Being Uncle John…

Posted: September 23, 2006 at 8:28 pm by John

I haven’t been motivated to update my blog this week…but not because it wasn’t a really wonderful week.

On Monday, I had a late dinner with my buddy Ashish, who introduced me to Coastal Flats in Tysons Corner–I had some amazing bbq beef ribs. Wednesday night, I met up with Gretchen, Brian, and Allison at the Hard Times Cafe in Herndon for a hearty bowl of Texas chili. And on Thursday night, I visited Ginger and James at their house for a bit of homemade potroast and James’ own yummy cheesecake.

Friday night, I made my way south to Richmond for a too-short visit with my family. My parents and I had some wine, discussed the price of gas, and listened to my dad’s collection of folk albums.

But on Saturday…I got to experience a first. I got to visit with and hold and stare at and cooo over my nephew Benjamin. So Saturday night, my folks, Jodi and my brother Cliff, my aunt Teela and uncle Jim all got together for some food on the grill, old slides, and discussions of diaper changing. I can’t tell you how amazing it was to see my brother as a papa. I was so proud.

7 Comments for Being Uncle John…

JamesF

Very nice picture of the kid.

Kim

Ok…..now I want another one. He is too cute.

Buddy

Uncle Bullbunky, has a nice ring to it. I think the last time I saw Clif he was visiting you in Lee Hall and was still in High School.

I probably wouldn’t recognize him now. I am very happy for him and the addition to his family and yours.

I guess you will be the cool uncle that lives on the West Coast 😉

matthias

John, I love the Kingston Trio. My dad was a folkie. I think there was two categories are parents could fall in musically: Folkie-activist or Druggie-pacifist. Man, is this gonna cause some discussion. You know, folk like Peter Paul and Mary, Simon and Garfunkel, etc. Or like the Beatles, and all those 70s LSD bands for the 20 somethings going and coming back from Nam. Don’t flame me on john’s comments thread, it just an observation of one.

matthias

our not are. it’s Monday.

BullBunky

Heh, Matt…I just like the harmonies 🙂 Funny, we were sitting at the kitchen table, enjoying the songs, talking about the progression of music, and relaxing. I have found that I don’t pay enough attention to lyrics, and that get’s me into trouble!!

I tend to think of these artists as the sing-along folk singers…but put them back in their era, and some of these guys were quite radical.

I’m enjoying re-examining the songs with a new perspective.

Jeff

Music is created by an artist to convey something that he/she is trying to say or a mood/feeling they are trying to convey, but the listener can hear something totally different. Sometimes artist/listener are in sync, and sometimes they are not. I rarely listen to what an artist is saying (yes, my bad!). I come up with my own thoughts/feelings around a song. I guess I am too much of an independent thinker to be absorbed into someone else’s story/mood. Of course, that is just me. 🙂