Various Families 1

Well, according to Erin, my Dad and Mary and sisters are moving to Singapore. Yay!

My aunt (mom's older sister) who doesn't communicate with either me or my mom has been sending Liam (my nephew) gifts. My aunt harbors hostility towards me and my mother for reasons we can only guess at. But regardless of hostility, my aunt and my grandmother like men. They are ladies accustomed to gentlemen callers. My brother is obviously a man. And Liam is obviously a boy--so they get letters. This is my theory.

Liam is one and a half years old. He is the only child I've ever known at that age who responds clearly to yes/no questions. He also uses baby sign language (mostly the sign for "more" and "all done") that he's learned at the early learning center (being on faculty at UC Berkeley has several benefits, including access to good education). Bryan and Erin speak to him like he is a person, which he is, and as a result he has these startling communication skills. It's very cool.

My brother, now in his 30s was fun and even relaxed.

Most men I know and have known in their 20s are, well, unpleasant. Not stupid, but rarely wise, and often jerks. Perhaps most women in their 20s are this way, too. Certainly one's 20s are a time for drama and sometimes bad choices.

That I often too readily accept the fact that most men I know and have known in their 20s are unpleasant is a problem. More directly: this is one of the many ways I support patriarchal social norms. I'm also certain that this stance is to blame for a substantial part of my psychological angst. (Psychic angst? Emotional angst? Etc).

Mark, Lester and I had pasta with pesto and sun-dried tomatoes for dinner. A good dinner to have on a Monday after traveling. Lester is preening on my lap. Tomorrow I'm going to rearrange his cage with some of the new toys I bought him this weekend. When one of the women at the bird store found out that my bird is a parrotlet, she said, "Ooo, those little birds are mean. They bite! I'd sooner approach a macaw any day."