Conversation and Travels

So, coincidently, I called home last night to talk to my Mom about some stuff but she was busy so she handed the phone off first to my Dad and then to my brother. Can you say "stilted"?

Reasons I love my Dad: I had been stressing about whether or not to go to VT to check the school out in person... I'm broke, so any time I have to put something on my credit cards I cringe. So first thing, before I have a chance to say more than "Hello", he busts out with "So have you thought about going to VT to check it out? I'd be happy to pay for that." Load off shoulders. Second, told him the price of the extra costs of the surgery and he was expecting it to be twice as much, so he is giving us the extra as moving expenses. He may be a shitty listener, but the man anticipates the financials well.

But back to ROBCOW. I asked him what he was up to. He said, "Pretty much nothing. Except I've decided to kill myself in June." I asked him to hang on an extra year so he could be at my wedding. He said, "No, I don't think so." Now, I know he's not serious, because he's made plans to be back in North Carolina to visit friends in July. And he pulls this kind of stuff all the time. Yes, he's depressed. Yes, he's a functional alcoholic. Is he suicidal? Not even close. "I'm going to kill myself" is his way of announcing that I'm not allowed to ask anything else about his life and that he doesn't particularly care about what's going on in mine.

We ended up having a 45 minute conversation about the South Beach diet, the cartoon "The Family Guy" (which I have never seen more than 5 minutes of, but which BubRub can mimic with freakish accuracy. Freakish.), and the movie Sin City - which I found a bit violent, but Rob assures me I'm wrong and am simply too plebian to notice that it's just Pulp Fiction II. Debate is hopeless, because I am always wrong. Suggestions are met with "Yeah, whatever." And any mention of what I am doing is met with, "Well isn't that nice." and a change of subject.

I don't think there's anyone else on the planet who can make me feel quite so useless. He's got a gift.