Family Ties

So I was talking to my sister Mary the other day about the blog, and she suggested I write about my family. Now, as she never said what to write about or what I could or could not say.....No, wait, I'm not evil. I figured I'd talk a little bit about who she is, what our wacky relationship is like, and maybe a few more things. We'll see what happens with this, and as I only have 3 immediate family members (Mary being the only one who to my knowledge reads this), I may eventually start talking about any of you who actually wants to. I'll try to spare the punches (ie, I won't talk about your crippling gambling addiction or that time you sent a busload of kids over a cliff...wait, that was Veronica Mars) but if any of you actually want me to analyze you, feel free to either comment on the post with a name or send me an email. I can't promise WHEN my analysis will come, but I'll let you know in an email. I will of course be writing about family first, so there's another two posts after this one before I even think to talking about you.

But anyway, Mary. Basic description is that she's my sister. She's the one who loves pandas, acting, singing, Spanish, reading, and music, not necessarily in that order. She's the one who's either helping me start my latest scheme or coming up with a new one for me to implement. Let's start with the reminiscing!

We used to fight a lot, for some reason. She just wouldn't admit that I was right (side note: I was) and that I deserved more of the couch, food, TV programming, and movie choices (another side note: I did). So we fought, I hit, she wouldn't, I "won," she cried to Mom, I got yelled at, we both ended up unhappy. This cycle repeated itself until we got into high school for some reason. I blame her, because I was clearly cooler (side note: I wasn't) and knew more about the world (side note: I still don't, but that's because she went to Europe)

We stopped fighting when I got to high school, mainly because we were both busier and had our own friends. We became good friends whose humor plays well with each other. I understand her style and how to make it work. My Mom and I were picking her up from college a year or two ago and we stopped at a Perkins for lunch, because Perkins is delicious. And so Mary and I started fake fighting about something stupid, and our mother started laughing while trying to tell us to stop. I said "You can't be mad if you're laughing," Mary instantly repeated it, and then we both started chanting it at the same time. We also have mastered a good summary/version of the chicken cluck from Arrested Development. Like I said, we know how to make comedy work. As some of you may know, my sister is in a comedy group over the summers when she is back in Chicago. She is criminally underused, but always hilarious when she gets up there. I and her have written several skits that are based around our childhood, and if I can ever find video of them, I'll upload them here. My sister plays me because she knows what I am like, while Mary's best friend plays Mary because she knows what Mary is like. Mary also factors into some other skits, but she doesn't receive as much show time as she should have (ideally, it would be two hours of Mary up there entertaining me, with a few other people thrown in every now and then, but I'm not in charge of the show)

Mary loves pandas. I mean loves them. As previously mentioned, she's the one with the pandas covering her room, pictures of which I will take when I go home this weekend. It's easy to see anything that isn't panda-colored in that room, but if it is black and white, you're outta luck. I don't think I've ever mentioned that she's a Spanish major. Technically, she's now a Spanish grad student, which I'm not sure what exactly that entails. I imagine teaching whiny undergrads Spanish 1, but that's only a guess.

She's also a good singer, in that she pulled our collective butts out of the fire whenever we played rock band at home. She did choir back in grade school, so I imagine all that artsy-fartsy helped. She also is really good at painting and such. Basically, she somehow tapped into the heretofore undeveloped Zuidema artistic talent gene. I haven't touched mine, but I have to think that before my life is up I'll try to harness it, fail badly, and then give up to go look at fantasy baseball scores (I know my limits, and hey, baseball).

As for when she gets out of grad school, I think she's going to go into teaching kids, either in high school or college. She'll end up in a panda wedding dress someday with panda tuxes and panda bridesmaid dresses (don't ask me WHERE she'll get them, she'll find a place). Actually, I kinda want to see that. Because I know it will keep me entertained, which, as far as I can figure out, is what family is for.

Mary, since I know you're reading this, thanks for being my sister. Also, this was your birthday present. I hope you enjoyed it, read it again in like 2 months and pretend it's new.

It's just another mindless Monday

So this is my sister's panda, Pudge. My sister loves pandas. Her bedroom is covered in them. Panda wallpaper, panda pillows, panda bookends, panda pictures, at least 100 stuffed pandas, the whole works. She keeps finding new space for them and keeps getting more pandas. It's actually pretty easy shopping for her, just go buy her a panda. In fact, I want to say that several Christmases or birthdays, I did just go out and do that. She was happy, I was happy, we all enjoyed Christmas and no one fought.

My mother, in a similar vein, enjoys frogs. Our kitchen at home has frog wallpaper, frog scrub brush holder, frog key hooks, more of the works. My mother's office at school has a frog rug, frog umbrella on the wall, little frog toys that are randomly dispersed, more the works. Once again, when I run out of ideas for gifts for Mom, go find a frog thing. I think I've given her frog jewelry, frog scarves, the usual. Happy Christmases, one and all.

And here's where I run into weirdness. Well, more weirdness than this post already has. I don't have a favorite animal. I don't think my dad does either. My dad has said tiger before, but I think that was just because he needed to pick an animal. There's certainly no tiger rooms in the house (although that would be pretty sweet, come to think of it. Tiger stripe wallpaper, tiger painted TV). My dad made a big stained glass tiger thing once, but I'm not sure where exactly it is in the house. Maybe he gave it away, who knows.

But getting back to me, I don't think I have a favorite animal. If pressed, I suppose I would say bear or dog, but that's because I'm like a dog anyway, and bears are a) freaking powerful and b) the symbol of my two favorite teams. I don't own a room full of bear stuff and unless I marry someone who wants that, I don't think I ever will. I look around at the rooms of my apartment and I see what I have "collection" wise, and it's either Cubs stuff (which Mary has remarked that I'm easy to shop for in that regard; just go buy me some Cubs stuff and I'll be happy, which is generally the case) or comic books.

I'm not sad about the whole thing, I'm just sorta wondering if other guys are like this. In other words, guys, do you have a favorite animal that you buy a lot of things for, or is it more collection stuff? And is that a process of how we were raised, to like things over animals? (with the exception of dogs, because every guy likes dogs. If you don't like dogs, you're like the worst person ever. You can prefer smaller dogs or something, but if you don't like any dogs, worst person ever). Girls, are you raised to like a certain animal? Or are you just going to comment on how adorable my sister's panda is?

Followup questions for both: guys, are the things you like generally sports teams or superhero teams or bands, or individual players, superheros, or singers? And for girls, if you do like a certain animal, is there a reason that animal X is cuter than animal Y? Not so much (to use my sister as an example) why pandas over cobras, but more why pandas over regular bears? or cats? Why does my mom like frogs instead of salamanders?

Sorry the post is crazy, but these are the things I think about. I'll try to keep the inanity to once a week, but who knows what will happen? Hopefully coming later this week: Super Bowl predictions, my first in another series outlining baseball divisions, another That Guy Sucks, another musicians of note, workout and weight loss updates, and maybe something about superheros.