There's no saving anything

via Postsecret

Every Sunday I check Postsecret. And had it not been for this today, I wouldn't have known it was Father's Day. My dad lives on a different continent, and it is a euphemism if I say we don't have the best relationship. Perhaps this is my choice, perhaps it is my fault, but my father left me and has never really said why, so I don't know if it is something I can forgive him for.

I saw on TV that half of the children in South Africa grow up without a father. Half. How can that even be? How can every second dad abandon his child/children? I don't understand it, because I cannot understand how you can leave your child. Divorce, separate, that is fine; but the choice to not have contact, to not be involved in your flesh-and-blood's life, well, I don't know how one could choose oneself over one's child. Either accept that is is a responsibility for life or don't have children. Easy.

All these fatherless children must have some larger societal impact, besides all the chicks with daddy-issues being easier to pick up at bars I mean. Parents are supposed to guide you and give advice and instil a sense of morality, but if one is gone and the other has to work constantly, what is left? On the other hand, having a terrible dad who is present surely is not exactly character-building either. Perhaps father's are just more prone to fucking up their children's lives.

I am glad when I see people have great relationships with their fathers, possibly even a little jealous, but the parent I do have is more than I could have asked for.

Planified

I like planning. I draw up lots of lists where I can cross to-do-things off when they are done. I like it when people do things on time. In general, I like it when things that I can control are organised, so that the things I can't control can be dealt with without having to worry about what I should have or could have done. That made more sense in my mind than when I wrote it down. In any case, today was just a slightly frustrating day from an administrative point of view and nothing worked out like I had planned it. And then, wham bam, the saving grace: Starbuck.

This week is Francophonie week, which is why the Alliance Francaise hosted different films from various French-speaking countries all week. Tomorrow is the closing ceremony, with dance and a Jazz Band, if you are in the area...

Tonight's film is Canadian (from Quebec), from 2011, and revolves around David Wozniak, who donated lots ( and I mean lots and lots and lots) of sperm when he was in his 20s, but now, a loser who works for his father as a meat-delivery guy and who somehow got sidetracked in his life, is faced with being the father of 533 children, 142 of whom want to meet him.

It sounds a bit soppy and bla bla, but it really was enjoyable. The last film I saw at the cinema was Black Swan, and in between I cannot remember what I've watched at home. Either the movies are super intricate and a complete mind-fuck, or they are some fuck-buddy-turned-real-love story.

By comparison, this was a perfect mix between a 'human' story, where there is some hope that we are all connected and love one another, and romance, and rooting for the underdog. I am making it sound worse, rather than better. See it.