Around the House (from Daily Update 433)

Evenin'

The Fortunato parents are currently out of town. They sped up to Boston for some kind of lover's getaway, or site-seeing. Which ever. So I am here at the house with the two adopted Indians. Chitra (aged 17-19*) and Bhavana, who's name is impossible to spell correctly, coming in at the ripe age of 12.

When the parents are here, I'm sort of like that cool older brother type figure. Think Theo Huxtable from the Cosby Show (or at least this is how I desperately want to be perceived- minus that pencil thin mustache that he tried to do). When the parents are gone, I act more like Dr. Heathlcliff Huxtable. All of a sudden I have this major sense of responsibility, protection, and some sarcasm mixed in.

So Chitra and her boyfriend have rented two movies. The first being Anaconda. My first thought was, "Why on God's green earth would they want to watch such a horrible film?" But then I remembered that I actually went to the theater to see it when I was in high school. And don't judge me, Clayton or Lukas, because one or both of you must have been there as well.

The second movie was "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." Why? Why? Why?

So now I'll be locked in my room for the rest of the night, afraid to go down the stairs.

I told Chitra not to let Bhavana watch it. I said that it was bad for her heart and that it would only cause us all a lot of grief.

Bhavana interjects with a question, "What's grief?"

Chitra: "It's sadness."

Me: "Turmoil, discomfort, unease."

Bhavana: "Please speak English, Tatum."

Me: "Bhavana. All of those words are English."

Bhavana: "They're not English English. They're like, England words."

Me: "Oh dear."

Bhavana: "Use Southern."

Me: "Bhavana. You do realize that you're from India, correct?"

Chitra: "Yeah. But she's from Southern India."

So this is my life.

In other news- do you remember that awful day in February last year when I got a ticket because I ran a light because a guy was angry and got out of his truck and was coming to my car? Well, today was the day. The day in court.

It was intense. It was like traffic court's version of Matlock. I went up against the town prosecutor. Sorry to reference the same show twice in one update, but this woman was Claire Huxtable. Anyway. There was testimony. There was the cop. There was me. There was the cross-examination. There were closing arguments. The whole deal.

Well. I was still found guilty. But, I didn't have to pay the fine. Not a bad deal.

Finally- here is a question for you. If your car's CD or tape player was to be stuck on one song, on repeat, for the rest of the time that you owned that car, what would it be? You have to imagine that you would want it to be a song that you absolutely loved. You know that you're going to grow to hate it, but then, you'll love it even more after passing through the Valley of Repetition.

Just going off the top of my head, I think I'd have to go with "Take It Easy" by The Eagles. It is light and it is timeless and it is made to be listened to in a car. It always makes you feel a little bit better.

*Chitra's age is not exactly known.

Tatum.