Trogdor

I remember when Angel would walk around the house singing that. He'd watch Pokémon and laugh at the Strong Bad emails. Then he got older and started listening to angry rock (as teens are wont to do), but he could still sing every blessed song from "Forever Plaid" and was active in church, praise band, karate, theater, choir, accompanying, piano lessons and anything else he could get his hands on. He dealt with my mother's insanity with such grace and poise that you thought you were dealing with a *much* older kid. I've looked out for him since he was a baby and we never had a feuding stage like the Duke and I did. We've been buddies and have shared a mutual love for bad sci-fi, Little Caesar's, Ben and Jerry's, Thelonius Monk, and Harry Potter. We've talked about *everything*. I talked him through his first few highs school rejections with the female crowd. I listened as he told me all about the new girl he met (last summer) and how *wonderful* she is. Today, it feels like everything went to shit.

It started with me asking how he enjoyed his time at the beach with his girlfriend, her sister, and her sister's boyfriend. To me, this spells disaster or teen pregnancy, but he went and had fun. Then he told me she got a tattoo. I asked what and where. He said a "tribal" with a heart inside it. He said it's "so her." and something she won't regret later. Right. I'm not going to lie. Sometimes, tattoos look trashy. Sometimes, they look interesting. It depends on the person, what they get and where they get them. I wanted to get one, myself. On the the back of my neck. OR on my ankle. There are many innocuous places where one can get a tattoo that renders the tattoo more hippie oriented than trashy. Then he said she got it on her lower back. "lol. i know. tramp stamp."

"hey, you said it. I didn't."

"yeah, but you were thinking it. :-p"

"i was. i wish i wasn't, but you know how i feel about [her]."

The shit really hit the fan, then. I don't like her. I think she's not as smart as him. She wants to go to a community college (ostensibly to save money, but from what I know, her grades aren't stellar) to get a degree in Communication. 'Nuff said. Because of this girl, he's stopped thinking about Eastman or Roosevelt or even UNT. He's considering just going to Texas State. I know several people who went to TS read this blog...so, I'm not demeaning your school in any way. What I AM saying is that for undergrads, it's a party school and it doesn't *begin* to compare with UNT for jazz, Chicago for opportunities or Eastman for prestige. That's what I'm saying. Is that he can do more than what he thinks he can. In the midst of trying to explain why I think he can not only do better than her, but also why he's so fantastic, he said that if I really got to know her, I'd really like her. Which I doubt. He said, "You only met her for 5 minutes." True. And in five minutes I saw that she was flighty, giggly, and a little bit of an airhead. What I've heard of (but not seen) is her demanding nature in getting him to ferry her across the city, encroaching on almost every night with Dad, getting him to pay for everything and essentially owning his soul. That's all I need to know. I also told him that unless he plans to marry her, I have no desire to get to know her better. To which he replied, "that's funny. cause i do."

*long pause* What the fuck do you mean? Are you kidding? You're 17. You've never seen the world. You've never been to college. You've never lived on your own. Hell, you've never lived outside of your parent's house for more than a week. And you're contemplating goddamn marriage??

"Yes. i am. i have to go to work now. love you. bye."

And that was that. What the FUCK is he thinking? Call me absolutely insane and heartless, but I think it's a REALLY bad idea to marry your first boyfriend/girlfriend. Maybe eventually it can work out, but after some personal growth. I think if you don't take time, you'll end up always wondering what's out there. I really can't express strongly enough my disdain for this airhead with a tramp stamp and I can't believe my brother thinks he's in love with her. I'm in absolute shock and even though I planned for this blog not to expose my nasty side as much, here it is. Gross and disgusting. I HATE my brother's girlfriend and I HATE his church...both of them I feel have contributed to his current state of mind.

Speaking of states of mind...since we're being REALLY honest here, my mother is at it again. THIS time, she's going to call the IRS on my grandmother for "illegal activities." After calling CPS on my father for "emotionally abusing" Angel. I'm guessing the FBI will be next. Hopefully, somewhere along the line, the federal government will stop listening to my mother and will tell her to shove off. I drafted a letter basically telling her that I want to be left alone, I'll call on holidays and here are the reasons why I can't stand you right now. Fix them and we'll be okay. Or don't, and you can go fuck yourself.

So, I'm in a good mood right now. Any words of wisdom from anyone who reads this?

*p.s., please don't tell me to try to get to know the g/f. She's dumb as dirt and if you knew her, you'd think so, too.