Talked with mommy tonight. She sounded worried, her voice faltering. I reassured her that my life is all sunshine, lollipops and rainbows. That I’m doing well and am happy, confident I’ll land a good job soon. Then I found out what was wrong on her end. Apparently my little sister, Sue is planning to drop out of her art school in British Colombia. This is quite surprising given that she’s had a lot of success selling her paintings out there. The reasons mom offered on her behalf seemed pretty flimsy, “She’s not being challenged enough.”, “She’s too far from the family.”, “It’s too expensive.”
I sensed that Mom wants me to give little sis a call. Hit her up with a stern, brotherly, “you better stick it out for your own good” speech. Because as everybody knows, I’m all about laying down the discipline. “Maybe attending this school wasn’t the best choice, but now you better dig in and gut it out like a soldier, because in this family we finish what we start, missy.” Maybe I’ll tell her Mom was crying on the phone. Totally guilt the hell out of her.
Otherwise I had a fun week-end. There was a fringe arts festival that wrapped up yesterday. I saw two shows. The first was a dark comedy called, “Bad Neighbours”. It was a ridiculous, stressful experience because it was basically an exaggerated version of my 1999-2000 apartment. Complete with two dysfunctional couples under one roof, sketchy criminal landlord and regular break-ins.
The second show was the Aerial Angels. This one consisted of three women dressed in leather tops with bright red and neon pink leotards doing acrobatics that looked like rejects from cirque-du-soliel. Except it was awesome. To make up for their technical mediocrity, they relied on dirty humour and humiliating men picked out of the audience. The lesson was that three women working together and dressed like funky stripper ballerinas can get the most timid man to do anything.
(and my sister actually isn’t a Sue at all, her name’s very unusual and rhymes with bumblebee. haha, try and figure that one out.)
The Ancient Undergrad 
Rhymes with bumblebee??? Boy… I have no guesses there that aren’t just nonsense! Your Billy Idol has put Rebel Yell in my head! >.<
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So you’re listening to White Wedding? Hm. Ok, I’ll name the parts and try to describe them, but out of context, probably won’t mean much. The director may also end up changing my characters because during the read through, I was supposed to be in one scene as two different characters at the same time. It’s supposed to have 18 actors for the 44 parts, but we only have 15, that’s how I ended up with 4 parts. We’ll see.
Liz – a student who’s taking an art class, who thinks she knows a lot about art. Is mesmerized by the three blank canvases by the artist whose parents were deaf
Barbara Zimmer – a well-dressed lady who’s more concerned about what’s on the menu at the museum cafe than the art exhibit. Gets to go on and on about how there won’t be any natural fibers left and we’ll all be wearing clothes made out of acetone one day soon.
Lillian (1st laughing lady) – can’t keep a straight face during the exhibit – laughs at all the artwork, especially the three blank canvases by the artist whose parents were deaf. Steals clothespins from the the clothesline/hanging body exhibit
Julie Jenkins (3rd Photographer) – is the museum director’s 2nd daughter and develops a bit of a crush on the artist who hangs bodies on the clothesline exhibit even though she can’t keep his name straight
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is her name umm humblesee?
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rhymes with bumblebee? interesting.
i can’t think of any words that rhyme with my name. all i can come up with is my name beginning with a different letter.
you tell your sister that there are loads of american art students sticking it out, and most of them have never sold any of their works, nor have they any talent. but still they persevere.
you’re a good brother.
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why must you torture me in this fashion? don’t you realize that for the next endless week I will be cycling through name possibilities in my mind? it’s already begun: dumbledee, gumblegee, trumbletree, yumbleyee. please. end the tortuous riddle.I always wanted an older brother; you sound as if you would be a good one. A proper dose of sibling-conveyed guilt can do wonders. and thank you. the answer to all of my worries is obviously to dress up like a ‘funky stripper ballerina’ and lure timid men who will accomplish my evil plans. thank you.
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That reminds me of the Seinfeld where the girl tells Jerry her name rhymes with a female body part. I just remember him guessing, “Mulva?” Wasn’t it Doris or something?
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so how did she take what you had to say?
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i think you’re screwing with us………..it really is bumblebee, isn’t it?!
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Once when she was muttering something nasty, I called her Mumblelee. Like Mumbly but drawn out to three sylables. Mum-ble-Lee. Boy, that pissed her off. I think all big brothers are generally pretty rotten to their younger siblings. Until they reach maturity anyway.
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Sugar Mountain? Sounds magical.
Great CD you’re listening to, and being a firm, older brother may be just what Mumblebee needs.
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Kimberly? That’s the closest I can get.
Thanks for the kind words. I wish I had an older brother like you (not that I would trade Jacob, my little brother who is 8, for anything)–he may have beat the heck out of H. and got him straightened out by now. He, too, is a struggling artist who dropped out of college some years ago. I wish you, Bumblebee and the rest of your family the best of luck. Keep us posted.
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ryc: thanks for clarifying!
p.s. i know something you don’t know!
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big sisters can be pretty rotten too…speaking from experience: i pushed my little brother down a flight of stairs, he was 3 or 4. >:)
it’s as clear as day to me, but he doesn’t remember & mom “doesn’t remember,” could i really have dreamt that?
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oh, and thanks for clearing up the whole “skirt” issue. it’s all very clear to me now. 😛 and you should really post again, so that i don’t have to write 3 comments on the same post! hehe
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i’m still trying to think of names that rhyme with bumblebee.
ryc: maybe in the middle of the night, you got up to pee, but instead accidently stumbled into your time machine and travelled into the future. and that’s why you thought i had already posted about a skirt.
of course i can do that! think of it as payback for the bumblebee~! lol but i know something *singsong*
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