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August 16, 2007
Sundown
Sometimes I wish I were Gordon Lightfoot.
My mom played the 45 of "Sundown" in heavy rotation when I was wee boy. It was one of the only good songs she played. The Oak Ridge Boys' "Elvira" only made me bitter, suspicious of others, and gay.
Anyway, my mom would have made a great pothead. Whenever I hear that song, I think of my mom chilled out on the sofa, tokin' a spliff, telling me how rad it is to have a gay son. But she chose another path. And that's fine. I downloaded the song to my iPod anyway.
I'll be spending Christmas in the Netherlands with my entire family. My sister's family moved to a small town called Wassenaar, outside of Amsterdam, and right near Den Haag. So I'll be touring The Hague during the holidays. What will you be doing?
The whole idea that my sister lives over there is almost comical. She had never even been to Europe before she moved there last month. When she visited us in January of this year, her husband was having a phone interview with a company in Canada. She went ballistic and said she would not be moving out of the country. They had already moved three times in the past five years. The next time they moved, their original plan was to move closer to my parents.
So she went from suburban-huge house-Christian bliss to a small house outside the Red Light District. Love it! She's like, "The refrigerator here is the size of a college dorm fridge." No worries, I'll be visiting more often!
The whole experience will only do wonders for her three kids. I wish I had spent an extended period of time in Europe as a kid. But I made up for it in college, I guess!
My only worry is spending eleven days with my family. That far extends my 3-Day Rule. I suspect me and Rob will venture out to Amsterdam on occasion.
My parents have never been to Europe either. Last year, when my sister was planning a trip to Italy for them, my mom said, "Your father and I are getting older, and we don't enjoy flying far away to see things; we're perfectly happy driving down to the Outer Banks every now and then." So now they're going to be regulars in the Netherlands. I look forward to hearing my parents' southern accents transformed to Dutch. They'll be pronouncing it, "Ale Stublieft."
I told my mom all the touristy things we could do. I suggested the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum. In her southern drawl, she's like, "Screw that - I wanna see the Red 'Lot' District!"
I'm looking forward to the holidays.
Posted by durban bud at August 16, 2007 10:58 PM
Comments
julie and amsterdam is an interesting combo. i haven't seen your parents in ages....but i'll still send them the yearly card around the holidays. How much fun are YOU gonna have! Quality time is always good....screw the three day shit....you can handle it!
Posted by: pam at August 17, 2007 01:28 PM
At my partner's mother's house, in the basement listning to some holy-roller santa sing jingle bells-I bartend. wouldn't give it up for the world! well maybe a trip to Spain!
Posted by: joey2568 at August 17, 2007 01:41 PM
Guuuuurl... what has been going on with you blog? Sometimes I get error pages and sometimes it works.
I am ashamed to admit that I have never been outside of the Northern Hemisphere. :( I am just not that worldly. Who would have thunk it?
DB: I know. My host has been sucking major donkey dick this week. My site was down Wednesday and all this morning. Annnnnd, my main computer is currently in the shop. There will be a "Geeks on Call Sux Donkey Dick" post very soon, followed by "Dell Sux Donkey Dick". I'm seriously considering a Fiona Apple.
Posted by: brettcajun at August 17, 2007 01:59 PM
There's nothing in The Hague, plan a lot of trips to Amsterdam - it was a great place to visit when I lived in Germany.
'Not Photogenic' - would disagree, look great in the pixs posted, even the rear view! Woof!
Posted by: Tat2Boston at August 17, 2007 02:33 PM
Talking about Xmas in August????? You're worse than the retailers! But I do love me some Gordon Lightfoot!
Posted by: Steve at August 17, 2007 03:13 PM
When you have the revelation to go Apple TJ, bounce me a note and I will help you as best as I can long distance with the transition. I teach, repair and do tech support for Windows PCs, but I run a network of 4 Macs at home, one of which is an Internet server. The things aren't perfect. I always tell folks we are still in 'The Stone Age Of Computing', but they are the best we've got and I often actually enjoy them. (^_^) My oldest is from 1993 and still runs fine as an imaging workstation. Greetings from Syracuse.
:-Derek
Posted by: Derek at August 18, 2007 02:11 AM
I lived in A'dam for a while. One of my funniest memories is when I was walking around the Red Light District with some friends. We were poking fun at the tourists, especially the slack-jawed, bug-eyed Americans who couldn't believe the bawdy window displays. One shop-front window had mesmerizing collection of latex penises and vaginas on a rotating carousel. There was a woman wearing big blue hair and a pastel slack-suit standing with her husband, taking in the display. She turned to her husband and said in the biggest Southern drawl I'd ever heard, "Well, what the hell would you do with that?" I could tell from her husband's expression that he had some ideas.
Posted by: sandy at August 19, 2007 06:36 AM
Nothing in Den Haag? Please. It's the Mecca for anybody studying Early Music in the Western World! Jacques Ogg, Wilbert Hazelzet (what do you know? there's Jacques Ogg in the background), Oh, so many more.
Posted by: Raybob at August 20, 2007 01:03 AM
Elvira just makes me want to roller skate again!
I did 7 days earlier this year with my family and it was on the verge of being too much.
Posted by: Michael at August 20, 2007 11:09 AM