Dinner and an Ear Exam

Last night my brother and his wife and their son visited me. They had just watched Sicko, and guess what they said! "If things don't change, we're moving to Canada!"

Meanwhile, we visited their friend J___, a new myspace friend of mine through them, and who is getting a Ph D in Audiology. Gotta love nerds, no matter what field their in. "Just for fun," she gave us hearing tests. Had one before? It's not just the beeps and boops you have to listen to, it's the anechoic chamber one has sit in while being tested. Without any sounds or echoes, you are forced to listen to your own breathing, the blood rushing through your ears, and every swallow and lip smack you make. Torture! Try doing this for a couple of hours. Waterboarding is for sissies.

Anyway, I don't have any hearing damage, at least not above 8-12 KHz. Humans supposedly can hear between 20 and 20,000 Hz, when we're "young" at least. But since most sounds fall within 1000-8000 HZ, they don't even test for the outer ranges.

So after having bashed drums and cymbals into my skull for over two decades, and after having not visited a dentist in 7 years, I'm tinitus and cavity-free. Knock on wood.

But the most interesting part of the evening was my sister-in-law essentially pushing the audiologist and me together. "You should hang out; you're both right in Buffalo." Awkward silence. Yeah, except she's supposedly getting married to a dude who never visits her in Buffalo and whom she doesn't talk about much or apparently have anything in common with--except that he'll "be a great father."

"A great father"? Oh, I GET IT. So dudes like me are the one who (can) fulfill all the basics needs of a relationship EXCEPT the practical and domestic ones. And of course, the "most important" one--reproducing. God, it was so frickin' awkward realizing that the elephant in the room was, "See, B, if you just wanted to settle down and become one-half of a couple with someone, you'd get a girl like THIS. See what you're giving up?" I saw my life flashing before my very eyes! All the "hot" ones I could have had if only I was the marrying kind. I looked at pictures of this dude and saw how much she is WAY out of his league. That's how fat balding dudes can do it; that's the secret. Just be really, really nice, devoted, and a potential "good father." You'll never have to worry about what kind of books she reads or anything like that. That's something people do "on the side," anyway.

Just to add to cosmic joke, we indeed discussed books for a while and yes, we have very similar tastes in nonfiction. For instance, she's reading about Mormon fundamentalism and the Elizabeth Smart case. THEN she proceeded to outline all of her favorite VIDEO GAMES she plays. Wh-wh-what? Oh yeah. She's "addicted" to her PS2 and is a life-long Lara Croft fan. She "looks at her surroundings and imagines how she could jump or climb on things in order to get to the top of the highest building around." Sounds familiar?

Well, to end on a good note, here's a funny video about it. Watch all the way until the end, esp the angry people:

Today Wuz A Good Day

DUHN nee nur, duhr nee nur NURRRR!!!

So my dad and step mom were just here and it was fucking awesome. Everything I talked about they were interested in and understood, no subject was taboo, and the truth about the world actually counts toward having a good time.

After meeing QC and Asenath for mere minutes, they already adore them and understand completely how kewl they are.

Then we walked around Elmwood and every house and garden had "a soul," unlike the robot caves in suburban Boston. The streets were clean, my work place was interesting enough for questions and pictures, and eating at the Saigon was for my dad one of the "best eating experiences" he can remember. (He had the Mango Curry duck.)

Then we drove over the skyway as my dad gasped at the beauty of the grain elevators, GM plant, and my stepmom at the hundred of sailboats/yachts. On the way back the sun was setting. We had Scotch and watched Arrested Development (Job in the banana suit). My dad perused my book collection and borrowed several. He's "looking forward" to reading my dissertation.

WTF? Someone wake me up! Oh wait, I don't have to because I actually got a good night's sleep for the first time in a week, hit the sack at, oh, 9:30, and waking at 7.

DUHN nee nur, duhr nee nur NURRRR!!!