Entry: The Thirteenth-- Meet the Parents
Parents. You can't live with 'em, you can't live without 'em. Oh...wait...actually you can live without them for eight months a year; that's what college was all about. How easy it is to forget these things. At home, though, there's no escaping them. Maybe I should reconsider not having a driver's license? Anyway, my parents have been acting up a bit recently (not in a bad way, just sort of a funny way), so I thought I'd share a few parent-related moments from the past week:
1) Last Sunday, my Dad shaved off his moustache. This is big news. He had had this moustache for 24 years. In my life, I had never seen my Dad without a moustache. When my Mom saw it, she said he looked like his brother. Then she said he looked like Dustin Hoffman. Then she said he looked 10 years younger. Then she just broke out giggling (maybe because my Dad had cut himself a couple times in the moustache-removal process? I'm not sure). Anyway, so far, he has remained unmustachoed*, so I guess he likes the look. I find it a bit disconcerting myself, to be perfectly honest-- not necessarily his appearance, but the greater implications of the event. Could this be the first warning sign of a midlife crisis on the horizon? I mean, there are probably a lot of things my Dad hasn't done since he was 23, and whatever they are, I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be if he suddenly started up again. So far, everything seems all right. But stay tuned.
2) My parents still smoke. Bah. There is a long story and a long rant behind this, but needless to say, I'm unhappy with the present situation, and I think my smoke allergy has actually gotten worse recently. A couple times recently my parents have come inside from taking a smoke and started talking to me, leading to violent coughing attacks on my end. This is what I get when this happens:
Mom: "Oh, Alex, do you need to get a drink or something?"
Dad: "You've had that cough for a while, haven't you? Maybe we should take you to see the doctor."
What I never get is:
Parent: "Oh, is that my smoking that's making you cough? Oops, how inconsiderate of me! I think I'll quit now!"
*sigh*
3) While we were in the car today, my Mom very casually told me the story of how at 17 she helped her best friend run away from home. She gave her the keys to her parents' beach house and helped her sneak away there. Then she lied to her parents about it. And her friends' parents. And her school principal. And the police. She had never told me this story before. It's funny, the crazy things you find out about your parents when you least expect to.
What, you might ask, have I personally been doing recently? Meh, for the most part. I did spend half an hour before I went to bed last night trying to be creative, and was surprised to have some degree of success. And my room is mildly neater than it was a couple days ago. But only mildly so. More news about myself in an update soon... For now I'm off (in an hour or two) to see the Italian Job, the latest Edward Norton masterpiece. Expect a review. Maybe.
*This is an actual word, believe it or not. Microsoft Word even approves of it!
1) Last Sunday, my Dad shaved off his moustache. This is big news. He had had this moustache for 24 years. In my life, I had never seen my Dad without a moustache. When my Mom saw it, she said he looked like his brother. Then she said he looked like Dustin Hoffman. Then she said he looked 10 years younger. Then she just broke out giggling (maybe because my Dad had cut himself a couple times in the moustache-removal process? I'm not sure). Anyway, so far, he has remained unmustachoed*, so I guess he likes the look. I find it a bit disconcerting myself, to be perfectly honest-- not necessarily his appearance, but the greater implications of the event. Could this be the first warning sign of a midlife crisis on the horizon? I mean, there are probably a lot of things my Dad hasn't done since he was 23, and whatever they are, I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be if he suddenly started up again. So far, everything seems all right. But stay tuned.
2) My parents still smoke. Bah. There is a long story and a long rant behind this, but needless to say, I'm unhappy with the present situation, and I think my smoke allergy has actually gotten worse recently. A couple times recently my parents have come inside from taking a smoke and started talking to me, leading to violent coughing attacks on my end. This is what I get when this happens:
Mom: "Oh, Alex, do you need to get a drink or something?"
Dad: "You've had that cough for a while, haven't you? Maybe we should take you to see the doctor."
What I never get is:
Parent: "Oh, is that my smoking that's making you cough? Oops, how inconsiderate of me! I think I'll quit now!"
*sigh*
3) While we were in the car today, my Mom very casually told me the story of how at 17 she helped her best friend run away from home. She gave her the keys to her parents' beach house and helped her sneak away there. Then she lied to her parents about it. And her friends' parents. And her school principal. And the police. She had never told me this story before. It's funny, the crazy things you find out about your parents when you least expect to.
What, you might ask, have I personally been doing recently? Meh, for the most part. I did spend half an hour before I went to bed last night trying to be creative, and was surprised to have some degree of success. And my room is mildly neater than it was a couple days ago. But only mildly so. More news about myself in an update soon... For now I'm off (in an hour or two) to see the Italian Job, the latest Edward Norton masterpiece. Expect a review. Maybe.
*This is an actual word, believe it or not. Microsoft Word even approves of it!