i got all my sisters with me

i've been thinking a lot about 2 things this week: the offspring and family.  the former because i forgot how much i loved that band until i heard "self esteem" on a tv show the other day and the 16 year old skater boy in my soul, the one who is usually overshadowed by the 16 year old gay boy in my soul, rose up and screamed, "you should go look them up on spotify and re-live high school." so i am. because offspring rules.

don't try to put me in the box, i'm an enigma burrito wrapped up in a tortilla of mystery.

the latter is because i often spend a lot of time thinking about my family and perhaps more than usual this week because tomorrow my beloved brother is moving to his new job in chicago. i miss him already.  but i'm actually not here to talk about that.  that pain i shall continue to stuff down out of sight, repressing it in a completely healthy and normal german way.

the other reason i've been thinking about family recently was triggered by, of course, pop culture.

the twee-ist of all twee movies ever, "frances ha," came out recently and there was an article in entertainment weekly with greta gerwig about it in which she said: "I think when you’re in your late 20's, you realize that friends are not your family. They will go off and have a family of their own. You will go off and find your own family." (this is a direct quote, i actually looked it up to make sure i got it right).

ms. gerwig, i respectfully disagree.

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i'm a stranger here myself

i would like to introduce myself.

now, you may be thinking: "um, i know you. i've known you for xx years (that is meant for you to fill in the appropriate number of years. not 20 in roman numerals. because that would be sort of weird for your inner monologue to speak in roman numerals. not that i judge. party on)."

so yes, introductions seem unnecessary.  but i've been thinking lately how much of my life i have spent feeling on the outside of things.  now, i want to be abundantly clear at this juncture that this entry does not, at any time or any way devolve into "whoa is parsnip" (a fairly ambitious claim given that i haven't written it yet. but that's how confident i am, for you).  i am surrounded by so many truly amazing people (you!) that i really have more than my fair share. in fact, if i were truly charitable, i would give some of them back. but i won't.

no, this is not a exercise in how deeply unfortunate my life is because no one understands me. it's more about how we are perceived vis a vis what we think we're putting out there.

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