placation

the family is in town this weekend, as i've mentioned earlier, and this evening we went out to dinner. i'm not extremely keen on eating in public, but a free meal is what it is. my mother talked about this book by Jon Krakauer, and i thought the subject matter seemed familiar to me. this is a bit about the book from publisher's weekly:

"After graduating from Emory University in Atlanta in 1992, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandoned his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska, where he went to live in the wilderness. Four months later, he turned up dead. His diary, letters and two notes found at a remote campsite tell of his desperate effort to survive, apparently stranded by an injury and slowly starving. They also reflect the posturing of a confused young man, raised in affluent Annandale, Va., who self-consciously adopted a Tolstoyan renunciation of wealth and return to nature."

after my mother's synopsis she commented on how ridiculous and crazy this young man must have been (my other fly. members agreeing), and, despite the iminent notions i've had lately of doing something similar to the character in the story (frighteningly similar) i didn't contradict. partly because the conversation would have been pointless, and partly because i was preoccupied with how different i am from my parents. i love them both immensely, yet it's perplexing how i am such an anomaly in the family (as well as in any other group, more or less).

then i thought about how they still go to church every week (catholic naturally) and always try to get me to go with them (when they're in town). of course i won't, but the difficulty lies in what to say when asked why. i'm perfectly clear on my reasons, but revealing my justification to them may evoke doubt in their own beliefs. i would never want to make anyone question what they steadfastly know to be true if it is good for them. i mean who am i right?

none of this makes me very unique--who doesn't think they're completely different from their parents? it's just nice to be able to harmonize without having to familiarize. i'm sure they do it to me as well.

interesting subtext--the whole way home they talked about their favorite cuts of meat, i didn't realize there were so many. wish i would have taped the conversation.


album of the day: marine research sounds from the gulf stream

they aren't together anymore, but this cd is pretty obscure and should be checked out by anyone who likes rilio kiley or the cardigans and the like.