(no subject)

Apparently my niece telephoned my parents last night, to say that she, having just graduated college and about to move out into the real world, wanted to visit her grandparents, father, and uncles on her way. Consider that nobody on this side of her family -- not even my brother Ricky, her father -- has seen her in 15 years or so. Suddenly, my mom had a grandchild again, and she was positively giddy with the news. (My dad is apparently reserving his emotions, made cynical by the past attitudes of her mother's family.) I half-joked that, in my parents' eyes, this took some pressure off of me to reproduce.

In truth, I had been wondering when she'd reappear. I know that it occurred to me earlier this year that she'd be coming into her own very soon, and trusting that she'd want to reëstablish contact with her father's family as soon as she was free to do so. And lo, it seems I was correct. Huh!

It is weird to think that she is about as old as my youngest adult friends. My unshakable mental image of her remains that of a pre-schooler, and I've no idea how to imagine her now, in appearance or personality. The most recent emotion I associate with her is guilt, because the last time I saw her, she and her mother were visiting the rest of us in Florida, sometime after her parents got divorced, and I assisted in my parents' campaign to nag and nag and nag her to call her father "daddy", instead of "Rick" (as her mother did). It seems so shamefully petty now, though this all happened before I had sufficient XP to question authority/reality, alas.


I did ask my mom if she brought up Ricky's mental condition, and received the disappointing answer "Oh, well, I'd assume she knows all about that." I advised her to make sure before she visits, and explain it frankly, as she would to a friend. I get the impression that mom hasn't told Ricky about this yet... hmm. It will be interesting, yes.

I look forward to seeing her, and hope I'll get a chance to speak with her without my parents hovering around. I also hope she's beclued enough to use the Internet, but I suppose that any recent college graduate would have to be. It is nice to think I may have a relative who is not a Muggle with computers. Can you imagine exchanging email with someone you're actually related to? Strange! Exciting! We'll see.

(no subject)

Bill Maher has a weblog. What a silly picture of him. Oh well.

Caught his HBO special the other day, found it equal parts "Har har! It's so true!" and "[throwing soft objects at TV while screaming POPPYCOCK! BALDERDASH! &c.]" We'll see if my BS-o-filter can survive daily doses of him... I'm feeling optimistic, actually, hoping he'll act as a counterweight to my Lileks reading. (This is to say, I get the same impression that he's about as far from "center" as Lileks, and maybe as far as myself, too. (Oh, jmac? And what direction from center are you? Splunge.))