glasses and other oddities
My family has quite the history with eye-wear. In case you didn't read the comments on my last post, let me share with you another piece of childhood, though this story really belongs to my brother. My mom and dad tell it best:
Mom: Those glasses (referring to my first grade bifocals) are quite normal compared to a legendary pair of her brother's, who broke them while camping at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, miles and miles from a repair shop. Father, in his ever-inventive, engineering-driven "aesthetics aren't as important as function" mentality, fixed them with a stick and duct tape. To say they were ugly is a gross understatement. Brother used them when accurate sight was an absolute necessity and not always even then, preferring to go around half-blind, being at that pubescent stage where appearance is probably more important than life itself.
Dad: And a couple of years ago he pulled those ugly glasses out from where he had hidden them. I was very surprised that he still had them, especially after he and his pals right after Philmont tried to destroy them with firecrackers but failed to do so.
Ah, yes. How well I remember my poor brother's "tree glasses." How he hated them. And I don't blame him! They were heavy, there was a big stick obscuring his vision, and they were most decidedly uncool. Of course he still has them. We all have a tendency towards pack-ratting, especially obscure nostalgic stuff like ugly childhood glasses. That pair, especially, deserves preservation since it survived being stuck in a coffee can with a whole round of firecrackers. And now that Joe is old enough not to be embarrassed by them, they make for a pretty good story.
As for other weirdnesses, Animal said it's strange I still have these bifocals. See above re: family o' pack rats. In fact, Animal, my parents brought them up a couple years ago in a box of other stuff from my closet that they wanted me to deal with because they wanted it out of their house. I'm not sure what they thought I'd do with child-sized bifocals from 1985, but I guess they figured it was my decision, not theirs.
Steph mentioned that I say "Beans!" with a very silly voice. Indeed I do. In fact, I say and do a whole lot of silly things, usually in the presence of Steph and/or my brother Joe and, of course, Stuart, who has discovered his silly side since marrying me. Heh. I guess immaturity is contagious, huh?
Jenn-Jenn mentioned a couple things. First, I totally idolized her in middle school band because she was a cracking good flute player and I aspired to be able to play all the C's just like her. Plus, she seemed to actually take music seriously, unlike the rest of the flute section, who were a bunch of, well, let's just say they didn't care as much about music as fixing their hair and dating dangerous 8th-grade boys. Speaking of boys, Jenn's brother had a thing for me once upon a time? Huh. I may have had an inkling, but I was far, far too shy and embarrassed to admit it at the time. (Though, Joel, in case you're reading this, I actually thought you were pretty cute.)
Now, how about some random eye candy? Here's a picture of Daniel and Anya sporting some new duds Uncle Joe brought back from a trip to Ireland:
Mom: Those glasses (referring to my first grade bifocals) are quite normal compared to a legendary pair of her brother's, who broke them while camping at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, miles and miles from a repair shop. Father, in his ever-inventive, engineering-driven "aesthetics aren't as important as function" mentality, fixed them with a stick and duct tape. To say they were ugly is a gross understatement. Brother used them when accurate sight was an absolute necessity and not always even then, preferring to go around half-blind, being at that pubescent stage where appearance is probably more important than life itself.
Dad: And a couple of years ago he pulled those ugly glasses out from where he had hidden them. I was very surprised that he still had them, especially after he and his pals right after Philmont tried to destroy them with firecrackers but failed to do so.
Ah, yes. How well I remember my poor brother's "tree glasses." How he hated them. And I don't blame him! They were heavy, there was a big stick obscuring his vision, and they were most decidedly uncool. Of course he still has them. We all have a tendency towards pack-ratting, especially obscure nostalgic stuff like ugly childhood glasses. That pair, especially, deserves preservation since it survived being stuck in a coffee can with a whole round of firecrackers. And now that Joe is old enough not to be embarrassed by them, they make for a pretty good story.
As for other weirdnesses, Animal said it's strange I still have these bifocals. See above re: family o' pack rats. In fact, Animal, my parents brought them up a couple years ago in a box of other stuff from my closet that they wanted me to deal with because they wanted it out of their house. I'm not sure what they thought I'd do with child-sized bifocals from 1985, but I guess they figured it was my decision, not theirs.
Steph mentioned that I say "Beans!" with a very silly voice. Indeed I do. In fact, I say and do a whole lot of silly things, usually in the presence of Steph and/or my brother Joe and, of course, Stuart, who has discovered his silly side since marrying me. Heh. I guess immaturity is contagious, huh?
Jenn-Jenn mentioned a couple things. First, I totally idolized her in middle school band because she was a cracking good flute player and I aspired to be able to play all the C's just like her. Plus, she seemed to actually take music seriously, unlike the rest of the flute section, who were a bunch of, well, let's just say they didn't care as much about music as fixing their hair and dating dangerous 8th-grade boys. Speaking of boys, Jenn's brother had a thing for me once upon a time? Huh. I may have had an inkling, but I was far, far too shy and embarrassed to admit it at the time. (Though, Joel, in case you're reading this, I actually thought you were pretty cute.)
Now, how about some random eye candy? Here's a picture of Daniel and Anya sporting some new duds Uncle Joe brought back from a trip to Ireland:
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