Annotated X14-6
Okay, full disclosure: all these stories are consciously, deliberately modeled on my own experiences in some way. This particular tale relates to the time I spent as a grad student in the Savannah College of Art and Design, living off-campus in property of questionable value. Much like Kaye, I was the kind of host who ruined everyone’s good time by constantly being “at their service” and insisting they enjoy themselves. (A good host plans ahead so that everything their guests need is just already there and then you and they can just sit and relax, I advise myself many years too late.)
I don’t know if I would’ve formed a clique with my apartment-mates in any case: my general impression of life in that school was that most of us were busy chasing our own dreams, and those dreams rarely intersected. That applies to me as much as to anyone else: after a week or so, I almost never spoke to those guys, focused increasingly on schoolwork, part-time jobs, and publishing the independent comic-book series I was sure would go for 120 issues (before it bombed out after five or six and found greater success as a webcomic). There was one exception, an indie musician I won’t embarrass by naming, who’s enjoyed some success in the years since. We weren’t that close, and we lost touch after I left, but I attended her concerts and was grateful for her friendship in that friend-starved time in my life.
Anyway. To me, this also says things about Kaye and why she might play Scipio. She runs hot and cold, with periods where she’s chattering up a storm followed by intervals where she’s like “oh, shit, I talked too much again, I sucked all the oxygen out of the room, why can’t I just be quiet?” It’s not within her power to change herself into a Scipio, who’s so reticent that he draws people to him just out of curiosity, but it’s an ideal she likes to fantasize about.
Perhaps all of these four have some trouble with the concept of others just enjoying their company, and perhaps that’s part of why they understand each other and work as a unit.
I’m not sure I get why everybody is looking with such concern to whatever Kaye is doing with her hands?
It might be how Kaye remembers it as I can relate to being that self conscious.
Taking Kaye’s narration at face value, I would say Kaye is serving too much food to that guy with the sweater vest. The guy has a lot of… potato salad? in his plate already, and she’s about to give him even more. Sweater Vest Guy’s expression seems to be saying ” A second helping?… T-thaaanks”
And FYI? if I tried to emulate Friends’ and Seinfeld’s Christmas episodes in real life, I wouldn’t go all Martha Stewart on steroids like Kaye. I would have serve my guests a grilled cheese sandwich feast, followed the Airing of Grievances
Festivus, as a concept, could be fun amongst close friends. Particularly if those friends also didn’t have major problems with telling each other that they didn’t like something so the Airing wouldn’t have any major bombs dropped. The most important thing would be everyone being on an even footing, though.
Festivus as presented in Seinfeld is just George’s father (name forgotten) abusing his family. It’s been years since I’ve seen it, but I don’t remember any evidence anyone else has grievances heard and it all caps with him lording his physical strength over his son; which has even worse implications that this was also done as George was growing up. The tradition, in the show, even stops some time after George moves out, another sign that it was all about being a jerk; a selfish “holiday” wrapped up in an idea of an “anti-christmas”.
George’s father was named Frank, played by the late Jerry Stiller.
And, he (like basically everybody else on the show) was a huge jerk, so, yeah, Festivus was kind of an abuse festival.
How could you ruin the Festivus for the rest of us like this, at this years airing of grievances there will be a new name added to my list WEATHERBEARD. I’m feeling oppressed! SERENITY NOW!!!
Also, who the hell wants to win feats of strength against an equally strong opponent? Throwing the smaller and weaker members of the family around is fun for the whole family! (Except for those now too weak to throw, and thus now to be thrown, and to live in glory no more after tasting its sweet ambrosial elixir.) Some of my best memories are of the brief moments I sailed through the air after being thrown out the front window, it was like I was flying, a more magical experience than any other holiday has given me.