I think the act of disappearing is a highly underrated event. Over the years I have fine tuned the process (of course there is always room for improvement and progress), especially with my parents. The timing needs to be quite precise of course, for instance when dealing with an irate mother, one needs to first show the appropriate level of understanding and sympathy, but not make any suggestions or offer any opinion. Hugs, gentle cooing sounds, nonsensical nodding of the head are all appropriate tactics. However after these preliminaries it is always better to disappear for some measure of time. As a human being you are bound to make a mistake, or in my case, make a mess, or put the pickle jar in an inappropriate location, after which You unwittingly, become the target of said inflammation. And a focal point always helps amplify. It so happens, that right now, I am doing just that, hiding out in my room, writing this post, as a ways to optimise time spent.
Yesterday I acquired Arnold Schoenberg’s (for some reason that keeps converting to Schwarzenegger in my head, I don’t really know why since I have spent much time reading and listening to the former’s work whereas the latter not so much), Theory of Harmony. I am in love with this book.