Lots of it, and all of it has to be done before the funeral. Nice timing, and quite paradoxal really. An example: the three of us (the children, that is) had to sign this bank document to give our mother the right to rule over our father's bank accounts. The paper was this tick-in-the-box-if-you-agree statements; funnily enough it was a little difficult to decide since no-one knows the exact state of my father's bank things but we couldn't find out about these things b e f o r e we had all given our mother the right to rule over the accounts. To simplify, we had to do the X in order to get the Y done, but we lacked information of the Y to do the X. Nice going, Nordea.
Now we'll have to wait for the estate inventory to know for sure the state of my father's bank issues. I can't help thinking of some possible surprises: what if he took off all the money from the account he and my mother shared (and from which the funeral expenses are to be paid) and used it all before he killed himself? What if he had accounts none of us had a clue about?
I have to go shopping tomorrow. And I really mean "have to": I couldn't care less about going to buy new clothes for the funeral, or for any other occasion. I just don't like fitting in far too expensive clothes that are not really me anyway. I'm made out of band shirts and black trousers. Well, at least I am (for once) allowed and even expected to wear all-black outfit. If I'll just track down a pair of Elisabeth Shannon trousers and some black T-shirt and a black coat or something on top of it. As long as I get to keep my locket around my neck and in plain view. If I could just find a shirt that I could use otherwise as well, at school for instance, then I'll be happy. My mother gave enough money for me to get the clothing and if there's some left after that I could consider dying the root of my hair black. Ahhh... a second thought, no, too much trouble. And besides, everyone present at the funeral know me already so why bother. And it probably costs as much as dying my whole hair.
- - -
The Meme of the Day from Millikan. The idea is to answer the following questions with the random article button on Wikipedia's main page.
01. What are you afraid of?
The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) which is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization of African American trade union members affiliated with the AFL-CIO.
[right...]
02. What would you take with you on a deserted island?
The 1972 UEFA European Football Championship (Euro 72) final tournament which was held in Belgium.
[how can you take with you an abstract thing that you have no memory of?]
03. What would you like to have for a wedding gift?
The Red Oak Independent School District, a school district in northern Ellis County, Texas (USA).
[yeah, I could turn the rules upside down and found an elite school for LGBT students, teach them independent thinking, and then wait for one of my students to become the first female president in the US!]
04. What do you worship?
Ptolemy Keraunos who was the King of Macedon from 281 BC to 279 BC.
[I don't think so...]
05. What is your secret fetish?
Wonderful Parliament which refers to an English Parliamentary session of November 1386 which pressed for reforms of Richard II's administration.
[ye gods!]
06. What will you be dreaming about the forthcoming night?
Selection sort which is a sorting algorithm, specifically an in-place comparison sort.
[This would be a small miracle since I have ni idea what that even means]
07. If you could afford it, what would you buy?
The National Progressive Party, a political party in Kiribati without parliamentary representation.
[Sure I would.]
08. On what would you write a book?
Sarchu (altitude 4,290 m), tented camp in the Himalayas on the Leh-Manali Highway, on the boundary between Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh (Jammu and Kashmir) in India.
[I suppose it would make a nice setting for a story.]
09. What do you collect?
An agar plate is a sterile Petri dish that contains agar plus nutrients (media), used to culture microorganisms.
[You should see my bacteria collection!]
10. What is your best memory connected to?
Karen, which is a Danish form of the name Katherine and means "pure".
[Can't think of even the feeblest connexion...]
11. The most useless thing you know?
Michael Fullerton (born 1971) is a Scottish artist living and working in London. He is primarily a portraitist and paints in a traditional style.
[Who is he?]
12. What is your favourite subject of discussion?
Cezzar Ahmet Pasha (1708-1804), also identified in some transliterations as Djezzar Pasha, was an Ottoman governor who defended Acre successfuly when Napoleon Bonaparte besieged it during his campaign in Syria. Djezzar, which translates as Butcher, was known for his brutal techniques when handling enemies.
[Possibly...]
13. What is the thing you are/will be working with in your profession?
The Later Jìn (936-947) which was one of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period in China.
[Good to know.]
14. What makes you laugh every time?
The third USS Preston (DD–19) was a Smith class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War I .
[Yeah. Hilarious.]
15. What makes you cry every time?
eFunda is an online reference work and community designed for engineers. The 'e' stands for 'engineering' and 'Funda' is for 'fundamentals'. Started in 1999, it is based in California.
[Engineers make everyone weep.]
16. What was the first thing you saw after you woke up?
Venceslaus Ulricus Hammershaimb (1819 – 1909) established the modern orthography of Faroese, the language of the Faroe Islands, in 1854.
[Hopefully never wake up next to his corpse.]
17. What do you have in your pockets?
Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips is a Muslim teacher, speaker, and author.
[A physical miracle!]
18. What could replace you without anyone noticing the switch?
Meade Stadium is a 5,180-seat multi-purpose stadium in Kingston, Rhode Island. It is home to the University of Rhode Island Rams football team.
[Go fuck yourself, Hans.]
19. What were your first words?
Danny Dickfos, who was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Brisbane Bears and Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League.
[Dick...?]
20. With what will you be buried?
Yaroslav Popovych (born in Drohobych, Ukraine on January 4, 1980) is a cyclist with the UCI ProTour Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team, and considered as a possible successor to Lance Armstrong as team leader.
[I am not marrying a man!]
21. What do you have hidden in the drawer next to your bed?
Conklin is a town in Broome County, New York, USA.
[In a miniature size, naturally.]
22. What do you love the most in the world?
Danitza Kingsley, who is an American photographer, writer, model, actor and film producer.
[No, I love Her.]
(Whatever happened to number 23???)
24. When you look out of the window right now, what do you see?
Rebecca Bellingham is a female badminton player from New Zealand.
[Wouldn't know what she looks like.]
25. Who you really are?
Asthenization is a condition experienced by astronauts following long-term space flight, in which following return to Earth the astronaut experiences symptoms such as fatigue, irritability, lack of appetite and sleep disorders. The condition's name derives from asthenia, which is a medical term denoting a feeling of weakness without actual loss of strength.
[Well, finally. At least one correct out of twenty-five.]
