David, second cousin once removed, is coming for a visit tomorrow so I can help him with a project he is working on. I actually seldom see him since he is usually here, house-sitting, when I am away.
I'm sure that I have forgotten most of what it is like to be 21, but it had to have been different than David at 21. For one thing, he never stops talking. I kind of remember it being cool to be moody and stoic when I was 21. David talks all the time. Watching sports on TV, he does a running play-by-play of the game. Watching anything else on TV, he does a running play-by-play of the plot. Driving in the car, he does a running play-by-play of other traffic. When he reads the newspaper, he provides a running commentary. When he walks through a room, he's always providing an ongoing exposition about something.
He also speaks some unknown foreign language, that has pronouns and a few verbs that I recognize but little else. His sports heroes are not baseball and football players but guys besieged with tattoos and afflicted with perpetually dazed looks who snowboard and engage in something called aggressive skating. His clothes are a calliope of odd sounding brand names. His shoes are from a galaxy far, far away. His music is essentially the same sensation as being inside of a kettle drum.
He has an astonishing lack of inhibitions. There is a street right in front of my house, and a lake right behind, there is no such thing here as privacy. The single thing that I most often say to him is "David, put some clothes on." If I am in the shower, and he is in a hurry, he will get right it. He has two brothers, almost the same age, so I assume communal bathing was an everyday occurrence as they grew up. I have no brothers. To me my shower is a voting booth with plumbing; I expect to be in there alone.
And, of course, even when he's showering he's still talking, I don't know how he keeps from drowning.
But, he's a really good guy. He's too smart to use drugs. He's too cheap to drink too much. He's a great driver and a hard worker and he laughs at my jokes. It should be a fun couple days. If you drive by, be sure to wave. I'll be the one wearing clothes.
Monday, December 05, 2005
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3 comments:
...and he was a pretty fun blog-sitter for you. :-)
He really gets in the shower right with you?!? Oh boy.
he has a couple times or so (and, it's always a shock!!!!!) -- but it's a really big shower, if there were enough nozzles it would comfortably hold four, so there is no actual touching (It also serves as a "change out of your wet bathing suit/mud room" when people come up from the lake) -- he was here earlier but went out for the evening, when he comes back in he will shower (which is just down a short hall from my desk) and at the same time be yelling to tell me everywhere he went, what/who he saw, and what he did -- after as couple days, I am exhausted, but it is fun to have him around and Rooty thinks he's a big blonde squeaky toy
...you will have to miss him when he's gone! :-) Sounds as if he can pretty well entertain himself.
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