velomech - woke up early, argued with mom, froze, yapped, worked, cried, beer

07:42 pm - woke up early, argued with mom, froze, yapped, worked, cried, beer

So, Sarah wakes me up at 7, I roll over, say "5 minutes, and roll back over. 25 minutes later, she wakes me again, now im late. I shower, hop in the fifty eight and go straight to Jittery Joes to get coffee for the SORBA XMAS ride at 10 am. I get in the car at 8.

8:20 roll around, I grab the Joe, I hit the road. Up 85 North so i can swing by the shop and grab a stand, table and som eloose ends for the ride. I forgot to do this before heading down to Jittery joes. Im swigging my coffee, driving along, all is well.

I run by the shop, grab the stuff I need, and am all of a sudden early, so I decide to swing by the house on my way to chicopee. I need to use the can, and I just got my copy of "Old school rodz" so Im anxious for some quality time.

I pull in the driveway and my Moms here? why? Oh yeah, she's pickin The Hannah up to tak eher out while sarah goes off to her birthday party, girls only, no dad allowed.

I walk in and Mom busts outdf 4 ...(ok,the previous typo is because Im choking on a beer and my hand is on the keyboard, my wife did something that irritated me, oh yeah, moved a pillow onto my arm while I was typing, and I threw it back at her, and said "Do you mind?" and she looked at me with that stare as I grabbed my beer and took a swig. She pulled somekind of jedi mindtrick on me, because I choked on it...and beer started coming out of my nose and she laughs and walked off, mumbling "HAH", I hate her.)

Ok, My mom busts out "Are you coming over for Sarahs bday party thursday?"

Im thinking, no, because we are taking her out to eat as a family, thats why she is having her party today, with her kid friends.

"I say sure, but we had plans."

Roll in one ear and out the other, my mom is crazy. Really. Paranoid, defensive, overly sensitive, crazy. If she invites you to something and you say no thanks, you hate her. You either hate her, or are conspiring to make her life hell. So she goes home to her husband, Tom, my stepdad, and in a few days, Im the evil son who hates his mom, and his stepdad, and that side of the family, and so on.

I tell her we kind of had plans, but if its only her and tom then fine.

She takes that as, "As long as you dont invite the other side of the family that I Hate, because Im better than them and their trashy, and Im a snob whos job is really only to ruin my moms life.

She sighs and says "FINE!"

"What about Xmas eve?" she asks. I say "Um, well, I was gonna swing by dads or something."

She says "Why do you do that?"

"Do what" I say

"Try and ruin everything, xmas eve is our night, it's my tradition."

"Um, It's my family, when do I get to start my tradition?"

"Scott, why cant you just come over!?"

"Because I wanted to do soemthing else"

"WHY!?"

"Mom, why are you acting like a fourth grader, I just want to do something with my family, and maybe go by dads..."

She cuts me off.."You did that lat year!!!"

"Because I wanted to last year, and the ten years before that we went to your house, I can do what I want, it's just means I want to go by dads, what is the problem!?!

"Your ruining the tradition!"

"ya know mom, Im getting sick of you insisting on stuff like this, and when we say no, we're the bad guys, who hate you and ruin everything. Would you think I hated you If I said no, because we lived in another state???? NO! You wouldnt becaue it would be reasonable, it's NOT REASONABLE THAT YOU MAE A BIG DEAL ABOUT EVERYTHING EVERY TIME A HOLIDAY COMES AROUND MY FAMILY DOES SOMETHING BESIDES GO TO YOUR HOUSE!!!!!!"

I turn around and walk in the bedroom, and slam the door. The last time my mom came over and started an arguement I lost my temper. I havent lost my temper since I was sixteen.

She started some bullshit about how the kids should not be riding their bikes to school, and how I forced them to do it, and was a horrible father for putting them at risk. I lost it. First of all, My children wanted to try it. They read a report about how kids are fat and lazy, and noone walks or bikes to school, because there are no sidewalks anymore.

It was a fun safe experience for them and the kids at school would stop asking them questions about it. They loved it.

Anyhoo, my mom over stepped her boundaries by accusing me of being a bad dad. bad idea. I looked at her and asked her to leave my house. She started in agian on how I was this or that, and I said, "Mom, I mean it, get the hell out of my house right now."

It didnt faze her, So I put my hand completely through the wall, pulled it out, and said "NOW."

She stopped talking. She left.

Im not proud of what I did, I felt like something was wrong with me for losing my temper. I thought I was being weak. Deb and I talked along time about what happend, it strained an already shaky relationship with my mom.

My mom, try's to change my childrens opinions, and her and my stepdad used to try and influence them. First, if you want to believe in god, fine, more power to you. I respect that. Some people take it too far, some people are honest, and sincere and really believe. It's a good thing. My wife goes to church when she wants, she takes the kids. Unlike most fathers who dont believ in god, I allow my kids to form their own opinions. I will never force anything on them. Thats bad parenting. Thats my mom.

I will never tell my kids to do something "Just because".

I am raising my children to think for themselves. Gather information and make their own decisions. Be their own person.

My mom disagrees with this. I disagree with my mom. She and tom used to insist on teaching them religion AND politics.

I wont tolerate that. The hannah actually said one day "Those people are going to hell."

Refering to non christians and gays. Needles to say, I corrected The Hannah, and then unleashed a world of pain on my mom and stepdad.

Shit went all to hell. They over step their boundaries. Their job is to be grandparents. Leave the teaching to me and deb. Thats our job.

So, back to the present. Deb comes into the room and asks me to calm down, I ask her if Im right? She says yes, and "Your mom is pushing the limits again." As I was walking into the bedroom, I lost my temper, and slammed the door. I walked into the bathroom and hit the door jam with my fist, I missed the door and hit the door jam. Knocked it away from the wall...

So, now, debs is standing there, my mom left, and she says, "shes gone, DO NOT put another whole in the wall"

I talk with her about our dilemna, It's a tough thing to deal with. I want my kids to have a grand mother but she brings so much negativity that my kids arent used to. I hate it.

Im losing what relationship I have left with my mother because she is losing her sanity. At least to me. I wish they didnt live near us. It's sad, but thats what I wish. Why cant she and tom just be normal, like my dad, or everyone else's mom?

So, off to the ride, mood ruined, blood pressure off the charts.

Get their, talk to a bunch of cool people. Threaten WATTson with an ass kicking all season, but he asks me if Im doing SS, and then I realize he racing geared. Oh well, lucky for you WATTson! Lucky for you!

Get to the shop, Cracker is their with code red. We were busy from the get go, and when they left at one point I had alomost 15 people in the shop for a LOOOOOONG time. I was fixing bikes, guys were hangin out and talking, matty was fielding calls, I was still fixing...

Finally, five oclock rolls around and the crowd thins. Somehow, Frank Frazetta comes up int the conversation, and I gogole him to show Swanson and Jay who he is and why he was one of my idols growing up. His intensity explodes out of his work. Good stuff.

Some how we start talking about opera, and How we love it and swanson tells me to google Paul potts...Here is a link.

But before you click it, let me clue you into opera, it's not for everybody. Yeah, it's gay to some people, it's annoying to others. I, however, love it. I love opera. Like anything else, it can be good or bad. even bad opera is good though. Good opera, great opera, is so powerful and so moving that it effects you. It will actually change your mood. Well, it does me.

I know for a fact, a bunch of you are gonna rib me, also, a lot of you are gonna think it's wicked lame, and super gay, crank the executioners or fiftycent...

Im not a music snob, like Cracker and I discovered today that code red is. I love pretty much all music, if its genuine.

So, back to opera. I have listened to a lot of great tenors,baratones and sopranos. Even though Im mostly tone def and cant play an instrument and really have a second graders knowledge of music, I still love it. My Nana used to sing opera to me.

Im not gonna go all "Im the man" and list the whos who of opera so I can impress you with my knowledge. I want to tell you, however, how I know good opera. If you can look at an opera singer and see in his eyes, that he has felt deep sorrow, he will be a good singer. If he has felt love so strong he wouold give ALL for it, or if he has suffered loss so great, he wishes not to go on, he will belt it out. And you will cry.

Why, because through his efforts to communicate through opera, you will feel great sadness or deep deep passion. It's painful, but you cant help but listen, and suffer with him.

SO, Paul Potts, Swanson says watch this....(get passed the gayass cheazy aerosmith song at the end...someone screwed it up with that fer sure...)

I click play. Jay is watching and Swanson is standing behind me. I watch an overwieght white guy in a crappy jacket and 5 dollar shirt.(whats funny is the judge on the left eludes to this in a later clip, and stole my words exactly, after I had said the very same thing to deb before I played it for her.) His shoulders are shrugged and his head leans to the side. I can read people pretty good. I look at him , and he looks like he gets beat down everyday so hard by life.He looks just like everybody else, jsut a little worse. Im intrigued. The woman judge say "Hello Paul, what are you here to do?"

Almost hesitantly he replys "to sing opera" as if their reply will be no thanks, next!

The camera turns to her, and the look on her face is "oh great, another opera talent"

The camera turns to the male judge to her right, and he looks over at her with an expression of, "god at least I get paid for this"

Then the camera turns to the other judge, the same guy who does american idol, the look on his face is "Ok, whatever, get on with it so I can say you suck"

The camera looks back at Paul, who couldnt look more down trodden, as he looks to his left for the que for the music.

Then he opens his mouth.
opera.

So poweful that I start crying after 15 seconds. I start crying, in front of Jay, and swanson. I feel like a phukin fool, but I love opera, and this, this is pure, powerful, emotional opera.

I have never heard of britians got talent, I watched Idol once before, I dont watch this kind of stuff on tv.

I was amazed at this guy. I have cried listening to opera, laying on the couch, lights out, noone else in the house. Some of the records I have would bring tears to a rock.

Im thinking, maybe if I turn my head a little they wont see, but then I started sniffling, and tears really started rolling so I had to wipe them before they got outta hand. I was a little embarrased and joked about it. Swanson and Jay were cool with it and found it funny. Both agreed though, that this guy sang opera.

He had kung fu, if you will, and it was good.

So, the camera pans back to the woman, who after 15 seconds is in total shock, then pans to the other two guys who, are thinking, someone stuck a ringer in here to throw us.

The camera then pans to the audience who are frozen freakin stiff, mouths open, eyes glued. Shock. Then As Im wiping more tears away, it pans to couple of old ladies, one...wiping her tears away. I dont feel so wierd.

Look closely at him, his demeanor, his dress, then at them, their arrogance, their impatience to "Get on with it" and then at the end, look at how stupid they feel for judging him, when they could have looked at him before he started singing anything, and if they had taken just a second to look into his eyes, they would have seen...opera.

Later
Hodge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DelJrP3P7tA