games people play
My family is all about games, more at the holidays than any other time. Board games (Aggravation), card games (Sequence), made-up games (Kings in the Corner), and games in which the answer to every other question is "one of the Kennedys" (Trivial Pursuit) -� you name it, we've played it.
The first night I was home we played Monopoly. For a change, I had sense enough to capitalize on the board's first Monopoly and jack the rent up to something ridiculous for the trashy neighborhood these properties were in. I started raking in the dough and before I knew it, everyone hated me. No one would trade, buy, or sell with me on anything. Eventually I just gave up and made it fun. I sold my sister Crash four properties for the low, low price of $1, just to see how long we could keep her in the game.
She didn't last very long even after all that and eventually it came down to just me and my dad. It was interesting because the situation forced us to talk to each other. Normally we don't have a whole lot of common ground upon which to forge any sort of conversation, but the rough and tumble world of Parker Brothers realty brought us both to neutral territory.
Granted, the dialogue was mostly "What's the rent on St. James Place?" or "I need my $200 for passing 'go'," but it was still more than I had hoped for going in. It's a start, anyway.
skidball revisited
The annual Skidball game was played Wednesday morning. The advantage of broad daylight is the ability to see (and thus utilize) the entire football field instead of the small section of it that we can see with the lights from the parking lot. It was an intense, well-played game. I took a beating, sure, but I held my own and distributed my fair share of tackles, tumbles, and other football things.
The old guys beat the young kids by one touchdown after more than three hours of play. The next day, there were no winners. I'm a sexy young thing and I had trouble walking and using various muscles the next day, so I'm sure the 'winners' enjoyed much more painful holiday feasts.
the first thanksgiving
It was really weird visiting home, even for a few days. It's a weird sort of limbo. My youngest brother has usurped my former bedroom, so I camped out on a mattress on the floor in Crash's room, which was bizarre in itself. But the house rules didn't really seem to apply to me anymore. I was a guest in what used to be my home. No one cared that I circumvented the blocks on the cable box to watch copious amounts of True Hollywood Story in the Patrents' bedroom. It didn't matter who I called or when I slept or what I ate. For a few short days, my parents stopped being my parents and started being...I don't know, pod people? Of course, they wouldn't let me take the car anywhere, so I guess some things never change.
he's coming out
As planned, I told my sister I was gay during the visit. I wasn't going to do it, but it just sort of came out (hee! 'Came out.' Never mind.) one night. We were talking about her totally bogus sex ed class and her new boyfriend and various boy-related fishcakes, and I just felt the need to clear the air for her so it wouldn't be a total surprise if I someday blurted out that I think such-and-so actor is a hottie.
Her knee-jerk reaction was "Ew," but she explained that she was expecting me to disclose some sexual indiscretion involving Daphne G (yeah, ew. I mean, girl parts.), so she just had "Ew" at the ready. Fair enough. There weren't a whole lot of questions, which was sort of weird, but I was talking about it with Rachel later and she said Crash would probably need some time to adjust to the fact that I have a romantic life, like when her brother had his first serious girlfriend.
Crash did ask how long I'd known. I explained that I'd always known, at least on some level, and she was sort of pissed that I'd waited so long to tell her (and that I'd told practically everyone else under the sun first). Then I got to say that it was different with family (and especially Crash) because there was a lot more at stake with the reaction. We had a tiny little moment and then we got right back into the minutiae of high school. Thank God she didn't spaz.
drunky, no funky
I came back to University Town Friday so I could hang with my peeps before the beginning of Hell Week. It's really Hell Week-and-a-half, but that doesn't have the same ring to it. Anyway, we organized an impromptu trip to Nashville. As tends to happen, I consumed entirely too much vodka and got us kicked out of the club when I threw up all over the nice carpet. They were really nice though, and I'm sure we're invited back whenever I can show up sober.
who needs sleep
Last Monday night, I got a much-needed ten hours of good, hard sleep. Boys are good for cuddling that way. The next days, which were spent with the family, threw my sleep schedule off because I was going to bed at what my mom calls 'a reasonable hour' and getting a full eight hours each night. And since there was literally nothing to do at my house, I took tons and tons of naps. I got probably too much sleep in those few days, but I made up for it over the weekend by not sleeping very much at all. I mean, passing out drunk (and waking up hung over) doesn't count as sleep, right? That coupled with the fact that those 'early' mornings at home have me trained not to sleep past 7:30 are going to make for a rough few weeks. I'm sure I'll get the whole system figured out just in time for the move back home for Christmas.
a hero's welcome
I returned to the dorms last night to find a note from the roomie. "I have a test Dec. 4," it began. "This test is very important so do not bother me when I am studying and sleeping." That was the entire note. I should point out that this boy does nothing but study and sleep and that my mere presence in the room 'bothers' him, so there's really no way this will end civilly.
I'm ready to direct him to the library for his studying purposes and to tell him to cram it sideways if I hear another word about my TV, and I'd like to bust on him about the crack-of-dawn hour of semi-religious chanting, but I feel sort of bad since it is religion. I think. He could be cursing me in Japanese and I'd never know, but regardless it's impossible to sleep through that shit.
If anyone in the readership can translate Japanese, I'm curious to know what he's saying. It's something along the lines of "Ya honen ya junum," so if you dabble in Japanese and you'd like to take a whack at a rough translation, there could be some Ramen in it for you. Email me.
Bottom line, it's eleven more days (of hell), and then I'm either getting a new roomie or getting a single. Cross your fingers for the single, everyone.
Today is: World AIDS Day. This year's theme is "Do you have the time?" Check out the site for some great info. Someone got here by searching for: it hurts during sex And: "cookies craving" And: shirtless boys And: "like a horse" dog riding Reading: Textbooks. It's crunch time. Listening to: Rhett Miller Watching: I Love the '80s Strikes Back. I think I've finally seen them all. Eating: Anything I can get my hands on.
