Back from the B... Clan get-together (now I can have a break!)

So, a week of enforced proximity to lots of people is over. Well, I say enforced - I chose to go, but once there there was no realistic escape route for me. The B... Clan is made up of some truly lovely people (well, at least, I like my extended family members, so it's all good). But I definitely feel that this is one of those good things of which I can definitely have too much. It was truly great to see all those people again, and even to join in socially for a bit, but I arrived on Friday afternoon and by Tuesday I was all out of figurative spoons. I spent most of the rest of the week hiding in my bedroom playing my guitar or reading (a David Baldacci and a Ruth Rendell, if you're interested).

Even though it was tough, I am glad I did it (although this is definitely a "never again!" type of thing!) because I couldn't even have contemplated it a year ago. It's three and a half years since my breakdown and this feels like I'm finally fully operational again (or as close as I've ever been before or after). I'm an introvert. It was, at times, hell for me to be around so many people. But I did it, I didn't break down this time, I came back feeling well and healthy, and only once came close to tears (and even that was easily averted). So, yeah: feeling fine, just settling back in at my own home and private spaces, and recovering from the trial. Heck, I know top-class endurance athletes need to recover after a race or a game before they can go again, however much the enjoy it. This is kind of the same thing for me.

Best Xmas gift, definitely the DVD boxset of Firefly - I hadn't seen it before although I kept wanting to and somehow missing it when it was on telly - now I can choose when to watch and won't miss anything! I've kind of had mega-spoilers from having already seen Serenity but really there's enough here that is new to keep me very happy. I'll probably rewatch Serenity after this just to see what nuances I pick up now that I missed on previous viewings.

My father has a new codename on this blog, after the term used by my nephew (i.e. his grandson) to refer to him: "Papa".

I got to dance for the Wii, as Cyndi Lauper and Debbie Harry - I was also MC HAmmer for one go (I seemed to be the only guy willing to give it a whirl, so I was dancing off against the womenfolk most of the time).

This is the video I managed to get of the second half of our performance of "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks", which involved the song being performed simultaneously to two different tunes commonly associated with it: "Lyngham" (often used for "Oh For A Thousand Tongues To Sing") and "Cranbrook" (better known as the tune of On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at) The B... Clan womenfolk (my aunts and mother) for whose shared maiden name the clan is known, being the more trained vocalists, and more deeply steeped in musical tradition (both ecclesiastical and secular) knew the former tune best, while the menfolk (including me) being well-educated by Yorkshire nationalist Papa, knew the latter tune rather more thoroughly, so the division of voices was largely by gender for those cultural background reasons.

By the last verse, I think we managed to get it together well enough for the potential of this concept to be apparent, but the quality of our performance was somewhat disrupted by the fact that our voices were affected by being close to laughter through most of it (and the fact that Papa is perhaps less talented at finding the pitch of a note than most).



I may also add some pictures at my tumblrs when I have sorted through the 180-odd snaps I took (what did we do before digital photography!? Posed more shots, IIRC, to be sure not to waste frames).

Tomorrow, I should have a post about New Year's Resolutions.