1998 december 22

just like me

my mother may be delusional, but i love her.

i received an envelope in the mail today full of newspaper clippings, magazine articles, photographs and christmas cards for me, gene and daphne the goldfish. there was also a black and white advertisement, ripped from the back cover of some glossy fashion mag, upon which my mother had scrawled:

you just have to love a mother's unconditional love and blind devotion to her children. emphasis on blind, of course. other than the hair, and maybe the shape of the upper lip, i look nothing like this gorgeous creature. there are days i wish i did, and days i am sure gene wishes i did, but mostly i think it would be too much trouble to be that beautiful. and of course, i do so dislike people looking at me. maybe it's the glasses, mine are rather like those, although mine are a far cry from giorgio armani; i couldn't see paying $500 for something i am bound to sit on sooner or later.

last night, even though i was once again dying from this bloody neverending cold and it was bloody cold and damp outside, i went to a christmas party. it is the annual gala held by one of my circles of friends and a fine time was had by all. last year the boys had managed to deck their halls with 10,000 lights, this year they had 17,200. lights outlining the house, the windows, the walkways. a giant metal tree covered in computer controlled lights. spot lights and floodlights and strings of lights making an arch over the porch. lights poked through holes drilled in plywood, making pictures; a sort of grown up litebrite. i kept looking for the shrine to chevy chase but the constant glare made finding anything, including the bar, rather a chore. may well have been why they did it, although enough people were rollicking drunk that i'm afraid i shall have to deem the maneuver unsuccessful.

it was a child friendly party, which is a bit out of fashion these days, and star spent two hours running around and around the outdoor lighted tree and flirting with all the geek boys standing about, looking socially inept as geek boys are wont to do. i try not to buy into too many stereotypes but i am going to advance one here: geek boys are wonderful with children, especially girls. they will put up with kids climbing them like monkeybars, they will swing the children in the air over and over and over again, seemingly tireless. they will crouch down and listen to explanations of the difference between green and red lights as told by a two year old, they will take bites of crumbly soggy cookies that have been held up as solemn offerings. they will even endure the occasional kick to the groin with grace.

gene is like that too, absolutely wonderful with children. it may well be one of the reasons i love him so.

just like myself, claire