So, we drove to Las Vegas, me, my mom, and my uncle in a car together. I got out "Know When To Walk Away, Know When To Run" to read, since it seems fairly innocuous to read in front of my mother (well, there's drinking, and I think there's a reference to cleavage and/or breast implants in there, but still...), but since I was the one driving, they didn't hit me too hard about narrating it.
My mom brought a book with her and read most of the time, so that left me and my Uncle John in the front seat together, to make conversation for several hours (at least until the point where he took over driving--I think this was at the four or five hour point--and I grabbed my laptop and did my best to get writing). There was a lot to talk about, and John is a great storyteller.
I think I've mentioned before on my podcast that I had an uncle who was married to somebody famous (or at least famous back at that time--not so much anymore), but a song came on the radio by somebody MUCH more famous, and John told me that the marriage broke up over that singer. I had never heard this before, but my Uncle Len said the same thing the next morning. One of my favorite singers when I was a kid, and I never knew that.*
At some point, Uncle John started giving me life advice, and I became seventeen years old again, with him doling out his philosophy and making everything seem so easy. And maybe he's right--maybe it is easy. But not for me, it ain't. Though he was my hero when I was a little boy and teen, my uncle is just about as far away from me in personality as you can be.*
And while I'm tempted to complain about him and his Alpha Male attitude--his mentality and his nature completely fly in the face of my life-view--let me say that I would much rather be like him than like me. And if I could trade away who I am to be more like him, believe me, I'd trade up in a heartbeat.
Crap, I haven't written any words today. I really ought to work on that rather than keep blogging. Darn.
Sit-ups Today: 100
Sit-ups In July: 3573
I wrote more on the egg story ("Hatchling") and then went to bed, knowing I would be tired the next morning. Probably the most words I'd get done the whole trip.
At one point, we stopped for gas, and I noticed a great big bat--maybe the biggest I'd ever seen--flitting around one of the light poles. I tried to film it with my camera, but you couldn't really see it. I can't decide whether to post that video here or just delete it. Either way, I guess it would be a waste of time. Sad, isn't it?
Still thinking of Lara Demming stories. Today I had the idea of her, when she's still young--say twelve or thirteen--seeing an unpopular girl at her school and deciding to help her. So, she charms the girl to be popular . . . with disastrous results. Lara finds out--as does her former friend--that being the school's favorite daughter isn't all it's cracked up to be. Jeez, the story almost writes itself.
Words Today: 1094
Words In July: 21,432
*Doesn't change my feelings about those songs, though. It's just strange.
**He actually has quite a bit in common with that girl that I was so interested in: they're both super-cool and super-confident, super-popular and super-powered, and the high opinion I hold of them is only matched by the high opinion they have of themselves. Oh shoot, did I say "was" so interested? Sigh.
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