I have ‘The District Sleeps Alone Tonight’ by The Postal Service stuck in my head. It’s been there for days.
Archive for August, 2007
29
Aug
Unexpected
Things that are surprising, #24
- Discovering that my propensity for Buffy, Battlestar, BBC and books is not an aberration, but rather, a genetic predisposition.
Things that are surprising #45
-Finding out that my relatives are…cool.
WELLLL….my mom came to town last week, stayed a few days, then dragged me to Massachusetts for the family reunion my aunt and uncle were hosting. I went along, viewing the experience as a familial obligation and expecting to, if not loathe, at least dislike and be bored by every minute of it. My boyfriend wasn’t able to come with, and though I do like my aunt and uncle, I was sure that the days spent in Grafton were going to consist of grown-up talk and catching up among the adults, while I wiled away my time and watched the clock. And that the reunion itself would be more of the same, only more-so.
I am willing to admit mistakes, and conclusions I may have jumped to. I *did* miss my boyfriend, and there *was* downtime while my mother conversed with her bother and sister-in-law, but other than that…I was mistaken.
First of all, though I might have expected matricide at the prospect of my mother and I stuck in a car for the 12 hours or so that the drive took, the journey was rather enjoyable. We discussed all manner of things and drank lots of coffee. We found a diner in Connecticut that has what might very well be the best lemon meringue pie I have ever had.
On our first day there (Friday), my Aunt Bobbie took my mother and I to the Worcester art museum, and after a lovely lunch we spent hours wandering the galleries.
On Saturday, I lounged around and read ‘Water for Elephants’ (a book I had been interested in that it just so happened that my aunt had), while my mom chatted with the other grown-ups.
On Sunday, relatives I did not know arrived and soon the expected awkward questions (‘How are you liking Pittsburgh?’ ‘So, what are you planning on going to school for?’) had been offered by multiple sources and I was girding myself for a day of making nice…and then the unexpected and amazing happened. Fan fiction was mentioned and one of my cousins told me that, as she and her husband are devoted Buffy fans, they are all too familiar with the writing genre.
Most of the remainder of the day was spent in fevered discussions of Joss Wheaton’s genius, Rose and the Doctor’s eternal love, Neil Gaimen, Neil Stephenson, and the fact that Battlestar freaking RAWKS.
I couldn’t believe it. I had been expecting conservative relatives, who, if such shows were mentioned might reply, ‘oh yes…I believe one of my daughter’s friends watches that show. Strange girl, she is. Have I shown you a picture of my daughter? She was valedictorian at Harvard last year! And head cheerleader, too! You should meet her…I think the two of you would get along famously.’
Instead I got relatives who swore up and down that ‘The Body’ (the Buffy episode concerning Joyce’s death) was possibly the best hour of television EVER, asked me if I had read ‘Snow Crash’, recommended BBC shows, and, when I mentioned the fact I believed that my local comic shop had a prejudice against my female nature, told me that was nonsense, as I totally have that whole ‘Suicide Girls’ thing going for me.
I have relatives who KNOW who the Suicide Girls are.
Relatives who live about 3 hours away, and love Japanese teenagers, Willow and Anya.
Anyway, mom and I headed back on Monday and had long conversations about how the government screws us, the Russian and French Revolutions, growing habits of plants and (to her dismay) Buffy.
And had more coffee.
I seriously drank enough coffee this past weekend to drown a cow.
On Tuesday, we met Burgandy for coffee, and lounged and hit the Southside Goodwill (I got the coolest shirt…), and watched Donnie Darko (mom thought it was awesome) and had WONDERFUL pizza from a place in Squirrel Hill.
Today, Briggs is at work and mom has headed back…I missed having my space and the house to myself, but now it feels strange, after over a week of constant human interaction.
Tomorrow I start a temp position at Mellon Bank.
I want Barnes and Noble to call me.
What an exhausting couple days.
(if you don’t want to hear the details, scroll past the next section.)
My mom called me on Monday to say that, due to horrible weather, she probably wouldn’t be making it in until sometime Tuesday. Going on that time-line, on Monday night, my boy and I went to bed at a decent time (both of us bushed as he started a new job on Monday with a daytime schedule after having worked grave for the past few years…and I generally go with his schedule, so getting to sleep Sunday was not easy, and by Monday night we were ready to sleep) So, the two of us had just drifted off, around 1am, and my mom calls to say she’s almost here and needs directions.
So we were up until about 3.
And woke up at a decent hour on Tuesday.
And my mom and I wandered all over Pittsburgh – cruised the Southside, then walked from my place to downtown, around the city a bit and home, made dinner and watched a few episodes of Planet Earth (such an awesome show).
I had an interview at 9am this morning, but tossed and turned all night, kept waking up, got up at 8am and got ready, went to my interview, my bf called in late to work and the 3 of us went to Barnes and Nobel so I could turn in an app, then got coffee and went back to the house. Then, he took off for work and mom and I took off to walk down to the Strip district. A block or two from the house, my bf called to say there was no work and he was coming home. He met us in the Strip district and we wandered and cruised a few asian markets (bought Pokey, Pretz and other yummies), then went to see Stardust (finally!) –a few things that bothered me, but overall, a good adaptation. 
Then we came home and my mom cooked dinner in my tiny kitchen. By that point, heat, dehydration, and crappy movie theater with bad audio, image quality and freezing AC had taken their toll and I had a wicked headache. But dinner and more Planet Earth made me feel better.
Tomorrow, mom and I leave for Boston…fun! 10 + hour drive!
*****THE GIST******
I’ll be gone for the next few days. If anyone cares. But if you DO leave me a comment or something and don’t hear back right away, it’s cause I’m in Boston.
Have a great weekend!!!!!!
20
Aug
T-Shirt
Another very awesome shirt from Threadless.com:
