Comfort

[Kelly]

Hi all,
There is something Ive neglected to mention that gives me comfort,
along with my art, books, writing, etc.
Music. Im a bonafide, dyed-in-the-wool rock chick.
It may sound very strange to someone who doesn't like rock, that
the raucous beats of this type of music can be relaxing, or soothing,
but I guess in some ways its a way of transporting oneself back
to simpler times - at least for me, I've been listening to Yes,
Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Zappa etc since I was 12.
I've still got the hearing damage from probably one or two too
many loud gigs as a souvenir.
The guitar used to be my instrument of choice, until an incident
in my 20's where my left index finger was nearly severed, unfortunately
the local hospital was useless - by the time they transferred me
to an hospital that could deal with it, the nerve damage was too great.
As I remember, I'll post anything here, or maybe do an addition to
my gallery of anything that gives me comfort.
Ill try to keep it secular, since matters of faith and beliefs can
even with the best of us, lead to contention.
So, what comforts you?
Kelly x
 

[Heather Shay]

Rock Chick here as well. Love the groups you've mentioned. Luckily I still paly guitar and bass and record using EZKeys (I'm not good a keyboards) and EZDrums (works with great mixable drums patterns). Even with the finger issue, Phil Kaeggy lost the index finger and learned his way around it and recame an incredible guitarist. If you love it enough you might consider working around your issue. 

[April Marie]

Another Rock Chick here. My only musical instrument interlude was playing the trumpet for a few years into junior high. But, I came of age in the era of Rock and Roll. My tastes in music have become more eclectic over the years but I still fall back on Rock when I am looking for comfort. Music has always been a refuge for me.

[Kelly]

Hello April & Heather

Very nice to meet fellow rock aficionados!

For a while after the accident I did consider re-learning guitar, then I had more incidents/accidents

and sustained further neurological damage to my entire arm (its been that sort of life )

Then an incident with my right arm with tendons snapped.

Without going into details the health service in the UK has been driven into the ground by a

succession of governments, so on the verge of collapse.

Hence treatment isnt the best - things are missed, wrong treatments given, people dont

receive treatment in time, and quite literally die.

Anyway, moving on!

Total agree - music is a refuge, my tastes have changed slightly. I used to enjoy what was/is

classed as heavy metal - Saxon, Def Leppard, etc (I knew Biff out of Saxon in the day, took photos

for them sometimes), but as I've grown older, their music seemed, I don't know,

too simplistic?

Classical music has always been a love too, but there does seem to be a tangible relationship

between progressive/classic rock and that genre.

Definite weak spot for the brooding drama of the Russian composers.

So, thank you both so much for your thoughts on this one!

Kelly x

[April Marie]

Kelly - I forgot to say that I love your picture!! Gorgeous!!

[Kelly]

Awww! Thank you April! If you mean quite literally the one(s) of me, they

are both about 4 years old, and the last 2 years especially seem to have aged me

quite drastically.

Yours looks absolutely great too! 

No matter what anyone says, sincere compliments are always nice to receive!

Kelly x

[April Marie]

Oh, you're sweet. At almost 70, the years of stress and age are catching up on me, too.

 

But, true beauty comes from inside and you are gorgeous. I'm so happy you found us!!

[Kelly]

Ah April, never a truer word.

Until my partner came along, I think, no I know as a certitude that my life had

gone very dark. When I think back to the child I was, and the adult I became, because

I had to, for self-preservation, I shuddered.

In many ways my partner brought the child that was back to the forefront, and in some

inscrutable way even more so with their passing.

So I can say categorically that the beauty I felt inside when innocent has re-emerged.

Thank you for recognising that, April.

Im so glad to have found the people here, and I'll try to help any way I can, how I can.

I do have connections with America, through bloodlines.

Its a long, complicated story.

Much the same as my life - as Im sure many of yours are.

In some ways my life seems to have been one epic Caamora* that culminated in

Vicki's death, and continues to this day, in its final stages.

*anyone who's read Thomas Covenant will know this word - really a purification ceremony

involving pain & fire, but with metaphysical overtones*

It seems that I need to do this, and Im very very happy to do so.

Kelly x

 

[Kelly]

Hi Everyone,

My partner's sister and her husband came to visit the other day - Hazel & Nick.
They are absolutely wonderful people who are helping me through all of this in
every way they can.
For someone who had been alone all their life until Hazel's sister came along,
the comfort that 'family' like that could bring was priceless, even if at first
it was overwhelming.
As we sat down for a meal, which they had taken me out for, it struck me that a
source of consolation, almost contentment (albeit temporary), has for me, always
been food and the cooking of food.
Im adopted, but only really know my adoptive parents. My erstwhile biological
father was a gypsy - a story for another time.
My mum was disabled, my dad a miner, so I learned to cook the family's meals
from a young age.
It turned out over the years I have a flair for it, and thoroughly enjoyed the
preparation of meals as much as the consumption of them.
You name the cuisine, I tried cooking it - sometimes the results were good
(curries, lasagne, meatballs etc), bad (chicken livers with garlic - I was young,
misread the recipe, and used an entire garlic bulb), and ugly (cakes are my weak
point, or more specifically decorating cakes. I was inveigled into creating a birthday
cake for someone I knew through work, for their young son. Some with a long 
memory may remember how popular the TMNT were, I don't remember which particular
turtle was their favourite, but I do remember after frosting, the cake looked
like an extra from a scene in a Stephen King horror flick. The child, however
was delighted).
In all these years, cooking for myself has been nothing but a chore, undertaken
purely to feed myself. However, if I cook for someone I care about, and break bread
with them, it becomes almost ritualistic and thoroughly enjoyable.
So another source of comfort for me, at least when I share meals with
those I hold dear.
Kelly x

[Charlize]

Cooking is something i find difficult if it is for me alone.  Cooking with and for others gives me the impetus to spend more time in the process.  My wife and i are vegetarians and can spend hours creating a meal.  I am the sou chef and she the chef.  

 

Hugs,

 

Charlize

[Kelly]

Hi Charlize

Thank you for that - cooking purely for yourself & eating alone does seem

pretty soulless doesnt it?

My late partner was the same as me, omnivorous , but her sister is a lifelong

vegetarian, vegan for the last 15 years.

The last sit together meal I cooked for all of us was ratatouille, vegetable chilli,

and corn flour/semolina flour tortilla wraps with yoghurt and mint dip.

We all enjoyed the meal, but doubly so the sharing of it.

Kelly x