2.2.07

last night i went to a party. there were six or so people there, all playing exquisite-corpse. this made me kind of sad, because it is a game that was introduced to me by claudio, a dear friend of the family whom i met in chile, when i was about sixteen or so. i got a call from my uncle richard last week telling me that claudio had died really suddenly, at a relatively young age (fifties or sixties). the last time i saw him was at richard's wedding, and we'd talked about the possibility of me flying to sweden to visit him and his daughter. he was an amazing person and i considered him family. i hadn't played exquisite corpse since i'd played it in chile with him and my uncles and cousin. we made so many of those drawings. i think richard held onto them and photocopied some of them. we even went so far as to fill some of them in with color. claudio was a philosopher by profession, living in sweden, working for the swedish government. i'd googled his name once and found a bunch of stuff he'd written about semiotics, which is a branch of theory dealing with an interpretation of a text specifically centered around the breakdown of the words themselves and the patterns found in doing so.

i must have deleted the other emails from claudio, but i just came across one he sent me in October of '05:

Dear Katie and Richard!
I'm sorry I delayed in answering, but I have been on the road during the
last few weeks and I have not been much at home. This is due to work and to
the fact that I have been nominated to run for Sweden's National Parliament
in the coming elections (September 2006).
To the issue: As I did not receive any signal about you and Tyne coming to
visit us for Christmas since we talken in las Summer, Lina has arranged to
travel to Chile (December 14th to January 10th) and I might be visiting a
fiend in Ireleand (althgough this can be changed).
The question would then be how much fun it is for you to come to Sweden
while Lina is not here. I am not able to answer that question, but I am able
to suggest that it might be funnier for you to come next Summer.
I will discuss the issue with Lina, who is now with her mother and will come
to my place on Thursday. In the meanwhile, I would suggest you and Tyne to
discuss the alternatives, in order to have a telephone conversation, during
the coming week-end. By the way, I have a local telephone number in
California, to which you can call me (local call); the call will be
transported through Skype.com to my computer or to my cellular phone. The
number is: (***) ***-****; an easy way to communicate by telephone to a very
low cost (only a local call for you and no cost for me).
So, let us talk on Saturday at the time that best suits you. In the
meanwhile, I will talk to Lina and you will discuss the alternatives.
Love to you all,
Clau

reading this again makes me feel glum. i didn't stay in touch as well as i should have, and i didn't come visit like i said i would. worse, he, richard, tyne, and myself had a pact to meet up in a foreign country once every 2 1/2 years, and no less frequently. after chile, and after richard's wedding, this never happened.

i miss my uncles. and i miss my cousins. i miss all of us being together at the same time. it was really, really nice to see tyne last weekend. i think we get closer as time passes, even when we don't see each other for long periods of time. i told her that she's the closest thing i ever had to a sister, and it's entirely true. i just sent my uncle Mark (on my dad's side) a short little email asking him how he's doing. it's sad because now, more than ever, i want to know my uncles well because i'd like to come to know them as an adult might know them. i wish i could have known my grandfather in that way. and i see my uncles so rarely that it's almost like starting from square one each time i see them. although somehow not quite.