. She's been "gone" for a while, but it's still sad. She turned 94 in December and had very few years of ease in her life. She and my sister, Dale, were especially close.

I often wake up with the lyrics of some song or other playing in my head. This morning it was a song from Gilbert & Sullivan's comic opera "The Pirates of Penzance." The song: "Modern Major General." I have absolutely no idea why. I tried to find a version in Spanish to share here but, with lines like...
"I'm very good at integral and differential calculus;
I know the scientific names of beings animalculous:
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General."
... unsurprisingly, a Spanish version doesn't appear to exist.

THEY TOOK THE WIND OUT OF THE PARACHUTE JUST IN TIME FOR MY PHOTO!
¡SACARÓN EL VIENTO DEL PARACAÍDAS JUSTO A TIEMPO PARA MI FOTO!

HE ESTADO ENCONTRANDO mis días últimamente un poco desafiante emocionalmente. Ninguna razón específica. Esa es la vida con depresión clínica, supongo. Estoy feliz un momento y triste el siguiente. Nada de lo que preocuparse. Lo voy a pensar como "esa época del mes". (Lamentablemente, mi "ciclo" es muy irregular.)

Subidas y bajadas:
El martes fue el sexto aniversario de nuestra llegada a España. ¡Seis años! Mi madre habría cumplido 90 años a finales de junio. Estamos planeando nuestra próxima visita a ver El Hermanito en Brooklyn. Mi tía, que ha estado viviendo con demencia avanzada durante varios años, está finalmente muy cerca del final de su vida. Ha estado "fuera" por un tiempo, pero sigue siendo triste. Cumplió 94 años en diciembre y tuvo muy pocos años de facilidad en su vida. Ella y mi hermana, Dale, eran especialmente queridos la una al a otra.

A menudo me despierto con la letra de una canción u otra que juega en mi cabeza. Esta mañana fue una canción de la ópera cómica "The Pirates of Penzance" de Gilbert y Sullivan. La canción: "Modern Major General". No tengo ni idea por qué. Traté de encontrar una versión en español para compartir aquí pero, con líneas como...
"Soy muy bueno en el cálculo integral y diferencial;
Conozco los nombres científicos de los seres animalculous:
En resumen, en materia vegetal, animal y mineral,
Soy el modelo mismo de un general mayor moderno."
... no es sorprendente que una versión en español no parezca existir.


28 comments:

  1. Mitchel great idea to visit your aunt. Love from Poland

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    Replies
    1. Gosia:
      I wasn't very clear. I'm not visiting my aunt, but will be visiting my brother after the summer.

      Delete
  2. Hey Mitchell. Life is emotionally challenging for most of us and I do understand that you have very challenging times that can't compare. I am wondering if the full moon cycle presents more of a challenge to you? I know that it has always 'enhanced' my emotions.....up and down....since I was a child. I always know when a full moon is approaching.
    Your kid brother will be in 7th heaven with you two!! Especially that he gets to play the machines!! lol
    Your poor aunt. I hope she leaves peacefully.
    Thanks for that splash of colour!!

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    Replies
    1. Jim:
      You're absolutely right about the cycles of the moon as far as I'm concerned. Chuck is SO excited and even more because our friend Judy and her sister Joan are joining us. He knows and loves them (they're big baseball fans like he is). Thanks for the kinds words about my aunt.

      Delete
  3. :(
    this too shall pass
    chuck will be happy to see you

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    Replies
    1. anne marie:
      Yep. For me, it always passes; I've been very fortunate. Chuck is thrilled, but more because our friend Judy and her sister Joan have decided to join us in New York. He beamed when I told him.

      Delete
  4. Sorry to hear about your aunt. It's good of you to make an effort to see her while you can.

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    Replies
    1. Stephen:
      We're not going to be seeing my aunt, but I have visited her every time I've been in New York. Last few times she had no idea who I or anyone was.

      Delete
  5. I love Gilbert and Sullivan. In many ways, they foreshadowed the zany humour of Monty Python, I think. Gilbert's jaundiced lyrics on the foibles of human nature always raise my own spirits because, in the end, aren't we all just silly characters in the operetta of Life?

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    Replies
    1. Debra:
      I agree about Gilbert & Sullivan. Can I be Kevin Kline?

      Delete
    2. Yes, you do seem to be a bit of a Pirate King!

      Delete
    3. Debra:
      "And it is, it is a glorious thing
      To be a Pirate King."

      Delete
  6. It seems to me thqt you deal with your " black dog" very well generally

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    Replies
    1. John:
      I really do. I know what I have to do to keep things from getting too bad (like they used to do) and I tend to be aware now that I WILL survive. Hey hey... (Donna Summer)

      Delete
  7. It could be a lot worse, I woke up this morning to.. Xanadu.. xaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanaduuuuuuuoouuu.. :) I mean I love Olivia Newton John but this is an earworm I could do without. ;)

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    Replies
    1. Snoskred:
      I'm proud to tell you I never learned the lyrics or even listened to the entire song (Xanadu). THAT would be a nightmare! (And I also love Olivia Newton John.)

      Delete
  8. You picked a great song for your time of the month.
    I kid ... because now I have that song playing in MY head!!!
    And it's NOT my time of the month!!!!!!!! =)

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    Replies
    1. Bob:
      Some months it's ALWAYS my time of the month. I'm waiting for a new song to arrive. This one's getting old.

      Delete
  9. We miss you a lot! That I know. On one hand I do not want our vacations to end, on the other hand I am looking forward to seeing you again!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Petie:
      Oh, we miss you all a lot, too! I hate to wish away the summer but wouldn't mind seeing the taillights of our summer neighbors and seeing your "headlights."

      Delete
  10. Sorry you are experiencing those dips. But how can you not prevail with music like that in your head - such great stuff! Hope the wind fills your sails again.

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    Replies
    1. Wilma:
      Thanks. I have just moved on to "I Am The Monarch Of The Sea."

      Delete
  11. Do take care, do what you know you can do,

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Mitchell, wonderful you are planning a trip to see Chuck. I in no way know what clinical depression feels like but I want you to know you brighten my day with your wonderful and often hilarious posts.
    Take care.
    Robin

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  13. It's very likely a visit to see your brother would be good for both of you. Time passes, people get older and more infirm. It's sad, especially when people have dementia. My Motherinlaw no longer knows her sons, only insists she want's to go home, not realizing she is home.

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    Replies
    1. Cheapchick:
      The visit to see Chuck will be great and we're going to make an actual NY vacation out of it. A first! My aunt was barely communicating when I saw her less than a year ago. Forming a sentence was impossible. This is an absolute blessing. She's the only one of the seven siblings to lose her mental facilities and she's so far, sadly, the longest lived.

      Delete

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