Pithy Princess

Typical Saturday evening, I'm sitting on the deck with Allison, we are grilling salmon for dinner or lunch or something. She is instant messaging on her notebook and talking to Cami on her phone. She keeps warning Cami that she is on speaker, as if Cam might say something I'm not suppose to hear. I tried to muster support from Emilie and Allie to go to the Brighton Art Fair tonight; they are happy just hanging around the house.

I timed myself at Brighton today, 37:28. To put this in perspective, I did a 35:27 as I came out of hibernation in March. Lord things have fallen apart this season. Bill and I are going to pre-ride Maybury tomorrow. I'm thinking about doing a race there next week. I will get my ass kicked but I feel I need to line up in a race soon; it's better to be uncompetitive than not competing at all.

Allie and I went swimming after work yesterday. I will miss the lakes and mountain bike trails around our home when the house sells, if it sells. We have been trying since May and haven't receive one offer, frustrating. I guess the cold reality is my house is worth less now than when I bought it 13 years ago. The plan was to move to Canton after we sell the house. Emilie had her heart set on starting school in Canton.

I asked Em to go to the lake with Allie and me yesterday. Em decided she would rather stay in her un-air conditioned bedroom and text her friends. I pointed out that she could text at the lake but she was happy where she was. It is so hard seeing her slip away into adolescents. I knew this day would come, it's normal and I realize I became coolly indifferent towards my parents at that age but still, I'm not ready for it. I thought playing endless games of Pretty Pretty Princess with her when she was four would somehow buy me a few extra years.

On the way back from the lake with Allie, I rented some scary movies for Em and I to watch. Not my favorite genre but she has developed this infatuation with horror films. I won't allow the gory movies but try to pick out scary ones that are appropriate for a 12 year old. I am still not comfortable with this but we talk about them beforehand, like you would in English class. I liked English classes. I liked school. I got my masters just for fun really. Em and I talk about the classics and put them in perspective to the time they were written.

Frankenstein was written in 1818, a few years after Luigi Galuani published his discovery of bioelectricity that demonstrated that electricity was the medium by which nerve cells passed signals to the muscles.

Vampires have been folklore since maybe prehistoric times. Dracula was written in 1897. The move came out in 1938, after the roaring 20's when sex was becoming more open and America had a syphilis outbreak, at least that is what I told Em. As as dad I can say things with authority that I'm not sure of. Vampires are slightly erotic but they kill you. I think people may have linked syphilis to open sexuality like they would death to Dracula in the 30's. Incidentally, we rented Interview With a Vampire last week and Em pointed out how fake it was; it contradicted Full Moon.

Dr. Jeckell and Mr. Hyde came out in 1931 during the American Prohibition; there are some parallels there.

Plan 9 From Outer Space came out in 1958 (even cheesy by 1950's standards, so cheesy it's great). This movie was about aliens protecting the universe by preventing humans from creating a doomsday weapon, much like the Atom bomb.

Night of the Living Dead came out in 1968 when people were use to seeing horrific pictures on their TVs from Vietnam. Also there is a Civil Rights element to this movie, a movie that I decided was too much for Em. Maybe next year.

But the real reason I picked up a scary movie for Em on the way home from the lake was much more selfish. Em curls up like a little child when we watch them, her face pressed tightly in my arm. She won't let me leave her side, much like when she was young. Scary movies lets me experience Em as a child for just a little bit longer. And I'm not ready to let go.