Sunday, Dec. 26, 2004
Missive from a swing state, posted at 4:51 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com The drive on Christmas Eve was relaxing and uneventful. The roads weren't bad at all, and I listened to nearly the entire audio version of Frankenstein. I'm embarrassed to say that I'm in the middle of teaching a book whose ending I don't know. I'm at the point now where Frankenstain has agreed to make a bride for the monster. I'll get back to it soon.Christmas Eve was nice. It felt like the old times, with the stockings and gifts from Santa and all. A minor crisis was averted late in the day when my sister decided to go home on Christmas night to visit with some friends in Grand Rapids, where she lives. Dad didn't like it much, because it meant she probably was going to see the boyfriend, and the boyfriend is black. That's why she says he doesn't like him, anyway. He doesn't say it, but the knowledge from the Switzerland parties (Mom and I) have derived is that it very well could be because of the time he caught them having phone sex at home. That's his story, anyway, about that night. Her story is different. Either way, a fight was averted because we were in the middle of a really good movie (The Manchurian Candidate) and I don't think dad wanted to pause it. That's the extent of the home drama.
I feel so different in this part of the country. I become the kind of guy who spends four hours washing, waxing (the entire Maguire's three steps of oxidizing, polishing, and protecting), and vaccuuming his car. I sit and relax, watching movies (Conspiracy Theory, Mean Girls, Supersize Me and Frankenstein so far) and spending an entire 36-hour period away from the Internet. It's nice. It feels good. I feel like I'm gaining my bearings on my life a little bit. I think I spent much of December feeling like I was slipping down a snowy hill, unable to stop my acceleration, and this trip home was one that so far has helped me attain a grip.
Tonight, I'll probably do some reading (White Teeth is my teacher book club book of the month, and I'm on chapter 3) and maybe hit the movies with my sister. Movies are $3.50 here, and Meet the Fockers is playing upstairs at 9. I think I've convinced Dad (a retired undercover drug cop) for a marathon of The Corner tomorrow; he's never seen it and I have the first season on DVD with me.
In short, life is good, Christmas was nice, and I'm breathing again.